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4 Unexpected ingredients that help fight breakouts

14 November 2019 | By Anna-Bet Stemmet

Breakouts got you down? These four spot-busting ingredients will help get your skin back in fighting shape.

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If there is one thing that can get even the most chipper person down, it’s a nasty breakout. Luckily, Jani Visser, a holistic skincare therapist from Lyftaal Beauty Spa in Paarl, is here to shed light on the skincare ingredients that will help fight breakouts. 

Jani, who is a passionate proponent of a sustainable approach to beauty and skincare, believes our skin's natural microbiome is a living armour that protects it from pathogens and the outside world in general. “Ageing, pigmentation, acne and even rosacea are all skin conditions related to inflammation. As such, when you want to address breakouts you essentially want to heal inflammation,” she explains. 

Here are a few ingredients Jani recommends you look for when you are trying to heal your skin in a holistic way.

SPF

“When it comes to fighting breakouts, it's very important to first try to restore and protect the natural barrier of the skin, so that it can help 'fight' its own battles. Your skin does what it’s supposed to do if you can protect its 'armour',” says Jani. 

“That is why a good sunscreen is one of the most important things to use when you're trying to prevent breakouts and congestion in general. Although this is not an ingredient as such, I do feel it's important to mention because you have to start at the very beginning when you want to get to the root of your breakouts and solve them in the long run.”

According to Jani, it’s very important to choose a sunscreen with the optimal SPF – you don’t want to go too high. “Between SPF 15 and 30 is high enough – the higher the SPF, the higher the chemical content of the sunscreen, which causes free radical damage in the skin which, in turn, causes ageing and inflammation,” she explains. 

“This is especially important when you're prone to breakouts because you want to keep inflammation to a minimum. At a lower SPF, the skin can still break down and manage the chemicals. Go broad-spectrum – the ideal sunscreen has both chemical and physical ingredients (e.g. zinc oxide, which creates a physical barrier that protects the skin from the penetration of UVA and UVB rays AND acts as an anti-inflammatory ingredient).”

Salicylic acid

Skin that is prone to breakouts often has excess keratinisation, i.e. a build-up of dead skin cells. If the skin functions like it's supposed to, the cells of the skin naturally move from deeper layers up to the more superficial layers and it sloughs off. But when your skin is not functioning 100%, these cells build up and contribute to breakouts. 

“As such, it is important to exfoliate regularly if you are prone to breakouts,” says Jani. “However, be careful not to over-exfoliate as this destroys the skin's natural barrier. Salicylic acid is a good exfoliation option because it’s an oil-soluble acid, so it’s good for loosening dead skin cells on oily skins. If you do go this route, don't use it more than every 15 to 28 days. This will depend on your skin – not everyone is the same.” 

If you want to exfoliate weekly, rather choose a product like a face mask that contains kaolin or bentonite clay, which is gentler and won't spread infection. Granular exfoliators can sometimes be too coarse, opening up the pustules and further spreading acne and pimples. 

“Bentonite clay is formed from cooled volcanic ash. It is a very good absorber of oils, so it helps to balance excess oiliness and pulls impurities out of the skin,” explains Jani. “Kaolin clay is named after a hill in China, where it’s mined. Even though you don't feel any granules in clay, it still works to exfoliate the skin because it is made up of very large molecules that are only visible when you look through a microscope.”

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is the most important vitamin when it comes to skin health because it normalises cell functioning. Without Vitamin A, every cell in our bodies would be deformed. As such, it's important to ingest this vitamin daily through food or supplements, and also apply it topically. 

“This is why you'll see that most skincare products contain Vitamin A. Because a skin that has breakouts is not functioning like it's supposed to, Vitamin A helps to normalise the skin function,” says Jani. 

“Vitamin A is destroyed by UVA and UVB rays, so whenever your skin is exposed to the sun, the stores of it in your skin are eliminated. When you tan or get sunburnt, it's even worse. It takes the body up to seven days to replenish the Vitamin A that is destroyed in this way if your only source is your diet. However, when you apply a product containing Vitamin A topically, it can replenish in as little as three hours.” 

Pre- and probiotics

Pre- and probiotics play a vital role in restoring the skin's natural defences. In fact, pre- and probiotics, as well as Vitamin A, can be applied to any skincare concern, according to Jani.  “Using these microbes topically supports the natural skin biome that every one of us is born with. This is made up of good bacteria that we need for everything – without it, we wouldn’t be able to function as human beings,” she says. 

“These little microorganisms protect us against harmful pathogens. By simply going about their business and surviving on our skins, they produce hyaluronic acid that plumps up fine lines and wrinkles, as well as other moisturising agents. This is why it’s so important to help our skin keep its natural biome intact, which also serves to maintain barrier function, immune response, the pH of the skin and the production of antimicrobial peptides.” 

According to Jani, the loss of microbial partners is a result of the overuse of antibiotics, the increase in caesarean sections, daily bathing in treated water that comes out of our taps, all the chemicals in cosmetics, the lack of contact with nature, as well as inappropriate use of disinfectants. 

“The topical application of pre- and probiotics can get you almost 80% there in terms of treating skincare concerns like breakouts. It balances and moisturises the skin, maintains the pH levels, processes any toxins present, calms the skin's immune response and protects it from pathogens,” Jani concludes.
 

IMAGE CREDIT: 123rf.com

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