Adult Problem Skin Tips

Adult acne is getting more common in women, obvious things like diet; hormones, stress and pollution are sometimes the cause. According to Chinese medicine theory the location of the spots is relevant to the cause -

This is some of the advice we give at the salon:

1. Washing your hands and frequently applying anti-bac gel to hands -we touch our faces much more than we realise! If it’s feasible use cotton pillow cases for bed and change daily, washing pillow cases in mild detergent (even if your body skin does not have problems with your regular washing powder, your face skin is more sensitive and hopefully spends a lot of time on the pillow!)
2. A cleansing routine, two or three times a day is important, depending upon your lifestyle, a lot of the ladies who come to us are actually making the problem worse by frantically cleansing, using a glut of harsh products, then smothering themselves in heavy make-up to hide outbreaks.
3. Put 2 x flannels in hot water with lemon, lavender and tea tree oil, apply a cream cleanser and use the first cloth to firmly wipe away the cleanser and repeat. The texture of the face-cloth will gently exfoliate without needing to scrub
4. Take the second cloth and lay it over your face for a couple of minutes, (weekly use a clay mask after warming your pores) after cleansing (or rinsing the mask away) saturate a cotton pad with some rosewater and witch-hazel and wipe over face.
5. Selenium, zinc, magnesium, Vitamin A, C, D and E are all useful for improving skin, either as dietary supplement or added to a clay face mask at home. Perfectil is a good supplement for skin, but there are probably cheaper versions of the same thing on the shelves! kiwi fruit is brilliant (eaten or mashed up in a face pack)
6. For individual problem spots get some neat tea-tree and lavender oil or quinoderm cream and apply it directly to the blemish with a q-tip, after cleansing and before applying moisturiser.
7. If your skin feels greasy try using a spray moisturiser (like the body shop vitamin e spray), it helps as you don’t touch your face. Regular salon facials help, Dermalogica are brilliant! But they can be expensive. Sunshine is great for skin problems, but try to find a SPF cream that doesn’t negate the benefit of sunshine by clogging your pores up…There are some great products now for “adult” problem skin, websites and department stores often give samples and free advice. Garnier Pure A range works really well for a lot of people and it has the advantage of being reasonably priced, the night gel is very soothing and non-greasy.