Adult acne has to be the ultimate bad beauty joke. Wrinkles and pimples? But according to beauty therapists, it’s on the rise. The bad news is just because you never had acne in your teens doesn’t mean you’re safe from it in later life. And there’s even more bad news – late-in-life acne is more likely to result in lasting redness and scarring.
What exactly is a pimple anyway? It is a small inflammation of the skin that is most often caused by a clogged or infected pore. Pimples appear when the oil-producing glands that help keep our skin healthy start working overtime. This can be a symptom of something happening deeper in the body.
It’s a mistake to try to strip your skin of oil with harsh cleansing products as this will cause the skin to produce more oil – and grow more pimples!
Home Remedy
There’s a great new book called The Healthy Skin Diet. The author, nutritionist Karen Fischer, gives heaps of advice on healing acne from the inside out by detoxing and eating a skin-loving diet that’s rich in zinc and omega-3 fatty acids.
She says swimming in the sea often helps to clear up pimples because saltwater has anti-bacterial qualities. That’s not too appealing this time of year, though, so try this Saltwater Face Bath instead:
Wash your hands and make sure your skin is clean and free of makeup.
Fill a bowl with warm water, add half a cup of sea salt and stir thoroughly till dissolved.
Splash your face with the salty water for one minute, then wash off with fresh water and moisturise.
You can re-use this saltwater bath twice. Just add a little more boiling water to re-heat it.
Light therapy
Some skin specialists report success in treating acne with light therapy. This works by bathing the skin in a wavelength of pure light. It’s non-invasive, completely painless and doesn’t damage the skin in any way.
At Auckland’s About Face beauty clinics they use a combination of blue and red light therapies coupled with a course of skin peels and at-home treatments.
Meanwhile, at Caci Medspa, they offer a blue light therapy. Neither is a cheap option because a course of treatments is necessary but, if you’re at the stage where acne is affecting your confidence or happiness, it’s definitely worth exploring.
