Help for Breakouts

Why does skin break out? 

Quite simply, hormones cause breakouts. Hormonal imbalances can occur at any time in life. As puberty starts, the hormones are activated. For women, our monthly cycles can cause breakouts; pregnancy causes great hormonal changes and can either improve your complexion or cause mild to severe breakout; and perimenopause brings yet another change in a woman’s hormone levels. Men, too, have fluctuations in their hormones, which can affect how clear or broken out their skin is. Diet is a huge consideration when looking for the cause(s) of breakout, and stress should not be overlooked as being a factor in skin troubles. There are several beneficial things you can do for breakouts that will help them go away without causing damage to your skin.

• A clay mask is my number one at-home treatment for breakout. It has a calming effect and helps to temporarily lift redness from the skin. Clay draws to itself, helping to encourage movement of the debris in an embedded pore. Clay has antiseptic properties, which helps to keep bacteria away.

Clay can be used in two ways: as a mask, covering the entire face and left on for 15 minutes once or twice a week, or dotted on the blemishes at night before bed and left on while you sleep. If the spot is small to medium without a lot of infection, this dotting method can really reduce its size overnight. For deeper cysts and large infected areas, clay can still do wonders, but not miracles.

• Essential oil of geranium is my next wonder treatment for breakout. Throughout the years I’ve been seeing clients, more and more I have been recommending lavender essential oil over geranium. This change is solely due to aromatics. Simply put, many people just can’t take the smell of geranium oil! Lavender has a wonderful aromatic and is generally accepted by most noses.
• After you have completed your Basics 1-2-3 routine (cleanse, tone, hydrate), dot geranium or lavender oil directly on any infected (red) blemishes. Please note: Do not get geranium, lavender, or any pure essential oil in or around your eyes! 

Essential oils are not “oily” oils; they are more gaseous and vaporous. They have a thin viscosity and do not feel oily. By their very nature, essential oils are antiseptic, antibacterial, and in many cases soothing, which makes them perfect for infections.

Essential oil of geranium is especially good for problem skin. It has antiseptic and astringent properties as well as a balancing action on oil production. Geranium also helps to stop bleeding and promote healing of injured areas. Lavender has many equally wonderful properties and many clients still have great success with this essential oil. 

She has the right idea, however she’s used way too much clay!

Combining a clay mask with geranium oil is the most effective, overnight treatment for blemishes. 

• After you’ve completed your evening 1-2-3 program, dot some clay mask on any problem spots and let it dry for a minute or so. 
• Then take your geranium oil and dab a bit on top of the clay and leave it overnight. 

In the morning you should see some reduction in size along with diminished redness of the blemish. Continue this dotting method for several consecutive nights or until the blemish is gone.

Breakout is one instance when essential oils and clay are ideal. Even though you may have to contend with red spots already present on your face, these products will go a long way to help expedite the healing process. 

There is no fast and easy way to get rid of blemishes. They weren’t created instantaneously, and they will not disappear overnight. Give a clay mask and essential oils a try, and see if they don’t work better for your skin than the blemish-control products you’ve been using.

For more information, see: 

• The Basics 1-2-3 Program
• What is a clay mask and why use one? 
• How to use a Clay Mask—Important Instructions (There is important information in this article you will want to know about before using your clay mask.) 
• Geranium (or lavender) essential oil—spot remover for breakouts: How to use it and how NOT to use it

MYTH: Facials make your skin break out

You’ll sometimes hear how getting a facial helps bring the impurities in your skin to the surface. Therefore if you experience breakout after a facial, it’s actually a good thing. Well, I disagree.

True, once in a while getting a facial may speed up the elimination of one or two small places on your face. But facials really should clear up your skin, not cause breakout. Perhaps you are having a reaction to the products used. Maybe the aesthetician extracted too many places, which caused irritation and inflammation.

But if you had an effective facial treatment, it is my belief that your skin should reflect this by looking clean, clear, and free from new breakout. Anything more than a small place or two every once in a while after a facial is indicative of a problem with the facial or the products, not with your skin.

For more myths, see:

• MYTH: Food doesn’t affect skin
• MYTH: You have to change products
• MYTH: Night creams need to be heavy

Bumps on your arms? It could be keratosis pilaris

Recently several clients have been asking about mysterious yet recurring bumps on the backs of their upper arms. This is mostly likely keratosis pilaris, a common skin condition that you also may have experienced at some point—or even now. Read the following client emails and my responses to find out more about helping to rid your arms of this annoying bumpiness.

What causes these small bumps on the outsides of my upper arms? I also find bumps on my rear and my upper thighs, again on the outsides.

This is probably a condition called keratosis pilaris, which is an inflammatory disorder characterized by an accumulation of cells surrounding the hair follicles, as well as a rough texture to the skin. It usually occurs on the outsides of the upper arms, thighs, and even the buttocks.

If you are experiencing these bumps on your arms (or legs), this is a case where I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a retinoid product or alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) cream or lotion to help this problem. Why? Because I wouldn’t be concerned that the acids would be irritating the delicate capillaries that are found on your face. The desquamation (exfoliation) ability of these types of products might work very well on the bumps. One caveat: I would use an inexpensive brand because you don’t need to use an expensive cream on the backs of your arms, thighs, and buttocks. Save your money for your face. Use one of these products consistently, and see if it helps the bumps go away.

I have evidently inherited keratosis pilaris (little red bumps on the back of my arms and on the front of my thighs) from my parents and grandparents. When I try to moisturize, because most of the literature mentions that it is a dry skin-related issue, it just causes more bumps. I am tired of my skin looking this way.

The dermatologists either give me Tazorac® gel* and a greasy lotion, or they just tell me to live with it! Meanwhile I am embarrassed to wear a sleeveless shirt, and now I am nervous about wearing shorts. All of my reading seems to suggest that I must use some form of Retin-A, which is extremely hard on my skin. I would appreciate any insight you can provide. It seems like there must be something out there that can help!
*Tazorac is the brand name for tazarotene, a retinoid product.

As with many skin conditions, keratosis pilaris is not one, in my opinion, that can be helped completely from the outside in. From my own experience with this skin problem, I believe it is related more to diet than being just a “dry skin-related issue.” I believe your body can get rid of this condition once you understand what may be causing it. I don’t usually live by the “get over it” theory of skin care. I have faith and hope for you! My first question would be how is your diet? Tell me what is bad in your diet—especially if you eat or drink it consistently. The response to my question was:

I was afraid you were going to ask me about my diet! I am certainly not as healthy as I should be. My two downfalls are anything with cheese, and sodas. Although I try to drink water, I am afraid I don’t come close to what I should be drinking on a daily basis.

My personal experience is that when I eat certain things in excess, the bumps will appear. After I stop eating these foods, eventually the bumps will disappear. I find milk and dairy products cause keratosis pilaris, as well as sugary foods. Dairy products can not only cause bumps like keratosis pilaris, but I have also seen an excess of dairy consumption to lead to milia (whiteheads) on the face.

So, right off the bat I think this client’s problem is too much dairy, along with too much sugar or sugar substitutes in her sodas. If these are both her downfalls, she has a somewhat long road ahead of her if she indeed wants to get rid of the bumps on her arms and legs.

One way to find out if dairy is the offending substance is to eliminate it from your diet—completely—and see what happens. Understand that even though you may take something out of your diet, it may take time for your body to rid itself of the culprit. If the condition clears up during this sabbatical, you may have found the cause of your problems. However, to be sure, I recommend reintroducing dairy, for instance, and see if the bumps recur. You may be able to get away with eating some of the offending substance, but not to the degree you did in the past. If you monitor the situation, you can control it.

Without trying the elimination experiment, you won’t ever know if something you are ingesting is literally feeding the problem. Simply applying topical medications does little at the source to stop the problem from occurring. Using retinoid or AHA creams may help the immediate problem, however, so do try these (as long as they don’t irritate your skin). But to avoid future problems, look to your diet and do the elimination experiment. This will give you the long-term information you are looking for.

Last summer I purchased some AHAs from you for the bumps on the backs of my arms. The AHAs definitely helped, but nothing seemed to totally eliminate the bumps. I never had this problem until we moved to Chicago. Recently my husband and I moved to L.A., and the bumps were much better but not completely gone. Since the water here has a lot of chlorine in it, I bought a chlorine filter for my shower head. Within a couple of weeks, the bumps had almost disappeared! I thought if you have clients who struggle with this problem you could pass this information along to them. I just purchased a cheap filter attachment at the hardware store, unscrewed the shower head and attached it myself in about two minutes.

My belief is that keratosis pilaris shows up due to dietary excesses more than for any other reason. However, as this client found out, it can also be caused by other factors. I’m a big believer in doing what works—whatever that may be. So give the water filter suggestion a try. Chlorine is so bad for skin and hair, having a filter on your shower head is a good idea whether you have keratosis pilaris or not.

For more information, see:

• Using dry skin products on oily skin—STOP THE INSANITY!
• What are AHAs? Miracle ingredients or not? 
• Dermatitises (skin inflammations) explained

How to use a Clay Mask—Important Instructions

Although almost every container of clay mask will instruct you to apply the clay to your face and let it dry on your skin, this is not how I want you to use a clay (or any drying-type) mask—ever. The following may be news to you but believe me—you do not want to let a clay mask dry and harden on your skin! 

Here are my instructions for utilizing a clay mask for the optimal benefit of your skin:

• On clean, dry skin, apply a thick layer of clay mask over your entire face, even under the eye area. (Clay can help with puffiness due to its anti-inflammatory properties.) Thick layer means thick enough so you can’t see your skin underneath. A thin application will quickly dry on your skin.

• Unless your neck is broken out, you don’t need to put clay there. Instead, you can apply a hydrating mask or a thick layer of your moisturizer to include your neck in this treatment.

• Don’t forget to get some clay directly under your chin as well as that place between your jawbone and earlobe. I normally apply the clay right up on my earlobe. This whole little area tends to collect debris, and sometimes blackheads will form. Using a clay mask in these hard-to-reach areas will lessen the chance of congestion.

•  Leave the mask on for 15 minutes or so. If you don’t have 15 minutes but you really need the benefits of clay, keep it on for 5 to 10 minutes. Using it even for short amounts of time is better than not using it at all.

Never let a clay mask dry on your face. In fact, you don’t really want anything to dry on the skin’s surface—this will simply dry out the surface of your skin, which is never a good thing. It’s like taking one step forward, two steps back.

Clay doesn’t need to dry in order to draw impurities to itself. There are actually cleansing fasts that require you to ingest certain types of clay. Obviously the whole time the clay is in your body, it remains moist yet it still draws out toxins while it’s going through your system. Here, you’re just applying clay to your face, but the principle is the same. Clay does not need to dry on the skin in order to draw out superficial debris. Keeping the mask moist (see below) may contradict how you have always been told to use a clay mask, but hopefully this new information makes sense to you.

• After your time is up, rinse the clay off with tepid water (not hot or cold)
  
• Pat your skin dry
• Use your spray toner
• Apply your day or nighttime moisturize

When it comes time to rinse the mask off, you’ll be glad you kept it moist. A dried-on, hardened clay mask is very difficult to remove.

How to keep the mask moist. As I stated earlier, you want to keep the clay mask moist the entire time it’s on your face. If you don’t already have your toner in a spray bottle, at your local beauty supply or grocery store, purchase an empty spray bottle. Fill it with clean, filtered water. 

• Immediately after you’ve applied the mask, spray your face thoroughly with the water.

• After five minutes or so, you’ll feel the mask starting to dry (especially around the peripheries where the mask is thinner), so grab your bottle and spray your face again.

• During the 15 minutes you have the mask on, you will probably spray 3 or 4 times—whatever it takes to keep the clay moist. 

This application missed the all-important under-eye area.

Using clay is an integral part of keeping your skin clean and clear, as well as helping to stimulate blood circulation. For more of the benefits of using a clay mask, see:

• What is a clay mask and why use one?
• How NOT to apply a clay mask
• Ideas on when & where to do a clay mask

Do I really need to use a toner?

I use a cleanser and a moisturizer every day, morning and night. Do I really need to use a toner?

Yes, I believe you do need to use a toner and here’s why. Whenever you cleanse your skin, even with a quality product (one that is not stripping your skin like soap does), you are slightly disrupting the skin’s pH balance, while removing some oil and water from the surface. Your skin in normally acidic (about 5.5 on the pH scale) and this acid state helps keep bacteria away. This is the way nature intended your skin to be.

So by cleansing you are slightly disrupting this natural balance and you want to restore that acid mantle back to the surface of your skin. Toners are (or should be) acidic. Therefore using a toner after you cleanse helps to rebalance the skin and replace the acid mantle. Also, toners are primarily water, so using one helps to superficially hydrate the skin as well. After using your cleanser and toner, you are ready to use a hydrating cream (moisturizer).

As I recommend to all of my clients, use a toner in a spray bottle. In the product line I use (Yonka-Paris), their toners are in spray bottles. The toner comes out in a fine mist that makes using it refreshing as well as serving the important purpose of balancing the skin’s pH. And using a spray toner makes it very easy to use: after you cleanse and pat your skin dry, you simply pick up the bottle of toner and spray your face, then apply moisturizer. It couldn’t be easier.

Toners, although sometimes misunderstood, are an essential component to your healthy skin care regime. So the answer to the question, “Do I really need to use a toner?” is an emphatic yes!  

For more information, see:

• Proper pH & your skin care products
• Quick Tip: How to use a Toner 
• TONER: What to use and what NOT to use