Adult breakouts tend to be more infrequent than teenage breakouts. Thus, it’s normal to question why you have perfectly clear skin for weeks, then one day a blemish appears out of nowhere. Is it from stress? Is it from not washing your face? Is it diet related? Is it from your dirty cell phone? PMS? The answer isn’t always easy to find.
Acne is caused by many factors that affect the skin. When overactive sebaceous glands produce too much oil that combines with dead skin cells, pores become plugged and bacteria on the skin multiplies, causing the infected and inflamed eruptions.
Stress
Stress and your skin don’t mix. When life gets busy and overwhelming, your skin can react by producing more oils, worsening your breakouts. Stress can also make your breakouts last longer than normal. Let your skin breathe by giving yourself a break! You, your skin, and your mental health are more important than whatever’s stressing you out.
Diet
What you put into your body shows on your skin. Carbohydrate-rich diets can spike your blood pressure and your body eventually releases oil into the pores, which causes breakouts. Hormones in meat and dairy products may also lead to acne. We recommend keeping a food diary to track how your body reacts to certain foods. Once you find the culprit, substitute it with fruit or vegetables.
New skincare products
When you introduce new products into your routine, you might experience some initial blemish purging. This is especially true if the products are exfoliating your skin more than it’s used to. (This is actually a good thing; exfoliants restructure the skin’s natural cell turnover process) However, if the purging continues for more than 4-6 weeks, this means the products may not be a good fit for your skin.
Hormones
This is one of those causes of acne that you can’t do very much about. Hormone spikes happen over the course of our lives, especially during puberty. Many of us aren’t able to shake the breakouts once they start happening. In this case, crafting a skin care routine that fights your acne without depriving your skin of hydration is crucial.
Genetics
As with your hormones, you can’t do all that much to change your genes. If your parents had acne as adults, chances are you probably will, too. We suggest preventive care. Eliminate the possibility of other triggers by changing your diet and limiting stress.
Touching your face
Throughout the day, it’s tempting to rest your chin on your hands or rub your face when you’re tired. But, think about everything you touch throughout the day. How many germs are you transferring to your skin when you touch your face? Too many. If you can’t avoid touching your face, we recommend resting your face on a clean tissue in your hand rather than your bare hands themselves.