Teenage Skin

This sweet and simultaneously gutting transformative time in life is hard for many reasons. One being, big time skin changes.

Sebaceous glands are distributed throughout the skin, including the face. Their primary function is to produce sebum, a waxy, oily substance that helps keep the skin moisturized and forms a protective barrier. Sebum production is regulated by hormones, particularly androgens, whose production surges during puberty. This increase in oil production happens alongside a speeding up of skin cell turnover, which can lead to the formation of acne. These clogged pores create an environment for bacteria to thrive.

How can we address these specific needs without compromising the skin's delicate balance and barrier?

Cleansing with a balancing oil both AM and PM will help remove impurities and keep pores clear without stripping away the skin's natural barrier. Everyday Oil’s non-comedogenic formula helps maintain a healthy balance, while reducing the risk of breakouts and irritation.

Proper hydration is also crucial for teenage skin, so keep the ingredients nourishing and hydrating. We used to think drying out all the excess oil and scrubbing the blemishes with exfoliants was key, but now we know that harsh and aggressive treatments can cause an increase in oil production and even more challenging skin conditions.

Diet is equally important at this time. There is research showing that getting large amounts of soluble fiber, specifically from beans paired with cutting down on sugar and refined carbs can help with acne due to hormonal shifts.

If you do end up trying prescriptions for your acne, Everyday Oil can be a good companion for the dryness and additional sensitivity that can accompany those meds.

We are happy to hear from Everyday Oil friend, holistic licensed esthetician and founder of Sun Up Skin, Chandler, with some best practices for teenage and acne prone skin. Here's what she shared:

In adolescent years I struggled with cystic acne and tried all the things the derm could give me. I was left with dried out skin, gut issues, and cyclical hormonal acne. Because of this, I’ve always had a growing interest in integrative health, and especially how it affects our skin.

Consistency and keeping it simple are key.

Regulating the sebum: gentle clay masks are very helpful for absorption and unclogging the pores, but make sure to follow up with a hydrator and Everyday Oil. My go to hydrating mist for acne prone skin is the Neroli Mist from Apoterra.

Skin cell shed: A gentle physical scrub is helpful to slough away dead skin cells. I like to use colloidal oats for this. Colloidal oats and Manuka honey makes a great mask for the natural enzymes and physical scrub. For more severe cases, mandelic acid can also work wonders in a nightly serum step of the routine.

Nutrition: This is paramount for healing chronic acne. Avoiding processed food, fried foods, refined sugar, dairy, getting plenty of vitamin C and E to expedite healing, and eating lots of foods rich in vitamin A (any fruits and veggies that are yellow, red, and leafy greens, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, mango, papaya, red peppers). There is a supplement called Clear Within that makes it easy for teens to get a lot of the acne fighting nutrients they need.

Don’t pick! As much as you’re tempted to, it only makes matters much worse and last longer. Firstly, you spread bacteria from picking, but also you cause more inflammation in the area which makes more breakouts happen in the surrounding areas. The tissue is so fragile that you also risk scarring and hyperpigmentation. My tips for avoiding picking: cold roll instead, throw away your magnifying mirrors, use the hydrocolloid stickers to avoid touching it.

Bacteria: Make sure to change your pillowcase regularly, sanitize your phone and glasses, clean makeup brushes regularly, etc. Blue light therapy done regularly also is extremely helpful in expediting the healing process as it kills the acne causing bacteria.

Inflammation: Any products that leave the skin feeling tight and dry will only make matters worse. You want to focus on a routine that calms down inflammation as much as possible. Cold rolling or doing a cold splash morning and night after oil cleaning helps with this. Avoiding picking at the breakouts. A consistent hydrating and moisturizing routine. And zinc oxide! Taking zinc internally helps calm down inflammation, but also using zinc oxide based sunscreens is helpful. And if it’s a quality one, some studies have shown even sleeping with it on can be helpful for acne sufferers as it helps calm down the inflammation overnight.