If you thought you’d get over your teen skin once you hit your 20’s, then you may need to rethink that sentiment. Adult 👏 acne 👏 is 👏 a 👏 thing 👏(and is just as frustrating as teenage acne)! 😭

We know there are a lot of questions around this topic and we’re going to break it down for you!  Let's get to it!

Teen Skin vs Adult Skin

For starters, when you think about teen skin and teen acne you’re mainly looking at routine setting and maintaining to help address the issue of pimples. Breakouts when you're a teen can occur anywhere on the face, but mainly around the forehead and cheek area. 

Hormonal changes are also at play since you’re going through puberty during these years. The nice thing is that when you’re younger, your skin is stronger! Youthful skin has a higher cell turnover rate and heals much faster than adult skin! What usually helps is setting a basic and solid skincare routine to help strengthen and maintain your strong, youthful skin!

Learn more about setting a skincare routine to help with teen acne here!

Adult skin, on the other hand, loses that resilience and strength. It takes longer to heal the skin and there are other factors, external and internal, that you have to take into consideration (check them out below!). Your breakouts may tend to be more towards the red, sensitive side and usually located around the mouth, chin, or jawline. And to top it off, you might notice that they tend to leave scars that are harder to fade.

Here are some blogs that may help you target the redness and scarring!
How to Fade Redness from Acne
How to Get Rid of Hyperpigmentation

Here are something factors that may contribute to your adult acne:

• Hormones

Your hormones play a huge role when it comes to adult acne. Things like stopping or starting birth control, perimenopause, menopause, PMS, and pregnancy can all be factors as to why you’re breaking out randomly, or more often as an adult. 

• Lifestyle

Think about your diet and how much sleep and exercise you get. If you’re eating super oily and processed foods, then chances are your skin will react.

• Stress

There it is. STRESS. 😤 This connects to overall lifestyle, but it’s so important that it needs to be a separate bullet point.😅 Chronic stress is a major issue nowadays. It connects to how much sleep you get, what you eat, how you feel, and how you look. 

• Dryness

Let’s face it, your skin loses a lot as you get older. Collagen production starts to slow down and your skin isn’t as moisturized and plump as before. And yes, moisture plays a role! The moisture content on your skin is super important to help balance and protect your skin. If your skin is too dry, it may cause breakouts or irritation. Having well-nourished skin can also help protect your skin from external factors. 

Okay, so how do you deal with adult acne?!

Alright, so you’re in your 20s, 30s, 50s, or older and you’re still breaking out, right? Don’t worry we have some information that can help you! 

1. Cleanse your skin thoroughly but not harshly.

If you're wearing makeup or if you've been outside most the day, you'll want to make sure you're cleansing your skin with a cleansing balm or oil first and then go in with your normal cleanser. This is called a 2-step cleanse or double cleanse! Keeping your skin clean is always a first step!\

Unsure of what cleanser to use? No worries, we've your back! Try our Gentle Foam Cleanser that contains Chaga and Oats that will leave your skin soft and smooth~! 

2. Find products that target acne.

No, you don’t need to use that acne fighting cleanser you used when you were younger. That’s not what we mean when we say “target”. Find a product that you can use to spot treat, because we don’t want to further dry out your overall complexion. Pimple patches work as great spot treatments because they focus on a single pimple or area! Perfect for adult acne! 

3. Adjust your lifestyle.

Easier said than done, right? Still, making sure you're living a well-balanced and healthy life will help your body and skin! Maybe slowly ease your way with changes. Some examples may be switching dairy milk to oat milk. Or making sure you're drinking enough water throughout the day. Even taking a walk for a few minutes each day! Sometimes it's the small things that make a difference!

4. Use products with ingredients that work!

If you're dealing with adult acne, you’ll want to make sure you’re incorporating ingredients that help with cell turnover! That is super important since skin renewal is a little harder to come by as we get older. Use products with Retinol (Vitamin A), AHA, or BHA.

We know those ingredients are thrown around a lot, but trust us! We recommend them for a reason. These ingredients help improve skin tremendously! Just be sure to always patch test before using a new product (:

Speaking of products, our Leaf Drops Clarity Serum is perfect for when you see pesky pimples:

With ingredients like Hemp Seed Oil and Centella Asiatica, this hybrid serum will calm inflammation and gently resurface the skin.

We hope this helps! Thanks for reading~

Love,
The FaceTory Team <3