Acne control tips

Having spent my teen years staring at a giant Ferrero Rocher in the mirror, I can safely attest that acne ain’t fun. Coupled with our country’s unforgiving heat and humidity, our faces are pretty much hotbeds for pimple parties, which is why a good skincare regime is important.

That said, if the usual facial wash routine isn’t cut out for you, perhaps it’s time to bring in the big guns. We’ve plucked out 7 less-known skincare tips to smoothen out those zits.

1. Consume more anti-inflammatory food like spearmint tea and fish

Sit tight cause Imma spill some tea. Instead of the usual bacterial acne, some of you actually suffer from hormonal acne, which means you should change the way you eat to alter your hormone levels.

A good way to do this is to consume more anti-inflammatory food. New studies suggest that drinking spearmint tea helps to decrease androgen – male hormones that contribute to acne in females.

Other anti-inflammatory foods include:

• Tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale
• Nuts 
• Fatty fish like salmon and mackerel
• Fruits like strawberries and blueberries

2. Watch out for food like kelp and milk products as they could trigger breakouts

Image credit: Natural Food Series

Next time you’re heading for sushi night, be sure to keep track of how much you’re eating. As much as we need our fill of nori, kelp, and tuna, they’re also rich in iodine. If taken in large doses, iodine can cause major flare-ups. 

That’s not to say you should avoid them completely. Just keep it to 150 micrograms daily to avoid iodine deficiency which can lead to muscle weakness and weight gain.

Another food you should be looking out for is dairy. While we love drinking milk and indulging in sinful cheese dishes, the hormones in milk can react with the testosterone in your own body. This increases the production of sebum in your skin, the oily substance that clogs your pores.

3. Wipe your phone screen before placing it against your face

If you’re one of those types that sleep with your phone glued to your face after speaking with bae, prepare for a rude awakening.

A study suggests that our phones have more bacteria than a public toilet as throughout the day, makeup, facial oils, and environmental toxins accumulate on our screens. With every call, we introduce these germs onto our skin, clogging our pores and leading to breakouts.

To solve this, simply clean your phone twice a day. To increase its effectiveness, use wipes that have antibacterial properties.

4. Avoid over-blotting your face as it leads to more oil secretion

Image credit: @greasegirl_gang

I get it: it’s extremely shiok to wipe your oily face with blotting paper and see the translucent sheet. That said, some of us can get a lil too carried away and end up wiping every hour.

This will dry out your skin, causing more sebum to be produced which of course, clogs your pores.

An alternative you can use is to steam your face as it loosens and expels clogged pores and blackheads, while hydrating your face.

5. Reduce our intake of sugary and processed food

With high-sugar and processed foods, it’s not just “moment on the lips, forever on the hips”. These foods have a high glycemic index (GI) which means when consumed, they’ll cause an immediate spike in blood sugar levels. 

To bring down these spikes, your body responds by producing androgen hormones, which further aggravate acne.

As such, you should incorporate low GI food, like soy products, pasta, and lentils, into your diet.

6. Treat acne with tea tree oil products

Of course, treating acne isn’t limited to just what you eat; it also includes the stuff you put on your face. And the best way to clear up acne is to use a product that contains the power ingredient of Tea Tree Oil.

Enter The Body’s Shop Tea Tree 3-in-1 Wash.Scrub.Mask that aims to fight blemished skin with a three-pronged approach: cleansing away excess oil, scrubbing and unclogging pores, and finally acting as a mask to mattify your complexion. The result: a blemish-free face! 

7. Keep your stress levels in check

When all is said and done, the journey to a healthy face begins with a healthy mind. Despite all the hurdles life throws at us, be sure to keep calm. Being stressed raises our cortisol levels as the body tries to regulate our blood pressure.

If your cortisol levels are too high, however, you’ll be susceptible to ailments like depression, heart diseases and of course acne.

So lead the Hakuna Matata life by resting well and getting lots of exercise, and smooth skin won’t be the only thing you’ll end up with.

Tip: You can also add a few drops of your tea tree oil to water in a spray bottle. Spritz it onto the yoga mat to wipe it down! 

Get blemish-free skin with The Body Shop’s Tea Tree range

Though acne is an age-old problem, The Body Shop might just be a step closer to cracking the code to clear skin with their Tea Tree range which encompasses many facial products like the 3-in-1 Wash.Scrub.Mask ($29.90) , Tea Tree Oil (from $19.90), and Anti-Imperfection Daily Solution ($32.90).

You’ll be getting ultra-potent tea tree oil in these small packages as they’re made from Kenyan leaves that have been steam-distilled within 12 hours of harvest, producing a high-quality yield that’s effective in treating blemishes. 

Tea tree oil is also highly lauded for its anti-bacterial properties – hence its usefulness in wiping down phones or yoga mats – so imagine how effective it is in ridding acne-causing bacteria off your face. 

What’s more, these products are 100% vegan so use ‘em to your heart’s content without guilt looming over you.

Find out more about The Body Shop’s Tea Tree range here!

This post was brought to you by The Body Shop.