It is that time of the month again. And along with your period, sometimes breakouts pop up on your face too.
Why?
Period breakouts are basically hormonal breakouts. This type of breakout is caused by a change in hormones that happens just before or around the same time as your period.
That is why period acne usually shows up the week before or the week of your period. You might also notice that acne seems to clear up after your period finishes.
Why Do I Get Period Breakouts?
The reason that period acne happens is that two types of hormones - estrogen and progesterone - drop the week before your period. And more importantly, testosterone levels increase.
Testosterone is a hormone that influences how much oil your skin makes. More testosterone means more oil! This means your skin, for a short amount of time, creates more sebum/oil, leading to hormonal acne.
What Not to Do About Hormonal Acne
Helping your skin heal from breakouts is the same, no matter the cause of acne. Here are three things that you should never do to hormonal acne!
- Pick and Squeeze Breakouts
Do not pick at your breakouts. This makes your skin even more irritated and inflamed. It also means that you can leave dark spots behind on the skin.
- Forget to Remove Makeup
Leaving makeup on your skin is a sure way to stop the healing process. Meaning your breakouts stick around for longer.
- Overwashing Your Face
Washing your face too frequently does not help clear acne. In fact, it can make breakouts worse by damaging an important part of your skin: the moisture barrier. This moisture barrier protects skin from outside bacteria and irritation and helps the skin to heal.
How to Help Heal Hormonal Acne
One ingredient that’s amazing in every way for reducing acne is salicylic acid. It brings more than one benefit to your skin for getting rid of acne - even the hormonal kind.
- Reduces Inflammation
Salicylic has the power to reduce inflammation and redness, making hormonal acne less itchy and uncomfortable and helping it heal. Getting rid of inflammation also lowers the chance that your acne will leave a dark spot behind.
- Dissolves Excess Sebum
Salicylic acid dissolves oil on your skin. This helps your skin look less shiny and greasy. And reduces clogged pores by dissolving blackheads and pore blockages.
- Gets Rid of Dead Skin Cells
Dead skin cells make skin feel rough and look dull. Dead skin also blocks pores and creates acne. As an exfoliant, salicylic acid sweeps the dead skin away to lower any chances of dead skin cells clogging pores and leading to more breakouts.
Takeaway
Period breakouts may be uncomfortable, but that does not mean you cannot do anything about them. Salicylic acid is the perfect skincare ingredient to reduce hormonal breakouts and clear your skin! Add it to your daily skincare routine.
