How to Simplify Skin Care and Get Better Skin: Getting Rid of Acne with Ease

Acne. It was likely more popular in your high school yearbook than the captain of the football team. But now that you’re older, wiser and scores more sophisticated, the occasional pimple is no longer a pubescent right-of-passage – rather it’s often an embarrassment.

In part one of this series, we covered how a preventative diet and simple skincare regimen can help thwart Father Time’s handiwork on your skin. That’s right, you needn't a medicine cabinet filled to the brim with a ton of skincare products – just a few of the right ones and the right diet. The same is true for beating acne.

Today, we’re letting you in on a little secret: your diet and skincare habits are making you break out. The good news, friends, is that you’re in charge of your acne destiny.

Here’s your quick no-no list in the food category: loading up on cookies, white bread, chips and other cheat-day staples will send your insulin spiking straight through your epidermis. These are what we call high-glycemic foods, in that your body breaks them down really quickly and they don’t ultimately do much good for you.

What you really want is that sweet, slow release from whole grains, beans, nuts and vegetables. The beta-carotenes in fruits (dark berries especially) and veggies (spinach!) naturally help reduce skin oils, and omega-3 fatty acids in fish and walnuts help settle inflammation. There’s also the secret weapon in your battle for smooth skin: zinc. Lean red meat is full of it; so are oysters, which are also nature’s aphrodisiac so hey, two birds.

Diet plays a significant role in acne proliferation, true. But let’s be real, it’s not the only contributor (plus we can’t be perfect all the time – ice cream is delicious). Your defense? You’ll want a skin care regimen that picks up the slack and keeps pimples at bay. And again, you want to think simple with products that help you maintain a healthy oil balance and keep your pores open.

CLEANSER

Salicylic acid and green tea extracts cool the skin after a stressful activity like a workout, and also deliver the cleanse it needs. In a pinch, pick up a cleansing pad that uses natural ingredients to get deep into your pores and keep them bacteria free without disrupting the oil needed to maintain healthy skin. When you can though, always opt for a deeper cleanse using a cleanser with those same beneficial ingredients – salicylic acid and green tea.

FORTIFIER

Facial masks are an effective way to heal and tighten your skin. Oily skin can benefit greatly from a clay-based mask composed of naturally occurring minerals and plant extracts that help draw out impurities.

STRENGTHENER

You’ve cleansed it and extracted the impurities, now you have to support your skin with a skin-strengthening toner. Using minerals, stone extracts and green tea extracts will calm skin irritation and redness, and leave it properly hydrated.

In the final part of this series, we’ll dive into the diet secrets behind keeping your skin hydrated and the simple solutions you can use to prevent the dreaded chap.