Additional Tips to Get Rid of Acne Faster

These are not required, but in my opinion WILL significantly speed up your progress! Don’t avoid these, and try to hit as many of them as possible. If had to pick the most important tips from this section they would numbers 1, 3, 5, 9 and if you’re brave enough — 4.

1. Reduce irritation whenever possible.

This can be done in many ways. For example, say you are using benzoyl peroxide and it’s drying out your skin immensely. Try applying it after your moisturizer; this will provide a buffer, slow down the penetration, and increase the time it takes to reach its end point.

If you want to reduce its irritation even further, do “contact therapy” — in other words, put it on your face, let it dry, then wash it off before proceeding with the rest of your skincare routine. Doing so will only slightly decrease it’s effectiveness. 

If contact therapy works for you, THEN DO THAT! There is no reason you should be adding more into your routine if it doesn’t have to be there. “If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it,” as they say.

Example #2: say you decided to opt out for Stridex or Paula’s Choice BHA, but are finding your skin is dry and tight. Try using the COSRX BHA instead. It’s more hydrating, gentle, and in my humble opinion — works better anyway.

I’ll give one more example. Are you finding that your skin is dry after your morning cleanse? Try a more hydrating cleanser, or skip the morning cleanse altogether and see if that doesn’t work. There are so many ways of doing this. None of them are wrong. Just experiment, and try to reduce irritation wherever you see fit.

2. Add a hyaluronic acid toner.

My favourite is the Hada Labo Rohto Gokujyun HA Lotion. This is such a basic product, but a great way to add some serious hydration into your routine. The Hada Labo Hyaluronic Acid Lotion includes three different types of hyaluronic acid.

Hyaluronic acid is a power humectant capable of holding 1000 times its water weight. It hydrates the skin by drawing water from the environment and dermis (deeper layer of skin), and significantly speeds up the wound healing process. 

3. Clean up the diet.

Reduce your intake of dairy, gluten (barley, rye, oat, wheat, spelt), poly unsaturated fatty acids (e.g. canola oil, corn oil, nuts etc.), and glycemic-rich foods (e.g. white rice). All of these have been implicated in systemic inflammation or acne. 

But more importantly, focus on your gut health! The easiest hack for curing digestive problems, which will as a result clear up skin immensely, is by taking high quality probiotics. I'll write an extensive guide all about probiotic supplementation for treating a wide array of skin issues and concerns. Check it out! I’m serious. Probiotics did more for my skin than most skincare products I have ever tried. I cannot recommend them enough. 

And lastly on the subject of nutrition, make sure you’re not vitamin D deficient. Best way to get it: sunshine! Yes, sun protection is important, and will go a long way in preventing skin aging, but remember that avoiding the sun altogether increases all causes of mortality (e.g. heart disease, cancer)! 

You only need about 600 IU of vitamin D a day, which is roughly 15 minutes of sun exposure. Of course, this will vary depending on your location, altitude, and overcast. I like to use an app called “dminder,” which allows you to track all of the above to let you know approximately how much vitamin D you generated. Here’s a screenshot:

4. Eat beef liver. Wait what????

Yes, this true. Beef liver is the most nutritiously dense food on planet earth. In case you didn’t know, vitamin A will DESTROY your acne. Ever wonder what Accutane is? A.k.a what I called the “nuclear option” at the last post that I'd updated before. It’s just a synthetic metabolite of vitamin A : lots of it.

Other natural sources of vitamin A include organ meats, egg yolks, grassfed butter and cream, salmon, and cod liver oil (among others).

5. Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to stop thinking about your acne as something to hammer away at. Acne is strange in the sense that it has to be killed with kindness. Find ways to moisturize your skin deeply.

6. Exercise.

Stop being a fatty. It’s good for your overall health, and sweat produces lactic acid (good for skin) as a byproduct of energy depletion. 

7. Change your pillow cases often.

Nuff said.

8. BE GENTLE WITH YOUR SKIN.

Your skin does not serve you; you serve your skin! Imagine you just had a baby, and someone glued it to your face. Treat it accordingly.

9. Avoid stress.

Pssssh, yeah. Easier said than done. But uh… avoid that stuff. It’s not good. 

Here are some ideas: listen to music, write music, paint, go to a park, take a hiking adventure, write a poem or letter to someone you hold dear, do some deep breathing exercising, get a massage, talk to friends, make yourself a nice dinner, watch a good movie or T.V. show…. Stranger Things, anyone?

Final Words.

I’m going to leave you all with a quote from a woman I absolutely admire. She said what I want to convey better than I ever could.

“I’ve learned that you pretty much have to let acne runs its course. If you get a breakout, there’s only so much you can do until your skin pushes the blockage out on its own. Topical skin care products definitely help to refine your skin, but only to a certain extent. Along with acne treatments, you just have to figure out what other things you can do to make your skin happy. You have to be calm (not-frustrated or angry), level-headed (mind-over-matter), and even somewhat scientific about treating your acne.”—Skinacea

I hope you’ve enjoyed this and found it useful. With love.

Very warmly,

— Farhana Salleh

I got nothing witty to say this time. Just, please share this. It could change someone’s life :)