How To Get Rid Acne - Part 1

Let me start off by addressing the title gore. I hate to break it to you, but no… you cannot get rid of acne overnight with black magic. Sorry to disappoint.

Here’s the thing, there is no one-size-fits-all product or pill that’ll get rid of your acne overnight (except perhaps, the nuclear option: Accutane. Anyone else that tells you otherwise, is a lying sac of balls. The sooner you realize that, the faster you’ll clear your skin.

Don’t let your insecurities con you into believing what you want to hear. This world is FILLED with deceptive marketing, and quite frankly… with the sole purpose of making $$$.

And the saddest part is that only a handful of those worked. Learn from my mistakes, follow the guidelines I will list here, and you should clear your acne in no time, In shaa Allah. I have made all the mistakes so you don’t have to. I am here to help you. I also study from many trusted sources too.

Change Your Mentality Right Now.

Skincare isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. Treating acne will require patience, time, and dedication. More is not necessarily better. Often is the case, that less is more.

Just remember that consistent skincare effort paired with the right products for your unique skin, will do more for you than any magical lotion or potion promising to “cure your acne overnight” — whatever that means.

Note the emphasis on UNIQUE SKIN.

Ever wonder why a product on online can have several thousand 5 star reviews, as well as hundreds of 1 stars? It’s because everyone’s skin is different. What works brilliantly for one person may not for another, and that’s for a whole host of reasons (e.g. genetics, environment, the acid mantle, hormones, skin type, sometimes diet etc.)

If this weren’t the case, we’d all be like those amazing people who can go weeks without showering, leave it sitting for a couple days, then cleanse with a baking-soda-poison-ivy infused face wash and still have GORGEOUS skin that’s never tasted the existence of a pimple! Those lucky sons of bees!

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little… but you get the point right. There are people out there that literally do nothing for their skin and still have a baby’s ass on their face (Aishh, they're sooo lucky :p)

The takeaway.

Everyone is unique. Some people have bad skin that requires multiple products; some people have great skin that requires minimal products; there’s sensitive skin, oily skin, dry skin, blemish-prone, dehydrated, balanced, aging skin, elephant skin, cheetah skin — you name it, and it probably exists!

So if a person comes up to you and says, “HEY! ERH MY GAWD! I found the natural MAGIC potion secret sauce for overnight flawless skin and it only costs $100,000!!!!”

With that said, let’s go into some time-tested, scientifically verified, clinically-sound routines, ingredients, and advice that’ll lay a strong foundation for building a skincare routine to clear your acne in no time.

These 3 steps are all you need! They will realistically clear up 90 to 95% of people. And if they don’t eradicate your acne completely, then there’s a few additional steps you can implement which will get you there. I will include these too. Let’s start!

Step 1: The Cleanse.

Pretty self-explanatory.  You gotta clean your face. However, the type of cleanser you do that with is very important! You want a gentle, not-drying, pH balanced cleanser.

To make this easier for everyone, I’ve provided a list of great cleansers (including some of my favorite) that are very well tolerated, and most importantly — pH-balanced!

I have found all of these to be gentle, yet cleanse well enough without stripping the natural oils from the face (yes, those are important). These will go a long way in maintaining the health of the moisture barrier.

Step #2: Treat.

This is where the bulk of the magic happens in terms of clearing acne. The idea is to use something that will actively treat and prevent breakouts. Simply cleaning your face isn’t enough to get rid of your pimples all on its own (for most people).

You’re gonna need some heavy duty active ingredients to come in and do the heavy lifting. 

Now, I don’t want to overwhelm you here… but you have A LOT of options! Think of it as a good thing. To try and make this part as simple to understand as I possibly can, I’ve provided a mega-list of ingredients and products that treat acne.

Step 3: Moisturize.

Finding a good moisturizer that doesn’t break you out is honestly one of the hardest freakin’ parts about treating acne. If you can find one, you’re golden and more than halfway there! For most people this is what makes or breaks their routines.

So why do we have to moisturize?

Because treating skin with active ingredients can be quite irritating. We need to counteract this by replenishing our moisture barrier with support products.

By the way, that’s what Asian beauty is all about: moisturizing. If you’re unfamiliar with Asian skincare, you might know it as those crazy 10+ step routines you’ve seen on the TV or internet. Interestingly enough, almost every step in those routines focus on providing hydration in some form or another.

And it clearly works. Take a look at how incredible people’s skin is when they follow those guidelines — it’s because they primarily focus on the protective and moisturizing aspect of their skincare routines; treatment comes second.

Contrary to westernized advise, you don’t want to kill your acne by drying it. Trust me when I say this. Acne has to be killed gently. This means no lemon juice, no baking soda masks, no harsh scrubs etc. None of that. 

Just remember this : damaged skin has less ability to fight acne, so you want to baby your skin as much as possible, reduce irritation wherever you can, and be above all else — be gentle.

One final note on this : me saying this isn’t just mere hearsay. Studies have shown that a moisturizing routine treats acne faster and with less side effects than a drying one.

I'll repost about this again once I know which products are the most raved about by people especially for Asian skin types, weather, surrounding, etc.