Pay Attention!

You should always pay attention to something… You should pay attention to cars when crossing a street, to angry dogs when they bark and seem to want to attack you and so on. But you should as well pay attention to several things with which your skin interacts while physical exercising. It could be your clothes, or your skin lotion that may trigger your acne’s growing more severe, but you may mistaken very often this cause with the most obvious thing you make, the physical effort.
But we’ve showed in the previous post that it is not the physical exercise that causes acne or acne breakouts. And we also promised a list of things to which you should pay attention before, when and after exercising.
So these things are:

• Don’t Wear Make-up!
You should always pay attention to this aspect and you should try to wear as little make-up as possible when exercising. You should not use either oil-free or non-comedogenic (non-pore-clogging) cosmetics, as they have the ability to clog your skin’s pores if worn during heavy physical exercise. You must as well wash as soon as possible, after you have done your working out.

• Wear Sunscreen, if Going Outdoors!
If you’re doing your physical exercises outdoors, you definitely must wear sunscreen. Although it has apparently a good result against acne, the sunlight is in fact a real enemy for your skin condition.
Studies show that prolonged exposure to sunlight promotes comedones or clogged pores, as much as sun damage. So, you must protect your skin and you should be also aware of the fact that there are some kinds of acne medication that make the skin even more sensitive to sunlight and in these cases a sunscreen is even more important.

When you choose a sunscreen, you should look for products that are oil-free and have also a protection factor of at least SPF 15 for both UVB and UVA rays. After you’re done with you exercises, you should wash immediately your skin because, similar to make-up, sunscreen could travel across your skin’s surface and lodge in the pores.

• Change Your Wet Clothes!
Although this seems to be a very old piece of advice, it is still true: you should not wear the wet clothes in which you made physical exercises, after you’ve finished training. No matter how you train yourself – treadmill, tennis court, trail or anywhere else – you should not sit around in your sweaty clothes or wet bathing suit after you’re done.
You should shower off immediately and change into dry clothes before going home. If this is not possible, you should at least change into dry clothes and wipe down as well as you can. When you towel the sweat off your face, you should always use a clean towel and rather blot gently than wipe. If you wipe vigorously, you will drive the make-up or sunscreen deeper into your skin’s pores and this is not a good thing.

So, these are three things to which you should pay attention. Although they don’t seem to be major secrets, most of us usually don’t take them seriously. And the stake is our skin’s health, and this makes them important…

Physical Exercises and Acne

Although many of us may think that physical exercises and the sweat they bring along cause the apparition or acne or its becoming more severe, this is totally wrong. Our workout is not causing our acne breakouts and it is in fact quite wrong to believe such thing.
The normal, moderate physical exercise is in fact good for our skin and it helps us maintain a healthy body and also mind, as it help us manage our daily stress levels. If we notice that physical exercises are aggravating our acne, we should check on our clothes and everything that gets in contact with our skin.

In general it is not the sweat or the physical exercise itself that is causing acne breakouts; it is something that we put on our body, or something that simply gets in contact with our skin that causes acne.
So if you suffer from so called physical exercise-related acne, try to check on these things and then to remove step by step these outside factors, and it is likely for you to notice that in fact the exercise-related acne is nothing else than a myth. But, if the effects persist, you should see a physician or a dermatologist to search for a cause.
So, although there is not such thing as physical exercise-related acne, there are some things you should watch for while doing your daily exercises. You will find them out during the next post.

Shaving and Acne - Myth and Reality

“Shaving bumps”. These are the words with which we usually call those spots that appear after shaving and that seem to be acne spots. The question that arises, however, is obviously whether this has anything to do with acne.
According to the studies, it appears that this skin issue is a tricky one, but fortunately it is not related to acne. The shaving bumps’ scientific name is Pseudofolliculitis barbae, so that even from its name one could realize that these bumps are not what they appear to be.
So, what are they after all? According to the studies, the shaving bumps are nothing else than the result of the inflammation from the hair follicle that the shaving is bringing along. As the hair starts growing back after its having been shaved (waxed or plucked), it gets trapped inside the follicle, which results in further irritation and swelling. So, if you experience shave bumps, don’t worry. It is not acne, but it should however draw your attention.
You won’t have to buy expensive treatment or so on for getting rid of the fake acne spots brought by shaving; you just have to become a “smart shaver”, that is to follow a few simple steps for preventing the breakouts.

On the other hand, if you haven’t yet suffered from shaving bumps, you should know that they could appear anytime. Anyone can get them, although they seem to be more common in people with curly hair.

So, the steps of smart shaving are the following:

• Warm Water
It is very important that before event starting shaving, your face must be well prepared for this process. The face, or in fact the area you want to shave, has to be previously washed with warm water. This “warm hydration” makes the skin more pliable, as the heat has dilated your blood vessels and blood flow has been this way brought to those areas. This is why for some people bringing shaving in the shower represents the best solution.

• The Right Shaving Cream
These tricky bumps appear also because of the shaving cream you use. The thinner and filmier the shaving cream is, the more it helps the shaving razor to glide over the skin and to reduce this way the potential or already existent irritation.

• The Right Shaving Razor
Similar to the shaving cream, you should also use the right razor. An electric razor is usually indicated, rather than an ordinary razor. The electric one is more efficient in coping with the shaving bumps because it doesn’t shave too close, and you are likely not to break out.
Anyway, if you prefer blade shaving, you should use a new single-blade razor each time you shave. The single one is indicated rather than the double- or triple-edged blades, because these ones lift the hair out of the follicles for a shave that is in fact bellow the epidermis. The epidermis grows over the opening of the follicle, as part of the skin’s natural healing process, and then, when the hair grows back, it has to fight to get out of the closed follicle, which is further causing an inflammatory response of the skin. So, this is why the double- or triple-edged razors become practically the enemies of the skin’s health.

• Shave “Down”
You must always remember that the closer you’ll shave, the more prone to acne your skin will be. You’ll get shaving bumps in just minutes! For avoiding this annoying problem, try to get into the habit of shaving with the grain, so that your blade could cut only the hair and not also the skin.
For most of the men and women, shaving with the grain means shaving down rather than up. This will help you get rid of the irritation and shaving bumps and may be helpful also with cuts and nicks too.

• The Right Toner
And for doing the right thing till the end, you should also use the right toner. This one should be a mild alcohol-free toner or an antibacterial gel that will kill the bacteria that determines the apparition of inflammation into the open follicles. You can also use benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid against the irritation and shaving bumps.

So, the so called shaving bumps are not acne. Still, they are very annoying and should be treated seriously. You should try to become a smart shaver and see whether the shaving bumps will disappear. If not, you should see a physician or a dermatologist, although you should never worry. Today, there are treatments and solutions for any type of skin problem.
However, we should mention that the shaving bumps represent a problem with which both men and women cope, because here shaving has the same effects as waxing or plucking. Furthermore, the shaving bumps could appear anywhere on you body.
Anyway, try to remember not to worry. Be smart, don’t worry!

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