Raising a teenager can be very challenging, especially if your child suffers from acne. We put together this tip sheet to help you guide your teen down the path to natural acne relief. These tips work great for overall skin health for adults too so we recommend making this a family affair!
Being a teenager is hard enough with clear skin, but the reality is that 85% of teens in America suffer some form of acne. Teen acne can leave both physical and emotional scars. Teen’s are already battling crazy hormonal fluctuations. Taking these few steps can help make navigating the halls of high school a little bit easier.
1.Bottom’s Up (we’re talking about water!)
Hydration not only keeps skin moisturized but it allows the body to flush out toxins. Our skin is our largest organ and like the rest of our bodies, it is made up largely of water. Dehydration can lead to dry and itchy skin. It is important to always have water accessible, we recommend Healthy Human water bottles for teens on the go as they keep water cold or tea warm all day long! And they come in tons of colors so teens can express their individuality while hydrating!
2. Get on the Oil Cleansing Train:
Washing your face with traditional cleansers and scrubbing it with harsh towels strips the skin of healthy oils. These healthy oils keep the pH of the skin balanced. So, by scrubbing these healthy oils off, it may be causing more harm than good. FATCO’s Oil Cleanser actually dissolves the oils, it’s science. #Fact. Cleansing Oil washes away the dirty oils and replaces them with clean, healthy oils. Get more information on Oil Cleansing here.
Along with healthy oils, using traditional cleansers has destroyed the good bacteria in our skin. That’s right, there are good types of bacteria! We recently found this AO Mist from Mother Dirt that is super easy to use and it contains Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria (one of those good bacterias we mentioned).
3. Catch Some ZZZ’s
Not only does more sleep help keep teens focused in class, it is also instrumental to skin health. Teens need to be getting 8+ hours of sleep a night. While sleeping, the body rehydrates the skin and fights off inflammation. Many acne issues are caused from internal infl ammation restricting the body from properly removing toxins. Sleeping allows the body to recover and focus all of its energy towards healing the skin and looking pretty!
Adding a couple sprays of magnesium oil to each foot before bedtime will help you to get an even deeper, more restful sleep. Magnesium calms nerves and reduces anxieties allowing for a peaceful nights rest. Replenishing your magnesium stores via topical application will also help to fight body odor, because nobody wants to be the smelly kid!
4. Eat Real Food (Nom Nom Nom!)
Teaching teens the importance of fueling their body with real food will not only help them in the fight against acne, it will set them up for success in college when they are on their own. Eating a clean diet reduces internal inflammation helping the body to function efficiently. Maintaining a clean diet also reduces the amount of toxins in the body. One way the body removes toxins is through sweat. This toxin filled sweat sits on a lot of teens skin for hours after gym class. Acne doesn’t happen because of sweat, acne happens in part due to the toxins in your sweat. The less toxins t hat are consumed, the cleaner the body will sweat and the better your skin will look and feel!
Many foods and medications cause damage and inflammation in the gut. Adding a daily probiotic to the menu will help restore the healthy bacteria in the gut and ensure future gut health. While many high schools have made great progress towards providing healthier lunches, we highly recommend bringing food from home. This also alleviates the stress of trying to make healthy food choices in the cafeteria. We’ll talk about the importance of stress reduction soon!
5. Use Natural Make Up and remove it all before bed!
Whether it’s homecoming, prom or just a regular day at school, putting on makeup is part of many teen girls’ morning routine. Unfortunately, many brands of concealers and foundation can actually make acne worse by covering their skin with dangerous chemicals. Thankfully, there are more and more all-natural makeup lines out there for teens to use, like Araza Beauty, Simplicity Cosmetics and Au Naturale Cosmetics.
Two other quick makeup tips are to always remove makeup before going to bed and clean your makeup brushes every week. Oil cleansing is great because in addition to cleaning your skin, it also is amazing for removing eye makeup (talk about a Double Duty product!). Going to bed with clean skin will allow your skin to heal and re-hydrate throughout the night.
6. Chill Out:
Teens are already experiencing hormonal fluctuations and additional stress can increase the production of the stress hormone (cortisol) which in turn increase oil production causing breakouts. Exercise is a key way to burn off some of that cortisol and helps teens rela-a-a-a-a-a-x. Sleep is also key to keeping stress low.
Implementing these changes will take some time to get used to, but the wait is worth avoiding the dangerous side effects of chemical based treatments. Fighting acne the natural way will leave teens with healthy skin and help set good habits for their future. Who doesn’t want clear skin to keep those snapchats on point?!
