Tween Acne and Irritated Skin

Your tween is starting to develop blackheads and mild pimples, so you head out to the drug store and buy him an acne cleanser. And he is actually using it!

Everything is going great until your tween starts to complain about dry skin. That's when you notice the redness and irritation.

Tween skin is still young and sensitive, so many of the acne cleansers available can irritate their skin. What's a parent to do?

If OTC acne products are drying out your tween's skin, try this:

• Try a salicylic acid cleanser, rather than benzoyl peroxide. Salicylic acid can be less drying to tween skin than benzoyl peroxide.
• Have your tween use an acne cleanser only at night, and a non-medicated cleanser in the morning.
• Don't forget the moisturizer! The moisturizer you use isn't the best choice for your tween. Instead, get him a non-medicated, oil-free and noncomedogenic brand. Hypo-allergenic and fragrance free is a plus. (I personally love Purpose, but shop around to find one that suits your tween. She's more likely to use it if she likes it.)
• If your tween's skin is excessively irritated, stop using the product. Give your doctor a call if the reaction seems severe, or your child's skin isn't improving even after discontinuing use.

More About Tween Acne:

• A Parent's Guide to Teen Acne
• Keep Your Tween's Acne Mild
• Talking to Your Tween About Acne

via acne.about.com

Having a couple 'tweens' who are almost teens, I know all about this. Great tips to read.

Posted via web from makeupforacne's posterous

Makeup for Acne: Does it hurt or help?

Having battled acne all my life, I am always on the lookout for makeup for acne that will help conceal my blemishes without making them worse.  I have tried everything from specific acne makeup to a whole variety of budget and luxury brands.  As a result, I have a good knowledge of what works and what does not.

One of the first questions acne sufferers ask is whether they can wear makeup at all.  Dermatologists usually recommend to their patients that they refrain from using any makeup.  Others tell them to only use hypoallergenic brands, like Almay or Clinique.  In fact, you can use makeup if you are careful about the ingredients in the product and how you use them.

In order to help you choose what makeup to buy, here are a few tips on what will make your acne worse and what ingredients might even help your acne.

Avoid these types of products:

• Heavy, greasy lotions or creams.  No petroleum jelly!
• Anything with lanolin derivatives.  Look for words with lanolin in the name.
• Products with isopropyl myristate, a deceptive-sounding pore-clogger
• Shiny, glittery makeup.  The glitter can get stuck in your pores.
• Makeup with strong fragrances

If you are not already using a topical acne medication, look for these ingredients:

• Benzoyl peroxide.  This kills bacteria and dries out blemishes.
• Salicylic acid.  This ingredient exfoliates dead skin cells to help heal blemishes.
• Tea Tree oil.  A natural ingredient, this kills some bacteria.

Some products contain ingredients that are soothing to inflamed skin with acne or antioxidants to protect the skin from the environment, like Vitamin E, aloe vera, and green tea extract.  If you do not have an allergy to these ingredients then you should consider them an added bonus.

Learn to read labels on any makeup you buy so that you can avoid ingredients that clog your pores.  I have listed out a number of acne makeup ingredients to avoid that were ranked by the Acne Research Institute on my Makeup for Acne website.

In addition, I regularly review popular and new makeup products that are supposed to be good for acne prone skin.  You can read these on my Makeup for Acne website also to find some product recommendations.

Good luck and don't worry about concealing your acne.  Go right ahead!