Say Goodbye To Acne

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Say Goodbye To Acne

Save 10% when you bundle!

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Best Active Ingredients to Fight Acne – Salicylic Acid

May 3, 2018

What is Salicylic Acid?

We remember right around the time we were 13, getting our first pimple. Like a REAL pimple. Must like the rest of our youth, what to do about it was a mystery. At the time, we raided our older sister’s drawers and put some drug store bought ointment on it and prayed it would magically go away. (It didn’t).  Instead, more of its friends showed up for the party and so, we thought… AH! We must wash our face more often! We must scrub at it harshly, get the dirt off and NEVER EVER MOISTURIZE.  Our poor little, glorious youthful skin. What a beating it took.

Only after years of schooling and a dedication to clear skin did we learn what actually causes acne… stress, hormones, genetics, lifestyle… and the list goes on. And in order to control it, there are very proven, safe, topical ingredients everyone can use to prevent acne from forming in the first place. But knowing what those ingredients are and which ingredient is best for YOUR skin type is a process that also requires dedication and consistency.  Lucky for you, we have been doing this for 30+ years and can help you figure that out.

So in order to help you make sense of what ingredient does what, and which might be best for YOU, we have created a blog series which analyzes each active ingredient we use in our products, in the hopes that you will be better informed about which you think is best for your skin and which you might want to try out.

ENJOY!

First up… Salicylic Acid

Salicylic acid is an effective topical treatment for preventing pimples for all skin types. It’s structure and activity on the skin make it a great tool for fighting acne breakouts.

Remember that acne is caused from the retention of dead skin cells in the hair follicles. When oil and dead skin cells get trapped in the hair follicles, bacteria will move in and that makes your body produce a pimple to fight off the infection.

The structure of salicylic acid makes it a beta hydroxy acid. This means the hydroxy part of the molecule is separated from the acid part by two carbon atoms, as opposed to an alpha hydroxy acid (like glycolic acid) where they’re separated by only one carbon atom. This structure is important because it makes salicylic acid more oil soluble so it can go farther into the hair follicles of the skin.

Once it gets into the hair follicles the acid part of the molecule dissolves some of the intercellular ‘glue’ that holds dead skin cells together. In contrast, alpha hydroxy acids end up just exfoliating your skin when they touch the surface.

Salicylic acid is considered a keratolytic medication, which means that it’s perfect for supreme exfoliation for all skin types. Salicylic acid also loosens and breaks apart desmosomes (attachments between cells in the outer layer of skin). This ‘desmolytic’ action encourages exfoliation of the skin surface and unclogging of hair follicles. It can also reduce sebum secretion, which is another way it can help reduce acne. Finally, it’s also an anti-inflammatory, which helps calm inflamed acne.Salicylic acid works well for blackheads and smaller whiteheads when used alone.

We often add salicylic acid under either benzoyl peroxide or sulfur to fight larger pimples and cystic acne.  By layering topical medications the effectiveness of treatment increases dramatically.

For those without acne breakouts, salicylic is ideal as well – especially for more mature skin. It’s always good to exfoliate the skin’s surface daily in order to see newer skin cells sooner and that’s what salicylic does…. gently!

So for both those groups of people who suffer from acne and/or aging skin, salicylic acid could work for you.

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