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In The Clear: Top Ten Acne-fighting Tips
Props to Essence.com

Zits, blem­ishes, spots, pimples–let’s face it, we’ve all bro­ken out at one time or another. And in our quest for Joy Bryant-esque clear skin, we’ve done every­thing from dab­bing tooth­paste on our zits to swear­ing off choco­late and French fries. Although there isn’t one defin­i­tive pimple-curing treat­ment or pre­scrip­tion, if you’re armed with the right infor­ma­tion, a flaw­less com­plex­ion doesn’t have to be a fan­tasy! Here, we rounded up the top ten expert tips on how to pre­vent and treat stub­born break­outs, for good.

Ban­ish Bac­te­ria
Bac­te­ria, oils and other zit-causing grime linger on makeup brushes, cell phones, pil­low cases (how often do you change them?) and the head scarf you use to wrap your hair at night. To avoid break­outs, make sure you clean them reg­u­larly. Wipe down hard surfaces.

Scrub-a-Dub
“Wash­ing and scrub­bing more fre­quently will not help your skin—it’ll only irri­tate it,” says der­ma­tol­o­gist Dr. Ken­neth Beer. “Cleans­ing your face twice a day is suf­fi­cient for most peo­ple.” He rec­om­mends using a cleanser with sal­i­cylic acid, gly­colic acid or both, like Neu­tro­gena Oil-Free Acne Wash ($6.39)

Wel­come Matte
When select­ing prod­ucts to use on your fave, always avoid for­mu­las con­tain­ing cocoa but­ter, shea but­ter, petro­la­tum, min­eral oil and peanut oil—these ingre­di­ents can cause pores, cre­at­ing major acne. New York City der­ma­tol­o­gist Rose­marie Ingle­ton also sug­gests using makeup that‘s labeled non-comedogenic (does not block pores) and oil-free. “Also, liq­uid foun­da­tions are bet­ter than com­pacts,” she says. A mat­ti­fier like Peter Thomas Roth Max Anti-Shine Mat­ti­fy­ing Gel ($35) will soak up any oil and remove shine for hours.

Nat­ural Woman
When it comes to fight­ing zits, Anas­ta­sia Soare, estheti­cian and owner of Anas­ta­sia Bev­erly Hills, says, “I love using home reme­dies that my mother passed down.” Here’s her rem­edy for get­ting rid of facial and body acne: Squeeze half a lemon in a bowl and mix in one egg white. Then, apply the mix­ture on top of the affected area for up to five min­utes. This mask will dry up even the worst acne on face and body.

Out, Damn Spot!
If you have an inflamed pim­ple that’s scream­ing for some TLC, “try apply­ing some ben­zoyl per­ox­ide gel, or sal­i­cylic acid gel on the inflamed area,” says Dr. Ingle­ton. Intraceu­ti­cals Clar­ity Blem­ish Repair Pen ($89) con­tains a pow­er­ful blend of these ingre­di­ents and is designed with a replace­able tip to reduce daily con­t­a­m­i­na­tion. “If the pim­ple is very large and painful,” says Dr. Ingle­ton, “your der­ma­tol­o­gist can inject it with a cor­ti­sone solu­tion to reduce the size overnight.”

No Pop­ping!
We know, we know…popping pim­ples is so tempt­ing. But before you even think about doing it, book an appoint­ment with your der­ma­tol­o­gist or esthetician—fast. “Squeez­ing your pim­ple causes fur­ther inflam­ma­tion and will always result in a dark spot,” warns Dr. Rose­marie Ingle­ton. “Instead, have your derm per­form an extrac­tion using a spe­cial tool that removes all the con­tent with­out induc­ing more inflammation.”

Hair Help
Your hair­style can some­times con­tribute to facial acne. If the oil and dirt from your bangs have caused pim­ples on your fore­head, now’s the time to pull it back! Or, try switch­ing to styling prod­ucts con­tain­ing nat­ural oils that won’t clog pores, like Kairos Anti-Acne Hair Care Trio ($60), a unique sys­tem that clears blem­ishes and helps to pre­vent future break­outs while cleans­ing and detox­i­fy­ing hair – leav­ing it shiny, silky, and residue-free.

Spa Day
Stress is one of the main causes of break­outs, so clear your pores and your head at the spa. Our new fave? Fix Mal­ibu Medispa, a gor­geous new med­ical spa over­look­ing the Mal­ibu pier. Try the Fix Zit Facial or the Hydra Facial, which cleans pores with sal­i­cylic acid and pain­lessly sucks out the debris with a gen­tle lit­tle vac­uum (not as medieval as it sounds, we promise).

Fruits & Veg­gies
There’s no med­ically proven fact that choco­late and soda cause acne, but it is proven than eat­ing healthy pro­motes flaw­less look­ing skin. “Healthy skin starts from the inside out,” says Dr. Howard Murad. “When it comes to tak­ing care of your skin, you have to take care of the whole body.” He rec­om­mends eat­ing col­or­ful raw fruits and veg­eta­bles, which con­tain good-for-your-skin antiox­i­dant and anti-inflammatory ben­e­fits. Also, try sup­ple­ments con­tain­ing vit­a­min A and Zinc to reduce skin irritation.

Lighten Up
Now that you’re rid of the zit, you’re tor­tured by the scar it left behind! Dr. Murad rec­om­mends cur­ing hyper­pig­men­tated spots with prod­ucts that con­tain light­en­ing ingre­di­ents like hydro­quinone. Try Murad Acne Post-Acne Spot Light­en­ing Gel ($60).

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