Moisturizing Acne Prone Skin? Counter Intuitive, right? Wrong!
I first heard about the importance of hydrating and moisturizing acne prone skin from my sister. She went to a dermatologist, who said her skin was actually dehydrated and needed moisture to help her breakouts.
"What?", we said, "Moisture for acne? Won’t that make it worse?" We had been using products to keep oil at bay, like an astringent toner and cleansers/spot treatments designed to dry up and treat our breakouts.
The dermatologist explained that acne occurs when skin produces excess oil and pores get clogged, skin gets inflamed and breakouts occur.
Ok, we knew that ... but he explained that additional oil production can also be your skin’s response to dryness and dehydration - so it will produce more oil to try to keep skin balanced. And more oil leads to more clogged pores and …. more breakouts.
And then BAM! You are in a break-out loop de loop.
So one way of halting the cycle of breakouts is to use a moisturizer that provides hydration as well as emollients to lock in hydration from your entire skincare routine.
Moisturizers such as water-based creams or gels that are "non comodegenic" i.e. they don't contain ingredients that can potentially clog pores. And moisturizers that do not have added chemicals, fragrance and filler ingredients which can also trigger breakouts, redness or other sensitivities.
This is were Korean moisturizers come in. Korean brands provide a variety of light, sooting moisturizers with non comedogenic (non pore clogging) formulations, and hydrating ingredients to nourish troubled skin.
Moisturizers like:
- Dr. G R.E.D. Clear Soothing Blemish Cream
- AXIS-Y Heartleaf My Type Cream
- Cosrx Centella Blemish Cream.
So, if you have acne prone skin, don't be afraid to lean into moisture - and check out SLB for moisturizer recommendations here.