Skin breakouts can feel untamable. They arrive suddenly and stick around like a bad guest. It’s not fair, is it? But it also doesn’t have to be unmanageable. Good skin routines should be built into your everyday habits. 

While there are reactionary steps you can take to combat an outbreak, the best method approach is to give your skin what it needs to be healthy before the acne ever rears its ugly head. 

In this article, we take a look at regular habits you can use to keep breakouts at bay. 

Rethink Your Pillow

Most people spend ⅓ of their lives sleeping. That's over 6-8 hours a night with your face on the pillow. Wouldn’t you want the best for yourself?  Quality matters. 

Our pillowcases are made from real silk. This results in less friction which causes reduced skin irritation. Silk also doesn’t absorb skin oils the same way that cotton or other common materials might. This will decrease your skin’s exposure to bacteria over time. 

Silk can also reduce dryness through its moisture absorption properties, and eliminate allergic reactions because of its hypoallergenic tendencies. 

It’s a potentially simple fix to a complex problem. 

Good Face Hygiene

While acne is not an indication of poor hygiene, good hygiene can certainly help alleviate its symptoms. To fight back against acne effectively:

• Wash your face. Washing your face at least twice a day can help reduce bacteria on your skin. This may help reduce acne over time. 
• Avoid touching your skin. It’s tempting to pick at pimples, and certainly, it is easy to rest your hand on your cheek or scratch at an itch throughout the day. While these behaviors are normal, they can aggravate acne by increasing the bacteria/ oil content of your skin. 
• Wash your hair regularly. This is particularly influential for people with long hair that makes contact with their face. Hair can get oily just like your skin, creating more surface bacteria from which acne can proliferate. 

While this may sound like a lot to take on, good skin hygiene can be accomplished quickly with planning. Daily showers will take care of most of the work. An extra five minutes of washing your face at some point in the day will do the rest. 

What is often described as “the Mediterranean diet” has been shown to reduce acne through its high omega-3 content. However, it’s important to understand that everyone’s body reacts a little differently to the dietary component of skin health.

What works well for one person might trigger a breakout in someone else. Consider keeping a food diary to monitor what foods have consistently resulted in good results. Cross-reference those notes with what ingredients play an active role in the foods that create good/bad results. Through note-taking, you might notice that very carby or processed foods trigger outbreaks, while fresh, single-ingredient foods do not. 

Many people see it as a last resort. Dermatologists are expensive and inconvenient. While you may feel attracted to the idea of combatting your acne holistically, you should keep in mind that in certain cases, skin issues are time-sensitive. 

Bad acne outbreaks can leave behind scarring that never goes away. Early dermatological intervention can prevent that. It won’t be free but:

• Insurance should cover at least some of it. Not all dermatological care is covered by standard insurance policies, but aspects of your acne treatment should be. 
• The costs aren’t permanent. For most people acne, once treated by a dermatologist, is not a lifelong concern. There is a chance that the treatment your doctor provides you will be just a bump on the road toward sustainable skin health. 

Even if dermatologists are a more permanent feature of your life, the money you spend there might well be proportionate to what you were spending on cover-up, and other less productive acne treatment methods. 

Be Confident. Be Your Beautiful Self

All this talk of eradicating acne from your face may have the unintended consequence of sending insecurities into overdrive. Don’t let it. Feel confident in the way you look now, even as you develop a strategy to achieve the look you want in the future. 

Everyone has aspects of their body that they would change if they could. Usually, we are our own harshest critics. Wanting to improve your skin condition is a good goal. While you do it, however, it’s important to remember that are beautiful just the way you are. Go out into the world full of confidence, knowing that one feature does not define you.  

Check out the other benefits of silk on our blog!