How to prevent your skin from breaking out

Over the years I've learned a lot about ingredients and products that truly work for my skin, but I have also learned about things I did daily, that didn't have to do with skincare, and how those affected my skin.

This post isn't going to be product-orientated, if you're looking for that you can read my 5 easy tips to take care of oily skin or the 10 K-beauty products to try if you have oily skin. 

This post is about those little things we do all the time, every day, that are little by little doing harm to our skin.

After years of battling with my skin after the Rouccutane treatment, I started to actually pay attention to it, and rather than trying t fix something when it appeared, I wanted to understand why those breakouts happened and how I could avoid triggering that again. 

How to prevent your skin from breaking out: face map

Although I have a more or less good nutrition, that is the face map I've been following the most to improve my habits. So here are the top things I've been doing for the last 2 years that have being making a great difference to my skin:

1. Use exclusive towels for the face

How to prevent your skin from breaking out: use exclusive towels for the face

I don't mean any fancy towel that will miraculously clear you face, I mean that the towels that you use to dry your face after washing should be just for your face and nothing more. And if you can store it in a drawer when it's dry even better.

Towels accumulate a lot of bacteria, the most obvious one being dust on the air. What I do is use smaller towels instead of the regular hand-sized ones, just because they dry faster. So I dry my face and leave the towel to dry while I finish my routine (which can take me an hour or even two if I'm double masking) and then put it in a drawer until the next routine. I usually wash them every week, sometimes more frequently.

And remember: never, ever rub your face with a towel to dry skin after cleansing. Lightly pat.

2. Don't touch your face

How to prevent your skin from breaking out: don't touch your face

Maybe you're now thinking how stupid I am, if I am seriously thinking that you spend you day touching your face. And I answer: try to go for a full day without touching your face (not counting obviously while doing your makeup).

Your hands touch a lot of things that can accumulate bacteria and germs, and you don't have to look far for the best example: your computer. We touch our face almost unconsciously for the whole day, while thinking, some people while eating... Reducing how much you touch your face with dirty hands (dirt that we can't see, but it's still there), reduces the amount of bacteria the skin gets exposed to, which means less infections, which leads to less acné. 

3. Wash make up brushes and sponges

How to prevent your skin from breaking out: wash make up brushes and sponges

At least once a week, better daily, but I know people usually don't have the time for it. While we are on the topic of bacteria, make up brushes and sponges manage to get a lot of them, even if you store them on a drawer, make up getting old on brushes, oxidizing... it's just terrible.

And don't get me started on the Beauty Blender and similar sponges, those are mansions for bacteria. 

I cringe every time I see someone on youtube doing their makeup with dirty brushes because obviously the makeup application isn't that good, but also because the amount of bacteria they're pushing around their skin. It's a complete shudder.

Wash your brushes and sponges people, do it. And you don't even need a fancy soap, don't let marketing get to you, a neutral soap bar is more than enough.

4. Wash your pillowcase regularly

How to prevent your skin from breaking out: wash your pillowcase

And to end with the bacteria talk, please believe me and change or wash your pillowcase at least once a week. 

I don't remember when I read about dust, bacteria and pillowcases, but I started to "beat it" after waking up and before going to bed and the amount of dust that would fall off... Sometimes I even had second thoughts of putting my face on those.

Ever since I stopped doing these past 3 things, I have never ever acne on my cheeks, and it was were most of it was concentrated when I had to do the Rouccutane treatment.

5. Limit your daily coffee intake

How to prevent your skin from breaking out: coffee intake

Caffeine might be great applied topically, but it's not so great to be overboard when drinking it.

Back in University, there was a time in which I drank a lot of coffee, because I do like it: breakfast, between clases during the morning ones, after having launch when all my friends and I would gather for the after-lunch-coffee at a bar (remember I'm Spaniard... after-lunch-coffee is a thing)... I started to notice acne where I haven't had it before, on the forehead, so I decided to cut coffee completely for a week and have breakfast with green tea.

In just that week my skin improved a lot, so I have it very clear: just a cup of coffee a day.

6. Drink water and tea

How to prevent your skin from breaking out: drink water and tea

Yeah, I'm actually being a basic white girl telling you for the 66456382th time to drink at least 2,5l of water if you're a woman.

In terms that most of the people like to hear (not me though) water naturally detoxifies our bodies, cleans our liver so it can properly do it's job, hydrates our body and skin and eliminates water retention in our body. Drinking tea has added benefits, but I will focus first on drinking enough water.

I know it's very hard for some people to drink water, and the only advice I can give you is to keep a bottle by your side, all times. I don't remember if it was hard for me, because I've been drinking a lot of water since I was like 15 when I got serious with it so... Just keep a bottle by your side. Start with smaller ones and then you'll be a pro like me a bring you 1,50l water bottle around the house and drink it in a couple of hours (don't worry, I'm not one of those people that goes around with their big water bottle on public).

7. Take the pill

How to prevent your skin from breaking out: the pill

I don't understand why this is such a taboo in the skincare community. I've been on the pill since I started the Rouccutane treatment, as every one doing it should be so you don't have to take a high amount of mg for the treatment.

As I already told you in the 5 easy tips to take care of oily skin post, sebum is produced by high level of androgens, so taking the pill adds more estrogens to the body, regulating hormones.

However, I totally understand that some people don't want to put these kind of chemicals in their bodies, and I totally respect that, but I also think it should be a serious choice to take into consideration if you suffer from persistent acne. 

Photo credits:

Face map: IntoTheGloss

Towels: couldn't find original source.

Face: Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash

Brushes: here

Coffee: Photo by Íris Juana on Unsplash

Bed: Photo by HS LEE on Unsplash

Tea: Photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash

Pills: Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash