Skin Care Tips and Facts for Teens from Le Petit Spa
Teen Skin Care Tips from Le Petit Spa
Teen’s that come into the spa often want to know what product is best for their skin. Well, there isn’t one particular product that is best for anyone’s skin; we’d all be using it if there were.
What there is on the market is an array of confusing, and sometimes misleading choice of skin care out there for teens. All promise to deliver results quickly, and to get rid of their “embarrassing acne”.
Here are my tips to follow when picking teen skin care products as well as some interesting facts and tips about teen skin:
1. Look for products which contain Salicylic Acid - Found in most acne and teen skin lines, Salicylic Acid helps skin cells to shed more rapidly, preventing clogged pores. Shedding skin cells more rapidly helps acne improve as skin is unable to build up and clog pores and bacterial breeding grounds. Did you know Salicylic Acid is also found in aspirin because it has powerful anti - fever properties?
If you use products containing Salicylic Acid, make sure you wear a sunscreen outside to prevent irritation and burns from the sun.
2. Don’t use soap! Soap is alkaline, meaning that it is a bacteria friendly place, and when used on skin of any age, allows for the growth of bacteria. In order to protect itself, humans naturally have skin that is on the acidic side as acidity kills bacteria. As we grow from babies into teens, our skin becomes less acidic, therefore; encouraging the perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
It is therefore important to use a cleanser that is formulated to have a Ph level closer to the Ph level of healthy skin. Look for spa quality products; these are all formulated to contain Ph level’s close to that of human skin.
3. Wash your face twice a day - no more! Your skin produces oil (sebum) to protect itself from everyday aggressors like the sun, wind, pollution and bacteria. Over washing can cause skin to over up oil production. On teen skin, this makes more of a happy place for bacteria to breed and live in. If you find your skin shiny half way through the day, carry some oil absorbing sheets with you for a mid day oil slick clean up.
4. Be wary of the foam - Oily skin clients generally like cleansers that foam; it’s a mental game as when we see something foam, we naturally assume that it’s working really hard and doing a really good cleaning job. But! Additives like Sodium Laureth Sulfate (or laurel sulphate) which are detergents and a very inexpensive, very effective foaming agent, are used in personal care products such as shampoo, cleansers, toothpastes and soaps.
If you do have a favourite cleanser with one of these foaming agents in it, check to see how far up the ingredients list it is: The ingredients list on your product is in order of greatest amount of ingredient to least amount at the bottom. It’s best to have foaming agents near the bottom, meaning there are small trace amounts of it in the actual product.
5. Popping Pimples - I won’t deny it, I'm definately guilty of this bad little (and secret) habit, but if you’re going to do it, make sure you do it right! Popping a pimple (or pustule in esthetic terms) can cause damage to your skin and capillaries (mini blood vessels), causing bruising, scabs and bigger infections. Before you begin, ensure you have some rubbing alcohol around or a toner to disinfect the area after popping it:
· Use tissue to wrap around the tips of your fingers to prevent the spread of bacteria - ensure the tissue is over the tips of your nails too!
· Put pressure from one finger on each side of the pimple - press down into the skin, not towards the pimple yet.
· Once your fingers have put pressure on each side of the pimple, move your fingers towards the pimple, without lifting them off of your skin, so that your fingers more towards and “under” the pimple you want to extract.
· Keep applying pressure “under” the pimple; try from different angels if the infection does not come out the first time.
Now the gross part: When popping a pimple, you should get a hard “core” of infection out of the pore - this is the infection itself and to prevent any further infection should always come out when popping a pimple. If you have been successful in removing all of the infection, a clear liquid called lymph should follow with a bit of blood (lymph is what delivers nutrients to your skin).
If you do not think the pimple is ready to come, don’t pop it! It will only make matters worse.
After extracting the pimple, remember to swipe rubbing alcohol or a clarifying toner on the pimple.
6. Pillow Cases and Face Cloths - Depending on the severity of your acne, you should change your pillow cases and face cloths every couple of days or so. Try to keep long hair off of your face; especially if you use heavy conditioners.
7. Makeup - Even when I was a teen, I never went a day without makeup, for one, I wanted to cover my pimples, and two, I was scared of leaving my house without my makeup on. If this seems like you too, use makeup that is non-comedogenic: Comedones (in esthetic terms, means blackhead), so, products that are non-comedogenic won’t cause blackheads (or clog pores), and ensure that you wash it off properly every night before bed!
Le Petit Spa offers complimentary skin care analysis for clients wishing to find out more about skin care, answer any questions clients have, and offer advice to follow at home, contact Le Petit Spa to book yours today. Have beauty questions? Email me and I’ll post a reply in a future edition of this blog!
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Labels: acne, acne skin care, blackheads, combination skin, dry skin, facial treatments, oily skin, pimples, sensitive skin, spa for teens, teen skin care
posted by Kelly @ 1:36 PM
