How to Deal With Hormonal Acne
Are you struggling with hormonal acne? Want to find out how to deal with hormonal acne without wasting time and money? I’ve got you. I’ve dealt with acne and skin issues my whole adult life. I have recently discovered new techniques and products that helped me figure out how to deal with hormonal acne in an effective way. The approaches will likely vary for each person and you have to test things out, but it’s worth it. When you have hormonal acne as an adult, it can cause massive stress and anxiety– ain’t nobody got time for that. Read on to learn more about how to deal with hormonal acne and let me know what worked for you!
My Top 10 Tips to Help Treat Hormonal Acne
As I mentioned above, I have dealt with acne most of my adult life. I started getting bad breakouts in college and went on accutane several times and then I was put on the Pill and it’s likely that that was keeping my hormones altered for a while. (HINT: do NOT use the PILL or Accutane for acne!!! They are dangerous drugs and set you up for disaster later!! Trust me– same goes for Spironolactone: do not believe the hype from a lot of dermatologists that it’s a “miracle drug”– it’s a testosterone blocker that will block your testosterone sure but that’s going to jack your hormones and again, set you up for. a world of problems and health issues later!!) Later in my life, around the time I was going through my divorce, I came down with another skin problem that continues to plague me to this day. I broke out in bumps– not exactly pimples but more like mosquito bite size bumps that are hard and painful – all over my neck, then chest back and upper arms and often, on my face. For YEARS and YEARS I went to doctors and dermatologists and no one could figure out what this situation was. It was because of this ongoing skin bump situation that I have learned so much about adult acne and other skin conditions. As you’ll learn in the video below, my skin bump condition turned out to be more of an inflammatory response to — my body reacting to CORN. Corn! I can’t eat corn or products with corn in it or I break out in bumps– and I’ve recently learned that BANANAS cause the same reaction. Yes my friends, FOOD can medicine, but the REMOVAL OF FOOD can also be medicine. I’ll talk about that more down below.
What I’ve learned are some of the best practices to dealing with hormonal acne or skin conditions like mine are listed below. I promise you each one is more impactful than you think, so don’t underestimate the effect it can have!! Trust me, I’ve been down this road a while.
1) As stated above: when you experience chronic adult acne or any kind of rashes/bumps like I have, CONSIDER YOUR DIET. Now, let me be clear. This is not always easy but you could start with ( depending on how serious you are to get better skin ) eliminating DAIRY and/or GLUTEN. If you think you can’t do it, don’t go there. You may or may not know I went keto and stayed 100% keto for about 16 months and there are legions of great tasting foods that contain no gluten and no dairy. I never thought I could do keto and I did- give yourself more credit. You can also do what I did and take a food reactivity test, that helped me figure out the root of my problem when nothing else seemed to work. I recommend the MRT LEAP TEST by Oxford Labs. Life changing! Also, I’ve recently started using a Lumen to track and monitor how my body is utilizing carbs vs. fat. I’m really excited to see how this unfolds over time especially since I’ve added carbs back into my life and have definitely noticed that they have an effect on me and that I’ll have to watch my intake of them for the rest of my life. (See my posts on insulin resistance and going keto). The Lumen advises you on how to alter your diet if you tend to be burning carbs more often than fat, I’m digging that. I’m also going to start using a CGM again so stay tuned for more information on that. Consider picking up a Lumen for yourself this year, you are worth the investment!
2) Watch your blood sugar/glucose. Yes — more food/diet talk. As I did some more research recently on this topic (as I was discovering that my recent breakout of bumps was not “stress” but actually my body reacting to BANANAS!! Then I learned that bananas are often problematic because they are ‘histamine liberators‘ or can cause your body to release histamine which can result in a legion of side effects. To learn more about histamine intolerance CLICK HERE.) If you want to read an outstanding book on regulating your glucose , you must get The Glucose Revolution!! Great read with some awesome lifestyle tips to make it easier to eat foods you enjoy while keeping your glucose in check. The research I’ve been doing on keeping your skin clear of adult acne talks repeatedly about how high insulin, high blood sugar and a diet rich in carbs/processed food and sugar is likely to cause breakouts in many women.
3) Don’t over wash your face. The tendency to over-scrub, over-exfoliate and over-wash your face when you are broken out is natural but it’s the worst thing you can be doing. Be gentle to your skin- beating it up with too much washing and exfoliating can make your skin condition worse. Try using these gentle makeup remover wipes, over 10K 5 star reviews on Amazon can’t be wrong!
4) Clean your makeup brushes REGULARLY!! I recommend weekly. Ever since I made the switch to cream makeup (life changing, you must order some and you’ll be obsessed! Email me at kelly@kellyolexa.com to find out more information, I’ll help you choose your colors.) I’ve relied on makeup brushes to apply this fabulous cream foundation and do my contouring more than ever. And now I make sure that I religiously wash my brushes every Saturday morning– otherwise ladies you are just shoving bacteria on your skin–do you really want to add that to your already broken out face? I think not. (p.s. I use our Seint makeup brush cleaner, you can order from me)
5) HYDRATE. HYDRATE. HYDRATE. Water consumption is the key to everything and it’s also the key for supple healthy skin. I don’t think I need to explain much more here but I can tell you my skin gets super dry when I’m not drinking enough water and that can cause breakouts: when you skin gets super dry, it will produce excess oil/sebum to accommodate and then your pores will clog and zits will occur. Ugh. Drink up. You know what has helped me finally get over my ISSUES drinking enough water? Getting this 33oz Iron Flask! For real! I carry it with me everywhere and now I drink 2-3 of these a day (my neurologist told me to!) and I am now a crazy water drinking fool. They come in all sizes and colors: do yourself a favor and pick one up now.
6) Change your pillowcase to a silk/satin one and change it REGULARLY. Hopefully you wash your sheets at minimum weekly but changing your pillowcase can be a gamechanger! This is where your face rests for 8 or so hours every night– you want that pillowcase to be soft and gentle and CLEAN to avoid bacteria buildup!
7) Always remove your makeup before bed!! Seriously ladies! And take this evening skincare routine up a notch — a makeup remover wipe is NOT considered washing your face. I learned from a podcast interview that it’s ideal to first remove your makeup THEN WASH YOUR FACE and wash it 2x in a row (gently) to get off all the makeup. I’m happy to help you pick out some clean skincare for both washing and moisturizing/anti-aging– just email me to chat. kelly@kellyolexa.com
8) Add facials. I had never had a facial until last year. WHATTT?? Now that I get what facials can do for your skin, well I’m in. Facials are like personal trainers for your skin. They get out the bad stuff and add the good stuff and it’s true self-love and self-care at its best. I’m committed to doing facials 1-2x a month going forward, forever– it’s that impactful!
9) Use good makeup. Ladies, I referenced above how I made the change to Seint Cream makeup (I’m a consultant for the company so you can order product from me) about a year ago and have never looked back. But just like with skincare, the quality of your makeup MATTERS. Trust me. The ingredients in cheap foundation and drugstore makeup are like rolling the dice in Vegas– you are playing with fire putting that crap on your skin and hoping you’ll stay looking good. Invest in great skincare and great makeup. Check out the Seint 3D foundation and my review about it here. Again, I’m more than happy to help you get started with a color match so just email me. kelly@kellyolexa.com
10) Invest in a solid skincare routine. I never ever used any type of skincare until I tried Arbonne at a house party about 15 years ago. I still use these products (and a few others) and I strongly recommend them. I honestly just FEEL so good, my skin feels so good when I’m treating it with high quality products. Click here to peruse the Arbonne line, I’m than happy to help recommend the products I love to use and help you get started. 😉 kelly@kellyolexa.com
What NOT to do to treat Hormonal Acne.
My strong recommendations on what not to do to improve your adult acne situation: DO NOT GO ON THE PILL to solve your acne problems and DO NOT GO ON SPIRONOLACTONE to solve your acne problems. I’ll do a deep dive post on why this is sooo bad for you but it has to do with jacking up your hormones and destroying your health– trust me. Want to learn about how bad The Pill is for you? Read “Beyond the Pill” by Dr. Joleen Brighten. The side effects of spironolactone alone are reason enough to avoid it and the long-term side effects from manipulating your testosterone– trust me, you’ll regret it later. Don’t go there.
Upgrade Your Daily Skincare Routine to Treat Hormonal Acne.
Once you start realizing how much of a difference you can make in how your skin looks AND feels, you’ll realize that the time and investment is worth it. I’m really leveling up my skincare game and this year I plan to expand with some additional best practices and try out some new products and services. One thing I’m adding is Gua Sha– see the illustration above. You use a soft marble like tool– like the one below- and apply a good oil to your face first then you sweep the tool in those directions to improve lymphatic flow. I’ll do a more in-depth post on this coming up, so be sure to subscribe! I referenced above going for bi-monthly or weekly facials as a solid investment. And of course leveling up your at-home skincare and committing to a morning and evening routine-you will be amazed at how much you’ll see a difference. I’m also planning to try out some new elective cosmetic procedures like Morpheus and getting some peels done. (Will do detailed posts on all these things coming up, don’t you worry!)
My Top 10 Product Recommendations For Treating Hormonal Acne.
In closing here are some of my favorite products (some already mentioned above) for treating hormonal acne. Note, while I say ‘treat’ I hope it goes without saying that no one product is guaranteed to eradicate one’s acne issues, it’s really a lot of trial and error but- investing in good products, makeup, skincare and best practices will garner great results over the long-term.
1) Wash your face with your hair pulled back– using this soft scrunchie and headband combo. This will allow you to focus heavily on your face without the hair getting in the way.
2) When your skin gets broken out — USE AN ICE ROLLER for relief and also to decrease inflammation. Don’t pick at your skin, ICE IT!
3) As stated above– get yourself a solid skincare routine. I’ve been using Arbonne skincare for 15+ years and they have a lot of acne-focused products as well. Let’s talk and get you hooked up with some fantastic clean pure and beneficial products to beautify your skin.
4) Satin pillowcases. If you want to go nutty get an entire set of luxury silk sheets. So worth the investment.
5) Read The Skincare Bible. Enough said.
6) I have not tried these personally but lately have been seeing them pop up everywhere and women swear by them to help get rid of zits in a big way. CLICK HERE to try the Mighty Patch.
7) Do a Dead Sea Mud Mask once a week. It pulls out impurities in the skin and feels very spa at home– trust me. Don’t do it too often, you’ll over dry out the skin and cause breakouts!
8) Try a facial steamer. Sometimes it’s the simple things that often work most effectively. I love taking a steam bath at the gym, so this is like a steam bath for your face. Drink in the moisture and open up those pores!
9) Check out the latest LED Light Mask– this also comes with benefits for anti-aging not just acne– BONUS.
10) This is way cool- High Frequency Skin Therapy Machine. Read the reviews. Highly recommend. It seems strange but these new tools are actually quite impactful.
So, was this post on hormonal acne helpful? What questions do you have? Let me know what products you tried out and how it worked or didn’t work for your skin situation. I’m here to help. Stay tuned for more posts coming up on skincare, anti-aging and beauty — and if you have something specific you’d love to learn about – drop it in the comments below. I’ll be your investigative reporter! Let’s get fabulous after forty (and fifty…and beyond) ladies!! WOO-HOO!!
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