What is salicylic acid and can it reduce my spots and pore size?
Settling on an SA cleanser can be like setting up your fussiest friend
Salicylic acid is a face-changer for oily, acne-prone skin but settling on an SA cleanser can be like setting up your fussiest friend. Mr Oily-or-Acne-Prone is naturally demanding. Beyond basic washing, he’ll want something to reduce shine, kill bacteria, shrink pores, and fade red marks. Rosacea flare-ups must be tamped down. Ceramides that counteract the drying effect of cleansing are a plus. Even if his oily skin isn’t spotty, there may be rough texture he’d like to even out. If he has a beard, dead cells can linger where there’s hair and he may experience seborrheic dermatitis where they enter and inflame the follicles. Salicylic acid cleansing reduces the risk of this by clearing those cells regularly.
Cleanser is essential but need not be expensive to work well. It doesn’t spend long on your skin (though salicylic acid doesn’t need long to get cracking), and its most significant ingredient — the surfactant, the real cleaner of any cleanser — is not rare. No matter how pricy the face wash, you’ll find its surfactant in something on a supermarket shelf. With that in mind, I want to recommend some of my favourite affordable SA cleansers.
I’ve mentioned , many times and continue to recommend it. The formula contains 2% salicylic acid, soothing allantoin, and a zinc compound. Zinc is known for supporting healthy skin function, including the regulation of oil production.
According to New York dermatologist Dr Shereene Idriss, AKA #Pillowtalkderm, treating your acne well is the best way to avoid post-inflammatory red marks. Persist with gentle cleansing and don’t pick!
Did you know that cleansing is a mild form of exfoliation? You shed dead skin cells every time you wash. Leave-on exfoliants can be great weekly treatments but don’t feel you have to use one, especially if you are in your teens or 20s (when skin cell turnover is naturally high), or prone to sensitivity.
, is recommended by experts. Dr Maren Locke, a Floridian dermatologist who goes as The Budget Dermatologist online, began using it to improve her skin’s texture after gestational acne.Â
This condition is very common, maternal androgen levels can increase as early as conception and remain elevated throughout pregnancy, prompting the development or acceleration of acne. Topical salicylic acid is pregnancy-safe, according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists, but even if you’re not expecting, there is a lot to like about a salicylic acid cleanser with ceramides. A common misapprehension about acne-prone skin is that it doesn’t need moisturising ingredients like ceramides. In fact, dehydration can stimulate oil production further, so a cleanser that both smooths and softens skin is a great choice.
Try a salicylic acid face wash before buying a leave-on SA treatment. The briefer contact time reduces your risk of dryness and irritation — but you won’t wash the benefits down the drain! A 2% salicylic acid cleanser was proven to significantly reduce acne after two weeks by a 2012 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Genes, age, and hormonal activity determine pore size but there are things you can do to underplay it. Pores push oil from our sebaceous glands onto the skin’s surface, strengthening its protective barrier, so you don’t want to attack them. Cleansing with active ingredients such as salicylic acid, which clears pores of the dead cells that can make them look larger can help. Retinol improves the skin’s texture over time. UV damage can enlarge pores, so keep using your broad-spectrum protection. 'Smokers' comedones' — clogged pores caused by smoking — are real, and just one of the ways that tobacco destroys the skin. We learn more all the time about skin problems caused by vaping, so this habit is not superior.Â
, is another great 2% acid-based formula that won’t break the bank. It’s rich in ceramides and contains soothing vitamin E and niacinamide.Â
Salicylic acid is a gentle acid in low concentrations but exposing the skin twice a day risks increased sensitivity. I save my SA cleanser for when I intend to apply my most costly serum (usually my vitamin C). Salicylic acid temporarily reduces the pH of skin’s external barrier, making the absorption of the product applied directly afterwards easier, so I get more for my money.
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