For many years, I struggled with acne-prone skin and often still experience quite a bit of acne if I’m not diligent about my skincare routine! I used to think that skincare was ridiculous and that my acne was something I just had to “deal with” rather than trying to find solutions for clearing my skin. When I finally decided to get serious about skincare, it was an entire overhaul of my routine - and despite the extra time this takes, it’s well worth it for the dramatic difference I’ve seen in my skin! So without further ado, onto my top tips for clear skin!
Double (or triple) cleanse
My current cleansing routine: a) use a makeup wipe to remove all of my makeup a couple of hours before bed b) wash my face with a very neutral cleanser and c) wipe my face with a cotton ball soaked in micellar water right before bed. This might seem a little ridiculous but I find that even after my first two cleansing steps, i often still have some makeup on my face! Some of that stuff has really good staying power - which is great when you don’t want your makeup to move, but not so great when you’re trying to get it off! Triple cleansing makes me feel at ease about not having any remaining bits of makeup and gunk on my face before going to bed. (Current faves: Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water and CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser)
Have a designated towel for your face!
This might seem like a “no duh” tip but I ignored this tip for ages because I was lazy and I think it really bit me in the butt! Your bath towels touch all kinds of weird, gross places on your body and if you use the same towel to wipe your face, you don’t know what kinds of germs are ending up on your skin! Now, I have a collection of small towels specifically for my face that I change on a weekly basis and I think this has been a huge factor in helping to clear my skin.
Change your pillowcase
Something I never thought about before starting my skincare routine is how gross your pillowcase gets at night! There’s probably nothing else that touches your face as much as your pillowcase so it’s important to change it regularly! I change mine about once a week and have found that to be enough to keep my skin clear!
Clay masks for clear skin!
Although I wasn’t too keen on using masks before, I’ve noticed they make a huge difference in helping to speed up the acne healing process. Nowadays, when i do get a blemish or even feel a bit of acne starting to pop up, I hit it immediately with a clay mask. Clay masks are amazing for helping to dry out acne and pull out all of that gross stuff from your pores! Since clay masks can sometimes be a little drying, I use clay masks as more of a spot treatment rather than slathering it all over my face! (Current fave: Loreal Purify & Mattify Pure-Clay Mask)
Follow the directions on your skincare products
Along with trying different products, it’s important to actually follow the directions on how to use them! As you can probably tell by the general trend of this post, I’ve been pretty lazy in the past and haven’t followed the directions on most of my acne products. Once I actually reading the directions and actually trying to follow them, it made a world of difference! Most of the time, I was caking on way too much product!
Test out a bunch of different products!
I’ve tried about a million and a half different types of cleansing, toning, exfoliating, acne fighting products and after months of trial and error finally have my favorite products (you can check them out below!). This process, however, took ages! Lots of testing out samples, lots of trial and error to figure out what did and didn’t work on my skin! As helpful as it can be to read reviews and see what other people are using, it’s always best to test it out yourself since what works for someone else’s skin type may not work for your skin type.
I hope these skincare tips are helpful! What are your favorite skincare products? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
