A CTM skincare routine is essential to treat breakouts, be it hormonal acne or inflammatory acne. CTM is cleansing, toning and moisturizing the skin to achieve healthy clear skin. Best CTM skincare for breakouts includes non-irritant, non-comedogenic products, consistency and a positive attitude as well.
Acne doesn’t get treated overnight, but clear skin can be achieved with good water intake, green tea and consistent skincare.
Even a study on mild to moderate acne sufferers showed significant improvement after following a cleansing-toning-moisturizing skincare routine every morning and evening (source).
Table of Contents
Skincare Steps For Breakouts
Morning Skincare For Breakouts
Cleansing
I don’t believe in foamy or frothy cleansers as they have always irritated my skin and caused more acne. So I have switched to this DIY facewash for acne-prone skin.
The results are amazing as there are no new acne breakouts, no skin irritation and it clears the pores well too.
Here is how to use it –
- Just mix 1 part chickpea flour, 1 part sandalwood powder and ½ part wild turmeric. Mix these powders in a bottle.
- It stays good for more than a month if kept dry.
- To use this DIY acne facewash daily, take 1 teaspoon of powder in your palm, add a few drops of water to it and rub it between your palms.
- Apply it on your wet face and rub it like you normally do with a facewash or scrub.
- You will feel a bit of grainy texture and it won’t exaggerate your acne and will unclog your pores as well.
- Rub in a circular motion then wash off.
- You can also add 1 tablespoon of jojoba oil to it in the winter season for extra hydration or 2 tablespoon of aloe vera gel if you are afraid of oil on your face. Don’t worry jojoba oil won’t break you out, it works exactly like the skin sebum and it won’t clog the pores.
- More info about this DIY winter facewash for Acne.
Toning
Acne-prone people, also have large pores in most cases. These pores and bumps give your skin a textured look. Which needs to be got rid of.
There are choices of toners you can use in your skincare routine for breakouts –
For Moderate Acne
To tackle moderate acne, you need a DIY smelly apple cider vinegar toner. To make this toner you need to take a clean bottle, add half part of the apple cider vinegar with mother in it and add half part of the drinking water (2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 tablespoons drinking water).
Shake it well. And your DIY toner is ready in just one minute! More DIY toners for acne-prone skin.
For Mild Acne
Use aloe vera toner or rosewater toner, if you are not a DIY person then I highly highly recommend Nathabit rose toning gel which is made up of aloe vera gel and rosewater.
This is a holy grail product, a non-drying, anti-acne, mild, pore-minimizing toner. It has lots of other good ingredients as well.
Here, aloe vera works as an astringent and rosewater acts as a toner and they maintain skin pH as well. If you want to go on the pricier side then Paula’s choice toner is the best of all.
Acne Spot Treatment
If you are using any ointment that your dermatologist recommended, then use it now. Once your toner is absorbed completely into your skin, use your acne treatment. Spot treating is the best for active acne as it will do less damage to your skin barrier.
If you are using any ayurvedic spot treatment like me then use it in the end. For example, I use the wet multani mitti on my acne and let it dry till it sheds on its own. It works well as a spot treatment.
P.S. – Don’t use the multani mitti as a face pack for more than 10 minutes. You can keep it for longer as a spot treatment only.
Moisturising
Even oily skin needs moisturization and the ability to bear the effect of harsh chemicals that you may be using on your skin to treat acne.
Maintaining the barrier is crucial as a destroyed skincare barrier can aggravate acne breakouts (source).
Moisturisation changes as per the weather and skin conditions. In summer, you need aloe vera gel-based moisturizers. However, in winter, you need better hydration, so these non-comedogenic moisturizers are the best to choose from.
Night Skincare For Breakouts
Skincare at night is extremely important as your skin is going to rest at night and it must be calm to rejuvenate.
That’s why your skin must be clean when you are sleeping, this will prevent any bacteria from playing on your skin. Also, the pores won’t be clogged which will help your skin breathe and look healthy the next morning.
Cleansing at Night
I would recommend the same DIY facewash at night as well, but if you want to try something else then a block of Fuller’s earth works well as a face soap.
Take the fuller’s earth or multani mitti block, dampen it with water and rub it between your palms.
It will leave a layer of fuller earth on your hands. Gently rub these hands on your wet face in circular motions for 20 seconds, then wash off.
Still want a frothy facewash? Innisfree Volcanic Clay facewash it is then!
And if you want this DIY facewash in a bottle then tikta ubtan facewash by Nathabit will be the closest. I am still waiting for mine to arrive so wait for an honest review if you want to.
In winter, I dare not go near water at night so I use micellar water or rosewater spray on my face and wipe it with cotton.
Then carry on with your regular night skincare for breakouts.
Read – Self care Routine for Moms who are always Super Busy
Toner for Breakouts
Don’t apply that Apple Cider Vinegar toner at night as the retinol won’t work well with that. So either skip the toner or apply the same aloe vera and rose toning gel by Nathabit as your regular toner.
Retinol Moisturizer at Night
Retinol is the wonder ingredient in treating acne-prone and acne-laden skin. So I highly highly recommend it for two main purposes, one, it works like magic to clear acne, and second, it is the holy grail anti-ageing product.
Retinol is available in the form of serums and moisturizers. You can choose any, I liked the retinol moisturizer better as it absorbs faster and omits the need to apply any other moisturizer on the skin.
Natural Retinol at Night – Bakuchiol is the new retinol that helps boost cell turnover and treats acne as well (source). So if your skin is super sensitive then use bakuchiol gel at night and have a good night’s sleep at the clean pillowcover. Read the full article about benefits of bakuchiol for acne
Common Actives or Dermocosmetics for Acne
A recent study in Japan showed that these actives are effective in treating acne and preventing its recurrence.
The most common anti-acne actives are retinol, salicylic acid, niacinamide, thermal spring water, ceramides glycerin etc (source). Benzyl peroxide for severe acne and you should consult a dermatologist in case of severe acne.
However, keep in mind that these anti-acne actives can take a toll on your skin so switching to natural alternatives and a detox for acne is your best bet.
Make sure you read our hormonal acne treatment guide too.
Good Skincare Habits to Treat Breakouts From Within
1. Excellent Gut health – Imagine your intestines having unreleased poop in them and you applying all sorts of fragrant and high-end skincare products on your skin.
With that smelly thought, you must have understood the point of good gut health. One bowel moment per day that gives you a feeling of a clean intestine is crucial for not just good skin but to prevent all kinds of digestive and lifestyle disorders as well.
2. Once-a-week clay mask – This simple habit of applying a clay mask on your face every weekend has really been rewarding. To tell you a secret, I dare not do it in winter as it’s icy cold. But In summer, I try to follow suit.
Apply clay mask with the most humble fuller’s earth or any clay of your choice. The clay will suck out the dirt, oil and all the gross stuff from your face like a vacuum cleaner.
When it is 70% dry, wash it off or wipe it with a sponge. Please don’t forget a heavenly moisturizer or a green tea sheet mask after that.
It will plump up your skin for good.
3. Drink 6-8 Glasses of Water – Ya, Ya I know, it’s such an old-school thing and it’s cliche to even mention it nowadays. But I still insist, with quite imperfect skin that I have, that drinking water really helps. Especially when you are not in your 20s, Your skin is not making enough collagen and you need hydration.
4. Drink Green Tea Daily – Be it any kind of unprocessed plant tea, such as hibiscus tea (well, that’s not green technically), blue pea tea (not green either) or the classic green tea. These detox tea potions help in preventing new breakouts and treat the active ones.
5. Simple Juices For Acne – Sugarcane juice, Orange juice, beetroot juice, Amla juice and green leafy veggies juices are the best juices to treat acne and detoxify the body.
Bad Habits that Can Trigger Acne Breakouts
- Touching Your Face too often
- Pinching and popping the zits
- Using too harsh anti-acne products
- Using too many actives at one time
- Using Irritating fragrances
- Not washing towels and pillowcases often
- Not removing the makeup before sleeping
- Not using non-comedogenic products
- Not taking a shower after a workout or after sweating
- Not drinking enough water
- Indulging in sugary, fatty and unhealthy food
- Not taking enough antioxidants(source) like dark chocolate, berries, beans, green leafy veggies and citrus fruit juicing for acne.
- Not wiping your phones, headphones and gadgets regularly
- Skipping your vitamins and zinc (source)
- Switching products every week or every two weeks, more bad habits that can cause acne here
Fast Spot Treatments for Breakouts
Pimple Patches
The current popular thing among the acne clan is pimple patches, which contain some tea tree oil or salicylic acid. This will help shrink the pimple faster. Another advantage of an acne patch is that it will help smoothen the acne appearance. So that you can apply the foundation and makeup on it without it getting popped out of the base.
Fuller’s Earth
As mentioned, keeping fuller’s earth or multani mitti paste on your acne overnight helps it shrink a great deal. This is my go-to procedure if I experience any new acne and it really works.
Gond Katira for Acne
Another good idea is to soak the edible gum or gond katira in water for a few hours. Then take the gum and apply it on the acne before sleeping, you can secure it with a tape if required. Edible gum is cool in nature and it absorbs all the heat from the acne and it will shrink dramatically till the next morning.
More info about Gond katira for skin and acne.
Ice Facial
Like gond katira or edible gum, the ice facial also calms the inflammation in the skin and leads to a decrease in acne. To know more about applying ice to reduce acne, read this article about Ice Facials for acne treatment.
That’s all folks! I hope this skincare routine for Breakout helps you to get rid of the pesky acne and prevent it from coming again.
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