I’m going to talk a little about different types of soap and how to choose one.

For soaps used as acne face wash … real, handmade soap is best. Here’s what to look for …

Forgot to tell you WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN REAL SOAP … soap is made by reacting
a lye solution and fats / oils. Lye should be listed as sodium hydroxide
unless the oils are listed as sodium whateverate. The oils chosen are what
makes the bar perform …

Palm oil is very drying and should be avoided by all with acne, especially by
dry skinned people. Palm kernel has become its substitute of choice, a much
milder and superior hardener and lathering oil. Your typical hardening and
lathering oils, in order, are coconut, palm kernel, palm, cocoa butter.
Cocoa butter is fine for very dry skin but not recommended for acne. Look
for natural soaps with either palm kernel or a mix of palm kernel and coconut
(vs. coconut as the only one).

Look also at the other oils and where they’re listed … if the hardeners are
listed first, the soap is harsher and more drying than if they’re somewhere
in the middle or toward the end. If the hardeners are listed first, the
amount of dryness to your skin may cause the pores to become too stiff to
clear themselves and they may clog up.

Olive oil is super kind to skin … soap “filled” in with olive (toward top
or middle of ingredients) has a nice, gentle, silky feel added … an
excellent choice. If a bar has only olive, it’s also excellent – gentle
enough for babies (but low suds) – or olive, coconut, and castor, it’s
probably still a very nice bar (again, depending upon proportions the
soapmaker used).

Conditioning oils are really important. Almond, apricot kernel, avocado,
evening primrose, grapeseed, hemp, and many others are used for superb
conditioning. Many of us like jojoba in soap, many do not … my experience
is that it’s awesome on oily skin with exfoliation issues (like in acne).
Castor is usually at the end of this list … it doesn’t take much … it’s
the only oil that is supremely conditioning and lathering. Reason it’s at
the end is that more than a little is not only a waste but also will soften
the soap bar too much. The conditioning from castor oil helps the
“elasticity” of your skin. Shea butter is commonly used in luxury
conditioning bars … in small amounts (toward end of list), it’s also
wonderful for problem skin due to a high sterol content and the fact that
only a percentage of it becomes soap (the rest remains as shea butter). The
newest one I’ve seen is meadowfoam which is superb for dry skin.

As for animal fats, lard and tallow make good, hard soap, but I wouldn’t use
them on acne. However, emu oil is excellent – more expensive, but very
highly recommended.

The lye often concerns people unaccustomed to real soaps, but is nothing to
fear. The amount of lye needed is figured, then discounted within a
percentage range … this is called superfatting, and ensures that all of the
lye is converted into soap and that no free lye remains, as well as ensuring
some free oils remain to condition your skin.

About additives, good and bad – many soapers use colorants, fragrance oils,
or essential oils … these are nice to use, but skin with acne is sensitive
skin and these should be avoided. Also avoid soaps with clays added – too
drying and can clog pores. Titanium dioxide is sometimes listed – it offers
no sun protection in a rinse-off product, but helps whiten the bar
(harmless). Oats, honey, milk from any source, aloe, cucumber, chamomile,
etc. are wonderful for anyone’s skin, especially troubled skins … however,
be sensitive to any allergies you may have (chamomile, for example, should be
avoided by those allergic to ragweed).

Above all – read the ingredients and be discriminating! Here’s why I get on
it about labels (and violations) – label regulations are meant for the
consumer to be informed. As reference, I’m in the USA, and other countries
have different regulations. For the purpose of addressing problem skin, I’ll
use the US guidelines.

It should never be acceptable for you to buy a pretty or great-smelling soap
that claims only to clean you … In this field, I can legally do that to
sell my soaps – only as soap (and make no claims other than that it cleans)
and avoid label regulations, but why should I bother, then, to learn my oils
and make anything that’s truly decent? I could throw together any cheap
soap that gives you bubbles (and maybe even beautifully swirled colors and
scents) and make a killing … and would be selling you soap with palm oil
However, when you have acne or any other skin condition, you need to know
what you’re putting on your skin! Instead of calling my soaps only soap, I
instead claim that they’ll soften, moisturize, or help exfoliate, all things
that enhance beauty, etc. – because I’ve put many hours into learning what’s
good for skin and go to the expense of using the better ingredients, I want
you to know why you should buy mine … This is classified as a cosmetic and
labelled accordingly (and is the reference to the labelling discussed above
in regard to the oils, etc.) What I cannot tell you without going through
much testing and having them approved and registered as an OTC drug with an
approved active ingredient is that they’re for acne, psoriasis, etc. To
claim that I have an “acne soap” is to imply that it will cure, treat, or
alter the function of your skin … for which I’d better have a properly
labelled product, a paper trail of compliance to back it up, and it better
contain an approved active ingredient that does what it says.

However, if going through all the different soaps confuses you, just pick up
this Acne Face Wash that I’ve used and highly recommend. (It’s much easier for travelling too!)

When choosing acne face wash, most people avoid soaps. But not all soaps are bad.
Commercial soaps typically use the fatty-acid portions of certain oils that
provide the most suds and hardest bars, then add to that surfactants that
increase the lather. Why? Because the public demands it. Bubbles aren’t
necessary for cleansing, but … in providing them to please the public, they
also draw off the glycerin and sell it separately. These generally are not “real”
soap, though they have a little “real” soap in them.

Handcrafted soaps other than the clear, glycerin bars, are a different and
diverse ballgame. Depending upon the oils used, they can range from a
product that also would strip and dry skin to a product that pampers and
conditions your skin. They don’t need surfactants and they leave the
glycerin in … as well as provide some “free superfat” for additional
conditioning.

Whichever you’re using, the dryness is not a matter of your skin adjusting,
it’s simply using an acne face wash that is too drying for your skin. When choosing
acne products, you have to identify your skin type as well as the kind of acne
you have.

If you are not keen on soap, you can try a specialized acne facial wash like Clearpores

When you look to buy skin care products, especially if it is for treatment of acne,
check the product’s ability to do the following:

1. open the pores
2. remove excess oil and p acne bacteria (toxic)
3. remove dead skin cells and dead prodtein cells that remain in and
on the skin.
5. close pores and tighten the skin
6. hydrate the skin

When this is done, cells regenerate at a faster pace, so this will
clarify and anti-age the skin because your skin is being
replenished. If the products you use do not open pores and get the
oil and dead skin cells out, then the skin cells regenerate at a much
slower pace and skin gets thinner and wrinkles, acne doesn’t get
cleared up because the bacteria gets more toxic as it stays beneath
the skin and once exposed to the skin’s surface, makes the skin
irritated, painful, blotchy, scars appear from pimples, etc.

Do you know if your skin care has the ingredients to do this?

Salicylic acid only works on the skins surface to get rid of dead
skin cells from what I’ve been reading. It will clarify for some
people, but has the opposit affect on others, like me, it breaks my
skin out, but for my sister, it doesn’t.

Anti-aging products will tighten up the face, but does the skin
really look younger? Skin will only look younger if the products
include ingredients to remove dead skin cells from beneath the
surface. If it doesn’t, there may be a good chance that by leaving
the dead skin cells in the skin, and then tightening up the skin, a
person may actually be aging their skin faster, why? Because you
will be adding dead skin cells to dead skin cells and causing the
natural cell regerative loop to slow down even more…this is my
opinion. At the age of 20, skin cells regenerate every 3 weeks and at
the age of 50, they regenerate approx. every 9 weeks for skin that has dead skin cells.

From what I can tell, Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid do two
different things. Benzoyl peroxide is used to destroy the bacteria (P Acnes)
that remains plugged in the pores and Salicylic acid is used to clear the aftermath of
blackhead and whiteheads. It is used for unclogging the pores. Benzoyl perroxide
and Salicylic acid does not guarantee that acne will not occur again.

A person may still continue to have break-outs if the lifestyle and habits remain
the same or there are changes in the hormones. However, they are boths very effective
in keeping acne under control.

Without making myself sound like an infomercial, but I really have
high recommendations for Bare Minerals makeup.

The first time I tried it (about 5 years ago), I really HATED it. For some
reason, the second time around (about a year now) it turns out great. I’m
scared to use anything else now, unless it’s another mineral makeup.
I used to go through the dreaded cycle of finding a liquid foundation
that worked and thought that it was the “one”, only to have my skin
rebel after a month or two. It’s been about a year this time, so I
think I will continue to use it. Like they say, don’t fix it if it ain’t broken.

I think using the right products, and not just in terms of skin care lotions, is very
important. This is especially true with foundations since it sits directly on the skin.

Is there a make up brand that you like? Feel free to share here.

Independently of your skin type, it is recommended that
you always use a skin moisturizer. Now, depending on your skin you may
use a traditional face moisturizer, but there are other products that
can be used to keep your facial skin moist, such anti aging creams,
ultra-light oil free sunscreens and even some after shave balms are
great to moisturize as long as these are alcohol free and contain aloe
or other natural moisturizers.

Since you have oily skin, you should try finding an oil free
moisturizer for sure. The pores on your type of skin tend to clog,
leading to breakouts. Always keep your skin clean by washing your face
twice a day, maybe in the morning and at night with a Glycolic Acid
cleanser to smooth, soften and renew your skin. Try to stay unexposed
to the sun so that your skin does not trigger its natural oil
production and keep the oils and fats in your diet as low as possible.
And again, find an oil-free moisturizer.