STAYING CLEAR

A Guide to Lifestyle Issues That Affect the Skin

By Kathryn Khadija Leverette

Reduce your stress. Do whatever it takes. Stress is the Number One acne aggravator and caused by the wear and tear of day-to-day living and changes that take place in your life, both good and bad. Moving is comparable to the death of a child in its ability to cause extreme stress.

Sleep seven uninterrupted hours per night on a consistent basis. Night shift jobs, lack of quality sleep, broken sleep, sleep disorders, long plane trips and crossing time zones can cause severe physical stress, making it difficult to clear acne and lighten dark circles.

Wash clothes in fragrance-free products: Cheer Free and Gentle, All Free & Clear, Tide Free, Tide 2xUltra Free, Tide “He” Free, Arm & Hammer Free of Perfumes/Dyes, Purex Free & Clear, ShopRite Ultra Free & Clear, Seventh Generation Free & Clear, Safeway Select Free and Costco Kirkland Free & Clear Ultra. The only bleach to use: Clorox for Colors Free & Clear. Use 25% less detergent, and wash 25% less clothes at a time. When possible, run an extra rinse cycle. Avoid all fabric softeners,including both scented and unscented “free” dryer sheets, which leave a waxy residue that can clog and irritate your skin. Avoid Spray and Wash and Febreeze too.

Avoid dietary iodine: Dairy products, milk in coffee beverages, cheese, ice cream, soft drinks, salty snacks, fast foods, canned and packaged soups, ramen noodles, processed foods, tomato juice, V-8, seasoned salt, iodized salt and sea salt, Gatorade, Propel, PowerAde and other high-sodium sports drinks (Vitamin Water and Crystal Lite are OK), soy sauce (try low sodium soy sauce), seaweed, Chinese food, certain Mexican foods (cheese, refried beans and tortilla chips), nuts, processed meats (lunch and deli meat, bacon, franks, sausage) and condiments containing kelp, MSG and/or salt.

Peanuts contain high levels of progesterone, the PMS hormone. You can enjoy all other nuts, as long as they’re unsalted. Some cold and flu medications contain sodium and bromide (Alka-Seltzer® and Bromo-Seltzer®) and can aggravate acne. Avoid kelp, high levels of sodium, iodine and spirulina, found in many multi-vitamin formulations and nutritional supplements. Try iodine-and kelp-free supplements, including our Derma-Vites and GNC iodine-free Women’s Formula, 60 mg zinc picolinate twice a day with food to help reduce inflammation and speed healing, and B-complex to help fight stress.

Skip the dairy, especially cheese, milk, ice cream and dairy-rich coffee drinks. Cheese is a major acne aggravator and causes water retention and bloating. If you’re concerned about your calcium intake, take supplements with calcium citrate, magnesium and vitamin D instead. For cereal, try ice-cold naturally good-tasting almond or rice milk, including Almond Breeze and Rice Dream. Soy milk is heavily processed and difficult to digest.

Caution: Fish and seafood from “questionable” inexpensive sources, seem to cause some persistent skin problems, especially a rash-like acne. This doesn’t seem to happen in better restaurants. So, if you’re experiencing a persistent treatment-resistant acne problem, try eliminating fish and seafood from your diet for a month or two.

Avoid seasoned salt, which contains iodine and MSG. Instead, try Morton’s Plain Salt or iodine-free sea salt, Mrs. Dash Table Blend, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper.

Get professional treatments including enzyme peels with steam, light skin peels and tune-up peels for acne, dark spots, scars, ingrowns and razor bumps. Professional treatments exfoliate the skin evenly and help home care products penetrate better. Power bleaching and other treatment “boosters” will enhance the results dramatically.

Do not rub or scrub off dead skin. Do not use a washcloth or buffing pad. Do not rub

your face with a towel. These “mechanical” exfoliation methods over-exfoliate your skin, cause excessive irritation, and make your active acne products sting and irritate, causing even more flaking and darkening. Ask for help if you’re peeling.

Follow directions carefully. Don’t overuse your home care products. If you are constantly experiencing excessive peeling or irritation, you may be dehydrated, over-scrubbing your skin, or applying your products too thick or too often. After applying your products and rubbing them into the skin, put a tissue on your face. If it sticks, you are using too much.

Get refills (and ask about product upgrades) before you run out, and always stock up before you go out of town. Don’t stop using your program because you run out of one or two of your products. We ship our products all over the world.

Never slack up on prescribed home care. If we help you get clear, don’t think you’re so cute that you can quit using your products. While you might stay clear for a short while, skipping home care products allow “microcomedones” (the microscopic beginnings of pimples) and new ingrown hairs to form deep in your pores, causing new breakouts or razor bumps, which will lead to new dark spots. Razor bumps reappear in a matter of days; acne takes a while longer.

Minimize sun exposure and reapply oil-free full spectrum sunscreen often when exposed to direct sunlight or overcast skies (and wear your sunglasses). Avoid direct sun whenever possible, which will help prevent existing dark spots, uneven skin tone, and dark circles from darkening even more.

Drink more water to maintain healthy skin, fight fatigue, plump up fine lines, brighten your skin tone and keep your skin from getting too dry and irritated. Drink at least four mason jars (80 to 100 oz) of water every day.

Stop picking, scratching and skin tampering! Ladies, get a full set of acrylic nails, file them square and blunt, and maintain them every two weeks. Leave "stop picking" notes to yourself on mirrors, day planners, briefcases, desk drawers, rear view mirrors and in lockers. Picking pushes bumps deeper into the follicle, slows down the healing process, invites secondary infection by introducing airborne bacteria, causes thickened, dark dead skin build-up and scarring, and turns ordinary bumps into larger, thicker and darker black, brow n, purple or red blemishes that take forever to heal and go away.

Rub ice cubes in a circular motion on red, inflamed pimples and hair bumps twice a day for 2 to 5 minutes to reduce inflammation and swelling. This really works!

Advise front office staff and estheticians of changes in your health, medical history, prescription and over-the-counter drug usage, lifestyle changes and new address, email address and/or phone number.

Do not apply perfumed or aromatherapy products, cologne or aftershaves to any skin that will be exposed to the sun because a rash or dark “staining” of the skin can develop.

Some medications cause severe photo-sensitivity, which causes darkening, unsightly brown patches and blotchiness of sun-exposed skin, especially hyperpigmented acne lesions, existing scars, and skin on the neck, eye area and knuckles. These include hormones (oral contraceptives, the patch, the Nuvaring®, DepoProvera®, hormone replacement, etc) blood pressure meds, diuretics, antihistamines, oral antibiotics, including sulfa drugs, Minocin®, doxyclycline and tetracycline, Accutane™, Retin-A ®, Differin Gel®, Tazorac® and other topical vitamin A, anti-depressants, oral anti-diabetic drugs (including Metformin® and glucophage), ibuprofen, Motrin™ and Aleve™. Avoid direct sun and practice diligent suncare.

Some medications cause acne including lithium, hormones (oral contraceptives, Provera™, Depo Provera™, PremPro®, progesterone, Lupron Depot®, Errin®, Ortho Mictronor®, etc.), systemic steroids (prednisone), testosterone and its precursors (androstendione, DHEA and others), human growth hormone (HGH), anti-rejection meds for organ transplants (cyclosporine and prednisone), and anti-convulsive meds (Dilantin, Tegretol, etc)

Medical conditions: Thyroid, liver and kidney disease, lupus, scleroderma, sarcoidosis, RA and other auto-immune diseases, hemochromatosis (folks who genetically store too much iron), obesity and rapid weight gain, menopause, peri-menopause, pregnancy, hormonal imbalances and/or changes, diabetes, anemia and smoking can cause delayed healing and sun-sensitivity resulting in darkening, especially on the outer cheeks, neck and orbital eye area, and a variety of slow-to-heal skin lesions, including acne.

Avoid friction: Leaning your face on your hands or phone, sleeping on your hand or arm, tight hats, headbands, poor-fitting glasses, football helmets, bra straps, shoulder bags, over-scrubbing and rubbing with a towel can cause acne/darkening. Cleaning the phone with alcohol won’t help. Get a Bluetooth® device, headset or ear bud. Acne mechanica, caused by friction (rubbing), pressure and occlusion (restricted air flow), can cause deep acne and ingrowns, scalp bumps and severe darkening. If you have seborrhea, rougher low thread count pillowcases can cause your hair to thin on the side you sleep.

Evaluate all hair products if breakouts are concentrated on the hairline, temples, sideburns, scalp, neck or back. Avoid products containing the fatty acid isopropyl myristate and its chemical cousins, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), laureth-4, cocoa butter, coconut oil, shea butter, vitamin E, carrot oil and most natural oils, except safflower, sunflower and mineral oil. If you must use hairspray, cover your face with a cheap paper plate. The “paper plate trick” won’t work with oil sheen, braid spray or products from companies listed below.

Avoid pressing creams and oils, oil-sheen, braid spray, curl activators, scalp grease, brown gel, Paul Mitchell, Joico, Aveda, CitreShine, Isoplus, Proline, ProStyle (except Clear Ice), Nioxin Protectives, Design Essentials, Garnier Fructis, Carol’s Daughter, Warm Spirit, Mixed Chicks, Pink Oil, Crème of Nature, Botanicals, Carrot Oil, Sensitive by Nature, Keracare, Kerapro, Optimum, Dudley, Matrix, Bone Straight, Suave, Mane and Tail, Glover’s, Dark & Lovely, Aussie, Motions, Abba, S Curl, Kemi Oyl, Care Free (except Care Free Lite), African Pride, Organic Root Stimulator, Doo Gro, Bumble & Bumble, Pantene Pro V for black hair, IC products, Let’s Jam, Bed Head, TCB Hair Food, Murray’s, Duke, Sulfur 8, Blue Magic, Sportin’ Waves and all products containing oils, fatty acids, bergamot, aromatherapy and essential oils.

Safe to try: Pantene Pro V Always Smooth (formerly Smooth & Sleek), Color Revival, Classically Clean and Hydrating Curls shampoos and conditioners (not the ones in the brown bottles formulated for black hair), Free & Clear, Correctives Laminate, Care Free Lite Instant Moisturizer, Care Free Lite Gel Activator, ProStyl Clear Ice, Pro-Tec Clear Gel, Original Infusium 23 spray leave-in, American Crew Firm Hold Gel, L’Anza Leave In Conditioner, Nioxin Actives, Three Flowers (Tres Flores) Pomade and Brilliantine Oil, Afro Sheen, Vaseline, Clinical Formula Self-Emulsifying Oil, sunflower oil and safflower oil.

Toothpaste can cause small breakouts and darkening around and below the corners of the mouth and chin, especially if it contains sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), tarter control ingredients, fluoride or aromatic flavors. Keep toothpaste in your mouth where it belongs, and if it gets on your skin, use cleanser to remove it. Check your brand, even health store brands, to make sure they are SLS-free.

Wear cotton workout wear laundered in unscented detergent with no fabric softener. Shower immediately after perspiring with sulfur, AHA, BHA or BPO wash or soap.

Notify us if you have scaling, inflammation and/or itching in the scalp, hairline, ears, brows, or side of the nose, which can mean you have seborrhea or seborrheic dermatitis, an annoying genetic condition that is easy to treat once it’s identified. It is often part of the oily, acne prone, sensitive skin profile, which is worsened dramatically by cold weather and stress. Letting it go untreated can lead to unsightly scaling, reddening of the inner cheeks and hairline, a light-pigmented patchy rash, a severe dandruff-like scalp condition, sensitive skin (especially on the inner cheeks) and hair thinning and loss. Warning: Don’t use a brush or rub your scalp if you’re experiencing thinning, itching, dead skin build-up, inflamed sores or bumps of any kind. These conditions will only get worse.

Avoid recreational drugs, especially marijuana, cocaine, X and speed, which can aggravate acne. Alcohol consumption doesn't cause your acne to worsen unless you're too drunk to apply your home care products.

Avoid oily cosmetics and skin care products: Red dyes in foundations, blushes, lipstick and powders, Mac foundations and powders, especially Studio Fix, Shiseido, Lancôme, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Chanel, Flori Roberts, Fashion Fair, Posner and other oily cosmetics. Re-evaluate your cosmetics and moisturizers if breakouts continue. Some "oil-free" products may be free of natural oils, and contain “synthetic oils” (the FDA calls them fatty acids). Avoid any make-up that sticks to the sink. Safe D&C red dye alternatives: Iron oxides, carmine and hibiscus flowers. Safe make-up: Bare Minerals provides better coverage than many other mineral make-up lines. The Bare Escentuals stores have a wider variety of make-up shades for People of Color than what’s available on TV.

Examine the link between hormones and breakouts and/or pigmentation problems. Problems include low estrogen birth control pills (Lo-Ovral®, Loestrin® and others), Norplant®, Provera, Depo Provera®, Lupron Depot® (testosterone injections), progesterone-only pills (Errin®, Ortho Mictronor®), hormone replacement (Premarin®, PremPro® and others), polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), temporary or permanent hormonal changes and imbalances, irregular periods, PMS/PMDD and obesity (fat cells can boost the body’s estrogen production). You may want to change your prescription and get thoroughly tested and evaluated by an endocrinologist. OrthTricyclan®, Yaz® and Yasmin®, advertised to help clear acne, don’t necessarily live up to the claims, and can actually cause breakouts.

Pregnancy, post-partum and the menstrual cycle can all cause flare-ups due to hormonal changes. Chart these days on a calendar. Practice diligent skin care, suncare and sun avoidance to counteract problems during these times. Protect your neck (which can get 100% darker) and face (watch for dark patches called melasma or chloasma). Pregnant and lactating women should discuss all supplements with their physician, should discontinue products containing vitamin A and hydroquinone, but should continue using cleanser, tonic, mask, benzoyl peroxide (BPO) and especially sunblock. If you are currently taking, or have recently taken Accutane® and become pregnant, you are at risk for serious birth defects, so contact your physician without delay.