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Adult Acne vs. Younger Acne

Adult Acne vs. Younger Acne

What You Need To Know About Breakouts When You’re Over 30: Adult acne presents as not only breakouts and blemishes but also lingering scars

Adult acne presents as not only breakouts and blemishes but also lingering scars

While acne is most commonly present in teens, tweens, and young adults, blemishes and breakouts don’t always stop in our youth. If you thought that by the time you reached your 30s your skin would be clear, think again! Many over the age of 30 are suddenly subject to breakouts on a scale they previously experienced in high school—or worse, blemishes for the first time in their lives! Adult acne is a real issue that can cause low self-esteem and can often feel like an unbearable social obstacle to overcome. But thankfully there are steps you can take to reduce the appearance of adult acne. We detail some helpful tips, below!

The Difference Between Adult Acne & Younger Acne

Whereas adolescent acne is more common in young men, adult acne affects mostly women. Unlike the sporadic breakouts experienced during adolescence, adult acne is cyclical and incredibly stubborn, presenting as not only breakouts and blemishes but also lingering scars, uneven skin tone and texture, a constant shine all over the face, enlarged pores, sensitivity, and dehydration. While it can be caused by a number of factors: hormonal ups and downs (periods, pregnancy, or menopause), stress, family history, sleep deprivation, climate, pollution, and even products you’re using, it materializes in one of three ways:

  • Persistent Acne: This is a form of adult acne, also called continuous acne, which has extended from adolescence into adulthood. The blemishes are almost constantly present and flare-ups occur around the menstrual cycle.
  • Delayed Acne: Also referred to as late onset acne, this form begins in adulthood. Blemishes can present as premenstrual flare-ups or suddenly for no reason at all.
  • Acne Relapse: Relapsing acne first occurs in adolescence, disappears, and then begins again in adulthood.

No matter which type of adult acne a woman experiences, it mostly occurs around the mouth, chin, and jawline and worsens around her period.

Just like acne in our younger years, adult breakouts and blemishes occur when over-active sebaceous glands produce excess oil. This excess oil combines with debris on the skin’s surface, clogging pores, which become infected with bacteria and become blemishes. However, one main difference is in the desquamation process—the natural shedding of dead skin cells to make way for new, healthy skin cells to reach the surface. As we age, our skin slows this process—making adult acne harder to deal with.

Additionally, another large difference is moisture, something our skin has in abundance in our youth. As we age, our skin is prone to dehydration due to an imbalanced moisture barrier. Despite being more susceptible to dehydrated skin, adult women are also prone to hyper-seborrhea—a condition where sebum is produced in excess and skin appears to be incredibly oily. When sebaceous glands are in a constant state of overproducing oil but the skin is dehydrated, your complexion can appear both dull and shiny at the same time.

How to Reduce The Appearance of Adult Acne

In our youth it can feel easier to find a solution for blemishes as the product selection is seemingly larger. In our adult years, our skin has often been overworked by topical treatments, as well as harsh cleansers which can exacerbate dehydrated complexions. Women need products that not only help them mattify and control daily shine throughout the day, but can also provide long-term results that won’t dry out their skin. Simply put, finding skin care products that target adult acne aren’t always easy to find…until now. Enter: Normaderm

This collection of anti-acne skin care products from Vichy is specifically formulated for adult women, to reduce the appearance of large pores and blemishes, target residual marks and shine, and leave skin hydrated in the process.

Cleanse your skin with a gel cleanser formulated with salicylic acid, glycolic acid, and micro-exfoliating LHA, like Normaderm Gel Cleanser It helps to purify skin by decongesting pores and removing excess oils without drying it out (which can make breakouts worse).

After cleansing reach for a moisturizer —not moisturizing your skin can cause your sebaceous glands to overcompensate and produce more oil. Try Normaderm Corrective Anti-Acne Care . This beautifying formula helps to reduce the appearance of large pores and excessive shine while helping to diminish the look of blemishes. Formulated with salicylic acid and skin-strengthening and soothing mineralizing thermal water from the French volcanoes, this non-comedogenic moisturizer leaves skin looking radiant. Plus, it’s lightweight, so you can immediately apply makeup to conceal any blemishes and breakouts.

Adult acne may be stubborn, but with the routine above you’ll be rocking clear, beautiful-looking skin before you know it.



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