Ingredients Time

Chiara Ferragni - looking pensive. Just because.

Every time you pick up an acne product, you are faced with choices - do I want the intensive spot treatment or do I want the pore-clearing wash? Am I oily skin or am I normal/combination? These are questions every acne-sufferer faces. I have had my share of indecisive moments in Woolies aisles, blocking all traffic and putting security guards on top alert (she's been staring at the same shelf for hours...mischief!).

Well, if you hate all that, I have some good news. Forget it all, ditch the description and flip straight to the ingredients list.

As mentioned (ok, bragged about) in a previous post 'Acne, for beginners', I brought up 2 main acne-fighting ingredients that are the 'holy grail', 'creme de la creme', 'beauty have-all', 'beauty-go-to', *insert all other beauty jargon* of all blemishes: Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide - so good they deserve to be proper nouns.

Here's why:

Salicylic Acid

A chemical exfoliator that penetrates the epidermis. It's not like a grainy sand exfoliator that only leaves you with a red face, salicylic acid basically lets your pores take a shower. It makes your skin shed faster, so the new layers come out - but it's not drying. It cleans your pores and keeps the bacteria neutralised. Basically, this little guy helps to prevent imperfection and acne, getting rid of nasty pore rubbish before it hits the surface.

You will find salicylic acid in just about anything. I love it in cleanser and daily products, it's gentle enough to be applied daily.

Benzoyl Peroxide

Also known as skin-bushfire. Benzoyl peroxide is a pretty intense little fella that 'burns' layers of skin off - taking blemishes with it also. Definitely be cautious with this ingredient, this is when you need to apply the rule 'less is more'. Benzoyl peroxide works by increasing your skin turnover, it also cleans the pores and kills bacterial. In a lot of products, it is mixed with other complementary ingredients e.g. salicylic acid and other antibacterials.

You can find benzoyl peroxide in 3 main doses: 2.5%, 5% and 10%.

My suggestion: stay away from the 10%. You will most likely get flaky skin where you apply it. Looks HORRIBLE under makeup. Particularly if you have dry or sensitive skin, this will make you feel like you haven't moisturised in yonks.

The first time you use benzoyl peroxide, or the first time in a while, you will notice some side effects. It'll take your skin a few weeks to get used to the kind of 'attack' it's receiving. You might burn, get really itchy, get bruisey, or swell where you applied it. Once this all goes away, it meas your skin's become tolerant to it (hoorah!).

You will find benzoyl peroxide in a lot of acne-targeted skincare products. Don't go for anything other than spot treatments! Seriously, give your skin a break. That's why I don't like Proactiv - it is basically mindless skin torture. Use a spot treatment and only use it 1-2 times a day. Sometimes, you just have to admit that pimples are stubborn and patience is vital.

I hope this was helpful in some way!