If you’ve been struggling with acne for a long time, or have just woken up with your first pimple; this blog is for you. It’s important to understand all the aspects that can contribute to acne formation, from the skin barrier to your ovarian hormones to your sleep schedule! Let’s dip our toes together into the world of acne and how it develops.
Trying to find the reason for hormonal acne can be very frustrating, especially if you have normal periods that come right on time. Usually acne is blamed on testosterone and a PCOS-like picture, but there’s so much more to it than that. In this blog we’ll cover how to tell if your acne is hormonal, and some of the complexities behind the hormones to blame (hint: it’s not just testosterone!).
For some of us, ‘acne’ might be a few pimples on our face, that we get when we’ve been bingeing on Netflix until 2am instead of getting beauty sleep. For others it might be cystic, painful eruptions which cover their face, neck and back, resulting in nodules and scarring. There’s a big difference, right? So I thought we should talk about it!
If you’ve got a teenage son, or if you’re a teenage boy yourself, you need to read this!
For too long we’ve taken teenage acne for granted, normalising it to the extent where it’s just ‘something that everyone needs to go through’. This is especially true in teenage males where over 80% of males will experience acne in puberty and, socially, there is less awareness of establishing good skin care routines (and we’re not talking about rubbing men’s Nivea on your face after the shower – that is not helping!).
The reality is that there are things that can be done to help reduce acne occurrence AND severity in teenage boys. Ready to find out what they are?
How wonderful it is to have reproductive autonomy! But one of the side effects that people often don’t realise can be a flare of your acne, or the onset of acne for those who are steroid-hormone sensitive. Read on for what you need to know about the emergency contraceptive pill and how it can affect your skin.
So, you’ve got acne or eczema and you’ve done your research and tried everything under the sun. Yep, I hear you. This is a common phrase I hear in clinic. But I’m here to tell you that you don’t have it go it alone. And in fact, you shouldn’t go it alone. Here’s the top 3 reasons you should seek help from someone that knows what they’re doing, and give up the endless self-research that’s not paying off.
Hey, girl. Whether you’re on the Pill, coming off it or thinking about going on it, I wrote this blog for you. Many women are put on the pill (otherwise known as the OCP - oral contraceptive pill) in their teenage years to regulate any sort of anomalies that may occur in the menstrual cycle and it’s becoming more and more common to be told to go back on the Pill for problems with your skin (that have likely been caused by the Pill). In a world of information that can feel overwhelming, let’s get some clarity on what you need to be aware of if you’re taking the Pill or thinking about it for your skin.
One of the most common problems when coming off the pill (and usually a contributing factor to choosing to go on the pill!) is skin outbreaks and acne. Why is this happening? Read on to understand the bacterial and hormonal drivers behind acne, and what you can do to get a head start in clearing up your skin, from the inside out.
Sebum (oil) produced in the skin is an essential part of our skin barrier function; a biological ecosystem that keeps our skin healthy and nourished. When our the quality or production of sebum is compromised, we can end up with dry and sensitive skin or oily skin that’s prone to infection. Here’s some of the things you should know if you have skin that’s too oily or too dry.
There’s no escaping stress… it’s a part of everyday life and, when experienced in the right contexts, plays an important part in our growth and adaptation. But, there is escaping from the harmful effects that stress can have on the body, especially our hormones. If you are a busy person, or have high stress in your life, and suffer with problems like acne, fatigue, period problems and mood changes, make sure you read this.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then hormone testing is worth a year in guesswork when it comes to acne. It’s important that hormone testing is done at the right time of your cycle though, otherwise these results can be seemingly pointless in revealing a hormonal imbalance. Here’s when to get all hormones related to acne tested.
