Posts Tagged ‘acne products’

Follow Your Regimen!!

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Research indicates that acne patients, for various reasons, often do not follow the skin care regimen that has been prescribed for them. Studies have also shown that this lack of adherence is one of the main reasons that many acne treatments fail to work.

Clients may not fully understand what they are supposed to do, possibly due to unclear instructions from their skin care provider. Acne treatment products may also lead to unpleasant side effects early on in treatment, if acne clients are not made aware of this; they may use products inconsistently or may just stop using them completely. Also, if the client does not see immediate results from their treatment, they may believe that the skin care regimen is not working. All of these problems – lack of understanding, poor communication by skin care professionals, and misconceptions on the part of the acne patient can all lead to poor adherence and may lead the client to discontinue treatment.

We recently conducted a survey of our clients and found that those who closely followed the skin care regimen we had given them were far more likely to get clear, and were more likely to get clear faster. 92% of clients who followed their regimen completely were clear within 6 months, compared to only 28% of those who did not follow their regimens.

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At Face Reality, we tell our clients from day one how important it is to stick to the regimen that we give them. We explain that the products they are using prevent the new acne from forming and that if they skip their homecare that new “microcomedones” get started inside the pore. Those new acne lesions will make their appearance anywhere from 1 to 3 months later. So, you may think that you are getting away with skipping homecare because you don’t see anything right away, but it catches up to you down the road.

We also encourage them to ask us questions at any time if they do not understand what they are supposed to do or if they are having problems with their skin care regimen. This education about regimen adherence is such an important factor for getting clear; that we also regularly check in with our clients to make sure that they are following it correctly. In my experience, a little nagging from us is well worth it if it helps to get our acne clients clear.

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Don’t Trust Those Labels!

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Those of us who are acne prone understand how difficult it can be to find moisturizers, sunscreens, and makeup that are safe to use and won’t clog your pores. To help us make the decision of what is okay to put on our faces we often rely on those safe, scientific-sounding words on the labels like “non-comdeogenic” and “dermatologist approved”. These labels suggest to the buyer that the product has been tested by skin care experts who have found the product to meet certain levels of standards. But, what do these labels really mean?

Unfortunately, it turns out that these terms really don’t mean much of anything. These product claims used by manufacturers are not regulated in any way by the beauty industry or by the FDA. There is no official standard against which these terms can be measured or tested - so essentially, any company can claim that their products are non-comdeogenic or dermatologist approved, regardless of what is actually in the products or how the products were tested. For an interesting read on what “Dermatologist Approved” actually means, go to this link:

http://www.skinterra.com/newsletter/winter09_zoskinhealth.php

There are a number of other phrases used on product labels that are not regulated either - including “allergy tested” “fragrance free/unscented”, “hypoallergenic”, “non-irritating” and “sensitivity tested”. The Consumer Reports website contains a very helpful database where you can search common terms used on product labels to determine whether or not they are industry verified and meaningful to consumers:

http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/eco-home.cfm

So, if you can’t trust these claims on product labels, how do you decide what products are safe to use? Here are our suggestions:

• Check the ingredients yourself. Our website has a list of pore clogging ingredients that you can use to check the products you buy:

http://www.facerealityacneclinic.com/pore_clogging.html

• Read product reviews by other consumers - especially those written by those who have acne prone skin. These websites have been very helpful product review pages:

http://www.acne.org

http://www.makeupalley.com

• It may be difficult for you to determine what ingredients are causing you problems. Using your own experiences with products can be tricky since it may take several months to see the effects of pore clogging ingredients. It’s probably not the product you started using three days ago that is causing you to break out, but more likely one that you have been using for several weeks or longer.

• Seek the advice of a qualified skin care professional. Estheticians who are trained to treat acne can be a great resource for helping you select the right products for your skin. However, not all estheticians are knowledgeable about acne, so choose carefully.

At Face Reality, we sell cleansers, toners, moisturizers, and sunscreen - all of which are safe to use on acne prone skin. You can even check our ingredient labels yourself!! See our website for a list of products available for purchase:

http://www.facerealityacneclinic.com/products.html

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Breakouts from Skin Care Products

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Perhaps you have an acne problem or maybe you just break out from time to time. Regardless, when you go to the cosmetics counter and you want to buy makeup, moisturizer or anything to put on your face, you look at the label. If the words hypo-allergenic or non-comedogenic make you feel confident that the product is good and safe for your skin, then you may very well have been duped. Many of the products that bear the label of some of the most trusted, most recognized cosmeceutical companies in the world, have ingredients that are bad for your skin.

Every day we check ingredients of the products that our clients have bought elsewhere. In fact, each new client at the clinic is requested to bring in all of their skincare products because so often, those products are clogging their pores and causing or exacerbating their skin condition. List of pore clogging ingredients

You may believe that you are safe with a specific product because it was a prescription from your dermatologist. Wrong. A prime example is Retin-A, originally formulated by Dr. James Fulton to combat acne. Unfortunately, the present owner of that patent is formulating the cream form of that product with isopropyl myristate, an extremely pore clogging ingredient. Several of our clients came to us with severe acne because their condition became considerably worse following their prescribed use of the cream form of Retin-A. The real tricky part about “acne cosmetica” as it is called, is that you might not see skin problems for up to six months after using the offending ingredients.

Isopropyl myristate is just one of dozens of ingredients used by skin care and pharmaceutical companies that clog pores and cause acne. So, if you want to take charge of your own skin care, you need to get a list of those ingredients and always check the label.

The good news is that, below, there is a link to where you can get a fairly complete list of pore clogging ingredients. If you would like to speak to a live person, feel free to call us at the clinic. (510) 351-1842 or email us at info@facerealityacneclinic.com

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Posted in Acne Skin Care | 2 Comments »