winter acne

Winter is a season that incites joy in many people. It offers the holidays, music that expresses festivities and celebration, and grants a reason for us to comfortably sit around a fireplace while consuming a delicious cup of hot chocolate. However, as the days get progressively  chillier alongside these positive associations of the season, it also bears negative results. Our skin gets drier, resulting in acne breakouts or severe eczema. Such occurrences may heavily impact one’s confidence during this time of year, while making people question whether they could be truly happy during one of the most joyous seasons.

Beyond the causes of dry skin, the seasonal acne that occurs in winter is mainly due to the sudden shift between temperatures. According to Teledoc, here are the reasons why the coldness of one’s environment causes seasonal acne during the winter:

1. The integumentary system produces more sebum, which are the skin’s naturally produced oils, in order to maintain the moisture that is being lost from the skin. Consequently, this would clog and inflame the skin’s pores, resulting in spontaneous breakouts.
   
2. The lack of skin hydration is also due to continuous exposure to hot water.
   

For almost the entirety of my teenage life, I’ve dealt with seasonal acne. I would dread the winter time where I would have to deal with spontaneous acne spots that diminished the happiness that I had of the holidays. During gatherings, I would not have the courage to look at my friends or family members while conversing with them, as I feared of them speaking up about the quality of my skin. Not only did I have acne, my skin would occasionally be oily, so any pictures taken of me would fuel insecurities about my face. However, throughout the years, I have learned several tips on how I dealt with seasonal acne that I hope may be beneficial:

• Use consistent amounts of moisturizer everyday
  

I found moisturizer to be the most important part of my skin routine, especially when confronted with the dry and cold conditions during winter. However, I found it effective to rationalize, or use consistent amounts, of moisturizer everyday, where I would evenly apply a small dollop throughout my face. Sometimes, using too much moisturizer may clog the pores or give the skin an oily look, and end up creating more acne.

• Exfoliate your skin
  

Exfoliating once or twice a week is helpful in removing a lot of build up, such as the residue of dead skin and face products. By removing this build up, the moisturizer that you use will work better at protecting the skin from the dry conditions. I recommend using an exfoliation tool with built-in batteries with reusable brush applicators, as it has three different exfoliation speeds for a quick and consistent pace, but loofahs, sponges, or brushes work as well!

• Avoid hot water when washing your face
  

Granted, during the cold weather, it feels relaxing to shower or wash your face with hot water. While this may give you temporary relief, it may strip your skin of its natural oils and make the face inflamed, dry, and prone to breakouts. Luke-warm to warm water is best, and it avoids irritation within the face.

• Use facemasks
  

Face masks are a fun part of the skin routine. There are many themed face masks, especially during the winter time, so go crazy with it! For acne-prone skin, it may be effective to use masks that specifically correlate to pore or blemish treatment, so it may be advised to use those.

While everyone’s skin condition is different, I do believe that these may be impactful starter points that will help the skin when confronted with seasonal change. Acne is temporary and does not define one’s character, and I do hope that this may be a confidence booster for those that experience winter acne as well.

• Lana :)
  

Teladoc article: https://www.teladoc.com/resources/2019/01/16/whats-with-winter-acne/

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