Acne is traditionally a teenage problem, but adults can also get breakouts. Here are seven causes of adult acne that may surprise you, with tips to prevent breakouts.

  Acne: Not Just for Teens
 
Did you think your breakout woes were over when you became an adult? That you left your pimples behind with your learner's permit and first crush? Think again.

While acne traditionally plagues teenagers, it can also affect adults. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, more than 50 percent of women in their 20s have acne. Nearly 25 percent of middle-aged women also struggle with it. Men get acne too, but to a lesser degree.

Interestingly, adults can get acne even if they didn't have a problem during their teen years. While the pimples may look the same, adult acne is different from the high school type.

Adults get acne along the jawline or lower part of the face, while teens usually break out on the forehead or upper half of the face. Teenage acne usually involves surface blemishes, but adult acne goes deeper to form cysts under the skin.

What causes adult skin to break out in pimples? There are many culprits, from diet and stress to hormone changes and more. Here are seven adult acne causes that may surprise you, and a few simple tips to prevent breakouts.
  1. Cell Phones

 

Cellular phones are an amazing invention, but they are bad for your complexion. They are great tools for staying in touch with the people in your life, but they can wreak havoc on your skin.

Reasearch helpers say that cell phones encounter numerous bacteria on every surface they sit. When you talk on the phone, you put that bacteria close to your mouth, where moisture and warmth create the ideal environment for bacteria to thrive. This causes breakouts on your chin and around your mouth.

If you constantly use your phone to talk to other people, you may unintentionally rub it against your face. The steady friction can lead to a type of adult acne called acne mechanica.

Skin Care Tip: Clean your cell phone with an alcohol wipe or hand sanitizer at least once a day to kill acne-causing bacteria. And don't allow your phone to touch your face when you talk on it.

  2. Facial Hair Removers

  Using facial hair removers is a trade-off: you exchange unwanted facial hair for unwanted skin bumps and rashes. Hair removal can irritate your skin whether you pluck, wax, shave or use depilatories. As your skin reddens and swells, skin cells and bacteria can enter the pores and cause acne.

The topical products used before and after hair removal can also clog pores and encourage adult acne. Skin bumps that itch are not true acne but hair follicle irritations; they can cause a transient rash that looks like acne.

Skin Care Tip: Apply a one-percent hydrocortisone cream before and after you remove facial hair. Use topical products that are labeled "non-comedogenic" to keep your skin pores open.
  3. Hair Styling Products

 

Hair styling products are a common cause of adult acne. There is even a name for this type of skin breakouts: pomade acne.

As styling product oils trickle from your hair to your forehead, they can clog skin pores and trap acne-causing bacteria. The clogged pores then become inflamed and cause redness or pimples along the hairline.

Skin Care Tip: Apply styling products with your fingertips and keep them away from your hairline. Wipe your skin with a facial cleanser after styling your hair. Reconsider your decision to wear bangs, which makes pomade acne worse.
  4. Makeup Removers
 

Your makeup can mix with your skin's natural oils to clog pores and cause acne. This is known as acne cosmetica. Unfortunately, your makeup removal may only add to the problem.

Most women don't clean their skin as well as they should. Many of them wear mineral makeup, and they think a swipe with a towelette will do the job at the end of the day.

But hours of makeup, oil and dirt buildup pose a triple threat to skin pores. Without a good cleansing, bacteria gets trapped in the pores and later erupts as acne.

Skin Care Tip: Wash your face gently but thoroughly each night, and use only non-comedogenic cleansers.

  5. Skin Care Products

  How many new skin care products do you try each year? Switching products before they have a chance to work can irritate your skin by continually introducing new ingredients and preservatives.

Even products designed to fight adult acne can cause breakouts, especially if you overlap them. If your astringent, cleanser and face cream all have acne-fighting ingredients, using them together can irritate your skin and cause further rashes.

Skin Care Tip: Use only one or two skin care products at a time, and give them at least six weeks to work. Not only will you save your skin, but you'll also save money and bathroom cabinet space.
  6. Sunscreen Products



Did you know that your sunscreen can give you acne? Sunscreens contain two kinds of ingredients: chemical agents that guard against ultraviolet (UV) rays and physical agents that create a sun shield.

Physical sunscreens, such as zinc oxide, can cause your skin to sweat underneath them. This can clog your skin pores and cause acne breakouts.

Skin Care Tip: Choose sunscreens with chemicals rather than physical agents. Gel formulas are best; they are less likely to clog your pores than oils and lotions.

  7. Vacations and Travel

  Does your skin break out when you return home from a vacation? Travel can stress your skin with climate differences, weather changes and more. Anything from dry air and humidity to the mineral levels in drinking water can trigger adult acne.

Travel often alters your normal your skin care regimen. Products that work in one climate may affect your skin differently in another climate. Additionally, hotel soaps can irritate your skin and make it prone to breakouts.

Skin Care Tip: Since you can't change the weather, climate or water where you visit, consider drinking bottled water and washing your face with it. An all-in-one skin care product is also a good idea to combat adult acne when you're traveling.

  Your Turn

  What is your best tip for adult acne? Leave a comment below and join the conversation. If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your social networks.


 

Hi all,
I’m resurrecting this blog because I have made significant progress and I really wanted to share it with you all. And I wanted to catch you up on how I got here. Progress pics below.
In my last post, which was 7 or 8 months ago, I was deciding whether to end the caveman regimen. I did decide to end it and have not been on it since then. It simply wasn’t working; I wasn’t seeing the progress that others were seeing at 3 months. At that point, I started using a “barrier healing” moisturizer called Zerafite and a light sulfate free vanicream cleanser. It didn’t do much of anything. I also used Biom-8 oil thinking I had sebhorreic dermatitis; didnt do much of anything either. For the next 2 months, my skin continued to break out, and it felt like a cycle I couldn’t break. As hard as I tried to find answers for the source of my acne, I couldn’t find anything. 
Fast forward to late January. I got food poisoning from a bad salad. I was sick for about 3 days. I couldn’t eat. I was relying on about 4 saltine crackers, a couple bananas and a couple sips of gatorade a day. I lost a lot of weight in those three days and even in the following week. I was on a minimal diet of crackers, bananas and gatorade for a week, and I don’t think I ever exceeded 1000 calories a day. During this time I was recovering, my skin CLEARED UP. No joke, I woke up on the second day of my food poisoning and looked in the mirror; no inflammation, no active acne, everything was healing. I thought my skin must just be looking pale because I’m sick. I splashed my face, put some moisturizer on and went back to bed. I didn’t expect that even after recovering from food poisoning, my skin would remain calm. Around this time, I also stopped exfoliating completely. And I attributed my clear skin to lack of exfoliation. I thought I had found the holy grail. I seriously thought not exfoliating and being extremely gentle to my skin was causing this drastic healing. I almost wrote a post about it here on the magical effects of not exfoliation and extreme gentleness. 
 
About 2 weeks after recovering, I started a new job at consulting firm. I felt really happy my skin was healing. I love my new job, my new boss and my new place. Things were good. I continued my routine of Zerafite moisturizer morning and night, Vanicream cleanser only at night with no exfoliation or rubbing ever. About 2 weeks after I started my new job, my skin broke out really badly. It was seriously pissed off; it was breaking out painfully and in places I don’t normally break out. I was seriously devastated. It dragged me into a state of depression and hopelessness. I had to wear makeup to work when I swore to myself months ago I would never do that again. 
Then, in March, coronavirus hit. I had to work remotely. It was a blessing for my skin (and only my skin) because I didnt need to wear makeup anymore. I resolved to use this time as a break to address my skin issues. At this point it was breaking out as it did before, red, and dry dry dryyyyy as hell. I switched to a new thicker moisturizer; Cerave Moisturizing Cream. I used that for three weeks. No change. At all. It even got worse. I decided to go BACK to Zerafite. I stayed up late every night scouring for solutions. At this point, I’m a veteran in acne treatments; I know better than to believe there is a magic potion out there that will fix all my problems. Readers, do not hop from product to product. There is no magic potion. And I’ll tell you why. 
The last and final thing I haven’t tried is significant diet change. I dove right in. I had nothing to lose. I started with an elimination diet to find potential food triggers. I was on the most restrictive version of an elimination diet. I didn’t just cut out dairy, gluten and sugar and other common allergens; I ONLY ate leafy greans and meat. All day. Every damn day. No exceptions ever. No starchy vegetables like potatoes, no beans, no rice, no oatmeal, no nightshades, no fruit, no corn, no soy, no nuts. Essentially, I was on a low carb diet. My skin had a hard time adjusting in the first week. But I reached a breaking point after the first week; NO dryness, NO breakouts, NO redness. I’m currently on 15 days straight with no breakouts. 
 
It all made sense. When I had food poisoning I was also on a restrictive diet because I was so nauseous all the time. That’s how my skin cleared up. And when my diet returned to normal, my skin became angry again. Something was causing a reaction in my body, causing inflammation and breakouts and dryness and redness. I still don’t know what the foods are that cause my acne. All I know is carbs and sugar break me out. I ate brown rice for two days and experienced that uncomfortable dryness again. Once I removed the rice, dryness was gone.
Guys, my skincare routine is still the same. Its the same it’s been since December; Zerafite and Vanicream. It was only after my diet change that I experienced serious healing. 
If you have been struggling and you’ve tried tens or hundreds of products or remedies to no avail— try an elimination diet. Find potential food triggers. Or use it to help yourself get on a healthier lifestyle. Read more about the elimination diet. Be informed. Keep going. 
Read my elimination diet blog here. 
My three progress pics are below. 
One is from October 2019 when my skin was at its absolute worst.
Second one is what it looked like my first week of the elimination diet.
And last one is from today, 20 days into the diet. The difference is clear as day. Any marks you see in this photo is just scarring. I have no active acne. 

Hi All,
This post is about how I got started on my elimination diet, what approach I took and why. I thought I could give some insight for people who have never heard of the elimination diet.
Forewarning: long post. Don’t even know how to begin tl:dr -ing this. Sorry! 
For some background, I used to be on caveman regimen for three months. I have another blog here about that. It didn’t work for me, so I went back to regular old moisturizing and cleansing for several months before I decided that enough is enough. So I decided to do one of the more extreme things I’ve ever done for my skin which is complete diet overhaul.
What is the elimination diet? It is a diet for figuring out food intolerances, and it does so by very carefully and deliberately removing and adding back foods in the diet to track symptom changes.This is not a fad diet, nor is it for losing weight (thought you might find that you will lose some weight regardless). 
I chose the elimination diet after reading online about how food intolerances can cause acne flare-ups and other skin issues like eczema. Let’s talk about food intolerance for a moment. Food intolerances are different from food allergies. Food allergies will cause immediate reactions that we are all familiar with; swollen face, swollen throat, hives etc. Food intolerances have delayed reactions of days to weeks. And the symptoms are not what we usually associate with food; migraines, lethargy, dandruff, lack of concentration, eczema and...acne. We’ve been told conflicting information about food and its effects on skin. Some resources will say food doesnt effect skin. Some will say it does. I have no medical training but my personal anecdotal experience has informed me that my diet does indeed have an effect on my skin. That might be different for you. 
So once I decided to try the elimination diet to find food intolerances, I started looking for resources to help me plan my diet. I came across a brochure from University of Wisconsin-Madison that breaks down the different levels of the elimination diet. The different levels range from low restriction (cutting out a few foods), to high restriction (cutting out most foods). To sum it up, low level restriction is for people who have a good idea about what foods they are intolerant to. Maybe they’ve known all their lives that dairy can make them uncomfortable, and they’re just looking for confirmation. High level restriction is for people who really have no clue what their food intolerances are or if they even have an intolerance. Think about this; if you don’t know what foods you’re intolerant to, you have to test them all. 
I went with the highest restriction because I have no idea what foods I could be reacting to. I’ve never paid attention to the relationship between my diet and acne, so I was totally in the dark. Now, high restriction is hard. And the brochure attached above acknowledges that. It has a high failure rate because it is so restrictive. The brochure tells you what foods you CAN eat on each level. And you’ll see that high restriction has very few, nutritionally incomplete foods. You’re only meant to eat those foods in the first 2-4 weeks of your diet—just long enough that your symptoms disappear. After you’re clear of your symptoms, you can begin reintroducing foods to TEST your body. 
For the first two weeks, I STRICTLY ate cooked from fresh leafy greens and chicken. I ate steamed leafy veggies for breakfast, chicken and leafy veggies for both lunch and dinner. Only salt and pepper for seasoning which was so sad. After one week,  my acne started to disappear. After two weeks, I had no active acne at all. Then and only then did I begin reintroduction.
Here’s how reintroduction works: every 3 days you add the purest form of the food you’re testing back into your diet. You’ll eat this new food for the first two days, then leave it out on the third day. Then, you test the next food for 3 days and so forth. You need to keep a meticulous log of your symptoms!! Otherwise, it’s useless. 
Example: The other day I tested eggs. I had scrambled eggs and some vegetables. The scrambled eggs didn’t have anything else in them. No cream or butter (im not allowed to have these yet). I had a bit of scrambled egg in my breakfast and lunch for two days. On the third day, I left it out. And during this time, I paid attention to my skin; how it felt, how it looked, redness, dryness, new breakouts. I keep track and write all of this down in my food diary. I use an app called Carb Manager. 
More on reintroduction of foods: I built my own reintroduction schedule. It looks something like this: 
1. brown rice 
2. coconut milk 
3. onions
4. garlic
...
I currently have almost 40 food items in my schedule. These items will be tested every 3 days in the order in which I ranked them. 
Now, I chose to modify the elimination diet and my reintro schedule for my own purposes. Mostly because it felt damn miserable not to have certain foods, so I would sprinkle in foods that I missed closer to the top of the list. Do what you can to make this diet easier for yourself. You’ll increase your chances of success. Sit down and start making your own reintro schedule. I’ll give you some tips for doing that below. And don’t be afraid to change the order of your reintro schedule. Just be careful that you are always only testing 1 food item every 3 days. Also note that my reintro schedule has simple foods only. You will NOT find ‘chocolate chip cookies’ on my food reintro schedule. Cookies have multiple ingredients; flour, butter, sugar, eggs, chocolate chips etc. You will need to test all of these INDIVIDUALLY. 
Making your reintro schedule: I personally chose to rank my list from the least problematic foods to most problematic foods. Brown rice is generally well-tolerated by people, so it is higher up. Soy, sugar and gluten are common problematic foods for a lot of people, so they are one of the last foods on my list. At this point, they will not be reintroduced for 4 months. I’ll try to give you an idea of what is least problematic and what is most problematic but there’s a lot of different ways to go about this ranking process and lots of sometimes conflicting information out there. So do your own research! This is just an example. 
1. No problems at all: Leafy greens. Most people tolerate these well. I would actually include these starting from day 1 of your diet. 
2: Least problematic, put these at the top of your list: low carb veggies, spices, garlic, onions. 
3: Kind of problematic: nightshades such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant. Also nuts, full fat no sugar greek yogurt, mushrooms and fruits.
4: Problematic: Soy, gluten, sugar, corn, other dairy. 
Don’t forget to log your symptoms and keep track of when you start and end each reintroduction. 
Sometimes you’ll have a breakout because you didn’t sleep well or you were very stressed out at work. If you feel like your symptoms could be muddled by something other than the food you’re testing, just re-test it. 
I cant write this post without talking about self control. I did this diet in a household of people who eat whatever they want, whenever they want. There were a lot of muffins, candy, seasonings around that I couldn’t have. It. was. hard. 
So I have some tips: 
1. talk to someone supportive
2. Have snacks on hand. I have baby carrots, celery, deli turkey (with no additives besides salt) 
3. Remember that your skin is worth it
4. You may not be able to eat something now but you will be able to in the future; its not permanent!
My results: I had no active acne by the end of the first two weeks. I tested brown rice first to get some carbs back in my diet (i was getting dizzy and tired without it). I felt a reaction almost immediately. The same day, my skin had this uncomfortable dryness. So dry it felt painful to smile, even with moisturizer. I removed brown rice after the 3-day testing period was over. My theory is that I have a problem with carbs and sugar. Brown rice is a high carb food that gets converted to sugar in your body. My family is prone to type 2 diabetes so I might have a problem with insulin resistance and insulin resistance causes a plethora of problems in your body, including skin. And it makes sense that I could never figure out why I broke out and why it never responded to treatment; it was breaking out bc of things I ate every. day (i love rice). And I never would have realized this theory, related it back to my genetics or saw how my past diet could have contributed to my acne problem without the elimination diet. As of now, my blood sugar theory is just a theory but now I have more information to help my doctor give me an informed diagnosis. And thats priceless.
 
 
 
 

I had a pimple back in February so my dermatologist decided to let me do a few more months. Since then I haven't got a single pimple...well until today. I am not worried for now because i was expecting it - if i get a closed comedone it will turn into a pimple. It hasn't become a big pimple yet but i know it will because the skin around it is turning red. I hope this one reallz is the last one.

So I have recently been using Proactiv Extra Strength for 10 years but I quit using it 5/4/2020 and canceled my subscription this week! *cheers* but I struggle with hormonal acne and have had a bad flare up all over my chin that started in March. Long story short I started washing my face with Dr Bronner’s tea tree Castile soap and it’s been flattening out my cystic acne and I’m so thankful. I diluted it 6 ounces of water to 1 tablespoon to Castile soap. I reviewed this on YouTube showing a week of use if you’re interested my channel name is Charming Chele. Here’s to hopefully clearer skin by the end of this month.