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What is Acne Exactly?




Unless you're truly blessed with blemish-free skin, then you've experienced some sort of acne in your lifetime. Before you start to treat your acne, I would you to understand what it is and why you might be suffering from acne flareups.


What is acne? Acne is a mysterious skin disorder., kind of like a unicorn that at least everyone will experience in their lifetime. For most people, acne is an inherited condition of their pores. If you're prone to acne, your pores clog with dead skin cells much faster than an average pore. An average pore sheds up to about one layer of dead skin a day, whereas an acne-prone pore can shed up to five times a day. Your body just can't keep up with the shedding process, which in turn causes a breakout. This process is also known as retention hyperkeratosis.


Are there different types of acne?

Just like your personality, your skin is unique to you too. So it's no surprise that your acne type can be different also. I like to break acne types into three categories: inflamed, non-inflamed, and combination.


  • Inflamed acne is characterized by blemishes, cysts, and pimples.

  • Non-inflamed acne is characterized by whiteheads + blackheads.

  • Combination acne is a combo of inflamed and non-inflamed acne.

I know that determining your acne type can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but while working with Autumn during your Path to Skin Nirvana, this will be one of the first things we address in your consultation. Depending on your skin type and acne type, this will determine your treatment and product plan.



Factors that can trigger your acne or make it worse:

Two main factors contribute to acne: genetics and hormones. We get a lot of traits from our parents; this includes a lot of elements in the tendency to develop clogged pores and acne. It has been estimated that 80% of our acne cause comes from our genes, and the other 20% comes from environmental factors. Crazy, right? Some of the other factors that can affect or flare your acne can be from stress, hormones, lifestyle, and poor skin care. I will touch on these in a later blog post.


As your esthetician, I have no control over your genetic factors affecting your acne, but I do understand how genetics can cause worse conditions. Although I can't control your heredity, I can help control some of the problems created by these genetic factors, such as the removal of dead skin cells build up, oil control, and soothing inflammation in your skin with the right products, treatment, and dedication.



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