SKIN SUPPORT

The first thing you should know is that pimples happen to almost everyone and it’s totally not your fault. Most of the time, it’s to do with those hormones (read about them above) and the over-excited oil glands producing too much sebum. This, combined with the hormones messing with your natural skin shedding function can lead to clogged pores, which lead to — you guessed it — pimples.

The actual pimples are a mixture of a kinda gross combo of oil, dead skin cells and bacteria in the pores which get inflamed (that’s why they swell and get red) and fill with pus.

Both blackheads and whiteheads occur when a pore becomes blocked by all that stuff above. The difference is that with a pimple, or “whitehead”, they have a really thin layer of skin over the top (science types call that a “closed comedone”). Whereas blackheads don’t have this layer (which is why the sciencey-peeps called them “closed comedones”), so they get exposed to the air, which causes a chemical reaction known as “oxidisation” — and this turns them black.

So you know how there’s things you do every day, almost without thinking because they’re a habit, and you know they’re good for you? Think: brushing your teeth, eating a good breakfast, drinking water (you do these, right?!) This is one of those. The daily skincare routine is like a little ritual you can do every morning and night to look after yourself and help your skin live its best stress-free life.

A very simple, easy place to start is a cleanse and moisturise routine. Cleansing removes all the dirt, build-up, pollution, sweat and grime from the day, and moisturiser helps the skin feel soft, smooth and in balance. It’s so simple, it takes like five minutes, and your skin will totally thank you for it.

If your skin is pretty chill and in balance — this is all you need to do! If you’re in your teens and it’s starting to freak out a little bit (which is soooo normal, so don’t worry!) it’s all good, you can just start adding in treatment products like a spot treatment or a serum mist to help your skin along.

Aside from products, you can keep your skin in A++ shape by staying healthy (that means eating your veg, drinking water, and getting regular exercise) as well as doing things that will help you chill out and have down time (stress is totally the enemy of good skin). Also, and this may seem like a weird one but, change your pillowcase regularly (like once a week) as lots of grime and bacteria can live on that (ew). Another easy thing you can do – keep your hair off your face and avoid touching your face throughout the day.

Oh and one more thing: remember, getting spots, having oil — all of it — is totally normal. Everyone goes through it so don’t feel like you’re alone — we’re in this together.