Treating blemishes: identify your acne type and choose the right skincare for pimples

For many with acne-prone skin, it's unclear what products are needed to treat their blemished skin. Or rather: what ingredients are needed to prevent pimples. Although there are so many acne-fighting skincare products on the market, someone who suffers from pimples often doesn't know what percentages of active ingredients are in a product. Not to mention whether this is scientifically substantiated. Take niacinamide, for example: scientifically proven for acne skincare at 4%, although some brands use 10% to tackle facial pimples. But higher percentages don't always mean better effectiveness, quite the contrary...

Step 1: What type of pimples do you have?

If you want to prevent and treat pimples, the first step is always to look at what type of acne you have to treat your blemished skin. It's actually easy to divide them into 2 groups. On one hand, you have inflamed pimples, which are pimples with a white head that you can squeeze. On the other hand, there are non-inflamed pimples, which are whiteheads or blackheads. Do you see a combination of both? Then you should always tackle the inflamed pimples first.

Step 2: Start with a good foundation

Once you know what type of pimples you have, you can start with the right acne skincare routine. Perhaps with a small note: if you have previously used many acne products that you reacted to, quickly get pimples due to irritation or redness, or are afraid of reacting again, it is always good to start with a good foundation first. Think of it as building a house. You need to make sure your foundation is solid first. This means allowing your skin to repair itself and giving it back what it lacks.

When we talk about products for treating blemished skin, opt for a gentle cleanser. This means a cleanser that doesn't leave a tight, dry feeling afterwards. Followed by a hydrating serum, if necessary. Did you know that when treating facial pimples, your skin should always be well hydrated to reduce inflammation and prevent pimples? Followed by a moisturizer, an anti-pimple face cream, one that you can use both in the morning and in the evening. Don't be fooled by the marketing trick of buying two separate moisturizers, one for day and one for night. Usually, they don't differ much in content from a day cream. A good moisturizer restores your skin barrier: think of ceramides, skin-identical fats that don't clog the skin, hydrating ingredients, and soothing ingredients.

Once the skin barrier is properly intact, you will already notice that your skin gets a healthier glow and your skin texture is improving. This doesn't happen from day 1 to day 2, but takes time, knowing that your skin needs 1 month to renew itself. And your pimples didn't appear in one day either, so they won't disappear immediately – your skin needs time to recover.

Step 3: The right active ingredients against pimples

Now back to our house. If your foundation is solid, only then can you continue building your house and putting up your walls. This means: incorporating your active ingredients that really work as acne treatment products. In this, you need to know what type of pimples you have.

Do you have inflamed pimples? Then you need to work on those inflammations with ingredients that hydrate and soothe. But at the same time, also reduce the trigger of your inflammation, namely an excess of sebum in clogged pores. But also ingredients that open clogged pores. For this, you need to gently exfoliate the skin, with emphasis on gentle. So no aggressive acids in your acne skincare, but work gently so that our foundation is not damaged. Unfortunately, this is where most brands go wrong, and the skin reacts with more redness and inflammation.

Do you only have blackheads or whiteheads? Then you're in the non-inflamed team and you need to treat this form of blemished skin. You shouldn't take "non-inflamed" too literally, because if you could look inside your skin, it would indeed be red and inflamed, but in the mirror, this is not always the case. The approach is much simpler than inflamed pimples, but unfortunately, the results take longer to show. Here, you mainly need to look at ingredients that stimulate cell renewal – think of vitamin A or its derivatives, preferably in combination with soothing ingredients. Build up these ingredients slowly and gently, because if you use them daily right away, your skin will react even more intensely. Do you see both types of facial pimples? Then always start by tackling inflamed pimples. Know that 85% of my acne clients have inflamed pimples.

Step 4: Patience is key to preventing pimples

Gradually, you will notice that with this approach to treating blemished skin, your skin will improve, and as already said: that is not after 1 month. We rebuild your skin calmly without aggressive work, and that takes time. Count on about 3 months. Fewer new pimples will appear until a moment when no more appear and your skin is beautifully even. You can start on the roof construction of your beautiful house. This means: maintaining your skin and possibly tackling any remaining scars. In the case of inflamed pimples, you can gradually alternate your acne skincare routine with cell-renewing ingredients. In the case of non-inflamed pimples, you can simply continue to use the same acne products. In fact, in this way, you are working on beautiful anti-aging and ensuring that your pimples remain well under control.

Ready to treat your blemished skin? Start today with the right acne skincare and watch your skin transform!