We’d love to share some advice we read today. It was on Vanity Fair’s beauty blog, which we love and read daily, and the advice was care of celebuderm Patricia Wexler, the super-quotable women’s-magazine mainstay who has a line of cosmetics that you couldn’t pay us to use.
This was a list of “did you know?” tips from really famous dermatologists (and one weight-loss expert), all of whom, like Wexler, have their own product lines.
Pat Wexler took on acne, and we’d like to weigh in on the advice she gave.
From the top:
Did you know…that bad luck isn’t to blame for that monster zit on your really important day? It’s stress. Stress increases the cortisol level in our blood, which then increases oil production and clogs pores, which creates a recipe for disaster.
Plus 10! Stress is to blame for a lot of acne. It can trigger some very real and very skin-unfriendly physiological effects. All too often root causes are overlooked in acne treatment, so it’s great to see her get straight to the point here. But wait….
To prevent it, use a good salicylic acid cleanser regularly.
Minus 3! Stress is to blame so…use a salicylic acid cleanser (like, ahem, hers)? How about “try to focus on reducing your stress” and then offer some helpful tips on how to unwind, like turning off your BlackBerry at night, or meditating and doing yoga, or having sex more often? Anyway, even if you go holistic, we understand that often enough you just get a freaking zit anyway (or, like, five). So what to do?
If you feel something coming on, try a topical product with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide with an anti-inflammatory ingredient to reduce redness because you don’t have to kill your skin to kill your pimple.
Minus 1,000! Ugh. Benzoyl peroxide. As we have mentioned: BP has been shown it to be free-radical-generating, and it has caused tumors in mice—to say nothing of its skin-peeling harshness. We strongly advise people to stay away from this topical.
We’re not trying to be fight-picky we swear! We just think that there’s a lot of bad acne advice out there. If you want some gentler, more holistic (but still effective) ways to tackle breakouts, you can read some advice here.
Final rating: -993
