[Acne] What causes acne and blemishes? A scientific breakdown, simplified.

Beauty Tips For Body Care
To be able to treat and prevent acne or just plain ol pimples, it is important to understand how they are formed as this guides what skincare is required to treat them. The following post provides a (hopefully) easy to understand description of the causes of acne.Once you know what causes acne, it is much easier to treat. You can design a routine that aims to resolve or reduce many of the controllable factors leading to breakouts.I will use the assistance of this pretty picture to demonstrate. http://imgur.com/a/S3lQS If you would like you can refer to it to help visualise what actually occurs -- you want to direct your eyes to the hair follicle with the oil gland next to it.Ok, there are a few things at play during breakouts.1. Dead Skin Cells: Firstly, the outer most layer of the skin - the epidermis - contains skin cells made of keratin. These cells grow at the lowest level of the epidermis and eventually push their way to the top layer as new cells grow. Once they reach the top, they are dead skin cells, and make up the top dead layer of our skin - the stratum corneum, where they sit and are eventually removed from our skin as they are replaced by new cells.Dead skin cells become a problem when they accumulate on our pores, ultimately blocking the hair follicle.2. Sebaceous Gland: Sebaceous glands are oil-producing glands that are attached to hair follicles. They release sebum into the hair follicle and this travels up the follicle and to the surface of the skin. Sebum is composed of a mixture of wax, squalene, triglycerides and cell debris. Sebum is not a bad thing, the layer of sebum atop our skin helps to protect it, and reduces loss of water from our skin - keeping it hydrated and plump. However...If the surface of the skin is blocked (thanks to dead skin cells) then the sebum has no way out. Instead, it begins to accumulate within our gland. Further, many people prone to acne will produce too much sebum, or produce sebum that is "thicker" or "stickier", hence increasing the likelihood of these blockages.3. Bacteria and Inflammation: The accumulation of sebum presents an excellent breeding ground for the bacteria that causes acne, P. Acnes (those bastards). This bacteria is present in our skin and is not harmful, however the airless environment created by the blocked follicle and accumulation of sebum creates an oxygen free breeding ground. In this environment, the bacteria begin to convert sebum into fatty acids, which illicits inflammation. The bodies immune response can further worsen inflammation - and the result is a red, sore lump on top of your skin (acne!). The severity of this inflammatory response influences the size of the corresponding acne.When presented with an oxygen free environment caused by pore blockages, bacteria in our skin thrives within sebum and produces an inflammatory response - leading to blemishes and acne.Based on the above, you therefore want a skincare routine that keeps skin cells regularly cleared via exfoliation - to avoid skin blockages. Further, you want to ensure your sebum production is as stable and minimsed as can be, as excess production increases the change of blockages. Lastly, you want to use products that are anti-inflammatory to try calm the skin, and anti-bacterial.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by LES_SKIN