How can I remove my acne scars?

Aug 25, 2016

Iqra G.

I have some acne scars on my cheeks and my chin. Do you have any tips on what I could do to get rid of them?

Aug 25, 2016

Alexis C.

Make sure you're exfoliating and using SPF. Also using products with vitamin C will help. I recently started using the Ole Henkrison Truth Serum and I've already seen an improvement in my dark spots and hyper pigmentation (:

Aug 25, 2016

Sophia S.

I use the clean and clear acne spot treatment it really shrinks the acne scar lot after some uses!

Aug 26, 2016

Leuca S.

By scars do you mean red marks, or physical demarcations in the skin?

Aug 26, 2016

Iqra G.

Red marks

Aug 26, 2016

Riley O.

I also have this problem. I'll be following this thread to get some information myself.

Aug 26, 2016

Leuca S.

The red marks from acne are referred to as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It's a fancy way of saying that your skin is stained from the pigment that is naturally produced in your skin when it's wounded. Because that discoloration is caused by a deposit of actual molecules of pigment, those marks will typically linger for up to months after a spot has technically finished healing, until you have enough new skin cells there that the discolored layers are finally brought to the surface and shed away.

There are a few key ways to address this, and they are all important if you care to get into a more in-depth skincare routine. I'm going to condense as much info here as concisely as possible, but it will be a lot, and it's not enough to tell you that something is "bad for your skin"; you need to know the how/why behind your skin's behavior.

1. Sunscreen is an absolute must. All people, regardless of skin tone, have little buggers in their skin called melanocytes, which are largely responsible for discoloration caused by sun damage and wounds to the skin. Sun damage triggers melanocytes, which can significantly slow how long it takes for your red marks to fade, even if you aren't going out into the sun enough to get a tan; it can even lead to acne marks turning darker than they originally were rather than fading over time, due to melanin production. Sun damage is also cumulative, and impairs your skin's ability to heal a spot. This damage will also impair your skin's ability to naturally shed dead cells and produce new ones, further slowing the red marks' passing, as well as potentially making your acne worse, since sun damage exacerbates pore issues. The bacteria P. Acnes that live in your skin do not die when exposed to UV light; they die when exposed to oxygen, which is why they live in your pores rather than on top of your skin, so trying to bake your acne away (for lack of a better term) is a largely fruitless endeavor.

2. Avoid irritation (including sun damage!). This kind of goes without saying, but what most people don't know is that the bulk of skincare, regardless of price point is chock full of ingredients that have basically no demonstrated benefit for your skin. Prime offenders are solvent alcohols (SD alcohol, denat./denatured alcohol, benzyl alcohol, etc) fragrance, fragrant extracts, phototoxic extracts (usually citrus), etc. Irritation from products you topically apply is like sun damage, in that you can see immediate effects from extreme exposure, and cumulative damage from consistent, but gradual exposure. Irritation is another thing that triggers melanocytes, and will impede your skin's ability to get rid of discoloration. Irritation also stimulates excess sebum production, which leads to greasier skin, as well as providing acne-causing bacteria with fresh food and the perfect environment to proliferate, as sebum will mix with dead skin and form clogs much more readily on skin that isn't behaving the way it should. We can cover the specifics of what constitutes an irritating ingredient later, as well as the difference between ingredients that are universally irritating and ingredients that are simply potent but can induce sensitivity. Suffice to say that although there's a lot on the market that has bad stuff in it, there is an increasing number of companies and products that use either no universal irritants, so if you're well informed you have little excuse to knowingly put irritating ingredients on your skin and expect to see the results you want.

3. Provide your skin with the ingredients and nutrients it needs to behave the way it's supposed to. Antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, humectants, cell-communicators, the list can go on. Your skin is like the rest of your body; it benefits most when you give it a well balanced diet, so don't expect one simple step or ingredient to miraculously change your skin. There's a lot of things you could list here, so again we can go over specifics later.

4. Exfoliate your skin. There are two types of "exfoliation" per se: chemical and manual. Manual exfoliation is simply you physically doing something to remove skin cells from the surface of the epidermis. The largely superior form of exfoliation when it comes to treating more serious skincare concerns is chemical. Typically you will find these in two primary forms, AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) and BHA (beta hydroxy acid). Unless you are looking to work with medical grade chemical peels (which those two can be used in with higher concentrations), you don't need to worry about the other kinds that are available. Chemical exfoliation is superior to manual exfoliation in most cases because it is just that: a chemical reaction. It causes a cascading effect through your skin, loosening dead skin on the surface while encouraging your skin to produce new cells underneath at the same time, something manual exfoliation largely will not accomplish nearly as effectively.

AHA will appear on labels as either glycolic acid (most common, generally easier to formulate) and lactic acid (which can arguably hydrate the skin a little more). AHAs are water soluble, and will exfoliate the surface of the skin. Because AHAs are water soluble, they largely lack the ability to cut through sebum, which makes them ill suited for preventing/treating acne unless the reason is simply lack of surface exfoliation to begin with. AHAs have minor humectant properties, meaning that they can attract moisture to the skin as they exfoliate it, making them typically preferred by those with dry skin who are not prone to acne.

BHA appears as salicylic acid. BHA is oil soluble, which means that on top of exfoliating the surface of your skin, it has the ability to cut through sebum and get into your pores, encouraging healthy skin cell turnover. It is an antibacterial agent even in lower doses, which allows it to fight acne in multiple ways. In lower percentages typically seen in over-the-counter products, BHA also has anti inflammatory action, as it's chemically related to aspirin (BHA is salicylic acid, and aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid). Aspirin however, does not have the same ability to treat acne, as it lacks any exfoliating/antibacterial properties. Because BHA cuts through sebum, people who use it without supplementing their routines with anything to compensate may find it drying, but this is not the ingredient in itself actually removing moisture from the skin.

Aug 29, 2016

Riley O.

Thank you Leuca!