Previously on Skincare Talk,
I talked about AHA (Alpha Hydroxy Acids) which is one of the most common and popular chemical exfoliant in the market. At the end of that post, I noted that even though AHA is an amazing acid to include in your skincare routine, I find that there are limitations to what it can do to help my acne-prone, oily skin.
While AHA is awesome for eliminating the build up of dead skin cells on the surface of your skin to prevent potential clogging, pimples are usually formed below the surface of the skin and when you can finally see the pimple, it usually just means that it's too late, i.e,
you've got a pimple on your face now. You can speed up the recovery process of acne with the help of AHA, but people with acne-prone skin, we don't want that. We don't want to see pimples on our skin, what we want is to
prevent them, and that's where my favourite chemical exfoliant comes in, BHA!
BHA, Beta Hydroxy Acids, is another type of chemical exfoliant and the main difference between AHA and BHA is the fact that while AHA is water soluble, BHA is
oil soluble. This one difference makes a huge difference as it means that BHA is able to penetrate deeper into our skin to get to the oils and dead skin cells which are clogging our pores, the start, the beginning, of a pimple, the part where AHA can't get to.
There are many types of AHA, but when it comes to BHA, there's only one you'd need to know, and that is
Salicylic Acid. This could be the reason why it is "less common" in skincare products, in a sense that while I can easily get my hands on decent products containing AHA, it does take a bit more effort to find a good BHA product. That said, I have a couple of holy grail BHA products which I will share with you in this blog post. Other than Salicylic Acid, you'd sometimes also see Betaine Salicylate in the ingredient list of BHA products. In simple terms, Betaine Salicylate is simply another form of BHA, but as compared to Salicylic Acid, there are not many conclusive studies regarding the effectiveness of Betaine Salicylate.
1. Concentration % and pH level
When it comes to any kind of active ingredients, AHA, BHA, Vitamin C, Hyaluronic Acid, etc, etc, etc, it is
crucial to know the percentage you are getting in your skin product because if the percentage is too low, it probably won't give you any skin benefits at all. For example, at 2%, lactic acid can only work as a humectant at best, so if you purchase a product that has 2% of lactic acid thinking that you can get some kind of chemical exfoliation from it... You can't. Also, depending on your skin's tolerance level, people with sensitive skin might get a chemical burn if they use a product that is too high in concentration for them. When it comes to Salicylic Acid, the recommended concentration is 2% as any lesser would not be effective, and when it comes to Betaine Salicylate, a concentration of at least 4% is needed.
The effectiveness of BHA is dependent on the product's pH level so it is also important to take note that it should be around pH 3 - 4.
Incorporating acids into your routine might sound taunting, now that I've mentioned chemical burns, but there actually isn't anything to be worried about if you
start slow and listen to what your skin is telling you. Burning sensation? Wash it off. Feeling dry, itchy, and sensitive after? Skin looking red and inflamed? Stop using it for the time being and focus on building your hydration routine. If your skin shows you signs of irritations,
any signs of irritations, listen to it and take a step back from your acid for a day or two. Your skin should always feel comfortable. Otherwise, restoring your skin's barrier and health is going to take you weeks and speaking from experience, it sucks.
2. You need to hydrate and use sunscreen
Like I mentioned in my guide on AHA, having a proper hydration routine and having a habit of wearing sunscreen every single day are the essentials and basic steps of skin care. Therefore, if you can't even get these basic steps right, don't bother advancing into chemical exfoliants because like AHA, if you're gonna use BHA without a proper hydrating routine or sunscreen, you are going to dry out your skin, dehydrate it, destroy your skin's protective barrier, and make it even more prone to sun damages.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's take a look at my favourite BHA products!
First up, the
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo (+). I've been using this stuff since the end of 2017 and it was the first time I was actually using BHA in my routine... Unknowingly. At that point, I wasn't as invested into skincare as I thought I was, and so it didn't matter to me what was actually in the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo (+), I just thought the formula was god-sent, a magic formula that gave me super clear skin. It was only this year when I found out that it wasn't magic, it was salicylic acid, along with the high concentration of niacinamide and zinc. Although for this product I'd argue that it's most likely the niacinamide and zinc that contributed to my clear skin, since salicylic acid is literally the last 3rd ingredient, I'm still positive that it helped my then, mild acne condition. A little review of this product, the texture is extremely lightweight and a little gel-liked. It blends well with other products without pilling and every time I use it, I only use a pea-sized amount on all my troubled areas which is my jawline and T-zone.
I stopped using this product at the end of 2018 because foolishly, I thought that my skin was acne-proof after having clear skin for a year, and guess what? The acne came back, stronger than ever. When I finally decided to go back to this product, it no longer worked for my skin. It's not that salicylic acid, niacinamide and zinc stopped working, it's just that the concentration wasn't enough for my now, stubborn, moderate acne. Hence, I had to find a stronger product which brings me to the
Paula's Choice Clear Extra Strength Anti-Redness Exfoliating Solution.
This product is once again god-sent and the answers to all my woes! The original plan was to purchase the
Paula's Choice Clear Regular Strength Anti-Redness Exfoliating Solution, but as it was out of stock, I decided to try the extra strength version of it. According to Paula's Choice, the only difference is that the extra strength version is formulated so it is able to penetrate even deeper into our pores. I was very cautious when it comes to using this product, although it says on the bottle to use it twice a day after cleansing, I started only using this at night. There was a burning sensation, but it did went away within a minute and my skin did not feel any other irritations after I have properly moisturized my skin. I love how the formula has a slight oily, silky feeling to it (even though it doesn't contain any oil) as this really makes it easy to spread the product all over my skin so I can ensure that I don't miss out any areas. The formula also contains humectants such as pentylene glycol, butylene glycol, glycerin and sodium hyaluronate to support your skin's barrier as well as vitamin B5 (panthenol) which supports healing.
The final product is
The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Solution. This is a similar product to the one from Paula's Choice and it is also a few dollars cheaper. As compared to the one from Paula's Choice, this formula is much more straight-forward without many humectants or soothing ingredients. So if you have sensitive or dehydrated skin that is easily irritated, I will definitely recommend you to spend a few more bucks for Paula's Choice.
In conclusion, if you're constantly trying to clear up your skin with AHA or benzoyl peroxide
or any useless drying spot treatments, but notice that you're still getting reoccurring breakouts, especially if your acne is hormonal and there is little you can do to avoid the hormones from fluctuating... You need BHA in your life. Period. Because BHA is the stuff that prevents acne from even coming up to the surface of your skin, so regardless of whatever is causing your clogged pores at the deep layers of your skin, be it hormones or diet, BHA will unclog that clogged pore and you'll never see it come up to the surface of your skin because everything will already be taken care of.
Labels: beauty, face, skincare, skincare talk, tips
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