“How do I treat my back acne?’ is a question I often hear from clients.

The first step is to figure out what might be aggravating the skin on your back.

Do you shower soon after working out or do you sit around in sweaty workout clothing?

Sweat is full of things our body wants out of our system. When we sweat, our skin starts producing more bacteria to neutralize the sweat. More bacteria plus a layer of dried sweat (ew!) left to sit on our skin for too long isn’t doing the back acne any favors.

Do you wear cotton or sweat-wicking fabric when working out?

See above. Take every precaution possible to keep sweat off the area.

Do you wash your back after conditioning your long hair in the shower?

Wash and condition your hair, rinse. Pin your hair up if you need too. Then wash your back with your medicated body wash. Heavy conditioners can leave a residue on your back that can clog pores.

Do you wear your “dry clean only” clothing multiple times between cleanings?

It may look clean and smell clean (and we all want to save a few bucks on dry cleaning) but the build up of sweat and dead skin could be contributing to your problem. Also, some back acne reacts poorly to dry cleaning fluid all together. Try layering a cotton camisole under your dry clean only tops.

Does your laundry detergent or fabric softener have fragrance that could be irritating your skin?

Try unscented laundry products.

So, you’ve made all the lifestyle adjustments, how should your back for the best results?

Use a medicated body wash once or twice a day depending on the severity of the breakouts. Spot treat the breakouts as necessary. Use a clay mask and a home glycolic treatment once a week to keep the pores clean. And have a Back Facial once a month.

Need a 15 minute pre-event skin boost?

Follow this quick and easy routine for a GLOW that lasts all night!

1. Remove your makeup, if necessary. Wash your face with warm water and IS Clinical Cleansing Complex, pat dry.

2. Apply one Glycolic Gel Pad all over your face, allow glycolic serum from pad to dry for 5 minutes. If your skin is sensitive, rinse. If you use glycolic acid on a regular basis, move to the next step without rinsing.

3. Apply one Illuminate Flash Masque Sheet. Gently rub an ice cube over the sheet mask for a cooling sensation, concentrate on any areas where you may have puffiness (like around the eyes).

4. After 5 minutes, remove the sheet masque and massage any remaining serum into the skin. Apply Suntegrity Moisturizing Sunscreen and Primer and you’re ready for makeup!

Skin care can be overwhelming. It’s difficult to know what products you should use and when you should use them. What should you use every day? Once a week? Monthly?

And what about professional treatments?

Every skin is as unique as the person it belongs too and can react differently in different environments. Here are some basic guidelines to help you determine how often you should be using each product in your routine.

Daily:

• Cleanser
• Toner
• Serum
• Eye Cream
• Moisturizer
• SPF

Weekly:

• Exfoliate with an enzyme or chemical exfoliating product
• Mask

Monthly:

• Have a professional facial treatment with your Esthetician
• Perform a self mole check

Yearly:

• Have a mole check with your Dermatologist
• More agressive treatments like laser resurfacing or chemical peels

Have a consult with your Esthetician and Dermatologist to determine the exact routine that is best for your skin type. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments below!

What’s the best routine for your skin while in an airplane?

The night before

Wash with your normal cleanser and exfoliate with an enzyme mask. Apply a balancing clay mask or a hydrating gel mask depending on your skin type.

Drink a lot of water.

The day of

Layer a hydrating serum under your moisturizer on clean skin before the flight. Skip the foundation and concealer, apply a light layer of tinted moisturizer if you need some coverage.

Drink a lot of water.

During the flight

For flights 5 hours or under, reapply your moisturizer at least once (wash your hands first!). Continue to drink water and skip the alcohol.

For flights over 5 hours, clean your skin with a cotton ball and toner mid-flight then reapply your hydrating serum and moisturizer. Drink more water.

After the flight

Repeat the enzyme mask + hydrating or balancing mask routine and continuing using the hydrating serum under your moisturizer.

Always pack travel sizes of your regular products when traveling. A foreign climate is not the time to introduce a new product to your routine.

And have a glass of water!

President Obama recently signed a bill that banned the use of plastic microbeads in personal care products, this is great news for the environment!

How do plastic microbeads affect the environment?

This animation from The Story of Stuff illustrates it quite well. In short, the beads are too small to be filtered out of the water system and clog the gills of fish in the ocean or in the case of the smaller beads, become food for the fish and end up as part of our sushi platters.

What does this mean for skincare?

For many of us, nothing.

I’m not a fan of mechanical scrubs for exfoliation so I don’t retail any products that contain plastic microbeads. I prefer an enzyme or chemical product to exfoliate the skin.

Many companies are reformulating their mechanical scrubs to contain organic material. The downside to organic material is the pieces aren’t as uniform as plastic so they have a greater chance of causing micro tears to the skin.