If you wake up almost every morning to find a brand new set of acne blemishes on your skin, you’re likely at your wit’s end. You’ve tried the creams and cleansers, and nothing seems to be stopping your breakouts. Perhaps you need to consider skin products that go deeper than just the surface layer, that actually penetrate to their target cells, and contain high concentrations of active ingredients. Supermarket or chain-store pharmacy skin products are less likely to fit that description. Rather, you may need to invest in high-quality, potent cosmeceutical acne treatment products such as those produced by Australian company, Synergie Skin.
What Is Synergie Skin?
The problem with many acne cleansers that you can pick up at your local store is that they are made for general skin types. This is where it fails because the skin is never “general”. Each person has an individualized skin type that requires certain conditions to be at its most vibrant and clear. For some, part of their skin’s health may rest in their diet. For others, all they need is the right combination of ingredients that can permeate through oily layers of skin to reach the bacteria in the pore. And for many, a combination of lifestyle factors and quality skincare is the answer.
Synergie Skin produces a range of products that address the particular needs of those suffering from acne. The company proudly formulates according to Clean Science® principles, meaning it combines the best botanicals (with proven benefits) with the latest cosmeceutical science, but without containing any questionable ingredients (including those that may contribute to acne problems). In addition to essential vitamins (especially vitamins A and B, as found in Ultimate A and Vitamin B serums), Synergie Skin also has physical and acid-based exfoliators (MediScrub and Reveal), a deep cleansing mask (Detox/Antiox), a pore-reducing serum (Evapore-8) and a lightweight almost-oil-free moisturizer (Hydrogel). These products, in their various ways address the four basic causes of acne.
The Causes of Acne
While acne can certainly be brought on due to hormonal changes, stress, and even certain foods, the problem basically rests with the hair follicle/pore – and it’s there that the four basic contributors to acne focus their effects. These, and the recommended acne treatment products for each, are as follows:
Excess sebum production
Sebum is the skin’s oil and is produced by the sebaceous glands, which line the hair follicles/pores. Hormones control the production and excretion of sebum in the pores, which is why acne occurs in puberty and just before menstruation. An imbalance between sebum production and the pore’s ability to secrete it causes the pore to become blocked by sebum, with subsequent inflammation.
Treat with substances that regulate oil production help with this, such as retinol and niacinamide (vitamin B3).
Synergie Products: Ultimate A serum; Vitamin B serum; Hydrogel
Changes in cell turnover (follicular keratinization)
Skin cells called keratinocytes sit at the base of the pore/hair follicle, and cycle through a process of maturation and then exfoliation called keratinization. In acne, there is abnormal keratinization, causing the keratinocytes to stick together.Combine that with excess sebum production and the result is clogged pores, causing blackheads (open comedones) and whiteheads (closed comedones), attracting bacteria, and initiating an immune response (redness, inflammation, pus)
Treat with substances that normalize the keratinization and/or ‘clear out’ blocked pores, such as retinol, AHAs, BHAs
Synergie Products: Ultimate A serum; Reveal; Mediscrub
Bacterial infection
As noted above, pores clogged by sticky keratinocytes and sebum attract bacteria (typically a species called P. acnes), which are thought to cause an inflammatory response.
Treat with substances that cleanse the skin, and that eliminate or reduce P. acnes, such as manuka oil
Synergie Products: Ultracleanse; Konjac sponge; Blem-X blemish serum
Inflammation
The P. acnes bacteria cause an inflammatory response in the pores (and it’s thought the excess sebum may do so too). This results in redness and pus, causing typical acne blemishes. Continued inflammation can cause the bacteria and debris to rupture down deeper into the skin, and lead to scarring.
Treat with anti-inflammatory substances such as salicylic acid and aloe vera
Synergie Products: Vitamin B serum; Blem-X
While your immediate instinct may be to pop the acne, you should actually resist such an urge. That can cause the acne to spread further because you’re basically letting the infectious bacteria spread into surrounding pores. Instead, try to find effective acne treatments such as those from Synergie Skin, available at Skin Elegance. If you’re tired of searching for the right acne treatment for your skin, then visit our website today to learn more! There’s a dedicated page that groups our recommendations for acne treatments, as well as providing a daily use guide that you can download.
Photo by Alexandra Gorn on Unsplash