What is Hormonal Adult Acne?
Hormonal adult acne is any acne over the age of 25 years.
Teenage acne can sometimes or primarily be triggered by an influx of hormones during puberty which in theory should calm down and stabilise after puberty. However, for adult women, fluctuations in female hormones can be the cause of our acne returning in our later life. Your hormones can fluctuate or become imbalanced before and during your period, during pregnancy, when you are perimenopausal and during your actual menopause.
Another cause of hormonal adult acne is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) where women experience a hormonal imbalance, metabolism problems and high levels of insulin. Here’s a link to the website that further explains this in detail:
Although women are often the ones who commonly experience hormonal adult acne, men can suffer with it as well. A disruption in testosterone levels can be the culprit for this, as well as other lifestyle factors that disrupt the hormonal/endocrine system, triggering acne.
How you treat your body can make all the difference as to how much your hormones fluctuate during any of these occurrences.
How can we naturally deal with this?
If you have viewed any of the informational videos we post on YouTube, you will know that I always put emphasis on how important both food and skincare are to the health of your skin. Put simply, if you eat the wrong foods, this can cause fluctuations or imbalances in your endocrine/ hormonal system. The wrong foods can cause low level chronic/long term inflammation in your gut which affects your whole body and skin. Wrong food choice also cause the production of sebum or oil on the skin and can weaken your immune system. As I always say, “crap in equals crap out”. In the same way that if you have an expensive petrol car that you love, you wouldn’t purposely put the wrong diesel fuel into it and expect it to run perfectly.
All in all, wrong foods cause a whole host of issues to your body and ultimately your skin. Hence, if you look after your skin from the inside and out, you will be less inclined to suffer with recurring acne and skin problems like eczema or acne.
Food
I started by doing a food journal of just monitoring what I ate and drank for 2 weeks. I then did an exclusion diet of removing known acne and eczema triggering foods. Remember that exclusion diets should only ever be short term, to ensure you are getting a good variety of foods for the vitamins and minerals they supply. Over time I established that for myself, gluten (wheat, rye and barley), animal milk whether from a cow, sheep or a goat, and processed sugars are my triggers. Different folks, equals different strokes…in other words , we are all unique, so food that causes a problem for one person, may not be a trigger for another.
The idea behind a temporary exclusion diet is to only remove ALL suspected trigger foods for a couple of weeks and then add one of your trigger foods back into your diet to see how your health and skin react. If there is no reaction, then move on to the next food, but if you do react then the choice is yours as to what you will do about it. As well as possibly reacting to some natural foods, there is a higher probability of reacting to junk foods.
Here’s a crap food list to avoid:
- Foods that have artificial colours,
- Foods that have artificial sweeteners,
- Food that has more than one source of sugar like syrup, or basically anything that ends in ‘ose’, because if sugar is mentioned more than once, then you’re eating crap,
- In fact, if the item of food you have picked up doesn’t look as close to its original natural state as when it was picked from the tree or soil, then assume that it is crap.
- If the fish you have picked up in the supermarket is from farmed sources and not wild caught, then you can assume that the fish have been swimming in their own poo and antibiotics have been added to the water to prevent disease. (The only exception to this is farmed mussels as they are self-cleaning and are attached to a string which means they aren’t feeding from the floor.)
- The same goes for our meat. I have started eating less meat because unless you can afford to eat only organic or grass-fed meats, then again assume that the animal had lived in confined conditions where they have been given antibiotics or even some sort of hormonal treatment for them to grow faster.
- And…any heavily processed junk foods or ‘Ultra processed foods’.
Once you have established what you shouldn’t eat for your body, then do your best to include more plant-based meals such as:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Seeds
- Whole grains
- Nuts
Skincare
This simple practical skincare tip may seem obvious, and it has nothing to do with what it is you are using on your face. It is the simple act of cleaning your face 1 – 2 times a day. It is extremely important to remove dirt and oil without stripping your skin of its natural oils. If you wear makeup, you should use the double cleansing method of removing the makeup first and then once removed, focus on gently cleaning your actual skin. Many acne sufferers over clean whilst believing that squeaky clean and skin drying facial washes are good.
This is far from the truth.
If you have worn any makeup that day, first remove the makeup by directly applying a natural fragrance-free oil like hemp seed oil, avocado oil, almond oil or rice bran oil or a combination of these all to your dry face. I also use my own Tigs & Moo Naked Body Butter, which I first rub between the palms of my hands to warm up and melt.
Rub and massage your preferred oil all over your face. This is because oil attracts oil. In other words, the clean natural oils of the skincare product attract the oil and dirt from your face. Once you have massaged your face with the oil, simply use a clean wet and warm flannel to remove any makeup. When you cleanse for the second time, apply the soap or facial wash to wet skin, wash it off and then dry your face with another clean dry flannel. I should also point out that I have about 20 white flannels, as I only use each clean flannel once. I don’t use my body towel on my face, and all my flannels are washed on a 40-degree load, with no fabric conditioner, as fabric conditioner is another irritating source of fragrance for your facial acne.
In the morning I clean my face with an organic floral water by either spritzing it with the spray function or if it has an opening, I pour it into my clean hands and rub on my face, I then use another clean flannel to dry my face. Floral waters are very mild and can be used instead of tap water.
For the individual acne itself, I have a homemade concoction that I use every morning and evening when I have a breakout:
It’s a combination of 17.5g aloe vera gel , 15g hemp seed oil, 15g neem oil, & 2.5g tea tree essential oil. This gives you a total of 50g, so you can use half these ingredients to make a smaller batch…just give it a shake before you use it.
Aloe vera gel – has antibacterial properties which helps to control and reduce acne causing bacteria.
Hemp seed oil (that has a rating of zero on the comedogenic ratings list, which means it has a zero likelihood of blocking pores) – and it is anti-inflammatory so it benefits acne, eczema & even freshly shaved skin.
Neem oil – which is fantastic for any inflamed skin conditions and hyperpigmentation because of the fatty acids, anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidant properties and anti-fungal benefits.
Tea tree essential oil – which isn’t for everyone but I use it diluted because of its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. It reduces swelling, redness and inflammation.
Don’t think that because you have acne you shouldn’t use a face cream.
Use natural products when possible, or at the very least use green beauty products, which just means that there are no hidden nasties such as those fragrances, colours or unnecessary ingredients that can actually add to your acne problems.
Make one change at a time so that you know for definite if it is having an impact on your health and/or skin.
However, don’t be hard on yourself, all of this is a big learning curve for us all.
ps…if you wear makeup, consider using mineral makeup that is fragrance free .
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