Had a talk with a dermatologist yesterday that made me rethink my whole approach to acne clients

She told me I've been over-exfoliating my clients with acne. Said most breakouts are from damaged barriers not clogged pores. Straight up told me my results would be better if I focused on healing first. Hit different because she showed me before and after photos from her own practice where she barely touched acids for the first 4 weeks. Has anyone else switched to a low-exfoliation protocol for acne clients? I'm reworking my whole routine.

3 comments

3 Comments

joseph_adams6628d ago

Did she mention what specific kind of healing products she used instead of acids?

the_jana28d agoMost Upvoted

My friend actually went through something similar last year and she swears by a few things that helped her. She used a niacinamide serum and this really gentle zinc cream for calming her skin down. The big change for her was a simple moisturizer with ceramides in it, nothing fancy just basic drugstore stuff. She said it took about three weeks before her face stopped feeling so tight and angry from all the acid damage.

margaret30428d ago

Wait, wait - "barely touched acids for the first 4 weeks"? Ngl that actually shocks me. I've been in this industry for years and honestly I was always taught that acne = acids, full stop. Tbh I've probably been destroying people's skin barriers without even realizing it. Seeing that part about her own photos makes me think maybe I need to step way back too. I guess all those years of throwing glycolic acid at everything really wasn't the move. Honestly this whole thread has me questioning everything I thought I knew.