Acne Care: Spot Treatments
Written for Walgreens.com
There is almost nothing more dreaded than acne. It has the power to make the social butterfly stay at home, and can make the brilliant student call in sick from school. Pimples don’t care about what’s going on around you. They don’t care if you have a long-anticipated first date, an important work presentation, or a glamorous photo shoot. But pimples don’t have all the power. You can take some back by using spot treatments to treat blemishes and return your skin to its normal, beautiful self.
Although spot treatments are just one weapon in the arsenal against acne, they can also be the most effective. That’s because instead of treating your whole face, like a medicated cleanser or lotion, they zoom in like a laser on only the spots that need attention. This is good news for your face, because acne treatments can dry the skin and cause irritation. With spot treatments, you don’t need to worry about drying out your forehead if the problem is on your chin. In addition to being targeted, spot treatments are powerful. They concentrate the best acne-fighting ingredients, such as benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, often at higher levels than those found in general acne treatments. In fact, spot treatments can contain as much as 10% benzoyl peroxide, while most full-face treatments contain around 5%.
With that much power, spot treatments can do some serious damage to acne. And that’s good news for you. To see the most benefit from spot treatments, most people recommend using them up to 3 times a day when you have a blemish. It can work well to apply spot treatments in the morning, after you wash your face but before you apply makeup, in the evening when you get home, and again right before bed. When applying spot treatments in the morning or in the evening, make sure to rub the spot treatment into the pimple gently and completely. This way, when the spot treatment dries you won’t see any white residue on your face. You can apply several coats of spot treatment if you’d like, but rub each one in completely and let it dry before adding more. Many people apply a thicker layer of spot treatment at night, right before bed. One of the benefits of doing so is that you can use more product without worrying about white residue. The spot treatment will fight your pimple while you’re sleeping. Because spot treatments are powerful, only apply as much as the directions on your product indicate. Using too much of a given spot treatment can make for dry, flaky skin that can hamper your efforts of covering the blemish with makeup.
Due to the variety of spot treatments available, you can easily experiment and find the one that works the best for your skin and your blemishes. For some, that might mean choosing benzoyl peroxide over salicylic acid, or the other way around. Regardless of which spot treatment you choose, you’re one step closer to clear skin and confidence. And that may be the most powerful thing about spot treatments.