To get their kids to finish their meals, some Chinese parents tease them with, “If you leave rice on your plate, you’ll marry a spotty-faced boy/girl.” My Chinese Mum grew up hearing it; I heard it a few times, too. And when my seven-year-old niece Lauren heard it recently, the little one answered, “It wouldn’t matter if he has a spotty face. He might be a very nice person.”
Best. Answer. Ever. But let’s face it, no matter what anyone else thinks or says, breakouts suck, especially for teens as they navigate The Hormonal Years. Thankfully, for most people, a little good-skin education can help minimize eruptions and save self-esteem. More than that, starting a solid routine early prolongs skin’s youthful, healthy appearance, .
Want to know more? If you’re a Toronto-area beautygeek, join Consonant and me on Tuesday March 26th (details below) to chat about young-skin needs and that early routine!
We’d love to see you!
Opening photo by Patrick Demarchelier; image borrowed from Teen Vogue. Second image © Royalty-Free/Corbis.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s so cool! You’ll be so good at that – you just talk about stuff in a way that makes sense – those topics are perfect for you.
Can I come?
Sure, You! Bring a teen! Or someone who looks like one!
What do Brooklyn tweens do? Can we import you for a seminar? I feel so clueless and the girl’s nightly routine consists of splashing water on her face and hugging the cat.
I’m sure I read somewhere that cat fur has remarkable anti-acne properties. Wait, I’m sure I didn’t read that anywhere.
Hah ha ha ha! Cranky, I love you!
Carla, how is Kate’s skin? If it’s smooth and clear (and she wears SPF daily), you don’t need to do much at the moment. Okay, I’d recommend that she dry her face before hugging the cat — to avoid fur-transfer, you know? *grin* And perhaps a gentle cleanser from Burt’s Bees, or Aveeno that she could use before bedtime.
I like a creamy-texture cleanser for most skin types; oily skin feels better with some kind of foaming or gel wash with willow bark to keep pores clear (Burt’s Bees Natural Acne Solutions Purifying Gel). Oily skin needs a hydrating step after cleansing; Burt’s Bees Natural Acne Solutions Lotion moisturizes and keeps spots at bay with willow bark too.
Kate’s not dealing with breakouts at this point, is she?
I wish! I’m not a teenager anymore, but I still suffer from acne and blackheads… I feel like I get so much information and try so many different things and they never work well. I think I need to go back to basics.
What have you been using lately, Gaëlle? Success might come down to doing something as simple as adding a glycolic acid toner to your routine. But tell me what you’re using to cleanse and moisturize.
So, mostly I am using a simple cleanser for morning and night (the Mario Badescu cream soap one) and then I moisturize with a mattifying day cream for day (a bioderma one) and a in the evening I use the Mario Badescu seaweed night cream. Then every night I put on the Mario Badescu buffering lotion on my chin to avoir breakouts and every other night I put on the glycolic gel of the same brand for blackheads. Then twice a week I do a scrub.
I still have cystic acne, but a lot less since I’ve started using the buffering lotion. About 3 month ago I went off the pill and I was afraid that I would break out so badly, but it seems to have helped keeping things at bay. I still get some, but not so many. However, and this doesn’t have to do with the pill because I already had them before, I get blackheads on my nose and nothing seems to get rid of them. The strange thing is that, whenever I go to America for a few weeks to visit my American family in Minnesota, my blackheads completely dissappear! This can’t possibly have to do with food, so I’m thinking could the much more humid air actually help? Such a strange mystery…