While acne is typically considered a face-centric frustration, people experiencing pimples ranging from one or two breakouts to severe acne scarring is extremely common. It’s a part of skincare that isn’t often talked about, yet it has a strong yet silent impact on self-confidence and for some, is extremely uncomfortable.

Sometimes related to excessive sweating or poor hygiene, in most cases, genetics is the culprit, resulting in clogged pores, inflammation, and poor cell turnover and can appear as small blackheads, inflammatory pustules, or sometimes deep, tender cystic lesions.

As frustrating as body acne is, it’s luckily preventable and treatable—and the right treatment goes back to what kind of acne and skin you have. Your Skin Professional will assess this along with suggest a dose of active ingredients such as AHAs, zinc, niacinamide (vitamin B3) and retinoids (vitamin A). These are extremely helpful at clearing the skin, regulating oil production and increasing cell turnover. And, like our faces, the important baseline is treating your skin barrier with care, hydration and gentle cleansing.

Here are some of our favourite targeted treatments and products to treat body acne. These suggestions also apply to face acne.

Skincare for Acne

Dp Dermaceuticals CLR Lotion

A specialist corrective lotion for oily, problematic skin. It deeply hydrates, while simultaneously balancing oil production and reducing the potential for future breakouts. Together with CLR Foam Cleanser, it forms part of a powerful anti-acne duo. CLR Lotion also helps to exfoliate the top layer of dead skin cells, and prevents further build-up, leaving skin feeling pure, refreshed, and clean.

It features a combination of ingredients shown to reduce excess pore-clogging oils, including Salicylic Acid and Niacinamide. Niacinamide has been clinically proven to reduce the appearance of acne, increase skin moisturisation and improve the look of ageing skin and uneven tone.

Or, for an all-in-one acne solution opt for the Dp Dermaceuticals Clear Skin Starter Kit tailored to fight inflammation and acne and preventing future breakouts.  

O COSMEDICS Potent Clearing Serum

Potent Clearing Serum’s potent actives control breakouts, diminish the appearance of scarring, exfoliate the skin (inside and out) and encourage cell turnover whilst supporting the reduction of inflammation to ensure skin is left super hydrated and rebalanced. How good?!

Professional Treatments for Acne

Pro Dermal Active O-Biome Oxygen Therapy

This customisable O COSMEDICS Skin Treatment works to support cellular oxygenation and the skin’s microbiome, rebuild, and strengthen the skin’s immunity, and correct and maintain core skin health and key skin conditions. Customised Activators and an Oxygenating Microbiome 45-minute Setting Mask, provide lymphatic compression and microcirculation for optimum skin health in four different treatment activators. For acne, select the Clear Skin activator, which is created specifically to target breakouts, blemishes and skins needing rebalancing, making it the perfect choice for this skin concern.

Dermapen Microneedling

If you’ve been trying all the gels, creams and masks out there without much success, Dermapen Microneedling can be the ultimate way to reduce your congested skin and scarring, whether you’re 16 or 36! The treatment regenerates the affected area by stimulating the production and distribution of collagen, which encourages the skin to heal itself. This is achieved when the 16 needle cartridge glides over the skin, triggering the body’s natural wound healing response. The result? An overall improvement in the appearance of problematic skin breakouts, as blackheads, whiteheads and cystic acne are reduced, as well as scarring from past acne. Read more on this here.

Pro Dermal Planning

The Professional Dermal Peels by O COSMEDICS are designed to rejuvenate your skin and correct a variety of skin problems, including acne and scarring but also to correct photo damage, pigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles, enlarged pores and uneven skin tone. With 6 different peels to choose from, when treating acne, congestion and blackheads the Pomegranate Enzyme Peel is a must-have! An ideal entry level peel for even the most sensitive skins to renew and boost hydration. Pomegranate enzymes lift and digest dead skin cells combined with fruit and lactic acids to repair hydrate and reduce inflammation.

LED Treatments

LED Treatments can also be extremely beneficial for treating acne and scarring. LED uses Light Emitting Diodes, which are completely UV-free to “recharge your cells” within 10-20 minutes. While no at-home mask will ever have the strength to mimic clinical treatments, the Dp Dermaceuticals L.E.D.™ Neck & Décolleté at-home mask delivers rejuvenating red (630nm) light and—hard to find in an at-home device—near-infrared (830nm) light, which penetrates deeper than topical skincare can. Well worth the investment!

Diet and Lifestyle

We must remember the skin is alive and breathing, it is our biggest organ. We need to look at our skin from all angles and not just the surface or not just what we “do” to our skin with treatments and products. Think about what foods you eat that make you feel great and eat more of those. Some we love are high in essential fatty acids, and these are essential because the body needs them – avocados, oily fish, nuts etc. Omega-3’s and 6’s are you friends! Adding KIKI Health Supplements like EFA’s, Zinc and Pre-Biotics can be particularly helpful with acne.

The last one we all know how to do and have been doing it since day dot is sleep. A good night’s sleep is a very underrated factor and needs to be at the top of your list right next to your nighttime routine. Flip your pillowcase over every second day (and wash every third day) to help get rid of acne if you have open pustules. A silk pillowcase is also gentler on the skin and is a simple way to help your skin heal.

When it comes to acne, or any skin concern there is no one size fits all. A Skin Professional is your best bet to tell acne to buzz off!