What Should a Teen Skincare Routine Look Like? It's More Than Just Acne Management!
Posted on April 7, 2024 Written by: 100% PURE®
As tweens turn to teens, their minds and personalities aren’t the only things changing. Skin goes through an evolution, too. And, as we know, teen skin is notoriously problematic.
Along with changing hormones and awkward phases, teens will encounter bumpy skin, oiliness, and plenty more pimples. Many of us have experienced the teen acne phase, where it felt like the only solution was to wash your face thrice a day. Yikes!
Why is it that adolescents seem to struggle with acne, oiliness, and generally finicky skin? And, what can you do to help your teen weather this phase? We’ve got answers and some top natural products to help both clear and calm their skin and ‘teen spirit’!
Once you hit your teen years, hormones begin to change. Puberty brings with it a whole new set of challenges for your skin!
Your brain begins to produce a gonadotropin-releasing hormone that reaches your pituitary gland. This gland produces luteinizing and follicle-stimulating hormones – and these hormones tell your body to produce estrogen or testosterone.
The result of this hormone cocktail: sebum. Lots of it! You might struggle with oily skin on your face, chest, and back. Excess oil can mingle with dirt and bacteria on your skin, leading to clogged pores and acne. You might notice more whiteheads, blackheads, and red pimples on oily areas. Flesh-colored bumpy skin is another common symptom.
With the production of more oil often comes body odor, too. You’re likely beginning to sweat more, and your body odor will smell more pungent.
Luckily, these issues are often simple enough to manage, even if the solutions take time to work. You will need to address excess oil production, odor-causing microbes, and acne-causing bacteria.
We know how difficult it can be to find products that really work for teen skin. You might have tried harsh cleansers or moisture-stripping toners, only to find they didn’t really fix any of your issues. Even worse is that they likely irritated your skin and left you dry, red or flaky.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of natural products for each of your teen skincare concerns!
1) Clogged Pores
Why It Happens: Since your skin begins producing more oil in your teen years, this excess oil can really block your pores. Without proper cleansing or exfoliation, oil mixes with dead skin cells and leads to congestion. You might notice dullness, blackheads or clogged pores as a result.
Recommended Products for Teen Skincare: Acai Pulp Facial Scrub and Tea Tree Deep Detox Mask
How They Work: The path to clear pores is regular exfoliation. Our Acai Pulp Facial Scrub uses organic crushed acai berries to clear away dead skin cells and oil sitting in your pores. If you have inflamed acne or sensitive skin, you can water it down to make it gentler.
Another option is our Tea Tree Deep Detox Mask. This mask uses French green clay to regulate oil production. Tea tree oil reduces inflammation and clears your skin of impurities.
2) Increased Sebum Production
Why It Happens: Your brain releases hormones to trigger the production of sex hormones: estrogen or testosterone. As a result, your sebaceous glands become more active and produce more oil. If you wash your face too much, you might be worsening the problem by stripping your dermis of its natural oils, which will make your skin produce even more oil to compensate for the compromised skin barrier. This, in turn, will also cause your glands to go into overdrive.
Recommended Products for Teen Skincare: Tea Tree Clear Complexion Cleanser and Tea Tree Balancing Moisturizer
How They Work: You need to use ingredients that break through excess oil, without stripping your skin of its natural oils and moisture. Antibacterial tea tree oil balances your sebum production and helps reduce the size of your pores.
Go for a 1-2 tea tree cleansing and balancing punch! Our blemish-control cleanser features refreshing tea tree oil that instantly calms acnegenic skin while sweeping away pore-clogging bacteria, excess oil, and impurities. Pair with our lightweight, quick-absorbing tea tree moisturizer that’s concentrated with acne-fighting herbs, while green tea oil lends you an antioxidant boost, to refresh, soothe, and balance oily or acnegenic skin.
PRO TIP: Don’t skip the moisturizer, even if you have oily skin! Oily skin still needs hydration.
3) Acne
Why It Happens: A mixture of dead skin cells, oil, grime, and acne-causing bacteria creates the perfect environment for acne. Teen skin often experiences a rise in sebum production, which blocks pores and mingles with dead skin. The overproduction of oil in the teen years can explain the prevalence of acne in adolescents.
Recommended Products for Teen Skincare: Tea Tree Spot Treatment or Tea Tree Balancing Moisturizer
How They Work: Your teen skincare routine needs antibacterial and anti-inflammatory ingredients to lessen and soothe angry pimples. Tea tree oil kills off microbes and calms redness. The combination of tea tree and witch hazel in our Tea Tree Spot Treatment cuts through sebum, lessening the appearance of pores. Use it to calm individual pimples and reduce their likelihood for scarring.
Our Balancing Moisturizer complements our spot treatment with aloe, turmeric, and azelaic acid. Tea tree oil works alongside these ingredients to boost brightness, clear pore-clogging debris, reduce the appearance of scars, and calm inflammation.
4) Body Acne
Why It Happens: The sebaceous glands on your face aren’t the only ones that are active! Your chest and back tend to produce lots of oil in your adolescent years. Like facial acne, these pimples are caused by oil, bacteria, and a buildup of dead skin.
Recommended Products for Teen Skincare: Sea Salt Body Scrub in Lavender or Blood Orange
How They Work: Every kind of acne requires antibacterial ingredients to fend off acne-causing microbes. Sea salt crystals are a bit larger than your usual table salt, but these crystals are anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. They help remove dead skin cells without leaving your skin raw.
Not to mention, certain studies have found that lavender oil is effective against certain kinds of bacteria. Blood Orange also contains antibacterial and de-greasing power. The blend of silky sunflower and apricot oils in our Lavender Body Scrub and our Blood Orange Body Scrub can help soothe acne, prevent irritation, and lead to clear, supple skin.
PRO TIP: Salt’s antibacterial properties led to the phrase “salt in the wound”!
5) Body Odor
Why It Happens: Your sweat glands become much more active in your adolescent years. But it’s not the sweat itself that causes body odor – it’s bacteria. When a lot of sweat encounters bacteria on your skin and clothing, you begin to smell much more strongly.
Recommended Products for Teen Skincare: Eucalyptus Shower Gel or Lavender Shower Gel
How They Work: You need to be washing your skin regularly, but not with harsh soaps. Drying out your skin can lead to a loss of good bacteria, allowing bad bacteria to disrupt the balance. Our Eucalyptus Shower Gel lifts away dirt, oil, and impurities, while rehydrating thirsty skin with aloe and rose hydrosol. Infusions of red algae and green tea help to lock in essential moisture and gently tone the skin
If you prefer a liquid soap in the same fresh scent, our Lavender Shower Gel foams up without stripping your skin like other foaming cleansers. Aloe, rose water, and honey quench your skin for a healthy dose of hydration.
PRO TIP: If you suffer from body acne, remember to shower or bathe at least once a day, especially after sweating.
Teen skincare doesn’t have to be complicated. While the usual solutions might have been to dry out your skin or try to scrub the acne away, we prefer to take a much gentler approach to teen skincare. A blend of gentle cleaning, deep exfoliation, and much needed hydration can help rebalance even the most stubborn teen skin and bring it to clear, calm skin Zen. Now, that smells like ‘good’ teen spirit!
Why do teenagers struggle with acne and oily skin?
Oil glands in teenagers get stimulated when hormones become active during puberty. Increased levels of hormones during the teen years lead to more sebum production. More oil means more clogged pores, which contributes to blackheads and blemishes.
How can teens effectively cleanse and exfoliate their skin?
It’s important to establish a consistent, daily skincare routine. Use a natural cleanser and splash your skin clean with warm (not hot) water, and pat the skin dry. Look for gentle yet effective natural antibacterial ingredients, like tea tree oil, that can cleanse skin without stripping it of its natural oils and moisture. Gentle natural scrubs are beneficial for exfoliating skin to clear dead skin cells and keep the pores clear.
What skincare products are best for managing excess oil production in teens?
Cleansers, moisturizers, and spot treatments are best for managing excess oil in teens. A gentle natural cleanser will remove surface impurities without stripping skin’s protective moisture barrier. Pairing a cleanser with a lightweight moisturizer will replenish and balance skin after cleansing. These products should have some antibacterial ingredients that can help combat acne, while balancing the skin. An acne spot treatment is useful for stubborn blemishes or areas of the skin. Adding a body shower gel is a bonus for body acne!
How can tea tree oil help treat and prevent teen acne?
Tea tree oil is known for its anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antibacterial properties—a major win for those with acne-prone skin. It helps with acne because the oil has been found to have antimicrobial effects against Cutibacterium acnes, a type of bacteria that is found in healthy normal skin, but one that’s also known to be involved in the formation of acne. Tea tree oil’s triple all-star ‘anti’ powers can decrease clogged pores, blackheads, and acne for clearer and balanced skin.
What natural products can teens use to manage body acne and body odor?
It’s best to use body products like shower gels and body washes for acne. These products are a common remedy for treating acne on the shoulders, back, and chest. These body washes' natural components, such as tea tree oil and willow bark, can assist in clearing clogged pores and reducing inflammation from acne. Exfoliating scrubs and lotions that have natural antibacterial ingredients that can help treat and balance skin, while keeping acne at bay are must-haves, too.
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The information in this article is for educational use, and not intended to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should not be used as such.
