Teenage acne and how to treat it, thanks to For The Young Dude

It’s ALL about beauty products this week on TWR. As we all keenly await Jane’s review on NanoBlur (or Nan Blur as we’ve renamed it)  and Dream Nude Airfoam Foundation from Maybelline, I’ve been researching help on teenage acne, as youngest teen has developed a few spots.

Both my sister and I were plagued with spots when we were teens and we worked our way through the Vogue Beauty Bible trying to find a cure. Hardly anything worked and life was pretty miserable, particularly when adults would say stupid things like ‘It’ll be OK in three or four years, you’ll grow out of it!’. You don’t care that your skin will be fine when you are 25, you want the giant zits to go NOW, because at 16, acne is the biggest, most miserable thing in the world. Ever. 

Today there are both better products around and more sensible advice available than when we were teens. 

Luckily, the Handpicked Media fam’ we belong to includes a couple of really good mens beauty blogs, and For The Young Dude’s writer Dil Uppal was more or less inspired to start his blog because he suffered from acne as a teen (he only looks about 16 now but apparently IS older) and wanted to help others realise you can make it better. 

He has written three excellent and detailed blog posts on identifying and treating acne, which help you pinpoint what type of acne you/your teen has. Then he guides you through the treatments available and suggests the best ones for your condition. Since Dil is a bloke, I was able to convince youngest teen quite easily that it was ‘good manly advice’ to follow, but he’s very receptive to beauty stuff anyway, and is keen to test products.

To identify what type of acne you have, read here

If you have minimal to mild acne, you need this post here

If you have moderate to severe acne you need this post 

So, after careful reading, we have gone for a simple ‘cleanse, treat, moisturise’ routine, recommended by Dil as a ‘good place to start’ with teen beauty-novices, who may be surprised at the whole idea of actually doing more to your skin than getting it wet in the shower.

The items we have ordered we got from Amazon (dangerously easy) but are being shipped from the US (America seems to take skin care category seriously) so we’re starting a bit later than hoped and one of the products we wanted (Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid) is out of stock everywhere. HOWEVER, we will not be put off! I’ll let you know how things go, in the mean time if your teen is suffering, you can point them in the direction of Dil’s blog.

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6 Comments

  • April says:

    Thanks so much for this – really timely for my spot afflicted boys. The website was really helpful. I’ve ordered the acne.org kit and Paula’s Choice stuff is winging it’s way to me as we speak. I think the real challenge is going to be getting them to follow the regimen. Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish has really helped keep No1 son’s skin non-infected, but lovely red headless bumps acne generates need something stronger. I’ll keep you posted with how we get on, do let me know how your child’s skin responds.

  • Amanda says:

    Excellent April, will be interested to hear what your kids think. As a matter of interest, where did you get the Paula’s Choice stuff from? Still trying to find it! Ax

  • April says:

    Hi Amanda,
    I got it from paulaschoice.co.uk, but I went for a gel vs. liquid format as I felt it would be easier for the boys. Packaging has been redone, so it doesn’t look like the bottle on the website you refer to. Now time to turn attention to the volume collapse that has hit my face in my mid 40’s. Feels like paper bag will be the easiest solution….

    April x

  • I have really struggled to find more natural products for my son’s sensitive young skin. It seems that the only products targeted at boys are Clearasil and Freederm. I am still mentally scarred by having to go to school whilst having a terrible skin allergy to Clearasil so won’t let my son near the stuff. We have tried products from Lush and The Body Shop but at the moment Freederm is winning. Much of it is about the packaging and my son will simply not use anything too girly.

  • Amanda says:

    Thanks April, working on volume too! Ax

  • cara says:

    tone with apple cider vinegar, diluted with water- a half and half ratio if it doesn’t sting. (and a bit more water if it does)
    smells a bit but it disappears when it evaporates.

    honestly, it works miracles. you don’t need to throw tonnes of money at the problem.

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