15 Things That Secretly Cause Your Acne Breakouts

At various stages of our lives, we’ve all had to deal with acne. Many may have happened to deal with it for over half of their life by this point. We understand that pain you’re going through as tending to breakouts can be difficult. There are so many factors as there are pimples growing over your face (or worse – a lot of them) that’ll stop you from achieving the clear skin that you so desire.

Whether you’re in between skincare routines that’ll work for you or you’re dealing with recurring acne, know that there are particular reasons for why that’s happening. Some of those reasons we’ve compiled into this list for you, so you can adopt a new routine to hopefully be done with acne once and for all.

The Real Reason Breakouts Happen

But before we get to the main reasons you’re getting breakouts in the first place, it’s worth understanding why they’re happening. The reason is simple: hormones and overproduction of oil.

What this means is that the hormones in your body increase the oil production that covers your skin. That oil can clog your hair follicles and result in the growth of a bacteria called P. acnes.

It’s the bacteria that causes zits.

The reason you’ve been going through all kinds of different breakouts comes down to this fact.

It’s not surprising to go through different acne treatment routines, since all of our skin is so different. Our genetics play a big role in the way that our body reacts to those hormones as well.

This is the reason most acne treating routines involve various products and methods wrapped into one: there simply isn’t a single perfect routine that everyone can use.

This is where the methods we propose come in. While this is by no means an acne treatment strategy in terms of what kind of products you should use – rather, it’s the various habits that you’ve picked up in recent years or months that have led you to these breakouts. Knowing they cause acne, we’d suggest changing these habits if they apply to you.

Wearing A Cloth Face Mask

The first big one to notice is whether you’ve been getting breakouts over your chin, jawline, and cheeks. We’re sure you’ve seen pictures of this case around the internet. The reason for that comes down to the fact that you’re wearing a certain type of mask.

As it turns out, when you’ve got your face covered with a mask, all of that sweat, oil, bacteria, and humidity that the mask traps makes a great combination for these breakouts to happen.

This isn’t to say masks are useless or you need to avoid masks. There is still a pandemic going on, so masks are still a thing you must use. However, there are several kinds of masks that the CDC says are appropriate. For example, masks made of bamboo material are more breathable and don’t cause those breakouts as much. You can also look for other breathable fabric beyond that and stock up on those masks.

Beyond that, washing your face twice per day and regularly washing your mask will help out a lot. Remember that your mask will be always collecting all of that oil, bacteria and sweat all over it.

Washing it with soap and water often will help out significantly. This same sort of concept holds true with makeup. It’s better that you don’t apply too much makeup, since any product will clog up the pores if it’s applied too heavily. Paired with a mask, the makeup will do more harm than good.

The Acne Isn’t Really Acne

This isn’t a Jedi mind trick or anything, but there are cases where the acne you’re dealing with isn’t “technically” acne. Despite your tried and true methods, those might be now making matters worse.

If the acne you’re dealing with pops up around your hairline, forehead, chest, or back and looks like small itchy red bumps – this is a clear sign the acne is fungal type. It’s still acne, but it clearly behaves differently and you’ll need a different approach to deal with it.

Fortunately, you can check with any dermatologist that will confirm whether it is the case and will give you a prescription. That said, if your case is mild, some regular dandruff shampoo that contains zinc pyrithione or selenium sulfide should be good enough.

All you have to do is apply that formula to the area of your skin, wait for 10 minutes, and then rinse it off.

Similar to your traditional acne, this acne thrives under sweat, friction, and excess sebum. What this means for you is to be washing your sweaty clothes and body on a regular basis.

Not Washing Your Face Or Pillowcase Enough

Over the course of the day, we get a build up of dirt, oil, grime, and makeup over our skin. Even if you’re spending your entire day indoors, that stuff finds a way of building up over the course of the day. If you’re not washing your face on a regular basis – or at least before you go to bed – all of that stuff gets transferred to your pillowcase when you go to sleep.

Paired up with your face rubbing against the pillowcase during the night, this could be enough for inflammation and acne breakouts to happen. Furthermore, this action can lead to bacteria infecting other areas of your skin if there are raw or open areas.

A quick fix for this is to wash the pillowcase every few nights. Also getting some satin or silk pillowcases will help in reducing friction.

Lack Of Sleep

On the note of pillowcases, sleep does have a factor involved in acne breakouts. To explain it briefly, our body routinely goes through circadian rhythms. This means there are certain activities your body will do while you’re up and others when you’re sleeping.

One such thing that our body does when we sleep is lower the levels of cortisol in our body.

Cortisol is something that can lead to breakouts, since it basically sends our oil glands into overdrive and that leads to acne.

By not getting enough sleep our bodies aren’t able to go through the process of lowering the cortisol levels. As such, the clear solution is to get more sleep.