PMS (Pre-Menstrual Skincare) - How to Manage Hormonal Acne
As vagina owners we only get about 1 week a month for everything to feel right in our mind and body. Pre-menstrual syndrome, post-menstrual syndrome, ovulation week, menstruation week .. the hormonal changes the vagina owning body goes through takes a toll on everything including our skin. Here is the rundown on why your skin freaks out every time it’s that time of the month and how to manage and treat it.
Why must my skin turn on me every time I get my period?
Hormones are the internal chemical messengers to regulate your body’s functions and behavior. Estrogen is a group of steroid hormones that develop and regulate the female reproductive system. This hormone is also a crucial hormone for the appearance of your skin. It’s anti-inflammatory, an antioxidant so it protects against the free radical damage that harms skin cells, it helps with skin tissue repair, as well as aiding in maintaining skin moisture. Before you menstruate (aka when you’re PMSing), your estrogen levels drop, meaning all the great benefits estrogen provided to the skin decreases significantly making your skin more prone to inflammation and infection from acne causing bacteria. In addition, this causes your sebaceous glands, the glands that produce oil, to secrete more oil than usual - causing clogged pores meaning more breakouts. It’s the perfect pimple storm.
How can I prepare my skin for that time of the month?
Although breakouts during menstruation is inevitable, you can help prevent the breakout from worsening or even happening at all by tracking your cycle and prepping your skin the week prior and the week of by utilizing acne fighting ingredients and AHAs, alpha hydroxy acids, to help exfoliate your skin and prevent your pores from becoming clogged due to the excess sebum production. You can introduce these ingredients in various ways including using incorporating double cleansing in your nightly routine to really get rid of the excess oil, using cleansers with acne fighting active ingredients, incorporating a clay mask a few nights a week to help absorb excess oil, exfoliating serums, and surrounding your exfoliating agents in your night routine with skin barrier strengthening products to make up for the loss of skin tissue repair that your normal estrogen levels would provide. Now let’s get into my favorite pre-menstrual skincare!
My favorite Pre-Menstrual Skincare
Like I mentioned before, there are a ton of ways you can incorporate some pre-menstrual skincare that will give your skin a fighting chance against the hormonal changes that comes with starting your cycle. Let’s start with
Cleansers:
Cleansers are a great way to exfoliate and treat your skin if you have sensitive skin and can’t handle exfoliating serums. The contact therapy of the 60 seconds of cleansing can gently exfoliate your skin without risking irritation.
Kate Somerville’s EradiKate Daily Acne Treatment ($40) - Sulfur is one of my favorite acne fighting ingredients. It’s on the gentle end of the acne fighting ingredient spectrum, meaning it’s sensitive skin safe. Sulfur helps absorb excess oil and dries out dead skin cells to prevent pore blockage. This cleanser features 3% sulfur as well as oat extract to balance oil production and honey extract to soothe and hydrate. The week prior to your period you can swap this in as your nightly cleanser 2-3 nights that week. This cleanser is best used in conjunction with hydrating and skin barrier strengthening products for the remainder of your routine.
Rosen Skincare’s Earth Cleanser ($18) ** Black woman owned! ** - This cleanser has the perfect cocktail of sensitive skin safe, but effective, acne fighting ingredients. Earth Cleanser features ingredients like zinc oxide, niacinamide, and 1% eucalyptus oil to target the two causes of hormonal acne: a presence of acne causing bacteria and excess oil production. The week prior to my expected period I use this as my nightly cleanser 3 nights a week. It’s non drying so you can include an exfoliating agent in the remainder of your regimen.
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel Cleanser ($14.99) - This is one of my favorite drugstore cleansers. It’s especially great for oily skin types (remember how your menstrual can cause oily skin due to the drop in estrogen!). The Effaclar cleanser uses 2% salicylic acid to deeply exfoliate the pore and target acne causing bacteria as well as LHA (lipo-hydroxy acid), a sensitive skin safe exfoliating agent that unclogs pores. You can swap this in for your night cleanser 2-3 times nights a week.
Toners:
Exfoliating toners are a great way to gently exfoliate when surrounding the regimen with hydrating and barrier strengthening products.
Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow PHA+BHA Pore Tight Toner ($34) - This toner is my jammmm! I know $34 for a toner is pricey, but to be fair the bottle will last you a good while and the product itself is high quality. This toner incorporates PHA (poly-hydroxy acids) that exfoliate dead skin cells on the surface of your skin, working similarly to AHAs, and BHA (better known as salicylic acid) to deeply exfoliate the pores to clear excess sebum and dead skin cells. In addition, it has hyaluronic acid and cactus water to hydrate your skin and strengthen your skin barrier. For an exfoliating toner, this toner is incredibly hydrating and non drying. I like to use it 2-3 nights per week, at night, surrounded by a hydrating regimen.
Paula’s Choice Skin Balancing Pore Reducing Toner ($21) - The description doesn’t lie. This toner helps balance oil production to reduce the appearance of large pores as well as clearing excess oil. It features niacinamide for oil production regulation, chamomile and burdock root extract to soothe the skin barrier and prevent inflammation, and hyaluronic acid to help nourish the skin barrier. The best part about this toner is that you can use it both day and night, daily.
Serums:
The important thing to note about serums is to layer them carefully. You don’t need 30 serums, when you’re using an exfoliating one choose a hydrating/skin barrier repairing serum and pair it with the exfoliant - that’s all you need. As always, patch test with a new exfoliant on your body and then try it on your face surrounded with hydrating and skin barrier strengthening products.
The Ordinary Mandelic Acid 10% + HA ($6.80) - This is one of my favorite affordable skincare products (have you checked out my article on my favorite skincare under $10?). Mandelic acid is a very slept on acne ingredient. It’s an alpha-hydroxy acid that increases skin cell turnover, evens skin tone, and fights acne. You can use this at night, after you cleanse and tone your skin, 2-3 nights per week leading up to your cycle.
Topicals Faded Serum ($36) ** Black woman owned! ** - This is my favorite serum EVER! It has completely changed the game for my skin in so many different ways. Aside from the fact that this is THEE serum to treat hyperpigmentation and uneven skintone, it’s also amazing for acne! Faded contains niacinamide for oil production control, azelaic acid to kill acne causing bacteria and reduce redness, centella asiatica to boost collagen production (that typically drops during your cycle), and MORE. For all the amazing active ingredients it has, it’s still so incredibly gentle. You can use this 3-4 nights a week after you cleanse and tone your skin.
Naturium Niacinamide Serum 12% Plus Zinc 2% ($15.99) - Niacinamide and zinc are part of my favorite skin sensitive acne fighting ingredient gang - niacinamide is an antioxidant that helps with evening skin tone and regulating the skin’s oil production and zinc is anti-inflammatory, skin barrier repairing, and it kills acne causing bacteria. This serum not only helps with the above benefits, but it’s super hydrating and leaves you with that natural dewy look. You can use this daily, after you cleanse and tone, twice a day.
Masks
Your skin won’t transform because of a mask, but it will definitely help treat with the minor “imperfections” we face like skin dryness, hyperpigmentation, texture, and pore size appearance.
Rosen Skincare’s Earth Mask ($17.99) ** Black woman owned!! ** - This is * the * mask for inflamed acne and oily skin. I use this to not only prevent acne, but to treat it as well. It features niacinamide and zinc oxide (I think ya’ll know the deal about these ingredients by now) and earth clay to help with excess oiliness. It’s sensitive skin and dry skin safe, but incredibly effective. Use 2-3 times per week at night, rinse with a warm, damp, towel (easiest and most hygienic way is with Clean Skin Club towels ran under warm water, you can get 20% off with my code “COKA”).
Peter Thomas Roth Therapeutic Sulfur Acne Treatment Mask ($52) - Sulfur is that girl for fighting acne! It’s gentle (sensitive skin safe!), kills acne causing bacteria, reduces excess oil, and can help treat eczema and rosacea (skin redness). This mask not only has sulfur, but bentonite clay (not that Aztec clay crap, you know what I’m talking about!) to help with excess oil and deep cleaning pores. Keep in mind, when you’re using sulfur do not combine with other heavy acne fighting ingredients in your regimen like salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and retinoids. Use 2-3 times per week at night, rinse with a warm, damp, towel or Clean Skin Club towel.
You can use this skincare not only when you’re preparing for Auntie flow, but also when you’re dealing with acne in general. Most acne is hormonal, whether it’s PMS or just a reaction from eating something that doesn’t agree with your diet. Remember, this does not mean layer every product I mentioned together - pick one from each category and do not use them in conjunction. Surrounding your regimen with hydration and barrier strength is key. A healthy barrier can fight acne, heal from acne, and leave less scarring. I hope this helps!
Cheers,
Kahina