Back to School Skin

Three words guaranteed to spark equal amounts of relief and trepidation for many - ‘back to school’.

In amongst the organising supplies and bracing for the tidal wave of homework, you may have also noticed that your tween or teen has had some changes to their skin over the school holidays.

Perhaps their skin seems shinier? Maybe they have some blackheads or pimples? It’s all completely normal! Here’s our top 3 tips for Back-to-School skin to help make sure their skincare diet is as nutritious as their lunchbox.

Squeaky clean doesn’t mean healthy skin.

Puberty hormones often lead to an increase in the amount of sebum the skin produces, and while it might be tempting to scrub or wash it all away, it’s best to be gentle.

Using products such as foaming cleansers, soap, alcohol-based cleaning wipes and granular exfoliants or scrubs can actually be counterintuitive. Stripping away all the natural oils can lead to more oil production or skin sensitivity, which can then result in breakouts and infections.

Help your teen refine the excess oils with a gentle and nourishing cleanser like our Pulp Refining Clay Cleanser. Combining this with a lightweight and mattifying moisturiser like our Pineapple Punch can help reduce the appearance of ‘shine’ on their skin.

Breakouts and Blackheads – and Maskne.

The excess oil that your tween or teen is producing also tends to be thicker than normal. Their skin is also constantly shedding away dead skin cells that can sit on the surface of the skin and trap this oil in the pores. Furthermore, the skin picks up bacteria throughout the day, particularly in the current environment where we are all wearing face masks for large proportions of the day.

It’s the perfect equation for pores to get clogged and can result in whiteheads, blackheads, and pimples.

To help keep pores clear and encourage healthy skin cell turnover, we recommend introducing your teen or tween to a gentle exfoliant like our Brightening Berry Facial in a Jar. This exfoliating gel uses fruit acids and enzymes to help break down the ‘links’ keeping the dead skin cells on the surface of the skin and keeping the pores free of debris and pimple causing bacteria.

Wear Sunscreen!

Let’s face it, kids will be more concerned with the two above changes in their skin – particularly pimples. But as an adult you’re probably all too familiar with the signs of sun damage from your youth and how it can’t be reversed.

So, help them play the long game and give them the long-term gift of sun protection. Their teenage self may not thank you for it, but their 20–40-year-old self-will.

And if you need some help convincing them now, let them know that mineral SPFs like our Sun Juice products, contain an ingredient called zinc. Zinc based SPFs not only provide protection to the skin from the environment, but they also help to heal spots and bumps. And tinted mineral SPFs are fantastic for teenagers wanting a light make-up coverage.