What Does Pimple Cream Really Do?

When fighting acne, many people tend to steer clear of creams due to believing a common myth that creams are heavy and thus cause skin to be oilier. In fact, acne creams are often an important part of a face cleansing ritual to combat acne. Because pimple creams are often used hand in hand with other acne fighting products, they don’t usually contain the harsh chemicals you might find in washes and toners.

Why Pimple Cream Is Needed

Instead of benzoyl peroxide, most creams contain salicylic acid or natural ingredients like tea tree oil. Using a cream can add moisture back to skin that has been dried out by other medicated acne products.

While excess oil is a common cause of acne, removing all the oil from your skin is not helpful. Some oil is necessary for skin to be healthy, so completely stripping your face of oil can actually make acne worse. In fact, when oil is removed from the skin, it can actually trigger glands in the skin to produce more oil than normal. This can have the result of creating an excess oil problem where there didn’t used to be one.

How to Choose a Pimple Cream

When considering adding a pimple cream to your face cleansing routine, there are a number of different factors that should be considered:

Skin Type

– There are pimple creams for all skin types, so when investigating which to use, this should be one of the first things you consider. Pimple cream for oily skin is often gel based, meaning it has a lot less oil than a regular cream. For people with dry or sensitive skin, the active ingredients should be investigated so the skin is not made drier.

Skin Allergies

– If you have any allergies, you should take these into consideration before even trying a new pimple cream, particularly when applying it to your face. Even natural ingredients, like witch hazel and tea tree oil, can have side effects.

Severity of Acne

– In most cases, pimple creams are recommended to add moisture back to the skin after it has been stripped by cleansers and toners. As such, most people will only need the mildest concentrations of active ingredients in the cream. Unless told otherwise, by your doctor or dermatologist, start with creams that have all natural active ingredients or the lowest concentrations of salicylic acid.

Reasons for Using Pimple Cream

People use creams on their face for a number of reasons, although the most common are as moisturizers or as sun protection. Also, many pimple creams provide SPF to protect against the sun’s harmful rays, so if you need a moisturizing pimple cream for during the day, try to find with a sunscreen included so you only have apply one layer of cream. For those who want an intensive moisturizer, a night cream may be the right option. A night time pimple cream is usually heavier than the daytime version, but still contains active ingredients, allowing the face to be moisturized throughout the night while sleeping.