In my previous post, I wrote about how hair products you love might cause your skin to break out, yikes! With that in mind, it doesn’t mean that you must stop using those products to protect your skin. As I have acne-prone skin myself, I am going to share with you precautions and tips with regards to hair products and sensitive skin. Let’s get right into it!
Wash day
Wash day is when your entire product arsenal comes out, but it’s also when these products have the most opportunity to get onto your skin. We already established that many products have comedogenic ingredients, so if you wash your hair yourself (which I highly recommend), try as hard as you possibly can to prevent hair products from getting onto your face. It is hard, I know, and if you get any products on your face, don’t let them stay on for too long. Hair products may get onto your face during the rinse-out step, to fix that, try tilting your head back when you rinse. I discovered that protein deep conditioners cause my skin to break out, so be especially careful with those.
A little goes a long way
Use a small quantity of product on your hair. This is so important, I can’t stress it enough. When you use a lot of product, your hair will not absorb it all; the excess will trickle down to your face, shoulders, and back.
Change your pillowcase
If I had a dollar for every time I heard this… But it works! Change your pillowcase or at least the side you sleep on every day. It seems hard, but after about a week, it gets easier. The idea here is to have multiple pillowcases. Product (and bacteria) inevitably gets onto your pillowcase, and it will cause acne prone skin to break out if nothing is done about it.
Saran wrap
This is a rather silly one, but I wrap my hair with a saran wrap on night one and two post wash day when my hair is product-heavy. Always use one layer, and to prevent waking up with sweaty hair, poke large holes into the wrap to let hair breathe. The saran wrap keeps products from sipping through to the pillow (and eventually your face).
Keep hair out of your face
Fringes, side sweeps and any other hairstyle that requires hair to flow onto your face, is your enemy. Don’t do it guys; it might be cute but don’t give into the temptation. Once I cut a fringe and it was great for about 5 minutes (more like 5 months but you get it!) until it caused me to break-out. It took me months to get my face clear again.
Clay masks
Oh, the benefits of clay! This stuff is heaven sent! There’s a lot of literature on clay, everything you need to know is just a Google search away. Essentially clay removes toxins from your pores, and reduces inflammation. I usually do a clay mask on wash day to get out any residual hair product from my face, which reduces the chances of a break out. Here’s a great video from GreenBeauty on how clay works to cleanse your hair and skin.
These are the precautions I take to protect my skin; I hope you find them as helpful as I do. What precautions do you take to care for your skin while using possibly comedogenic hair products?
