Your Shinny Smooth Locks Might Be The Cause Of Your Recent Skin Breakouts

As the trend for polished silky smooth hair has gained popularity, so have the reports of acne and skin breakouts shown a sharp surge — Is this a pure coincidence or is there a real relationship between the two? Lets investigate,

you recently started getting acne eruptions — on skin examination the acne flare-ups are seen around the forehead, sides of face, jaw-line and back — areas right adjacent to the hair-line. Looking at your skin and hair care products your skincare products are not labeled “Oily-combination skin” and you’re also using hair straightening and frizz-fighting hair products. In dermatology we call this phenomenon “Pomade acne”; acne flare-ups caused by certain chemicals used in the hair products. In the past it used to be a common reporting among African women with very curly hair who were using hair-relaxing pomades. With the rise of silky smooth hair trend now pomade acne is making a huge comeback in all skin types and in both men as well as women.

Hair leave-in products like “smoothing serums”, “anti-frizz serums”, heat styling sprays, “heat-protectants”, “thermal setting sprays”, and “shine sprays” contain silicone-derived ingredients and oils to control frizz, add shine, and detangle the hair. They work by coating the hair cuticle making it look and feel smooth. These leave-in hair products have become an essential part of the daily hair styling routine for people with difficult-to-manage hair, especially those who have naturally curly hair or who are experiencing frizzy hair due to damage caused by hair dyes and harsh hair styling procedures.

Men who like slick hair and are using hair waxes and pomades to style their manes are also reporting acne breakout as these hair products also contain greasy wax-based ingredients that can clog pores, trap bacteria, and cause inflammatory breakouts.

Most people don’t correlate their acne breakouts with their hair products until a skincare specialist points it out. Common culprits in hair products include PVP/DMAPA acrylates, cyclopentasiloxane, panthenol, dimethicone, silicone, Quaternium-70, oils, and petrolatum. These oily, waxy, hair products rub off on the face directly or indirectly through the pillow at night. Ladies who wear hijab also notice acne on the areas covered by the hijab as the cloth soaks in the hair product and later it is rubbed off to the facial skin blocking pores and casing acne.

Makeup (foundations, primers, and popular “BB” creams) that promises more coverage and smoother pore-less skin is also known to cause acne. Heavy-coverage skin foundations and concealers contain cyclopentasiloxane and dimethicone and are well known culprits as they contain the same ingredients as the hair products. They serve a similar purpose: smoothing the skin and smoothing the hair. Both should be avoided in acne-prone patients.

How To Prevent Pomade Acne?

The only way to eliminate acne caused by hair products is to completely eliminate the hair product from the daily routine. However, you can’t live without your hair products, here are some tips to reduce the breakouts:

• Choose a hairstyle that keeps the hair away from the face, or wear hair up to avoid prolonged contact with the face, particularly while sleeping. 
• Change pillowcase often (every day if possible), especially for side sleepers. Regardless of the fabric, pillowcases trap oil, dirt, and bacteria.
• Wash your hijab every day if possible to avoid hair products being absorbed by the head-scarf and rubbed of on the face.
• Shower at night and sleep with clean hair and clean skin.
• It’s always better to style hair before applying makeup. When done with the hair wash hands thoroughly to remove all hair products before touching the face skin. Always wash face before applying makeup.
• Cover the face prior to applying any hair sprays.
• Cover the hair at bedtime with a hair net if you still have hair products in it; however, tight head coverings can stimulate sweat and cause scalp breakouts.

As a general rule, anyone with difficult-to-control acne, recalcitrant acne, or acne in areas on the cheeks or hairline should eliminate these hair products in their daily routine or avoid skin contact with these products. Additionally using daily skincare suitable for oily and combination skin keeps natural skin oils under check.

Scoop, Chisel And Contour – Always Bet On Fat

You might hate your love handles or the muffin top but believe it or not all your unwanted flab is laced with a potential to bring forth youth and beauty. Yup you heard it right, your unsightly spare tires can come in handy any time to buoy up your mission to defy aging or simply to enhance your facial/body contours when you feel like fitting-in perfectly with the mold called the “Golden Ratios Of Beauty”.  Fat grafting is a simple procedure where we take fat from an area where it is unwanted and graft/inject into an area where you need volume or contouring. In the recent years the procedure has seen a sharp rise in demand as natural vs. artificial choices are becoming popular with the aesthetic consumers.

A Short Recountal Of “Fat Transferring”

The first evidence of fat transfer was recorded in the 18th century, but it never became widely accepted until modern liposuction techniques were developed. Too many complications as well as unpredictable results (how much fat would “live” after the transfer) prevented the procedure from gaining mass acceptability. The trend began to change when in the early 1990’s Dr. Sydney Coleman, a New York City based Plastic Surgeon, began publishing papers describing standardized techniques for fat extraction, processing, and injection. Since that point in time the procedure’s popularity has increased tremendously along with a wider variety of clinical applications.

Currently aesthetic surgeons around the world agree that fat grafting is an ace up any surgeon’s sleeve and in aesthetic inner circles we lovingly call it liquid gold.

The Grafting Process

The process of fat grafting involves three steps: extraction of the fat from the donor area with liposuction, cleaning/processing of the fat, and finally reinjection of the purified fat into the area needing improvement. Fat is taken from the donor area (stomach, hips, and thighs) using special liposuction techniques with thin cannulas. The fat is either “decanted” or “washed” to separate out the viable adipose fat cells to be used in the graft. Depending on the areas to be injected it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to complete the procedure.

Common Areas of Fat Grafting

Simply put, fat can be used anywhere dermal fillers or implants would be used. Previously neglected areas including women and men’s shoulders, breast, pectorals, hips, legs and stomachs can be easily injected to create definition.

I mostly use it for facial rejuvenation to restore a more youthful appearance by adding volume to the areas below the eyes or nasolabial folds, cheeks, nose, temples, lips, jawline and even the forehead. Breasts are the new frontier; the breast size can be enhanced by one or two cup sizes using fat. It can also correct breast symmetry, repair radiation damage and correct deformities from lumpectomies or breast reconstruction. The demand for buttock enhancement, also known as a Brazilian Butt Lift is skyrocketing with a reported 84% increase in 2015. Buttock augmentation can change the size and shape of the buttock while sculpting the hip-waist ratio for a more feminine (or masculine) silhouette. Hand rejuvenation is becoming more popular to not only plump up the volume and padding on the hand, but also improve the texture and appearance of the skin.

How Long Does The Results Last?

Fat over time has proven itself to be truly a versatile material that allows us to reframe and reshape different body parts with long lasting results. Looking at fat distribution in body and how it changes over time one interesting fact has been lime lighted through research - as we age we lose fat from hands, face, breast and buttock but we don’t lose it where we want to lose it from– waist, inner outer leg and love handles. This fact works to our advantage to remove fat from where it will never disappear and put it where we need it. As research has backed the fact that fat cells follow a certain genetic predisposition and the fat taken from these new areas should live forever.

High Demand, Few Experts

It is important to note that extracting fat is a very technique dependent procedure. Applying the fat is the ultimate artistic procedure. Demand is high, but the results vary from one injector to another. Few practitioners are considered experts, so it is critical if you’re considering the procedure done choose doctor with the experience, training and eye of a sculptor. In my humble opinion a conservative approach involving delicate handling of fat while extracting and multiple fat grafting sessions over several months gives the best results.