Can anyone recommend something for teenage DDs spotty skin please

[NorbertDentressangle]

DD is 13 and her skin is suffering from hormonal changes.

Its mainly her forehead that has lots and lots of spots - not whiteheads or blackheads but just raised spots IYSWIM - and also a few isolated spots around her nose sometimes. They seem to come and go in phases and can vary from really bad to hardly noticeable in a few days.

We've bought a tea tree facial wash that is exfoliating and she says she uses this daily (although the reality is probably different as she hasn't got to the " teenage girl hogging the bathroom and mirror" stage yet!).

Is there anything more suitable for teenage skins? There are just so many products on the market that I wouldn't know where to start.

I've found the Neutrogena pink grapefruit range to be really effective. My skin issues sound similar though I am considerably older and it's the best stuff I've found to deal with it.

There was a thread earlier today saying how great Epsom salt was for bad skin.

Simple do an anti spot range - a facial wash, exfoliating scrub and cleansing wipes, topical anti spot stuff. My DD found this range very good, and she has very allergic skin.

ooh she'd like anything pink grapefruit judging by how my pink grapefruit shower gel is disappearing.

Epsom Salts? I'll take a look at that thread. TBH I haven't seen Epsom Salts since an ancient tin in my grandparents bathroom many, many moons ago. I had no idea they were still around.

Proactiv...she won't look back.

I used to use Simple products myself but went off them as they didn't seem to do anything. Maybe they've improved though?

My teens use this tea tree facial wash from the Body Shop. They, also, use the face mask.

I have noticed a real difference in their skin since they started using it.

There are always codes around for discounts, on the home page there is a £25 off a £50 spend IIRC.

this thread

I'm going to be trying ^

I have had great results with Dead Sea black mud mask soap and sudocrem over night.

fwiw I have permenantly hormonal skin due to polycystic ovaries and the best products I've used have been calming eg bodyshop aloe vera range and sudocreme.

The sun can make it worse, I flare up terribly in the sun, so an oil free sunscreen incorporated into her skin care routine in the morning might help too. A proper sunscreen though, none of this spf in the moisturiser gubbins.

One of the things that has made the most difference to my adult skin, having had awful teenage acne, is being ruthless in my use of facecloths. I buy big bags of cheap ones from Ikea (about £3 for 8, I think), and only use each of them once before putting it through the wash. It doesn't add much to the washing as I just bung them all in with towels at the end of the week.

However, if it's hormonal, nothing you can do to them externally will really do the trick. Talk to her GP about it if it's concerning her at all and if what they suggest doesn't work, go back and ask again. My teenage skin was awful and I'm so pleased my mum pushed on looking for a solution; in the end I took roaccutane which was an extreme solution but (for me) well worth it and I've never looked back.

Ah - and I definitely agree with the tip on the other thread about clean pillowslips.

My dd has acne on her back shes on meds from the doc but also was told to use a little Tcp after bathing they have gone down loads the redness has gone gone down loads yes it stinks the flat out but its working

I know this sounds crazy but my 18 yo dd has breakouts of spots and uses Sudocreame. on the label it does say acne, and it leaves your face as soft as a babies bum. I use it too, and it softens my 45 yo skin a treat.

A silk pillowcase is good, it's less irritating to the skin and doesn't leech moisture out as much, acne prone skin can be dry too afterall.

Ebay is good for silk pillowcases. They wash and dry quickly too.

Dd has duac cream from the drs which seems to work.

Thanks for all these tips.

Thankfully it doesn't seem to bother her too much at the moment but I suspect that the day will come when it will which is why I'd like to help her now.

She isn't into make-up which is a god-send I think as I've seen other girls her age who seem to think an inch thick layer of foundation is the way to disguise it .

However sometimes she seems to be the other extreme and I seriously doubt if she has even washed her face before school. She does shower every night though.

I used to get those bumps on my forehead as a teenager and it was always linked to stress or being rundown/overtired/eating poorly. They used to disappear in the school holidays!

DS had minor breakouts and Clearasil was brilliant at clearing them. He's 18 and I haven't been buying it with the groceries for months now. Someone will be along soon to tell me it's the devil's work and carcinogenic no doubt. It was just expensive.

DD's much less spotty. Interesting because ds has my olive skin and I never had a spot (well may be half a dozen in my whole life) and dd has dh's fair skin and dh spent 18 months on antibiotics from about 17-18.5 I gather.

I would stop with daily exfoliation. A serum with salicyclic acid in it. Jan marini range excellent but v expensive! For teenager tea tree oil good - just not exfoliating stuff!

I remember getting cream and eventually tablets from.the doctor to clear up.my teenage skin.

I think the biggest thing is to just be gentle and take care of the skin, not the spots. A lot of acne products can be very drying and irritating and a lot of home 'remedies', such as steaming and harsh scrubbing, can actually cause permanent damage (redness, spider veins etc). The acne will eventually ease up on it's own but any damage you do to your skin is forever. A gentle cleanser like Cetaphil followed by a non-comedogenic moisturizer (Boots do a good gel one) and sunscreen (La Roche Posay spray is excellent). Diet can definitely help...lots of veg, fruit, protein and cut WAY back on sugar, white carbs and excess dairy. A low GI diet has been proven to help acne sufferers. She's a little young yet, but good quality, non-comedogenic makeup can help cover things up and later on, the pill can be really helpful.

I use a tea tree oil stick from Body Shop. I've been using this product for 20 years. I love how it dries my spots away.
I'm 37 btw, and still get spots regularly.

I had a lot of spots in my teens and onwards and also have very sensitive skin/eczema- I found that any product with salycilic acid in it was very effective on the spots and didn't inflame my skin. Diet didn't make any difference with me- and I used to get very down about it. Was all hormones.

The acne.org regime worked for me. A gentle wash off cleanser barely touching the skin, pat dry thoroughly and gently. Quinoderm cream again barely touching followed by a light moisturiser. If you look on the acne.org website it has a forum and product info