Most of our clients blame their bangs or their oily hair for the breakouts along their hairline.  Others have seen too many face maps on Pinterest and suspect their forehead acne is a manifestation of their poor digestive systems.  But if you are breaking out on your forehead or anywhere else on your hairline, it’s likely triggered by comedogenic ingredients in your hair products, towels, and pillowcases.  Here are some tips on how to eliminate forehead breakout triggers but keep in mind that preventing new acne from forming is just the first step. Once you eliminate a trigger, you still have old acne sitting in your skin that needs to be pulled or “purged” out which is why getting clear requires a comprehensive and multi-targeted process like our program:

1. Do not use shampoo, conditioner, or styling products that contain potentially pore-clogging ingredients. Check every hair product against our comedogenic ingredients list and if you purchase a product online, check the ingredient list on the actual packaging when it arrives to make sure it is actually acne-friendly because products are often reformulated and not updated on websites.

2. Bring your own acne-friendly hair products with you whether you are getting your hair colored, cut, styled, or blow dried and explicitly tell your stylist to only use those approved products on your hair.  If possible, wash your hair right before your appointment so they don’t use salon towels on your hair which may have residue from cloggy detergent or fabric softener on it.  

3. If you are getting your hair colored or doing some type of keratin treatment or brazilian blowout, unfortunately, you are likely going to be exposed to some comedogenic ingredients.  There isn't much that can be done in this case so at least try to minimize the impact by washing your hair out that night. If you get some type of treatment that needs to be left in your hair for a few nights, use a new pillowcase every night so the residual from the nights before are not making contact with your face.

4. Never use the towels provided at a gym or workout studio because they are likely washed with comedogenic and highly fragranced detergent.  Always bring your own.

5. Don’t travel without your own shampoo, conditioner, styling products, pillowcase, and towel.  Hotels also use highly fragranced and/or comedogenic detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets that leave a waxy residue that spreads to your hair and face.

6. Follow these guidelines regardless of how often you go to the hair stylist or travel.  A lot of people think that just because they don’t travel or get their hair done often that they don’t need to use caution but it only takes one ingredient in one product to touch your face one time for one second to trigger a breakout.  This means that just going to the hair stylist or traveling once can plant acne seeds in your skin that take months to get out.

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