For many consumers, the bump in adult breakouts is both frustrating and demoralizing. However, there’s a solution to this increasingly common problem. The answer to adult acne lies in glycolic acid, a powerful ingredient for fighting breakouts and improving the skin’s health and appearance.

Cases of adult acne have been on the rise for several years now, with an estimated 50% of women between the ages of 20 to 29 suffering from it, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. 

“A 2018 review of studies in the journal Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology reported a significant increase in adult acne (which overwhelmingly occurs in women), though there is little consensus yet as to just how precipitous the rise is. Whitney Bowe, a dermatologist in New York and a member of the American Academy of Dermatology’s acne working group, used the term ‘epidemic proportions,’” according to the New York Times.

While experts can’t pinpoint any single driver behind the burgeoning advance in adult acne cases, potential factors include worsening air pollution and increased stress levels.

While acne is most obvious when it affects the skin on the face, these breakouts can also negatively impact a sufferer’s self-esteem. For adults in particular, acne is often associated with feelings of shame, embarrassment, and low self worth.

The effects can take a huge toll on our overall well-being. “The psychological burden that comes with acne has actually been compared with other systemic diseases including epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, and arthritis, in terms of the kind of burden that it takes on your own quality of life,” says dermatologist Rachel Nazarian. She notes that the severity of the acne has no impact on the intensity of depression, and says these feelings can last much longer than the acne itself, similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), she told Glamour.

While acne can cause negative emotions, adult breakouts do not need to become a permanent problem. Instead, glycolic acid can offer sufferers an affordable, effective treatment option to healing the skin and banishing future breakouts.

Glycolic acid is the perfect ingredient to fight adult acne, because glycolic acid is superb at sloughing off dead skin cells from the skin surface.

Thanks to its small molecular size, glycolic acid is able to quickly penetrate the skin cells and dissolve the plugged, dead cells that make up a blemish. By sweeping away the old cells, excess sebum, and dirt of a pimple, whitehead, or blackhead, glycolic acid can quickly reduce the size of a blemish.

Additionally, glycolic acid is key to beating the adult acne battle, as it drives newer skin cells to the surface of the face. These fresh, healthy skin cells are free from pore-clogging dirt and extra sebum, and will exfoliate themselves in a timely fashion. The end result? A clearer face, for a longer time.

As the adult acne epidemic continues to spike, formulators can help ease the physical and emotional pain caused by breakouts with glycolic acid based skincare products that offer relief – fast.

“For most of us, the most common and unfortunate side effect of skin problems is isolation. We don’t want to be seen the way we look. You can hide a lot of physical flaws, but not acne. It’s right there, on the first thing people notice about us – our face. And it’s hard for some of us to imagine that people can see the face – the PERSON – behind the acne.”
― Yancy Lael, Soulful Skincare

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