Three ways to prevent a breakout and 3 ways to cover one up

Liz Brody

Have you often coveted the smooth, glassy skin of celebrities and models? Many of these ladies would attribute their flawless faces to stress control. But from New York City dermatologists to Hollywood makeup artists, everyone says there's a lot more you can do to tame a skin tantrum.

Prevention

At Home: When you've got an oil spill, you tend to want to clean it up. But over-scrubbing just provokes the skin to break out more angrily, which is why you should wash gently and use a towel that you save only for your face, says New York dermatologist and psychiatrist Amy Wechsler, MD.

The next temptation? To take that poor pimple out of its misery. You know you shouldn't, but maybe a little squeezing won't hurt, just this once? Honestly, not a good idea. "This is especially true for patients with darker skin, who often end up with dark brown spots at the sites of pimples, it's actually called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH)," says Andrew Alexis, MD, MPH, director of the Skin of Color Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. "PIH generally improves over time, but very slowly."

At the Drugstore: The two main over-the-counter remedies are salicylic acid, which helps slough off the dead sticky skin cells, and benzoyl peroxide (don't go above 2.5 percent on your face), which kills bacteria. "You can completely overdo it, dry out the skin, and break out more," says Wechsler. She recommends trying just two OTC products, together or alone, and if your skin doesn't improve in a few weeks, see a dermatologist.

At the Doctor: A number of prescription topical medications, oral drugs, and therapies, including retinoids, long-course antibiotics, blood pressure drugs, birth control, and Isolaz (a light and vacuum treatment), can all be helpful depending on the type of acne. "Accutane is the closest thing we have to a cure," a dermatologist at Montefiore Medical Center MD Pam Jakubowicz said. "If you have a risk of scarring, don't wait, because that can be permanent." Shine Staff