There’s nothing worse than waking up in the morning, only to look in the mirror and find another giant zit popped up overnight, am I right? 

Well, that exact thing happened to me today. 

Woke up feeling ready to take on the world, shuffled into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face, only to discover an angry acne breakout took over my forehead. All I could think to myself was, “why do bad things happen to good people?” 

Okay, that might be a bit tad dramatic but as a gal in her mid-20s, I thought my acne days were a thing of the past. As if struggling from “maskne” wasn’t enough, now I’m dealing with teenage-like acne as an adult! 

But, that said, it turns out I’m not the only one. 

Did you know 50 million Americans suffer from acne every year? 

If you’re one of those 50 million people struggling to get your breakouts and acne under control, I’ve got a few tips for you. 

Over the past decade of dealing with acne as a teenager (and then again as an adult), there are a few weird things I’ve discovered that have helped prevent acne and ward off breakouts! 

Though acne can’t be cured, the following tips could help you avoid waking up like I did today with new pimples spreading across my forehead! Check these out. 

3 Weird Ways to Prevent Acne Breakouts 

1. Frequently Change Your Sheets and Pillowcases

This is something I’ve only recently discovered that seriously affects my skin and increases the chances of experiencing an acne breakout. 

But if you think about it, this makes total sense… night after night, oil and bacteria transfer from your face to your pillowcases and bed sheets. Gross, right? 

Well, if you’re consistently sleeping on all that yuckiness and you don’t regularly do laundry, that oil and bacteria rubs off onto your clean face, clogging pores and instigating inflammation. This is the perfect environment for acne flare-ups! 

So, make sure to wash your pillowcases and sheets at least once a week. (Even better if you can change your personal pillowcase more often!) This is hands down one of my top ways to easily prevent acne breakouts.  

2. Wash Your Face Before AND After a Workout

As a teenager who was so focused on my appearance, I frequently wore makeup while working out at the gym or at school… and my skin loathed me for it! After just one workout or sweat-session with makeup, my skin would revolt and break out in a hoard of acne. 

At the time, I didn’t realize makeup and sweating was the perfect acne-causing combination. 

Not only does this clog pores and push bacteria further into the skin, it also stimulates new breakouts and further irritates acne you already have! So if you don’t do this already, make sure to always clean your face before jumping into a gym session. 

Additionally, never skip washing your face after a workout! Dried up sweat and bacteria isn’t doing your skin any favors and easily clogs pores to cause acne. 

3. Use the Right Hair Products 

Out of all my top acne prevention tips, this is likely the biggest one many don’t think of when changing their habits to avoid breakouts. 

As a teen, I didn’t think twice about my hair care products. I would just use the most popular shampoos and conditioners or tell my mom to grab the cheapest one on the shelf… which wasn’t doing my skin any favors! 

Unsurprisingly, many of the big name shampoo and conditioner brands I used as a teen and young adult contained harmful sulfates, parabens, and pore-clogging oils. 

If you didn’t know, these ingredients can irritate the skin, cause a hormonal imbalance, and block pores to stimulate an overgrowth of bacteria! All which can spur a massive breakout in acne. 

Over the past couple years, I’ve experimented with numerous hair care products to see which effectively cleaned my hair and didn’t cause nasty acne breakouts. Hands down, the best one I’ve found is TEENOLOGY. 

Created by a mother who noticed her teens were suffering from pomade acne, TEENOLOGY shampoos, conditioners, and body wash are specifically created without acne-causing ingredients like sulfates, parabens, and pore-clogging oils. 

Though my teenage days are long gone, I’ve found TEENOLOGY is just as effective when using it for adult acne! 

If you’re regularly experiencing acne flare-ups and breakouts, definitely give these 3 tips a try! I don’t know about you but when it comes to acne, I’ll try anything to prevent it. 

Here’s to healthy hair and skin!