Beauty Clinic: Healing scars
Q. I am 19 and have some scars from acne. Is there anything I can use to fade those and help prevent any more?
A. We really feel for you – and just to say it’s not only your age group that suffers spots and blemishes. Stress and pollution is causing breakouts at all ages.
The good thing is that, nowadays, there are several gentle and effective products to help. Pharmacist Shabir Daya suggests first trying a product with rosehip oil as this contains a form of vitamin A, which helps cell renewal. One of the original brands to use rosehip oil is Trilogy: we love Certified Organic Rosehip Oil/£19.50 for 20ml.
However, this isn’t suggested for broken skin so if the spot is still like a wound, we suggest you invest in iS Clinical Sheald Recovery Balm, now available in a 15g pocket size for £20. This is a really powerful product to help prevent scarring; many people we know have benefitted from it.
Another ingredient to try is azelaic acid, which can be added as an exfoliating booster to your regular moisturiser or night cream to fade red spots from blemishes. Paula’s Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster/£37 for 30ml, which also contains salicylic acid often used in acne products, won a Beauty Bible Gold Award this year; several of the testers were prone to breakouts and said it helped greatly, both in terms of reducing breakouts and also redness.
Lloyds Pharmacy offers some budget price helpers. According to in house pharmacist Pareena Patel, part of the problem with scarring is that, from the age of 18, the production of collagen in your skin starts to reduce. This can make acne scars more visible. She suggests using Q&A Collagen Moisturiser, £12 for 50ml, which contains extra collagen (derived from seaweed), which may help lessen the scar by boosting cellular renewal. It also contains magnesium to relax muscles and brighten skin, plus nourishing and softening shea butter.
Niacinamide is an essential vitamin (it’s B3) with an anti-inflammatory action that Pareena Patel says may help fade the red, purple and/or brown marks that acne can leave on the skin. Try Q&A Niacinamide Daily Toner/£8 for 100ml. This is designed to help calm breakouts and declog pores, as well as reducing redness.
If you have scars on your body, Pareena Patel suggest LloydsPharmacy Body Care Oil/£5.99 for 125ml, which is based on argan and sweet almond oils to help skin increase elasticity and suppleness and prevent scars (stretch marks too).
