If you suffer from acne breakouts, you know that pimples often leave scars behind when they eventually heal, which may mar your complexion and zap some of your confidence. While these marks can be challenging to get rid of, it is possible with an effective and consistent skincare routine for acne scars using the right products.
In this article, we’ll explain what causes these blemishes, give you the details of a simple skincare routine for acne scarring in the morning and evening, and tell you about some of the products that can help reduce the issue. Read on to learn the ultimate skincare routine for eliminating scars and reducing future acne.
What Causes Acne Scars on the Skin?
Acne on the surface of the skin often causes severe inflammation underneath, and this swelling may harm the skin barrier. As the pimples heal, collagen is released to help with the repair of this damage. In some cases, either too little or too much collagen is produced, and this can result in a scar on the complexion.
When there is too little collagen made, it can lead to pit-like imperfections, which appear as depressions in the skin. In contrast, an overabundance of collagen often causes raised scar tissue on the surface of the complexion.
Skincare Routine for Acne Scars
Most people assume that acne scars are fairly permanent or can only be reduced through cosmetic procedures or surgery. However, it is very possible to build a skincare routine that is geared towards decreasing the appearance of these marks. Follow this basic skincare regimen for acne scarring morning and evening for a clear, blemish-free complexion.
Morning Routine for Acne Scars
Your morning skincare routine should include gentle, all-natural products free of irritants that could further exacerbate acne and scarring. Besides maintaining the general health of your skin and reducing scars, this routine could help decrease acne breakouts to prevent further blemishes.
Step #1 Cleanse
To fend off further breakouts and reduce scars, use a gentle, all-natural cleanser as the first step in your morning regimen. It should be free of parabens, sulfates, fragrances, or anything else that could irritate the complexion and worsen acne.
Look for products with ingredients like lactic and salicylic acid, which help exfoliate the complexion gently, like Rejuvoderm. It eliminates dead skin cells, oil, and dirt on the surface and cleans out the pores, providing deep cleansing benefits while keeping the skin hydrated.
Step #2 Tone
For optimal acne scarring skin care, follow up your morning cleanse with a rich toner to get rid of the excess dead skin cells, oil, and dirt in the pores that were missed during the cleansing phase. A quality toner like Maxatone cleanses deeply to help prevent acne breakouts, reduce inflammation, keep the skin hydrated, and decrease the appearance of acne scars.
Step #3 Serums
Add a powerful but gentle anti-aging serum to your morning skincare routine for acne and dark spots, which should also help brighten the complexion and lessen the appearance of scars significantly.
Choose a serum with collagen-boosting ingredients like peptides, shea butter, and hyaluronic acid, which tightens the skin to smooth wrinkles, scars, and fine lines and promotes cell turnover, resurfacing the complexion for improved tone and texture.
Excelagene is a deeply hydrating serum that eliminates dryness and plumps the skin to smooth wrinkles, lines, and scars on the surface. It slows the production of melanin to lighten hyperpigmentation, promote brightness, and balance skin tone. Even better, it helps defend the complexion from further damage that could exacerbate existing scarring.
Step #4 Moisturize
Keeping your skin optimally hydrated is essential for skin health, and it also washes excess oil and dirt from the skin’s surface to prevent acne breakouts. In addition, this could help to reduce the appearance of acne scars and other blemishes. Make sure you use a moisturizer that has SPF to protect from harmful UV rays that may worsen your scarring.
A quality organic moisturizer like Infusoderm gives the skin volume, which smooths wrinkles, fine lines, and scarring on the surface. This formula deeply nourishes and improves circulation, giving the skin a bright, radiant glow. It can also block melanin production to lighten dark areas and scars and diminish their appearance. Rich in antioxidants, this moisturizer protects from further environmental damage that can exacerbate acne and scar tissue.
Step #5 Sunscreen
Exposure to UV rays over time may worsen the appearance of acne scars by causing inflammation, hyperpigmentation, redness, and damage to the complexion. To prevent this from happening, you must apply sunscreen daily as the last step in your morning skincare routine for protection.
As there is some sunlight even in the winter, this should be a permanent part of your regimen every season. You may also use a rich moisturizer that includes sunblock, like Dermaxsol. This rich hydrating cream has SPF 30 for powerful sun protection and rich hydration. In addition, it contains organic ingredients which soothe the complexion and reduce inflammation.
Evening Routine for Acne Scars
During the day, there are environmental threats like UV rays, dust, and pollution, which may lead to acne breakouts and worsen scarring, but this is not the case at night.
Your evening routine focuses on removing the dirt and oils that have built up during the day and keeping your skin deeply hydrated. These are the overnight skincare steps you should follow for optimal health and scar-reduction benefits.
Step #1 Double Cleanse
Generally speaking, you should not over-cleanse, as it could strip your skin of natural oils and lead to dryness. However, before you go to bed, an extra face cleaning is important. During the day, your complexion can build up dirt, oils, and bacteria, which you must remove to prevent breakouts and exacerbate existing scar tissue.
Begin with a natural skin-balancing cleanser like Dermpura, which gently removes dirt, oil, and makeup leftover from the day while providing deep hydration to prevent dryness. As a second step, apply a clarifying cleanser like Rejuvoderm with exfoliating ingredients like salicylic and lactic acid.
This formula should gently remove excess dirt and dead skin cells while maintaining your hydration levels. These ingredients could increase sensitivity to UV rays, so they are best applied liberally at night when you are not exposed to the sun.
Step #2 Toner
Follow up your double cleanse with a gentle toner to get rid of any excess makeup, dirt, or oils that you may have missed. We recommend that you use Maxatone both during the day and at night, as it's gentle enough to provide a deep cleanse without removing essential oils from your complexion. This toner unclogs the pores to prevent further breakouts, soothes redness and inflammation, and keeps the skin deeply hydrated while you sleep.
Step #3 Serum
Adding a rich exfoliating serum to your bedtime routine helps eliminate dead skin cells and oils from the pores to prevent nighttime breakouts. In addition, it also eliminates these same elements from scar tissue to help diminish their appearance and promote cell turnover.
Try a gentle dermal resurfacing formula like Glowpeel, which contains the ingredients glycolic, lactic, and pyruvic acids that exfoliate, encourage cell renewal and boost collagen production for tighter, smoother skin and less prominent scarring.
Step # 4 Moisturizer
Hydration is key to a healthy complexion and helps wash away excess oils and dead skin cells on the surface to help prevent breakouts. Using a rich moisturizer before bed helps lock in moisture overnight, so your skin doesn’t dry out easily.
If you have acne-prone skin and scarring, choose a gentle exfoliating moisturizer like Suvoderm that removes excess dirt and oils from your pores while keeping hydration levels high. With powerful ingredients like retinol and niacinamide, it helps prevent breakouts and boost collagen production for a tighter, smoother, more youthful-looking complexion.
Key Takeaways
If you suffer from regular acne breakouts which have led to scars on your complexion, it’s important to know that these blemishes are not necessarily permanent. Following a powerful skincare routine morning and evening using products that cleanse, tone, exfoliate, and hydrate the complexion can significantly reduce acne scarring over time and prevent additional breakouts, which could lead to more blemishes.
The Solvaderm collection offers a diverse range of skincare products designed to cleanse the skin, keep it optimally hydrated, exfoliate to remove impurities that exacerbate acne and scarring and smooth the complexion to lessen signs of age. Have a look through our line to reassess your daily morning and evening routine, and you’ll be well on your way to having clear, scar-free skin in optimal health.
Melissa Feldman
Melissa Feldman lives in Toronto, Canada and works as an independent research writer. She has undergraduate degrees in both Teaching and Psychology, and a Master’s degree in Immigration. Melissa is skilled at writing compelling articles and producing academic, marketing, and creative content. She writes about a range of lifestyle topics, including health, fitness, beauty and nutrition. She has more than two decades of experience reviewing and editing publications intended for both public and professional audiences.
