It’s like clockwork: Halfway into a crazy day, you discover a red pimple emerging on your cheek. Great! How nice! Meet stress acne, which can appear anytime you’re feeling anxious, worried, or generally burnt out, and will take your day from bad to worse.
Well, enough is enough. Use these four tips to tackle stress pimples, so that they’re less noticeable by the time you’ve poured a glass of rosé and queued up a show.
1. Know Thy Enemy
Know thy enemy. Stress acne is the result of an unfortunate and deeply annoying domino effect that occurs in the body when you’re under pressure—as if being stressed out isn’t bad enough.
“Stress enhances pathways that raise cortisol levels and trigger increased oil production, which can lead to acne formation on the skin,” explains Rachel Nazarian, MD, a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in NYC. Fun fact: It’s like what happens when your hormones are out of whack before, say, your period—which is why they both conveniently appear when you feel like you just can’t right now. Both send signals to skin telling it to produce more oil, which can then clog pores.
There’s no one kind of stress breakout, though. If anything, it can appear as “a combination of primarily deep cystic acne lesions and blackheads or whiteheads,” says Nazarian. Love that! But for real: If this is just stressing you out even more, there’s some good news coming next.
2. Treat It Topically
A few steps can send it packing. “Treat stress acne by using topical ingredients that encourage the shedding of dead skin cells,” she suggests. “That keeps pores clean and makes it less likely for the cells to ‘clog’ and trigger a pimple.”
Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub
Neutrogena On-the-Spot Acne Treatment
Neutrogena Blackhead Eliminating Strip to Scrub
One go-to ingredient to look for is salicylic acid, as it gently sloughs away those dead cells. Work it into your daily routine with a super-satisfying scrub like Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub, which gives pores a thorough cleaning with a combo of exfoliating microbeads and 2% salicylic acid.
Nazarian recommends benzoyl peroxide, too, as it offers antibacterial properties. “Bacteria also plays a role in the production of pimples, even those caused by stress,” she explains. Neutrogena On-The-Spot Acne Treatment is made with 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, and it's a lightweight formula that won’t irritate skin—making it an ideal option for those random pimple pop-ups.
And if you’re dealing with a stress breakout of the blackhead variety, we (still) got you. Go with a treatment designed to target blackheads like Neutrogena Blackhead Eliminating Strip to Scrub. The strips transform (!) into an exfoliating scrub so you can gently rinse away gunk—versus ripping it off. Plus, the strip helps eliminate blackheads and prevents them from coming back.
3. Hands Off
Once you treat it, don’t pick at it, even if you’ve watched 100+ pimple-popping vids. It’s the nicest possible thing you could do for future you. “The pimple will usually resolve much faster when it hasn’t been squeezed or picked—and the marks left behind from picking can last a very long time, or even permanently,” says Nazarian.
4. Chill Out
And to prevent stress-induced breakouts from coming to ruin your life again, target the source by reducing your anxiety. We know, we know: Easier said than done. But getting regular exercise can definitely help, according to Nazarian. (And hey—walking counts.)
When the going gets tough, take a deep breath and just delete that passive-aggressive email from your coworker. In the meantime, reach for one of these solutions to help.
Deanna Pai is a freelance beauty writer and editor currently based in New York. She has more than 10 years of experience writing about beauty and wellness.
