It presents as small, skin colored bumps in your follicles, often mimicking the look of closed comedones or whiteheads. If these bumps do not respond to typical comedonal treatments (like exfoliants), and itch or are accompanied by redness, or exist in patches or clusters across your skin, it may be fungal acne. It typically does not feel tender or contain pus the way bacterial acne does. Fungal acne can also show up on your back, chest, and upper arms.
Fungal acne occurs when a certain fungal strain, melassezia, which is present on all skin, grows too much too quickly (just like good and bad bacteria!). It feeds on oils naturally occurring in your skin as well as oils in any skincare products you may be using. Therefore, it’s important to know what ingredients are helpful and which are harmful so you can return your skin’s microbes to a balanced state.
Ingredients that trigger the growth of fungal acne causing microbes are categorized into: esters, lipids(oils), fatty acids, and occlusive products. All of BE’s product descriptions have labels indicating their FA safety.
When thinking about safe products to use, keep in mind everything that touches your face-that includes your laundry detergent! Charlie’s laundry powder is a great simple option.
Ingredients that can be helpful in treating and controlling fungal overgrowth include mandelic acid, salicylic acid, azelaic acid, zinc, and sulfur. All of these ingredients have antifungal qualities or help keep pores clear-which essentially starves out the fungus. A good antifungal routine may be:
Wash with our no-rinse gentle liquid cleanser
Exfoliate with pore perfect toner
Apply our clear up serum on problem areas
It can take some time to see improvement with fungal acne, especially since so many factors that we can’t control (the heat and humidity of our climate, sweating, having an overgrowth for a long time) can slow down our progress. As your pores clear of oil and debris, you will notice a decrease in texture, and slowly the overgrown fungus will get back into balance.
-Bella Gillen
