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You're listening to a

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Mamma Mia podcast. Mamma Mia

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acknowledges the traditional owners of land

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and waters that this podcast is recorded

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on. Welcome

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to YouBeauty, Mamma Mia's daily

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podcast for your face and

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your hair and your wrists and

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your elbows, everything beauty related. I

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am Kelly McCarran, and as always on a Thursday,

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I bring you something that is sometimes educational,

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but hopefully always interesting in beauty land. Now

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today, you bees,

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you're in for a real sexy time because

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I'm chatting about backne and

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chestne and anusyacne and

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legne, if that's even a thing, basically

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body acne. Because now that we're in the colder

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months, anyone that's generally more susceptible

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to acne fears those pesky

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bumps popping up. When I was

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younger, I don't anymore,

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but when I was a teenager, I got horrific

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body acne, like all over my chest,

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and it wasn't like it was just bumps, it was

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red and angry looking. I also

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had it on my face, but a

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lot of people had acne, so it was like I hated

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my pimples on my face, but I felt

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like it was normal. But then

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my body acne, I'd never seen anyone else

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with it, but it is very

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normal. It is so, so, so

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normal. Body acne, it's a very common

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skin condition that occurs when

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the hair follicles become clogged. So

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they might be clogged with oil or dead skin

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or bacteria. If

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you're not showering regularly, it could happen,

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but sometimes it can also be

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hormonal. There's so many different reasons.

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There's three different types of body acne. So there's

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comedonal acne, so they're the non-inflammatory

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ones, like they might be a blackhead or whitehead.

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I still get blackheads, my sister loves it. Sometimes

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I'll just sit in front of her without my top on, and

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she just goes hunting for some

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blackheads on my back, because obviously I can't see them, so

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I don't know if I have them, and she'll be like, yay!

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Then there's inflammatory acne. So

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this is when it's really inflamed.

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This is what I had when I was a teenager, so it could be

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cysts, pustules, pimples,

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and then there's just cystic acne. So

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it's quite severe and

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the bacteria is very

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deep and they're very, very,

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very painful. So it's not just like a cyst that's sitting

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on the skin. It's very, very deep and often

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they can't even be squeezed. Body

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acne differs from facial acne in several

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different ways. So for example, the skin

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on the body is thicker and has

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much larger pores, which does make

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it more prone to clogging. I

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guess you get sweatier, you've

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got clothes on which is causing friction

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and that can all exacerbate acne too. Like

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I said, it's so normal. So if you do get

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this, please don't be embarrassed. I wish that podcasts

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existed when I was in high school. I

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wish that I knew how normal it is. It's

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also not something that just affects teenagers. It

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can affect adults in their 30s, 40s,

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and above. It's just so common. So

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why are you getting this body acne? There are

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a couple of different reasons why you could be.

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Number one, as I mentioned, it could be a hormonal

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imbalance. So there are so

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many different points in your life when you could be going through

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a hormonal change like puberty or menstruation,

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pregnancy. Some people get really bad acne

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when they're pregnant, menopause,

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a lot of these are women issues aren't they?

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But they can cause the skin sebaceous glands

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to produce more oil, which then leads to the formation

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of acne. So if you are all of a sudden

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getting really bad cystic acne, I definitely

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would suggest that you actually go get a blood test

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to check your hormones because there

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could be just something so simple that's off.

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So you don't even need to worry about going down

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the route of all the different treatment options. Next

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up, genetics. So a family history of acne

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can increase your risk of developing

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acne, which doesn't bode well for

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poor Len Dog because I had such

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bad acne growing up. Sweat

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and friction. So sweat, when it's mixed with

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oil in the dead skin cells, they can clog

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the hair follicles and that can lead to acne.

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So if you're wearing tight fitting clothes,

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not washing your clothes enough, not showering enough,

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backpacks and sport equipment, absolute

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breeding ground for bacteria, so all

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of those things can exacerbate acne. Some

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science for these diet inclusions

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and some science against it. And

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then some skin care products can give you acne.

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So if you're using something that's

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really poor clogging such as some moisturizers

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and some sunscreens, if they don't

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react well with your skin, they can contribute

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to the development of acne. And some

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medications such as steroids and lithium

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can cause or worsen acne.

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So those are all different things to

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consider. And because I always ask why

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I'm more susceptible in winter. Why

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does body acne in particular seem

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to sort of appear or rear its ugly

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little heads in winter? And

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there are a couple of reasons.

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Number one, dry skin. So

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cold temperatures and low humidity levels causes

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the skin to become dry and dehydrated. I

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mean, it's like then if my skin's too oily, I'm

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going to get pimples too. But basically your skin's

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then trying to produce too much oil. So

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your sebaceous glands

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going, ah, and they're in overdrive. And

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then you can get more pimples. You wear tight

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clothing and you've got more layers. Then

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there's more pressure and friction. So

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that can cause acne or make it worse. Say

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you've got a spot. If it's constantly being rubbed,

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it might spread or get worse. Lack

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of sunlight can cause your

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acne to get worse. So sunlight helps to kill

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acne causing bacteria. And obviously

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in winter, you spend less time outside

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and then you receive no sun exposure because you're so

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covered up. Always remember

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that sunscreen is so important. Find

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one that works for your skin and that doesn't clog

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your pores too much. And do not forget to

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wear it because sunburn whilst

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obviously being really bad for aging and

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skin cancer can actually make your acne

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worse as well.

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And some say that because you're more stressed

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and more unhappy in winter, your skin

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can get worse, which

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makes me giggle because I totally get that.

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Taking all that in mind, how are we going

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to prevent body acne and how are we going to treat

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it? Some ways to prevent body acne. Wear

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breathable clothing and if you go

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to the gym in the morning, make sure that you shower after

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sweating. I just realized

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I did not do that this morning, but let's be real, I don't

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work out that hard at the gym, so I really

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probably didn't need to. So avoid tight fitting

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clothes that are made with things like polyester

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and fabrics that really don't let your skin breathe.

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And then make sure you're using good skincare products

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and just very diet, drink lots of water, all of

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those things. If you have body

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acne and you want to treat it, there are a bunch

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of different treatment options depending on the severity

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of the condition. There are topical treatments,

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this is products that you're going to use. So

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you might want to use something with salicylic acid

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in it. That ingredient helps unclog pores

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and prevent new acne breakouts. Benzoyl

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peroxide, this is a lot stronger. This

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ingredient helps kill bacteria and reduce inflammation.

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It can also be quite drying, so make sure

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that you use that sparingly.

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And then retinoids, so this is the one

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ingredient that's definitely not for anyone pregnant

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or trying to get pregnant or breastfeed. So

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it's a vitamin A, it's so good at

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unclogging pores and reducing inflammation.

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Have a look at Paula's Choice. Paula's Choice has got

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such good body acne products,

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so they've got this amazing weightless body

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treatment with BHAs in it.

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They've got this exfoliating body spray, because

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you know how you can't really reach your back all the time

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or it's so cold you don't really want to put

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heaps of product on. So just give this

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a little bit of a spritz. And

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there's these amazing exfoliating

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body treatment pads that you can get from Mecha from

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Dr. Dennis Gross. I've recommended the face ones

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before these are the body product. But

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just any of those ingredients, have a look in

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skincare products that you might have at home, because

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you could just give them a try on those

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areas without wasting heaps of product. In

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more severe cases, oral medication

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may be prescribed, so you could talk to your doctor

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about potentially getting a referral to

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a dermatologist. dermatologists because they

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would generally need to be prescribed by a dermatologist.

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Light therapy is amazing. So

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red and blue light, blue light in particular,

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is so good at killing bacteria and reducing

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inflammation. So you could have a look

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at light therapy. And

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it's just important to note once again that

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it's so normal. These treatments

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can take time.

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Make sure you go to the doctor if you're really concerned. And

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in a couple of months, it'll start getting warmer

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and hopefully our Norsea acne will start

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to clear up. But that's

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all the time that I have for today.

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I hope I've helped in some way. I've given you a little

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bit of assistance. Thank you so much for

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listening to today's episode of YouBeauty.

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If you have a suggestion for an episode, slide into

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our DMs or email us at youbeauty at mamma mia

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dot com dot au. The executive

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producer of YouBeauty is Talisad Bazzaz

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with audio editing by Leah Porges with

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unlimited access

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to world class podcast stories,

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videos and events for women. Subscribe

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to Mamma Mia and feel seen and heard like never

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before. I'll be back in your ears tomorrow

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with a lovely late. Until then, have a great

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day. Bye.