Salicylic Acid – The Mother of All Acne Ingredients
If you are on a journey to create acne free skin, you should bring products with salicylic acid along for the ride. What is it and why use it?
Acne forms when pores go into overdrive, your sebaceous glands produce excess sebum (the oil produced to lubricate and waterproof your skin) that clogs pores and form blackheads, whiteheads or pimples.
Salicylic acid was first discovered to help achieve clear skin around 400 BC by Hippocrates. It is derived from willow bark and is a key go to acne ingredient because it exfoliates the wall of the pores, not just the surface of the skin. Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a derivative of salicylic acid. Given that, it may not come as a surprise that salicylic acid has anti-inflammatory properties.
If that weren’t enough, it has been reported to improve pigmentation and even mottled pigmentation.