A few red pimples make a grand appearance every single month. They announce to me (and the world) that my periods are arriving. Yay! The Gods couldn’t be any kinder.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that they will indeed make their presence felt, but I can reduce the number and size of those nasty bastards if I’m well prepared.

Here’s how to NOT SEE RED when you get your period.

Why you get pimples before your period.

It’s all to do with your hormones. And it is natural.
Before your period begins, the levels of estrogen drop and progesterone increases.
This hormone, progesterone, is the bad guy.
It makes the oil glands secrete more sebum – a thick oily substance.
This thick oil clogs the pores and is food for bacteria. So you get breakouts.

It’s not a hygiene thing. It’s an internal thing.
You can’t stop it completely, but if you take extra care of your skin before your period, you can reduce them.

What you should do 10 days before you expect your period to start.

Keep your skin clean, just not too clean.

Wash your face twice a daay with a gentle facewash and rinse with tepid water.
Don’t fall into the habit of over-cleansing your skin.
Cleansing too often can strip the skin, and will not help acne to clear any faster. Twice a day, morning and night, is more than enough to clear your skin of dirt, makeup, sweat and excess oil.

Tip: Make sure to use tepid or lukewarm water. If it’s too hot or cold, your skin gets a small shock. It may feel good, but it will most probably burst capillaries in sensitive parts of your face like the cheeks and sides of your nose. And no one wants those tiny red veins on their skin.

DO NOT skip the moisturizer.

Immediately moisturize your face each time you wash it. This is a super important step. If you don’t moisturize, your skin will secrete more oil to make up for the loss of moisture, making the problem worse. Just make sure your moisturizer is comedogenic (won’t clog pores), oil free or gel based.

Apply a purifying facemask

Slap on a clay or mud facemask every alternate day to soak up the excess grease and unclog your pores. But make sure you follow this immediately with an oil-free or gel moisturizer.

Exfoliate every night.

Don’t use a scrub with beads or crushed kernels like apricot and almond-based scrubs. They have sharp edges, which can tear the skin, causing bacteria to spread.

Instead use a serum or gel which contains either glycolic or salicylic acid.

Glycolic acid is a fruit acid, that’s extracted from sugar cane. It exfoliates and retexturizes your skin, unclogs and shrinks pores, reduces oil and corrects past spots.

Salicylic acid is chemically related to aspirin. It literally dissolves and exfoliates dead skin cells, and therefore, prevents clogged pores.

Wash your hair more often, everyday if possible for these 10 days.

Oily hair actually increases the amount of acne. So keep your scalp clean to prevent pimples.

Drink more water.

Guzzle up. Now is the best time to up your water intake. The more water you drink, the more toxins to flush out, the better your skin. Simple.

Pop a multi-vitamin.

Taking your vitamins religiously before your period will help regulate hormonal imbalances that lead to breakouts.

Change your pillow covers every night.

Weird huh? Well, oil and bacteria remain on your pillowcase when u wake up and will be reintroduced on to your skin the following night. Suddenly this makes sense now, doesn’t it?

Once you stop seeing red, let me know what works for you!