If you’re dealing with breakouts on the regular, it’s likely your search history looks like this: “how can I get rid of acne quickly?”, “how can I get rid of acne overnight?” or perhaps even, “what stops acne fast?”.

Whilst the internet will flood you with at-home remedies, it’s important to know that a lot of the time, these skin-clearing “hacks” aren’t doing your skin (or your breakout) any favours! Here are 3 of the most common perpetrators to stop putting on your breakouts and what to use instead.

If there was one beauty hack that needed to be shown the door, it’s putting toothpaste on your skin, especially active acne.

The idea of applying toothpaste came about when people assumed that drying a breakout completely out would diminish the excess oil. Drying out a breakout is not the answer to its demise because when we do this, especially using something as harsh as toothpaste, we take inflammation and irritation to a whole new level.

Our teeth and skin are polar opposites. Whilst our teeth are one of the strongest parts of our body, our skin is one of the most delicate. Ingredients in toothpaste, like sodium lauryl sulfate, baking soda, flavouring agents, and fluoride, severely disrupt our skin’s pH balance and increases the likelihood of irritation, swelling, redness and even perioral dermatitis.

We don’t know what it is about the beauty world and lemons, but over the years they’ve appeared in every hack from bleaching your hair to clearing your acne!

From face value, sure, lemon juice seems like it makes sense for the skin! It features the same vitamins and natural ingredients commonly found in skincare, but as we know, your favourite serum creator isn’t getting their lemon squeezer out to make your product. It all comes down to potencies and respecting the integrity of the skin.

Your average lemon boasts a high concentration of citric acid, an exfoliating ingredient with pore cleansing and antimicrobial properties but by simply applying directly to your skin, you’re exposing the skin to a seriously high percentage of acid.

With a pH level of around 2, aka very acidic, applying lemon juice directly to the skin is a way one-ticket to extreme irritation. Stinging, redness and increased sensitivity are your most common side effects from this at-home hack, but some have noted blistering, rashes and skin peeling as some pretty nasty results also – which in our opinion, is much worse than a pesky breakout!

It’s no surprise that our very own hands are one of the leading culprits of exacerbated breakouts. When we take matters into our own hands (literally), through the likes of squeezing, popping, and picking, we’re only making matters worse.

Whilst it feels tempting and somewhat satisfying to pop a pimple, doing this incorrectly could be pushing the bacteria further into your skin. This leads to increased redness around the breakout and swelling, making it look much worse than it did before. Speaking of bacteria, squeezing a pimple, and then inadvertently touching your face throughout the day runs the risk of spreading bacteria onto other areas of your face and welcoming new locations for breakouts to set up camp.

By squeezing and picking at active breakouts, you’re also increasing the risk of acne scarring and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Both conditions will leave a visible mark where the acne once existed that can be difficult to fade.

So, what should you use instead? Firstly, it’s time to walk away from the products in your pantry and stick to skincare products. After all, these have been designed for, you guessed it, your skin!

We know that knowing what’s the best skincare to use for acne can be overwhelming which is why we’ve designed exclusive Hey Bud Bundles. These bundles equip you with everything you need to form a flawless skincare routine that’s specifically designed to clear and calm your breakout-prone complexion.

Whether you need to boost your hydration, stock up on our signature clay mask or fill your cupboard with all your day and night essentials, our Hey Bud Bundles are loaded with value and total skin goals waiting just for you.