Breaking Out Between The Brows

Expert Advice

2 minute read

It’s easy to spot a breakout, but it’s harder to identify exactly why that certain area is acting up. We sat down with our founder, board-certified dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee, to clear things up and find out why we breakout in one specific area — between our brows!

Why do we breakout between the brows?

According to Dr. Lee, the medical term for that region of the face is the glabellar area and it’s common for people to break out there because it is part of the “T zone,” the area that has the highest concentration of sebaceous glands and produces the most sebum (oil!) If you’re not sure where that area is located — it covers your skin from your forehead to nose and chin.

“Sebaceous glands empty oil into pores and both of these structures (sebaceous glands and pores) and a hair follicle make up a “follicular unit”. Acne really only occurs where there’s hair follicles — this is why acne doesn’t occur on non hair-bearing areas like the palms of our hands soles of our feet, lips or inside of our mouths (in our mucous membranes).”

Most Common Causes of Acne Between the Brows?

Tweezing your eyebrows: when you pluck, wax, or thread, you are pulling hair out at the root so when it grows back, it grows a bit under the skin and can get trapped and turn into an ingrown hair, or become irritated and turn into acne or folliculitis.

Heavy styling products, cosmetics, or skincare could be responsible: look for non-comedogenic products (meaning they won’t clog pores).

Solutions for Acne Between the Brows:

Instead of tweezing your eyebrows: try shaving or getting laser hair removal in that area, so you’re not removing the hair from the root and giving it a chance to grow back underneath the skin.

Apply hair styling products and heavy conditioners away from your hairline and roots: so that area of skin can’t be irritated, as a result of them.

Use non-comedogenic products that won’t irritate your skin, clog your pores, and cause acne: SLMD Salicylic Acid Cleanser and Dual Defender SPF 30 are great examples of products that will keep your skin clean, moisturized, and acne-free.

Use an antibacterial spot treatment on that area: if you already know you’re prone to breakouts between your brows, be sure to take action and apply a spot treatment like SLMD’s BP Spot Treatment that will kill acne-causing bacteria — to treat current breakouts and prevent more pimples from popping up in the future.

If you are dealing with cystic acne, this advice may not be enough for you. We always recommend that you consult with your dermatologist, who will be able to treat you up close and personal!

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