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You’ll find it in coffee, cacao, tea, and even in carbonated drinks. Caffeine is a natural stimulant that stimulates the brain and your nervous system, keeping you awake and alert. It can be obtained from over 60 different plants, and it has a range of effects – both good and bad – on your health when consumed orally.
Caffeine can be applied topically to the skin, where it helps reduce inflammation, and it brightens your skin, thus making it look younger and healthier. Caffeine also tightens your skin, smoothing away wrinkles, fine lines, and cellulite. Some antioxidants present in caffeine have been found to increase collagen levels, making your skin look more youthful.
Consuming caffeine in drinks can have a toll on your skin – it can worsen acne, and it dries and ages your skin. However, there seem to be no negative effects of using caffeine topically. There is a slight possibility that it may keep you up at night if you are especially sensitive to caffeine, but you can get around that problem by using products containing caffeine during the day.
Pores are itsy-bitsy openings in the skin—and there are millions covering every millimeter of skin. There are two types of pores with different functions: sweat pores and oil pores. The sweat pore allows moisture, produced by sweat glands, to exude out to the surface of the skin, where it helps to cool the body in response to heat, exertion or fever. Sweat pores are so tiny, they are mostly invisible to the human eye.
The oil pore, on the other hand, is a bit larger. Oil pores are also known as hair follicles because these pores produce oil from the sebaceous glands, but they are also the openings from which hair emerges. The oils help to keep our skin and hair healthy. It is the oil pores that can get clogged with sweat, debris and other gunk, causing acne, blackheads and whiteheads. Sweat pores rarely get clogged, as they are so tiny.
Benzoyl peroxide is a topical agent for fighting bacteria and unclogging pores. It is one of the longest-used medications to keep pores clean and healthy. Jojoba oil and rosehip oil are also good for reducing inflammation, fighting bacteria, and keeping in moisture for healthier skin. Ingredients that help exfoliate dead skin cells and increase new skin cell production, such as Vitamin A/Retinol, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid, are good for keeping pores unclogged as well.
caffeine may be effective for clogged pores, but there are many other factors that may affect whether this ingredient would work on your skin or if there are better ingredients that may work for you. Take this skin quiz to find the best ingredients for your skin and build your skincare routine.
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