I finally figured out why my facials were breaking people out

So I overheard this older esthetician at a trade show in Nashville last spring talking about how she stopped using cold towels on clients with active breakouts. I always thought the cold felt nice and helped with redness, but she explained it can trap bacteria and sebum deeper in the pores. Tried switching to lukewarm compresses on my last five acne clients and noticed way less post-treatment purging within two days. One of them even texted me a photo saying her skin looked clearer than usual after a facial. Now I keep separate towels for different skin types and never go below room temp on breakout cases. Has anyone else noticed a difference with water temperature in their treatments?

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iris_stone283mo ago

Also did she mention if the towel temperature affected stuff like fungal acne or just hormonal breakouts? Curious if the science works the same for both types.

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aaron1973mo ago

Cold water actually minimizes inflammation and slows down that initial purge reaction, so if you're seeing less purging it might be because you're disrupting the skin less, not because of trapped bacteria. Lukewarm water is just as likely to push stuff around if you're not being gentle either way.

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