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You may be familiar with this blog already – one which I have dedicated almost entirely to the topic of treating & clearing fungal acne, a skin condition caused by an overgrowth of the yeast called malassezia.
And you may also be aware of my Youtube Channel with a similar mission.
Ultimately, it’s my goal to prove that clear skin + amazing makeup can coexist. And for me – that means using skincare and makeup products that are fungal acne safe.
By the way – if you don’t know about my history with acne – Check out How I Cleared My Severe, Adult, Cystic, Itchy, Hormonal Acne after 17 Years.
But I realized there’s one side of fungal acne I’ve never addressed before. So that’s what I’m doing today.
Let’s talk about how long it takes to clear you fungal acne.
Specifically, I’m going to address:
- How long it takes to clear fungal acne
- How to maximize your results
- If & When it’s ok to go back to using your old products
- How to safely re-introduce unsafe products back into your routine
- How to prevent (or minimize) future fungal acne breakouts
How Long Does It Take To Treat and Clear Fungal Acne (Malassezia)?
So how long does it actually take to clear fungal acne?
How long does it take to get the malassezia yeast overgrowth under control?
Here’s the answer: it’s going to be different for everyone.
I know that isn’t the answer you were hoping for. Honestly, life would be so much easier if I could say with 100% confidence that fungal acne clears up within a few days or weeks.
But everyone’s skin is different!
I’ll be honest – when I started my journey to get rid of fungal acne, I saw a difference immediately. Like, overnight. But the story is a bit more complicated than that.
I have a long, long, loooong history with acne of all types. You name a type of acne, I’ve had it. Cystic, hormonal, bacterial, fungal, itchy, bumpy, rash-like, nodules, pustules, papules. So glamorous, #amiright?
So even though my skin started clearing up immediately, I wasn’t in any hurry to ditch my new routine, even if the products were a bit… limited compared to what I was used to using.
In fact, I had a lot of scarring & hyperpigmentation that needed time to heal, and I also have a lot of pitted scarring from my days of severe, cystic acne. And that’s why I continue to use fungal-acne-safe makeup and skin care products over a year later!
I want to give my skin its best chance to heal, be radiant, and look gorgeous! And that takes time.
Maximize Your Results – The Fastest Way to Clear Fungal Acne
If you’ve just started a treatment plan to clear your fungal acne, you may be feeling impatient to see results.
So let’s discuss a few ways you can increase your odds of beating this nasty malassezia yeast quickly!
Don’t Know Which Products are Safe?
Clueless when it comes to picking fungal-acne-safe products off the shelves at Walmart & Target?
With my fungal acne friendly shopping lists, you’ll be able to pick out skincare & makeup products with complete confidence.
Download my FREE Shopping Guides & take them with you to the store!
Fill out this form & I’ll send them to your inbox!
1. Use Only Products with Safe Ingredients, Period.
If you’ve only gotten rid of some of your “unsafe” products, or simply changed one or two of them in hopes of getting clear – it may not be enough. Especially if you haven’t seen any change in your skin’s condition.
When I first started treating my fungal acne, I discontinued use of all products that ran the risk of feeding the malassezia yeast. And for best results, I recommend you do the same.
It doesn’t have to be complicated – here’s the current skincare routine I’m using to keep the fungus at bay.
2. Double Check Ingredients Before You Buy (or Repurchase)
Product formulations are liable to change at any time. This means that what was safe to use for fungal acne may not be safe next month.
Sometimes the ingredients list online versus the ingredients list on the actual packaging is also different.
I don’t want to stress you out with this – but just remember to double-check ingredients in your skincare & makeup often, especially before repurchasing, and extra-especially if the packaging has recently changed.
Two great websites to check your products are sezia.co and folliculitisscout.com
Feeling Stuck When It Comes to Clearing Your Fungal Acne?
When I first found out I had fungal acne, it took me months of research to figure out what I could & couldn’t use. And I still made mistakes!
The resources I found online didn’t have the answers I needed, so I had to be my own guinea pig.
And now that I’ve done all the work, I want to share it with you!
If you’re feeling confused and want the straightforward information, products, and skincare routines I used to treat & clear my fungal acne, I’ve created the From Fungal Acne to Clear Skin Guide just for you.
Download it now to fast-track your results to clear skin for life.
3. Keep It Simple Stupid!
One thing I notice many people doing is going hardcore with their skincare routine in an attempt to eradicate the malassezia faster.
Are you hitting your skin with harsh, drying ingredients like Salicylic Acid, Benzoyl Peroxide, or Retinoids multiple times per day? Cut it out!
When it comes to treating fungal acne, it’s best to KISS – aka – keep it simple, stupid!
Throwing too many harsh chemicals at your face, not establishing a good moisturizing routine, and changing products too quickly is not helping you clear your skin faster. In fact, it’s sabotaging your ability to get clear!
Something that is often overlooked in the treatment of acne is repairing your skin’s moisture barrier. So while I know it’s tempting to think of “drying out” the pimples, your skin won’t get clear if it isn’t properly moisturized.
So find a good cleanser, a good “active” to treat the fungal acne, a good moisturizer, and a good sunscreen (for anti-aging and also to promote healing) – and give them time to work. At least a couple of months before you change any products.
Here are my favorite fungal acne safe sunscreens.
Those truly are the only 4 skincare products you need to have healthy, clear, glowing skin.
4. Trust in Consistency & Time
Don’t give up if you don’t see immediate results. Skin cells turn over every 4-6 weeks, and it often takes that long (or longer) to notice changes in your acne – whether good or bad.
It may even take multiple skin cycles to see your best results, so please – be patient. Stay consistent and trust the process over time.
When Can I Go Back to Using My Old Products?
A number one question I get asked in my Instagram DMs is “Can I go back to using my old products after the fungal acne clears up?”
And the truth is – that’s completely up to you!
I want to use this blog to spread awareness and information about malasseiza folliculitis in the hopes of empowering you to make your own well-informed & well-thought-out decisions about skincare.
As I mentioned before, the reason I continue to use fungal-acne safe products is because my skin has never been clearer than this. And all without dermatologists, prescriptions, or expensive products!
However, I recognize that many of you haven’t experienced the severity level I have when it comes to fungal acne. Some of you haven’t had cystic acne or nodules that permanently scarred your skin – ya lucky dogs!
Maybe your fungal acne was truly just “tiny forehead bumps” that cleared up once you started treating it. And for some people – fungal acne is truly a temporary thing.
So if your skin has been clear and stable for months – it might be time for you to think about adding your old makeup or skincare back into your routine.
So how do you go about doing that in a way that’s safe & won’t cause you to break out in fungal acne all over again?
How to Safely Reintroduce Your Old Products
Here’s the exact method I would use to reintroduce my old products (hypothetically speaking)..
1. Add Back One Product at a Time
Don’t you dare go and slather your face in every single one of your old products all at once! That’s a recipe for disaster. I’m getting hives just thinking of it.
Instead, introduce one product back into your routine at a time. And not only that – but give it a minimum of two weeks before you decide whether that product is causing you to break out again or not.
But really, I would give it a month or more. Why? Because your skin could break out for other reasons (hormones, stress, periods, anyone?), so you want to get really sure on what’s causing the acne.
2. If You’re Clear After A Month, Add Another Product
If no new breakouts occur – good for you! Keep adding ingredients back into your routine one at a time, following the protocol in Step 1.
If at any time you experience a flare up of fungal acne, don’t hesitate – go straight back to you 100% fungal acne safe products. At least until you’re clear again.
3. Pay Attention to Ingredients to Find Your Fungal Acne Triggers
Let’s quickly touch on which products you should add back in.
For example – start with something that only contains one bad ingredient, like an eyeliner with Microcrystalline Wax. For one thing, microcrystalline wax only potentially causes very slow growth of malassezia. Not to mention you’re only applying it to a small area of your face.
If you go straight into using your old foundation, formulated with no less than 6 unsafe ingredients – you could be asking for disaster. Makes sense, right? The foundation is going to sit on your entire face for 12+ hours, which gives the malassezia yeast a major opportunity to feed!
Try to pay attention to the ingredients you’re re-introducing. You might find that Microcyrstalline Wax is not an issue, but Polysorbate-20 is.
How to Prevent Fungal Acne in the Future
So let’s hypothesize a future where you are clear of fungal acne, using some products that aren’t fungal acne safe, and your skin seems to be under control.
How do you know it will stay that way?
Well, here is my best advice on how to prevent fungal acne from coming back.
1. Don’t Stop Treating the Fungal Acne
It’s a good idea to keep treating both fungal & bacterial acne with a good active like benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, urea, azelaic acid, sulfure, ketoconazole, or others..
I recommend Stridex Pads (2% Salicylic Acid) because they are effective & gentle enough for everyday use. But you don’t have to use them daily. You might find that every other day or once a week is enough to keep the malassezia at bay.
2. Climate Matters
Do you live in a tropical climate? Is it hot & humid more often than not?
I hate to say it, but you may be at higher risk for fungal acne than those living in cooler, less-humid climates.
This is why many people only experience fungal acne flare ups in the summer months.
If so, I feel your pain! I also live in a hot & humid climate.. every time I travel to the West Coast I’m dumbfounded by how much better my skin behaves. It’s so unfair.
The best thing to do is to keep treating the fungal acne with a good active, as recommended above – and know that you may have to revert to your 100% fungal acne safe routine in the summertime.
3. Climate + Bad Ingredients = Hostile Environment
On top of living in a climate that is more prone to fungal infections, bear this in mind:
If you live where it’s hot & humid and you keep using lots and lots of ingredients that malassezia furfur yeast loves to feed on, you could end up creating a hostile environment on you skin.
An environment where fungal acne thrives.
And I don’t say this to scare you – just to help you reason through your approach to skincare & treating fungal acne.
Studies Show That Even When Treated with Oral & Topical AntiFungals, Fungal Acne Came Back
Unfortunately, studies conducted have shown that when malassezia folliculitis (fungal acne) was treated with topical and oral antifungals – while it did clear up initially – after a period of time, it came back.
This is another reason I’m interested in continuing to discover (or create) products that are fungal acne safe.
So again – even though I’ve already said it – don’t just revert to all your old makeup and skincare and neglect to use an active to continue fighting the fungus.
At least if it does come back, you’ll have this blog & my Youtube Channel to get you right back on track!
What Do You Think About Using Your Old Products?
So now that you’ve heard my opinion on treating fungal acne and going back to using old products – what do you think?
I want to know if you’ve tried using your old products after successfully clearing your malassezia folliculitis. Be sure to leave me a comment. Your story can help all of us who are dealing with this issue!
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