What is Fungal Acne?
aka Pityrosporum folliculitis or Malassezia folliculitis looks a lot like hormonal acne or bacterial acne but is actually quite different. In fact, it’s not even really acne at all! While bacteria cause regular acne, fungal acne is caused by an overgrowth of another abnormal skin flora— fungus.
This fungus feeds on oil on our skin either from our own skin’s sebum or any other oils or oil-rich creams applied to the skin. For some people, this fungal infection results in a skin disorder called Tinea versicolor.
In others, it causes an infection of the hair follicles that resembles traditional acne—acne-like red bumps with occasional whiteheads. In contrast to real acne, with which you may see many types of different acne lesions together (some blackheads, some papules, some cysts), in fungal acne, there is a uniform appearance to the bumps and they are frequently itchy.
It’s fairly easy to say that the condition is fungal, but we highly recommend doing a lab test to make sure that the condition is indeed caused by fungi.
Pityrosporum and Malassezia fungi depend on oil for survival, fungal acne is most common in oil-rich areas of the face and body such as the forehead (t-zone), sides of the nose, chin and the upper back, chest, and shoulders. It can pop up in the same areas as traditional acne and seborrheic dermatitis and can even occur simultaneously.
Any solutions for Fungal Acne?
Our Glow Exfoliant contains salicylic acid that worked best against yeast. However, it’s still recommended to do the half-face test to determine if any reactions will occur. Salicylic acid is a keratolytic agent used for fungal skin infections. It causes exfoliation of the skin’s stratum corneum layer, resulting in removing dead skin cells together with the fungi. Also, using Calming Cleanser will help calm your skin and reduce redness while ridding your skin of daily grime and dead skin cells without leaving it dry or irritated.
Clarifying serum has Vitamin C that can kill P.acnes bacteria but not yeast.
About the Author
Jasmine Kang
Founder of Skinlycious - a skincare brand built specially for acne-prone, oily-prone, and sensitive skin. A mompreneur with a Biomedical Science degree and a Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation, Jasmine spent 14 years fighting acne and another 10 years refining her formulas alongside fellow acne fighters to perfect the Skinlycious range.
Her greatest joy? Helping people get clear, smooth and glowing skin and regain confidence through her Match+Balance System™.
