What is fungal acne? 

Fungal acne scientific name is malassezia folliculitis. Fungal acne looks a lot like normal acne that you get from breakouts But they will appear at places with high level of sebum production For example, our T-Zone They can also appear on our chest Or on our back Fungal acne appear as tiny little bumps and they look like whiteheads People often misdiagnose fungal acne as normal acne Because they have more or less the same appearance. 

The difference between fungal acne and normal acne is Fungal acne is caused by fungal infection And normal acne is caused by bacterial infection So when people have fungal acne and they treat them as normal acne. They won't see any improvement. For example, if we have fungal acne and we use topical treatments like benzoyl peroxide Please refer side note 

So, what causes fungal acne to happen? Fungal acne is caused by an overgrowth of fungi on our face As we all know, there is a lot of bacteria and fungi that live on our face And these microorganisms are called microbiome. So, fungal acne is caused by one species of fungi called Malassezia And there is an overgrowth of them. When there is an overgrowth of Malassezia, They will attack our hair follicles And that is the reason why inflammation happens. That is the reason why you can see tiny little bumps on your forehead. 

So, what causes overgrowth of fungi on our face? Firstly, it is caused by overproduction of sebum The main source of food for Malassezia is oil So when our skin is oily, there is a higher chance of us getting fungal acne Secondly, it is caused by hot weather We will sweat Fungi love hot and damp places So it is very common for people of South East Asia to get fungal acne because of the weather So when the weather is hot, there is a higher chance of getting fungal acne Because fungi feed on the contents of our sweat Thirdly, it is caused by antibiotics I read about this antibiotics factor on simple skincare science website where they show a lot of medical research papers When we consume antibiotics for an extended period of time, Bacteria population will decrease So it can lead to an overgrowth of fungi Hence fungal acne can occur because of the overgrowth of fungi Fourthly, it is caused by skincare products which are a very common factor If we use skincare products that contain ingredients loved by Malassezia There will be a higher chance of getting fungal acne How do we know whether we have fungal acne or not? The best way is to go see a dermatologist and request for a fungal infection check Because some people can get both types of acne They can get fungal acne as well as bacterial acne at the same time. 

So when we diagnose it ourselves we might think it is fungal acne We might also think it is bacterial acne And we use treatments that are not intended for that acne We might end up not seeing any improvement on our skin But if you guys don't want to see a dermatologist You guys can take a look at the symptoms of fungal acne. 

The symptoms of fungal acne are: Because bacterial acne is not normally itchy If our acne feels itcy, high chances we might be suffering from fungal acne Secondly, .. (please refer to the side note) There is a high chance that our acne is not caused by bacteria Thirdly, .. (please refer to the side note) What ingredients do we have to avoid if we have fungal acne? Firstly, .. (please refer to the side note) If we have fungal acne, we can only use three types of oil that are fungal acne safe Which are: We also have to avoid fatty acids For example: linoleic acid, myristic acid, lauric acid, palmitic acid etc The second ingredient that we have to avoid is ester Ester is fun because my brother explained to me how ester and fatty acids are closely related For example, the fatty acid used is palmitic acid When palmitic acid is combined with alcohol for example ethanol The palmitic acid will be known as palmitate. It has -ate at the back The reason why we have to avoid ester if we have fungal acne is because ester still contains fatty acid The third ingredient that we have to avoid if we have fungal acne is polysorbates Polysorbate 20, 40, 60 and 80 The fourth ingredient that we have to avoid is yeast extract ingredients for example galactomyces Because when we use yeast extract ingredients, they can trigger a reaction within the fungi So, what kind of products can we use if we have fungal acne? 

For cleansers, we can use Simple Refreshing Gel And Simple Foaming Wash because they are fungal acne safe We don't have to worry that much about cleansers even if they are not fungal acne safe Because cleanser only stays for a short period of time on our face And we would already have rinsed it off afterwards For toner, we can use Hada Labo Hydrating Lotion For moisturiser, we can use Cerave Moisturizing Cream For sunscreen that are fungal acne safe, We can use Sunplay Skin Aqua Moisture Milk Or Hada Labo Perfect UV Gel Before you guys start asking me questions whether this one product is fungal acne safe or not I will put the link in the description You guys can refer to it And you guys can refer to the things that I have talked about just now Especially the ingredients to avoid if we have fungal acne   Because when we wear sheet mask, it will coat our face And provide nutrients to fungi And if we have fungal acne, don't use cleansing oil because Malassezia really loves oil Instead, we can use micellar water So after all the babbles, how do we treat fungal acne? 

Firstly, we can use antifungals Because antifungals can inhibit fungal growth on our skin According to simple skincare science website, The best ingredient to use to treat fungal acne is ketocanazole which is proven by medical research papers In the website, it is said that 100 participants with fungal acne are called to test out this ketocanazole And the success rate is around 75% or 62% but I can't really remember the exact figure. According to the website, the standard treatment protocole is by using 2% ketocanazole shampoo The right way to use this 2% ketocanazole shampoo Is by putting the shampoo on the affected area And we leave the shampoo be for 3 to 5 minutes And we rinse it off afterwards Ketocanazole shampoo like nizoral has 1% ketocanazole The second ingredient that we can use to treat fungal acne Is honey or propolis extract Honey and propolis extract both have antimicrobial properties Antimicrobial means that it is capable of killing fungi on our skin We can also put raw honey on our skin Or if we don't like raw honey, We can use products that contain honey or propolis extract For example, we can use Cosrx Propolis Light Ampoule Or we can use Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel The third ingredient that we can use to treat fungal acne is salicylic acid This is because salicylic acid has antifungal properties And it can also clean our clogged pores So when our pores are clean, there will be less oil on our face That can lead to fungal acne The problem with salicylic acid is that Most salicylic acid products use polysorbate 20 as stabilisers Polysorbate 20 is one of the ingredients that we have to avoid if we have fungal acne An example of product that contain salicylic acid is Stridex pads So I guess that's all for my long writing about fungal acne I hope you guys can have a better understanding of fungal acne from this article I hope I will see you guys in my next article. Bye Bye