Skincare Rou-Teen: The Best Natural Products For Teen Skin

If you’re a parent to a teenager (or one yourself!) today’s post is for you.

Whether your teen is already a beauty junkie, just starting to get curious about skincare or hasn’t even given their skin a second thought, we’re unpacking the best, natural products for teen skin to help create a clear complexion and a solid foundation for health as they grow up. 

From fluctuating hormones and breakouts to enlarged pores and teen pressures, not to mention the influx of social media influencers and trendy skincare tips, this can leave teens with some serious skin woes and self-esteem challenges.

But the majority of skincare on the market geared towards teens (and promising to make their clear skin dreams come true) is made with cheap, toxic ingredients that actually aggravate acne and is one of the biggest contributors to our toxic load. Plus aggressive topical acne products (like benzoyl peroxide or retinol) and internal solutions (like accutane or antibiotics) can leave teens with side effects long after their skin has cleared.

How many of us got hooked on harmful conventional products at an early age and are now seeking out solutions to reverse the damage done back in the day? I know I can’t be the only one raising my hand!

Leave drugstore cleansers, harsh ingredients, aggressive scrubs, picking, and prescriptions in the past and set up your teen’s skin for success with non-toxic skincare that actually works - and of course, looks cute on the bathroom counter.

Every teenager loves a good sudsing foaming face wash - and that feeling of squeaky clean skin. But while most conventional cleansers targeted to this age group deliver exactly that - they also deliver a dose of skin irritants like detergents, dyes, sulfates and fragrances. Don’t worry, the deep pore cleansing your teen craves is still possible sans stripping chemicals. Here’s how.

Unlike a lot of cleansers geared toward teens - especially at the drugstore - this gentle cleansing bar won’t leave skin feeling stripped, tight or dry. It maintains the skin’s integrity and natural pH levels for skin that remains youthful long after they’ve left their teenage years with charcoal, raw honey and purifying essential oils.

One of the Clarifying Bar's key ingredients is activated charcoal, which is most popular for its properties as a natural toxin remover and is a powerhouse when it comes to purifying the skin from blackheads and buildup. It attracts pore-clogging buildup to proactively avoid breakouts and blackheads while helping to clear up current congestion. A simple cleanse before bed is all your teen needs to keep their complexion actually clean and clear.

P.S. This bar doubles as a body cleanser! Keep one in the shower to help combat body breakouts, too.

Hectic schedules, hormonal changes and teen pressures can all contribute to unwanted skin conditions - not to mention the traditional toners that teens gravitate towards. Harsh astringents and harmful alcohols can actually exacerbate inflammation in the skin by over drying and leaving skin more susceptible to acne and sensitivities.

Look for toners with pure plant extracts, essential oils and antibacterial ingredients to help prevent and calm acne, redness + inflammation. Everything Spray contains organic raw + unfiltered apple cider vinegar to balance pH levels and is packed with powerful healing enzymes, while organic tea tree essential oil disinfects and organic lavender essential oil heals and regenerates.

Pour a bit of Everything Spray on an organic cotton round and sweep all over skin after cleansing. Reminiscent of acne-fighting pads from our past (anyone else use those when we were teens?), get the same clean, fresh feeling but without compromising the skin barrier with harsh ingredients and harmful chemicals.

“Within days I have noticed the inflammation in my acne-prone skin has gone down!” -Katie on the Everything Spray

A common myth among teens is that to keep skin clear and glowing, you’ve got to dry it out. This beauty belief couldn’t be further from the truth. While these methods may clear up a breakout temporarily, it actually works against the skin in the long term and can incur damage down the road. Optimal skin health requires hydration to help repair acne, any associated scarring and keep oil production under control.

Even oil-rich teen skin needs a proper balance of hydration and moisture (oil + water) to keep the barrier balanced - and to avoid vicious cycles of unwanted breakouts. This is the oil-based, clarifying serum your teen’s oil-rich/combo skin will love as nutrient-dense oils sink in deeply to leave skin glowing, not greasy (truly, a teen’s worst nightmare!).

Whether your teenager is trying to get acne under control or struggling with scarring (trying to pick away breakouts can leave teens with reminders of their acne long after its gone), marula oil, manuka essential oil and prickly pear seed oil are rich in vitamin E and C to visibly repair discoloration, keep skin tone clear and create a dramatic difference in just a few drops.

While clogged pores, blackheads and oil blotting sheets may have become your teens norm, instead of exfoliating the skin into a state of panic and overproduction of oil with harsh scrubs, facial masks gently exfoliate, refine texture, and help to naturally nudge the cell rejuvenation process along.

Applying a clay-based, mineral-rich clarifying mask a couple times a week can work wonders in removing dead skin buildup on the surface that can cause clogged pores and acne. Although genetics is responsible for pore size (thank you mom and dad), masks can help make them appear smaller and less visible by keeping them clear of congestion.

Here are a few of our favorite ingredients and their skin-clearing benefits:

• Raw honey and white willow bark powder (nature’s alternative to salicylic acid!) gently and effectively exfoliate skin to stimulate cell turnover and minimize post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (aka acne scarring).
• Anti-inflammatory turmeric, acne-fighting manuka and scar-repairing neroli reduce hormonal breakouts and cystic acne along with any associated redness.
• A therapeutic blend of organic essential oils of neroli, sweet orange, grapefruit, bergamot and manuka give this mask a fresh, citrusy aroma to inspire a positive mindset to promote a clearer complexion from within. Exactly what teens need today. :)

Apply this face mask from forehead to jawline to support an all over glow or use it as a spot treatment to target occasional breakouts and blemishes. Plus it’s a fun way for teens to spend time with friends, take a few selfies and enjoy a DIY spa night to ease tension from the typical teen stressors.

DIY Mask: This can be a fun recipe for your teen and their friends to make at their next spa night - with ingredients you may already have in your kitchen! Just blend a bit of raw honey or yoghurt with charcoal, spirulina or turmeric (just be careful since this traditional spice is also used as a natural dye will leave a yellow hue on your favorite white towel) for an active mask that calms redness, clears breakouts and lightly refines skin texture - all with a bright pop of color, perfect for taking the best selfies.

Teenagers today, especially girls, are getting the majority of their beauty tips from their favorite influencers. One tip that’s swirling around social media is Botox treatments for preventive aging. While this procedure used to just be popular for minimizing wrinkles that had already formed, it’s now starting to take the younger beauty scene by storm.

But when you dig a bit deeper into the reality of this injection and how it works within the skin (this post is a must read for the inside scoop and the best botox alternative!), my holistic esthetician’s heart wants to educate our younger generation on more supportive practices to keep skin youthful sans toxins. Although botox is only approved for those 18+, educating your teen on supportive skincare rituals before their 18th birthday can help them opt for more natural approaches for creating youthful skin even when their first fine line starts to form.

Enter: facial tools. One of my fav recommendations for teens is a fun, easy-to-use facial roller! These precious gemstone rollers have become famous for their ability to boost the natural glow of the skin by:

• activating lymphatic flow
• detoxifying skin tissue
• increasing blood flow to feed skin from within
• calming inflammation
• brightening skin tone
• decreasing puffiness
• enhancing product absorption
• encouraging circulation
• tightening/toning skin
• helping your teen feel ready to face the day ahead!

And find one with ridges to increase all of the benefits above! Facial rollers have quickly become one of the trendiest facial tools around – especially in the world of Instagram and beauty vloggers - so if your teen isn’t using one yet, show them how cool of a parent you actually are and introduce them to the beautiful world of facial rolling.

Tip: Try keeping this facial tool in the fridge or freezer for a refreshing pick-me-up for your teen’s complexion (and to decrease puffiness after a late night of studying or a sleepover).

Okay, you’ve got your teen on track with their skincare products but the #1 product to introduce to your teenagers that will make the biggest difference in their health (and keep them smelling fresh during gym class) is natural deodorant.

Get your teens on board with a natural deodorant to combat BO and build a solid foundation for health as they get older. Conventional deodorants teens grab off the drugstore shelf can contain a laundry list of toxic chemicals including:

• Aluminum – Linked to Alzheimer’s disease and heavy metal toxicity.
• Triclosan – Linked to liver toxicity, skin allergies and thyroid dysfunction.
• Propylene Glycol – Linked to organ toxicity and skin irritations (and because it improves product penetration, it helps to carry other harmful ingredients in the product through the skin).
• Parabens – Endocrine/hormone disruptors, found in 99% of breast cancer tissue sampled in this study.
• Phthalates – Linked to permanent birth defects and endocrine disruption.
• Benzyl Salicylate – Linked to endocrine disruption, weakened immune system and skin allergies.
• Fragrance – referred to as the new “secondhand smoke” (that’s really all you need to know!).

While all of our best-selling natural deodorants are formulated with effective, non-toxic ingredients, one that offers even more detoxifying, disinfecting and deodorizing benefits (a must for hormonal, active teenagers) is this one packed with activated charcoal and purifying essential oils of peppermint and eucalyptus. Plus it's sleek, minimal packaging is teen-approved and won't give away their BO-busting secrets.

A couple swipes every single day is a huge step to help your teenager lead a healthy life - no matter what the day ahead may hold. If this natural deodorant thing is new to you, check out more posts to help your teen start the swap!

While these products make a big difference for teen skin, don’t forget true healing happens beneath the skin. Check out this post for acne solutions that go deeper than surface level!

We hope this post will help your teen feel more confident in creating the correct skincare routine for them and ultimately, more comfortable in their own skin - outside and in. XO