When it comes to skincare there are a lot of rules to follow. One of the most common skin care rules is not to pick your acne, no matter how badly it itches and how badly you want it to be gone.

According to First Aid Beauty, dermatologists have come up with two terms when it comes to picking your acne. The first, acne excoriee, is the appearance of picked pimples on the skin. The second is neurotic excoriation, are scratches made by individuals who traumatize their skin by picking acne.

“I’ll sometimes pick my acne. I try not to but it can be embarrassing to have it on my face,” Kaitlyn Garcia said.

Although acne can be irritating and annoying, the best way to treat it is not to pick at it, but to leave the face clear and free of makeup. Let the skin be natural and free but do not forget to wash it and acne will start to go away.

When wearing makeup, avoid wearing too much and do not wear it everyday. Avoid foundation and let your skin be free and breathe. When wearing makeup, especially foundation, it will disrupt your skin’s lipid layering which is when your skin makes more layers of skin, and bacteria build up which is good for the skin. Make sure to be free of makeup everyday if you can, but if not make sure that after you’re done wearing it to take it off immediately.

Also avoid overly washing your face. If you overly wash your face it can dry out your pores and overall skin. When you wash your face, it should last about 30 seconds, using warm water. Washing your face with warm water will open up pores and allow medicine to heal the acne quicker.

“I wash my face twice a day for about a minute. I don’t use warm water even though I heard you should, but my acne clears up in a week at the most so I like what I do,” Garcia said.

When washing your face do not wash more than three times a day. Twice a day is the perfect amount because it helps maintain moisture on your face. Remember that if you scrub too hard you can damage skin and cause irritation and cause more acne to appear.

Another good tip when it comes to skin care do’s and don’ts is to stay hydrated. Since most of the water we consume goes into our skin, it is very important to drink lots of water (on average eight glasses a day) to keep skin glowing and looking healthy.

Remember to wear sunscreen to protect skin from harmful UV rays. The recommended amount of SPF is 30 or higher. This will also protect sun spots to appear on the face and fight against skin cancer.

The most important thing when it comes to skincare is to let your skin be natural and breathe. Don’t use harmful medicine on your face and don’t scrub too hard when washing. Do drink lots of water to stay hydrated and apply sunscreen when outdoors. Taking care of your skin will clear up acne in no time.