Know Your Skin – A (General) Guide to Spot Placement

If you have ever experienced acne or recurring pimples, you know the pain of trying to get rid of them. From applying toothpaste, to aspirin paste (after the labour of crushing up said aspirin), getting rid of spots can be an extreme sport.

In this day and age, nobody has the time to be a part-time witch doctor, huddling over a pestle and mortar to crush up remedies – all in the name of reactive skincare.

A proactive approach to losing unwelcomed guests that are spots & pimples is finding their root cause. Of course, this can be done by a visit (or 5) to a dermatologist, but, during this cost-of-living crisis, it’s good necessary to consider options that are easier on our pockets – enter Spot Placement!

Spot placement can be described as the love child of ancient eastern alternative medicine and modern science. It teaches us how to map pimples and skin concerns to a specific internal function.

In other words, it gives us the low down on which organs are the culprits behind the unwelcomed guests; As the wise saying goes “knowledge [of skin] is power”- Spot placement is one way to build our knowledge on what is really troubling our skin, giving us more intel & therefore the power to tackle the source of the problem.

So, which pimple areas on our face are linked to what?

You may have seen an array of diagrams online with a million dot-to-dots; On this occasion, let’s keep it simple by breaking it down into 4 sections of the face:

Using that breakdown, you can make a start on identifying what’s causing any breakouts you may have on your face by following these 3 simple steps:

1. Learn your pimple ‘hot zones’ – make a mental (or written*) note of where + when your spots appear most.

2. Find the pimples’ root cause – refer to the diagram to see what could be causing your breakout.

3. Tackle the root cause!

Arguably the most important step, this is all about giving your body the TLC it’s asking you for. Having identified what internally could be causing your breakout/s, consider what you might have been eating, lacking or going through (e.g. menstrual period or an injury) in the prior days-weeks, and try to make some adjustments to some of the habits that could be the problem.

This could mean improving your diet, taking some vitamins to give your organs extra support, drinking more water, boosting your topical skincare during that special time of the month, or even getting more sleep. It all depends on what your body needs.

Give it a try, it might result in benefits outside just your skin because a bonus of knowing about spot placement is that it gets us thinking about how to better nurture our bodies overall.

If you’ve had, or do get some good results by using spot placement, comment below or let us know at @shopkem on Twitter and Instagram.

*Cloe skin care diary app is good for logging your skin-related habits e.g. diet + skincare routine.

PS. For any excessive and persistent skin concerns – anywhere on your body – always consult a qualified doctor.

By Olive Nthiga