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For many make up artists, their philosophy on acne is simply conceal, cover and forget about it – however, merely hiding breakouts often only exasperates the problem. Fortunately Alison Raffaele, founder of Alison Raffaele Cosmetics, understands how important it is for coverage to benefit—and most importantly never harm the skin—particularly when it comes to complexions that are less than perfect.

This message, along with so many others, was central to her when she decided to completely revamp her line and include a multi-tasking primer designed to fight acne and help your make-up last while delivering mineral based, broad spectrum SPF 15.

Before thinking about concealing imperfections, starting with an acne-fighting primer as your first line of defense can help insure that good coverage and effective blemish treating is optimal. Since all of Alison Raffaele’s products have been created to be good for your skin, her new Face Forward Primer Acne Response has been formulated with patent pending Oligopeptide-10. Unlike traditional acne treatments, this breakthrough peptide technology effectively kills the bacteria that causes acne without drying out the skin and in clinical tests has been proven to be more effective than the leading benzoyl peroxide treatment.

Additionally, all of the new and reformulated products in the Alison Raffaele line are free of parabens, talc, mineral oil, gluten and fragrances. Along with the Acne Response Primer, Alison’s Face Forward Age Response Primer and Reality Base Foundations are infused with her proprietary, anti-oxidant “Frutta di Vita” complex. Based on three key ingredients, pomegranate, goji berry and resveratrol, these powerful, natural ingredients shield the skin from harmful free radicals produced by environmental factors such as the sun, pollution, and stress.

As both a makeup artist and manufacturer, Alison firmly believes you should never have to trade off beauty for health, and with Alison Raffaele Cosmetics you never will! Besides offering products suitable for your reader’s fight against acne, she also has 4 great tips for dealing with acne on a day to day basis.

1. Remove your makeup thoroughly, but without drying your skin. This is best done by using an emulsifying cleanser like Cetaphil first, then following up with your usual cleanser. The emulsifying step dissolves the ingredients that hold the makeup to your skin, and then the surfactants in your foaming cleanser (which is what most women with oily skin prefer) lift them away.

2. Over drying the surface of your skin with acne medications will only make it harder to conceal your acne, because makeup cannot properly adhere to dead, flaking skin. If you’ve already done so, you can help remedy the situation by steaming your face for 5 minutes and then exfoliating with a rough washcloth. “Gommage” type masks that are rolled off the skin are also effective in this situation without being drying or harsh. To prevent the problem from happening again, try using a weaker strength of your medication or using it less often.

3. To create the most natural looking coverage, always start with your foundation to even out your skintone, and then layer your concealer (in a matching shade) on top where extra coverage is needed. Finish with a dusting of loose powder to set everything in place.

4. The idea that you can “cancel out” the redness of a blemish with a green color corrector makeup sounds great, but it simply doesn’t work. In fact, it is Physics 101: You cannot add something (green makeup) to something (a red blemish) and get nothing. The ONLY medium in which colors can be “canceled out” is in lighting – because light rays do not contain any matter. Instead, try a concealer a shade deeper – the extra pigment will help cover the redness without highlighting the problem.

Be sure to check out Alison Raffaele’s naturally inspired beauty products on the Alison Raffaele website.