No matter your skin type, rough and bumpy skin texture can creep up on you at some point in time. Despite being one of the most common skin problems, the work to get rid of it isn't easy to figure out.

 

If you're frustrated with stubborn bumps, rough patches, and dullness of textured skin, you are in the right place. There are various causes, treatments, and skincare for this dilemma of yours, and we're covering them all today to help you say goodbye to rough skin for good! 

 

Ready to finally get that silky-smooth, radiant skin you've always wanted? Read on. 

 

HOW TO GET RID OF ROUGH, BUMPY SKIN

 

CAUSES AND AT-HOME TREATMENTS

Acne scars and large pores

Oftentimes, acne scars and large pores are the culprits of uneven, rough skin texture. 

 

After surviving acne breakouts, the skin surface can be marked with depressions or raised areas, known as acne scars. The inflammation and damage of acne affect the skin's surface, creating unevenness in both color and texture of the skin. 

 

While large pores don't cause color inconsistency like acne scars, they too, contribute to the skin's dullness and rough touch. Large pores can be easily clogged with oil and debris. Once congested with nasty plugs, pores stretch out and become more noticeable, leading to a lackluster complexion. 

Treatments:

AHAs and BHAs

 To refine your skin texture, enlist AHAs and BHAs to your skincare lineup. A combination of both exfoliants will help speed up your way to velvety, smooth skin. While AHAs encourage skin resurfacing, BHAs go deep into the pores to clean up pore plugs and prevent future congestion. 

 

If you have sensitive skin, consider opting for products with PHA, LHA (a Salicylic Acid derivative), or Enzymes. They are milder exfoliants, yet they can still excellently smooth out uneven skin texture. 

 

For acne-prone skin, Azelaic Acid is a great option to look for. Besides taking care of textured skin, Azelaic Acid is a great antibacterial active, which helps target inflamed pimples. 

 

Retinoids 

If your skin can tolerate, get yourself acquainted with Retinoids. As you may know, this powerful ingredient can ground-kick textured skin like none other, boosting your skin renewal and turning your rough skin into a smooth, luminous complexion. 

With that said, be careful with how you incorporate Retinoids into your routine. As the power of Retinoids is great, the transforming action can be quite aggressive on the skin. 

 

Vitamin C 

Thanks to its ability to promote collagen production and wonderful antioxidant properties, Vitamin C is a game-changer for improving skin texture and minimizing the appearance of acne scars. While increasing collagen to rebuild healthy skin structure, Vitamin C also helps prevent future scarring by protecting the skin cells from environmental pollutants. 

Milia

Milium cysts or milia can be ID as tiny seed-like bumps on the skin. At brief glance, they are similar to whiteheads, but milia don't harbor pain, inflammation, or itchiness. 

Milia are usually spotted around the eye area and cheek in clusters. Since they are made of trapped dead skin cells (aka keratin), they're pretty hard and have no opening to squeeze the content out, which is nature's way of saying you should never try to pop milia by yourself. As history have it, many more are left with scars in the attempt than successfully remove the milia.

 

Treatments: 

Exfoliants and oil-regulating actives 

Mild milia cases in adults usually go away after a few weeks or months. But to assist the healing process, regular exfoliation can help a lot. You can employ Retinoids or Salicylic Acid to slough away dead skin cells that make milium cysts. 

 

Between the two, Retinoids have a more speedy cell turnover rate, but Salicylic Acid has the added benefit of loosening up the oily debris. So choose as you may, but only take one to avoid irritating your skin with too many actives. 

 

Leave it to the professional

If you want to skip the wait, it's best to consult a professional on how to remove your milia. Unlike at-home removal methods, in-office treatments are varied and can reduce the risk of scarring to a minimum. Usually, there won't be any, and infection prevention is far superior. 

 

Comedonal acne

Comedonal acne can appear as either blackheads- open comedones or whiteheads - closed comedones.  

Sometimes, you can also see closed comedones as tiny flesh-color bumps, not necessarily full-on whiteheads with a little red, inflamed ring around, which make many mistakes them as fungal acne (more on how to tell the two apart later).

Comedones appear when pores are congested with accumulated dead skin cells, excess sebum, and other skin debris. These clogged pores create raised bumps on the surface and often pop up on the forehead, chin, and cheeks, causing rough and bumpy skin texture. 

Left untreated, comedonal acne can become inflammatory pimples. And once you reach that stage, the saga of treating and healing is much more complicated.  

Besides the unsightly appearance, another beef people have with comedonal acne is how they are easily mixed up as fungal acne. Without guidance from the right diagnosis, those stubborn bumps will continue to latch on. 

An easy way to tell comedonal acne and fungal acne apart is to observe if the bumps carry any itchiness. If you feel itchy, you're probably having fungal acne. Otherwise, the bumps are comedones. 

 

Treatments: 

 

Prevent skin dehydration 

Excess sebum hinders the skin's natural exfoliation process by making the dead skin cells and debris sticky. This can encourage the formation of comedones, hence, dehydrated skin is prone to comedonal acne. Insufficient skin hydration can trigger an increase in oil production, leading to excess sebum.

So, it's important that you hydrate and moisturize your skin consistently.

 

Chemical exfoliants and acne-fighting actives

To draw out trapped impurities in the pores, use chemical exfoliants like BHAs, AHAs, LHA, PHA, or Enzymes.  

Additionally, incorporating acne-fighting actives like Azelaic Acid, Benzoyl peroxide, and Retinoids into your routine can superbly improve skin texture. These ingredients smooth out all bumps, be it comedone or inflammatory acne. They also have antibacterial properties and help you balance oil production. 

 

Avoid oil

Remember what we said about oil? Yeah, so you want to be cautious about it. Don't go too heavy with moisturizers or balms, and be careful with oily hair products. 

Also, watch out for a high-glycemic diet. Your daily intake of carbs and fried food can also tease out excess sebum. 

 

Signs of aging skin 

As we age, our skin undergoes a lot of changes. One of the most noticeable changes is the loss of collagen and moisture. 

As a result, mature skin is inclined to dryness, fine lines, and larger pore appearance. In other words, with time, our once supple and bouncy complexion tends to become uneven, and rough.

 

Treatments: 

 

Hydrate and moisturize 

A skin well-fed with moisture can help maintain a strong skin barrier, enhance the healing process, and even plump up the appearance of fine lines. This simple step is the key to dermal health and the basis for achieving soft skin. 

 

Consistent sun protection 

You know the gist and the drill: SPF every day and always. 

To really perfect sun protection practice, don't forget to arm yourself with sunglasses, long sleeves, and wide-brim hats when going outside. 

 

Promote collagen production 

There are not many that can take up the task of increasing collagen production. Luckily, the few dermatologist-trusted names out there are quite accessible. 

 

In talks of collagen boosters, Retinoids, and Vitamin C are the renowned go-to. However, skincare with Peptides is also an excellent addition to the mix. 

 

If you're in the mood to splurge, a LED light therapy mask is gonna be a worthy investment. The treatment is backed by many studies and has been proven to be a safe, yet effective way to achieve youthful, glowing skin. 

 

Keratosis pilaris

If you feel dry and sandpaper-like patches on your skin, you might have keratosis pilaris. 

 

Keratosis pilaris (KP), or chicken skin is a chronic skin condition that causes rough areas with tiny bumps on the face, upper arm, thighs, and buttocks. KP bumps are the accumulation of dry skin buildup around the hair follicles, often called keratin plugs. 

 

Since KP is a chronic issue, you can't really cure it for good, but with the right treatment, you can manage and minimize their appearance. 

 

Treatments: 

Keratolytic ingredients

To reclaim smooth skin back from KP, your number one priority is to dislodge the keratin plugs with keratolytic. 

 

You can find keratolytic under the names Salicylic acid, AHAs, and Urea. These ingredients help soften keratin and slough them away in the skin exfoliation process, improving skin texture and pore appearance. 

  

Avoid drying out KP patches 

Since keratin plugs are essentially dry skin, further drying out your skin will only create more dry buildup to add on your keratin plugs. Instead, you need to keep them hydrated. 

Hot showers, and waxing/ shaving the skin area with KP not only irritate your skin but also cause Transepidermal Water Loss, which will exacerbate your KP patches. 

 

Avoid these activities, and hydrate your skin with keratolytic-infused lotion, with time, your KP will eventually smoothen out.

 

TIME TO SEEK A PROFESSIONAL 

When your symptoms persist or don't respond to at-home treatments, it's a tell-tale sign that you should seek professional help. 

 

As you may notice, rough and bumpy skin can be caused by many different skin conditions though they look similar. A dermatologist or esthetician will help you get a more accurate diagnosis and direct you to more effective treatments. 

 

Plus, there are home treatments that won't get you the desired result like prescripted drugs or in-office treatments. Attempting to replicate professional procedures might worsen the issue or cause further damage.

For instance, deep acne scars and large pores may require micro-needling and chemical peels, while certain cases of milia may need surgical removal or cryotherapy. 

 

HELP FROM ROUND LAB

Boiled things down, you may notice that to get rid of rough and bumpy skin, there are a few basics you can apply despite the cause: exfoliation and oil control. 

At Round Lab, we have some skincare up our sleeve that will help you do just that and more!

Made for textured yet sensitive skin, Pine Calming Cica collection is infused with LHA to gently clean gunky pores and skin-soothing agents to relieve redness. Experience the fresh, glowing complexion you deserve! 

You can’t go wrong with any Pine Calming Cica lineup, but TBH, we have a slight bias for the pad and the toner. 

 

One of our most beloved best-sellers, the Dokdo Toner is supercharged with both hydrating skin nutrients and patented Enzyme to get you soft and radiant skin with consistent use. 

Looking for skincare to help out aging skin? We call for Soybean Nourishing Serum. Packed with Peptides, Ceramides, and Soybean Seed Extract, the serum is the enhancer you need to boost skin renewal power.

Excess sebum control and making a desert out of dried-up oil glands are very different things, Dokdo Mud Pack understands that and gives you balanced oil production in the blend of Kaolin and Round Lab’s signature seawater.