​No, you aren’t going crazy. That insane bacne bout you just experienced could have been caused by your conditioner. Our skin is our largest organ and anything coming into contact with it can change the way it functions. Before you throw your hands up in despair, read on to find out if your conditioner is causing your bacne.

First things first, bacne is a colloquial term for acne affecting your back. It was coined in the internet age when people were trying to get a bit more granular with their problem area.

Similarly to what happens with your face, anything that comes into contact with your back may cause it to breakout. Although we don’t realize it, products tend to wash off on us in the shower. Meaning, if you apply a heavy conditioner, when you rinse off in the shower the formula will undoubtedly make its way to your back on its way to the drain.

Conditioners tend to be a common culprit in bacne cases because of the ingredients used to hydrate hair. Heavy oils and silicones are the biggest offenders. If you are prone to breakouts, you wouldn’t dream of putting a highly comedogenic (aka pore clogging) oil like coconut on your skin. Same goes for your back, yet we don’t pay attention to it in the same way. If your conditioner is loaded with comedogenic oils and hydrators, they will make contact with your back during your showers.

The phenomena is so common that American Academy of Dermatology has a name for it, acne cosmetics. This term refers to a situation when your products are having secondary effect: nasty acne.
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If you notice a big change in your bacne after you start a new hair routine, educate yourself on the ingredients the new products have to make sure you can rule them out as the cause. If you are in the middle of a particularly bad bacne episode, reach for salicylic acid sprays that you can buy over the counter from many brands.

If you’ve ever given yourself a blowout, you know it doesn’t take much for it to go horribly wrong. In fact, there are certain things you should just avoid. While there’s nothing like attempting to uncurl an impossible kink to make you want to call it a natural day, don’t throw in the dryer just yet. By following our pro-guide on what to NEVER do (arguably more important than what you should do) when DIY’ing your blowout, we’re confident that the smooth silky locks of your hair dreams are just a brush, a heat protectant and a high setting away.

Never Pretend Your Blow Dryer is a Wind Machine
Blow drying is basically an art and a science. The first step in the perfect blowout is getting your form together—never just grab the dryer and go at it. “Never blow dry like Beyonce with a wind machine,” says SEVEN haircare Educator Kat Trotter-Viterbo. “You need control for a soft and shiny finish,” she stresses. Once your roots are dry, try using a paddle brush and dry the hair with the wind of the blow dryer going in a downward motion. “This will press the hair into a compact and shiny finish and help control flyaways,” she explains.

Similarly (though it may feel very mosh-girl chic) never flip your head upside down. “Most people do this for volume,” Kat explains, however, this isolates the heat below the occipital bone (where your head starts to curve closest to your neck), which you don’t want to do. “That is the last place you want volume, and the toughest place to get it,” she says. To achieve volume, try blow drying the front of your hairline and top of your hair first, starting at the roots.

PRO Beauty Tools Celebrity Stylist, Johnny Lavoy agrees. “Flipping your head over, or just aiming the blow dryer at the top layer of your hair can lead to over drying and even damage,” he says.

Never Blow Dry Your Ends First“
Never ignore the roots!” cautions CHI Artist Cynthia Diersen. “Those need to dry FIRST before the rest of your hair since they hold the most amount of water.”

“Never dry your ends first,” Kat adds. Because your ends are the driest and oldest part of the hair, they are likely to dry the quickest, due to its potential high porosity. “Try blow drying at the roots first,” she echoes. “This is the newest part of the hair and will allow you the maximum control in creating volume and a soft finish. Work your way through the ends last, allowing them to naturally dry through the process.”

SEVEN Platform Educator, Tyson Daniel backs the importance of control. “Never blow dry your hair against the direction of your cuticle. This makes your hair frizzy and makes it harder to get a smooth, luminous look,” he explains.

Though it may be frustrating (we’re in the struggle too, girl) never get aggressive with your hair. “When drying your hair, avoid twisting, wringing or aggressively drying. This disturbs the cuticle of the hair which results in frizzy styles or worse, damaged hair,” says Cynthia.

Never Forget to Section
For maximum control, make sure to section your hair. “Section your hair into 4 sections and start at the back,” says Cynthia. For best results, make sure you’re using the right brush. “Using a round or a paddle brush to dry the rest of the hair out, making sure each section is properly sealed with the heat of the dryer,” she continues.

Johnny also swears by the power of sectioning. “Sections should be no wider than the barrel of the brush, unless you have curly hair. For curly hair, sections should be smaller (about half as wide as the barrel),” he advises.

Never Forget Your Nozzle
To make sure you are really controlling your heat and making the most out of your blowout, never dry without an air concentrator nozzle. “Using the nozzle gives a direct air flow, cutting down on drying time,” emphasizes Johnny.

“Some of the worse breakage I’ve seen on hair is due to clients not using this attachment, which usually comes included with any dryer.” says Cynthia.

Never Neglect Your Brush
You definitely want to make sure you’re using the best brush for you. “For best results, use a round thermal brush,” says Johnny. “They come in a variety of sizes suitable for all hair lengths, but I personally recommend the PRO Beauty Tools Ionic Ceramic Thermal Brushes, $13.99” he explains. “The Ionic Ceramic Technology allows for even heat distribution, which helps eliminates frizz and adds shine. They come in two sizes – 1 ¾” and 2 ¼” – and also offer an extra-long barrel, which helps dry larger sections of hair faster,” he tells us.

It’s also important to have a strategy when going in with your brush. “Never start round brushing your hair in the back while it is soaking wet, says Tyson. “It will take way too much time, and get frustrating by the time you get to the front of your hair.” Likewise, don’t put pressure from the end of a hot blow dryer directly on your brush, as this can cause super damage or, “put your hair in the line of fire,” Tyson describes. This is also where most heat damage happens on DIY blowouts, so beware!

Never Hold Your Dryer Wrong
You want to make sure your circulating around the hair—don’t stay on one section too long to avoid burning your locks. “Direct heat can cause damage, it’s important not to hold the dryer directly on their hair,” says Johnny. “For best results, make sure the blow dryer is constantly moving and working in the direction of the brush. You shouldn’t keep the hot air blowing on any part of your hair for too long. That leads to dryness, breakage and overall damage,” he cautions.

Never Ignore the Heat Setting
The heat setting you use is also dependent on your hair type. “Thicker hair can take higher temperature, but anyone with fine hair should be using a lower heat temperature,” Johnny explains. “Using the wrong heat setting can lead to over-drying,” he says.

To preserve your blowout (you worked hard for it, it should last) go for the cold shot button. “It’s there for a reason, though many consumers don’t understand what the purpose of the cold shot button is. The cold shoot button helps set the hair for longer-lasting blowouts,” Johnny explains. Sealing with a dose of cool can also help close the cuticle and add shine.

Never Skimp Or Skip On Product
All of the pros agreed, forgetting or skimping on product, like a heat protectant, was a blowout death knell. “Never skip out on your thermal protector before the blow dry!” exclaims Kat.  “Most hot tools (blow dryer included) can get as hot as 350 degrees. That’s hot enough to bake cookies or cook a chicken. You would never grab a cookie tray with your bare hands…so don’t do it to your mane,” she explains.

Tyson agrees—there’s nothing worse than blowing out with just your dryer. “Never use cheap hair products or—even worse—nothing on your hair at all. It’s like going out into a windstorm naked.

The product you go with can impact how the look of your style, so make sure to do your research. Always apply a product as a heat protectant and style aid. Cynthia shares. “I like to layer the following products for a weightless style with ultimate shine and protection: BioSilk Hydrating Therapy Pure Moisture Leave in Spray, $10.78 to detangle, followed by a few drops of the BioSilk Hydrate Therapy Maracuja Oil, $23.20. Brush the hair evenly and power dry up to 75% of the moisture out of the hair,” she recommends.

Never Apply Product Too Close to the Scalp
Even if you’re using the right product, never just goop it on, as this can have an adverse effect. “For hold, avoid using heavy finishing sprays or using them too close to the hair.  Instead use sprays that allow for flexibility after multiple layers like our CHI Royal Treatment Ultimate Control Hairspray, $9.80,” says Cynthia, to gain control of how little or how much hold you want to have in your finished style. “Spray at least 6-8 inches away from the hair to avoid the ‘wet’ look in your finish,” she adds.

Melissa Peverini, Marula Pure Beauty Oil Brand Ambassador, tells us that product placement is just as important as where you place your dryer. She recommends the Marula Pure Beauty Oil 5-in-1 Volume Spray, $28.40, however, at a distance. “Avoid spraying too close to the roots on wet hair,” she says. Keep the products about 6” away from the scalp as too much can create sticky roots during your blowout. If you’re using an oil (she swears by Marula Pure Beauty Oil Hair Treatment & Styling Oil, $26) try not to use more than 1-2 pumps at a time. “A little goes a long way for wet or dry hair,” she says. Again, avoid your roots. “This is the healthiest part of the hair, so apply mostly on the mid-shaft and ends where hydration and shine are needed, prior to your blow-out,” adds Melissa.

Never Downplay Your Prep
A great blowout starts with a thorough hair cleansing. “Avoid over the counter products that are filled with waxes and silicones,” says Cynthia, who advises to have an idea of what’s in products before buying. “Talk to your professional stylist and trust their recommendations. They might come at a slightly bigger investment, but professional products are concentrated so you use less of them per application and you gain more benefits!”

Also, never go overboard when you condition. “Never use too much conditioner or apply it too close to the scalp,” she explains. It can be tough to hold back, but your blowout depends on it! “People tend to apply too much and too close to the scalp, which is a waste of product and results in limp and greasy looking styles” she says.

Never Rush It
Although you may be low on time, make sure you see all the steps of your blowout through. “When we’re in a hurry we tend to ‘do what it takes’ to get out of the door on time,” Cynthia says of our relatable morning, however, don’t just freestyle! “If you’re in this situation, avoid putting your hair in a tight ponytail when your hair is too wet. The hair needs to have time to dry and revert to its natural shape. When wet, it’s loaded with water which makes it stretch out to its maximum capacity.  If we don’t allow it to shrink back to normal, it can snap from tension spots in the ponytail,” she explains.

Not rushing it is most important thing to remember in the long list of blowout don’ts, according to Tyson. “Never be in a hurry. It’s better to set aside the right amount of time and do it right,” he says—which are pretty much all around words to live by. Your blowout: your life.

​Georgie Williamson's first scrunchie moment came the day she was born. In 1989 her mother was in labor, wearing a black velvet scrunchie with a bow. And the daughter grew up a believer — "a scrunchie gal," as she puts it.

For much of her adult life, this was an untrendy choice. The scrunchie became so uncool by 2003 that the zeitgeist TV show Sex And The City devoted a whole plotline to it: "No woman who works at W Magazine and lives on Perry Street would be caught dead at a hip downtown restaurant wearing a scrrrrunchie," asserted protagonist Carrie Bradshaw.

And so Williamson learned to laugh it off when friends kept giving her obnoxious scrunchies as a joke. "Joke's on them," she says, "because I end up using them."

But lately Williamson, now 30, has noticed something odd in her spin class: other women sporting scrunchies. Cue a low-stakes emotional roller coaster: "I'm not a trendy person," she says. "Do people think I'm trying to be trendy? Oh no. Am I not cool enough to be wearing a scrunchie now?"

In the past year, scrunchies sold eight times faster than the overall category of hair accessories and styling products, according to Goody, one of the oldest scrunchie brands. "Scrunchies Are 2019's Biggest Fashion Trend," announced a recent headline in Teen Vogue.

How does something so profoundly rejected by the fashionistas get to reclaim its cool? A surprising number of cultural themes brought the scrunchie its new mass appeal — boosted by an Internet teen subculture.

It's the perfect timing for the revival of '90s fashion, says Tessa Maffucci, who teaches fashion design at Pratt Institute. Enough time has passed for the original wearers to feel nostalgic for the trend, and for the younger shoppers to discover it for the first time.

Sara Radin, who wrote the unofficial scrunchie history for Teen Vogue, traced the accessory's origin to a lounge singer in the late 1980s who wanted something to pull back her big poofy hair without damaging it while she played piano.

Today, that functionality and comfort speak to the modern generation of fashionistas. And for many designers, scrunchies now appeal as a good way to recycle or reuse fabric.

Add to that many women who have veered toward minimalist makeup, and "hair accessories are now I think more and more an important component of a look," says Marina Binichis Feldman, an executive at Goody's parent company Beauty By Imagination.
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The scrunchie has been showing up on runways, celebrities and influencers. A huge scrunchie news cycle started when singer Lizzo posed backstage at MTV's Video Music Awards in a sky-high side-pony held up by a bejeweled $100 scrunchie, said to have 5,000 hand-applied rhinestones.

Even long-haired dudes got in on the trend. Aquaman actor Jason Momoa wore a pink scrunchie to the Oscars, along with a blush-pink suit whose design was based on another scrunchie he showed off in a YouTube video: "One of our hair stylists ... gave this to me — I freaked out because it was beautiful."

As word of my scrunchie story spread, women kept telling me one more, simple truth about the bulky scrunchie's superiority to thinner elastic bands: It's gentler on hair. This especially aligns with today's growing focus on healthful hair care and the natural-hair movement.

"Those of us with curlier, coarser, kinkier hair have to think about the textures and materials that interact with our hair because it's more prone to breaking," says Khalon Richard, product manager at NPR. "So when I saw that there are scrunchies now coming out in silk, I was very excited about that."

Fitness studio manager Renata Kleifgen put her praise for the scrunchie directly: "When I pull it out, I don't see clumps of hair coming along with it."

But this gentleness didn't change in the years when the scrunchie fell out of fashion. So who decided scrunchies were now cool again? The same people who always know what's cool: teenage girls.

Specifically, it was the Internet subculture of VSCO girls, named after a photo editing app. The '90s aesthetic got rediscovered and re-imagined by a new generation that spread it all over TikTok and Instagram.
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"Young girls are celebrating themselves," Radin says. And part of it is visual: a particular backpack and water bottle, plus a certain outfit that tends to include an oversized T-shirt, a puka shell necklace and a scrunchie, worn in the hair or stacked on the wrist.

Scrunchies joined the wider '90s and 2000s cultural throwback seeping into fashion and pop culture. In fashion, we've seen the return of the fanny pack, biker shorts, mom jeans, dad sneakers, jumpsuits, even Ugg boots. Film, TV, music and even gaming have thrown back with remakes, reboots and revivals.

"I think that nostalgia makes people feel comforted in times of crisis," Radin says. "With such a gloomy aura around politics, the economy, the environment — people are really latching on to objects and clothing items that remind them of earlier times ... that they remember to be simpler, even if they weren't."

This is at the heart of the fashion cycle that churns ever faster in the age of social media.

"Designers love to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary, elevating materials, shifting proportions, exaggerating importance," says Michael Fink, dean of the School of Fashion at the Savannah College of Art and Design. But then, as the season's "must have" gets copied and hits mainstream, "we get bored and move on to the next thing."
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At least, maybe, for another decade or two.