Dear Kate, does touching your face cause spots? Helena P. Dear Helena, Oh God, does this bring back terrible memories? Throughout my teenage years my Mom (who has the most gorgeous skin) would always scream at me "keep your fingers off your face!". Oh I hated that, I wanted to be fidgety in peace but it was never allowed! Now with the benefit of age I know how right (and how irritating) she was! Touching your face during the day can cause breakouts. The culprits are bacteria, viruses, pollutants, chemicals and ink (who said reading the newspaper was good!). Really anything that your hands come into contact with during the day; from keyboards to telephones and door handles. Repeatedly touching your face with unwashed hands can cause microscopic abrasions in the skin that can absorb all these little nasties and cause infections leading to a breakout. To protect your skin keep a little bottle of antibacterial hand gel close by and use throughout the day. Its also a good idea to ...