12 Proven Natural Remedies for Acne

Yeast cured my acne

Before sleeping and after washing your face:

Take a package of yeast, and mix 1/4 teaspoon with a couple drops of water to make a thick paste. Apply the paste with a cotton swab to the affected areas of your face. Let it dry on your skin before going to bed. The pimples will be gone or significantly reduced by morning. This will smell unpleasant, so you'll probably want to change out your pillow case everyday (I used t-shirts as substitutes).

I have been using 20% Castor oil with 80% All Natural Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil for acne. That is the mixture for normal skin. Oily skin: use 30% Castor and 70% Olive oil. Dry skin: 10% Castor and 90% Olive oil. Before I take a shower, (no soap at all and a dry face) I put less than a .25 cent size on the palm of my hand rub together to warm and massage into face (or even on an incoming pimple anywhere on the body). Warm a facecloth with very warm water and place over (opens pores) do this a couple of times. Use hot (don't burn yourself, silly) water on the same cloth and wipe away. My skin has never looked so clear and clean. I have been doing this for about a month. Pimples/blemishes disappear quickly. Your skin will lose it's dryness/oiliness naturally and return to normal. The oils DO NOT clog pores, they clean naturally and will remove makeup also. ENJOY!

Hi! Over the last few years I've found my "cure" for pimples. First, remove the sources. I found that products (pomades, mouse, gels ect..even conditioner)on the part of my hair that touched my face/shoulders was garanteed to give me pimples. Hand creams and even some hand soaps would give me pimples if I touched my face! Use a hand soap that rinses clean.

Here's my regimen: I wash with pure (saponified) oil soaps, scented with natural oils. Then, as a toner, you can use 3% h2o2 (carefull not to touch brows or eye lashes, it will bleach it, trust me).

Moisturiser? A big culprit in causing pimples. For over 15 years now my favorite has been jojoba oil. It's the only one that actually will keep the sebum flowing instead of clogging pores. Sebum (aka oily skin) will harden, clog pores, cause painful pimples.

What I use when I get the ocasional pimple (or should I say the start of one, deep/painfull or otherwise)? The best that I've found was simply mixing a bit of unpasturized honey with plain witch hazel (any pharmacy carries it). The ratio is about 1 to 8. If it's too sticky, where makeup won't go on properly, dilute some more. It's quite watery. Keep in a small bottle. Will last a long time. Rub on pimples 2-3 times a day to stop them from even coming to the surface. Honey is antibacterial and moisturizing. You don't get the awefull red/drying flaking effect of most acne creams. Keeps it from getting infected.

I also always had a problem with pimples on my back, chest and arms. Solution? A good old fashion body brush. Go figure!! As long as I regularly brush my skin (when it's dry) with a plant fiber body brush, I have clear skin! The brushing removes the dead skin cells that (you guessed it) BLOCK YOUR SKIN PORES!!! Shower AFTER brushing to wash away the dead skin.

What have I learned? Pimples occur when your skin is trying to remove toxins from you body and it can't find an exit because of CLOGGED PORES!!!

PS: I'm curious to see if this works for anyone else...

panothenic acid (vitamin B5) caused my hair to turn dry and brittle and some fall out.

i tried panothenic acid, 3 grams a day, to cure my acne and within 5 days my hair became very dry and very frizzy with some fall out. i researched this on acne forums and found a lot of the same feedback. it did make my skin a little less oily but the hair problems are not worth it to me. this is the only change i made so i believe it was the B5.

i am not sure if this is the reason for your experience, but i have always heard that you should take all the b vitamins instead of one by itself because if you just take one, you could cause an imbalance in the others.

Am an Alternative researcher. My 12 year old son was developing acne back in the 70's. Gave him some Zinc
tablets, 10 mg I. think, and it cleared up. It worked so well, he started selling them on the school bus and got in trouble. To stress the importance of Zinc in the body; he was told young boys deficient in zinc would have small sex organs and zinc was important for their growth. Needless to say, all of his friends took zinc religously.

Which brand of zinc do you think he used in 2010? Please tell me.

I'd been having troubles with my skin lately and for another reason (broken capillaries) I had been taking very large doses of Vitamin C internally (with Lysine)... it's still to early to tell if it's working. But I noticed a MARKED IMPROVEMENT in the condition of my skin in regards to breakouts... they were diminishing dramatically. So I decided to apply it topically. You can Ascorbic Acid powder in a variety of health food store, and if you go to your local large beauty store there is a famous brand that sells a topical vitamin C powder (it's very expensive - sourcing out ascorbic acid powder is definitely cheaper). Mix a tiny tiny scoop (maybe 1/16th of a teaspoon) into your moisturizer every morning and apply it. You may feel a tiny sting from the vitamin C but it shouldn't be uncomfortable and it should disappear almost instantly. If the sting lasts, you've used too much powder! You'll notice an immediate improvement in your skin and I bet you'll be acne free within a week... Do this only in the morning - no need to overload your skin at night. Plus Vitamin C is a very powerful anti-free-radical and anti-aging product.

I use yogurt for acne, usually when I start to break out, but it's gentle enough to use it everyday. I mix it with honey and lemon (a few drops of both then apply to my face and let it dry. Sometimes I leave it on overnight, but most of the time I dont because it isnt a pleasant feeling to have dried yogurt on your face for hours. Its not harsh and always does the trick. I find it helps all skin problems, its calms the skin and reduces swelling, reduces redness, shrinks pores, cures pimples and seems to do an amazing job at smoothing the face.

There are lots of other recipes for yogurt masks on the net, just do a google search!

I have had problems with increased dryness, increased wrinkles and rough skin on face and neck after treatment using ACV, HP and Borax plus teatree/lavender oil for breakouts of rosacea which I previously had under control for a while but now it's back- I am injesting coconut oil through cooking- I am also using aloe vera to moisturise skin and yoghurt face masks- this helps reduce roughness/dryness. I have been doing Mini beet protocol for two months to try to help skin issues- some improvement but I need to do this longer term I think. I do have a lot of energy from MBP.

Best of luck.

Skin issues take a while

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

This is a desperate question to Ted.,

I have been reading and loving this website for a while now. and have been using many of the remedies suggested here like ACV Molasses and OP. I have also been using Lecithin granules as per Ted's suggestion for acne. And doing urine therapy. (for at least 4 month now)

However, while my acne and melasma have somewhat improved and my energy - greatly improved, I have developed a strange side effect to which I can not find the reason or a cure.

The skin on my neck looks like lizard skin and it feels terrible, do dry as if it's about to crack. Also the skin under my eyes has worsened and I have a lot more wrinkles.

This question is for Ted, please help me find out what could be causing this, I feel so old because of this "new" look and it seems to be getting worse fast!

Hi there,

The way you describe your neck sounds like you need help in a hurry.

My suggestion is to use Extra Virgin olive oil, coconut oil or if either of these sound unpleasant, add about l ounce of of cold pressed castor oil to your favorite lotion and use that on your neck. (Anyone who loves the smell
of castor oil as much as I do can easily identify what is probably the most effective ingredient in Avon's expensive neck oil - I have never found any product containing castor oil to completely succeed in covering up its odor, even when advertised as odorless castor oil.

Juno, I remember Ted posting something recently (11/01/2009) about oil pulling that Lecithin pulls oil from the body. Maybe what you're experiencing is you're losing too much oil? For me, if I don't have enough good fats (omega-3s and coconut oil) in my system my skin loses its suppleness and starts to dry out and, especially my lips, start to crack. I even start to get pimples because my skin tries to compensate for the drying out by producing more oil. I agree with Joyce that you should start applying some soothing oils to your skin but maybe start supplementing with them as well? I read a book describing the benefits of coconut oil and remember it saying that it helps the skin cells keep water in them (instead of the water getting immediately flushed into the blood stream) and helps them to keep hydrated and plump. I eat a small amount of EVCO several times a day and my skin glows without blemishes. Hope it gets better!

Tamara and Joyce, thank you so much for your response and suggestions.

I will try avoiding Lecithin granules for a while and adding VCO to my diet. I do take 2 pills of Omega 3 and one of Flax seed oil every day. And I do use oils on my skin (Avocado, Peanut and Olive oil depending) but none of this seems to have any effect on this horrible feeling (like my skin is cracking) and look.

Another thing I've been doing for a long time now is drinking a pot of green tea every day. I tried to research and see if green tea might have this effect, but couldn't find anything that would suggest that.

I will keep you posted on any changes.

Thank you.

Recurring boils and similar large, painful pimples

After age 21 I had terrible huge pimples. When my pharmacist told me that some derms prescribed Vitamin A, I started on it immediately.. It was like a miracle, a moderate miracle. The huge deep pimples stopped and my skin improved in other ways.

I used to take 50,000 units a day but now I would limit myself to 25,000 units per day. Just be patient and don't stop the treatment.

I've been taking vitamin B5 for past five years and that has kept my face clear. I used to get really deep and big boil type of cysts on my nose and chin. The pantothenic acid helps by preventing the pores of your skin from clogging. I always have B5 on hand. I take five capsules a day and my face is clear. I occasionally skips and my acne comes back and all I have to do is double or quadruple the dose for a few days and my face is clear again. It is the best stuff I've come across for acne. I also apply benzoyl peroxide (generic drugstore brands) on my nose and chin to kill the bacteria that may get on my face. This combined with the B5 has kept my face clear of acne and I am over 40.

About a week ago, I noticed that my 14 year old son's prescription tazarotene acne face cream was no longer working. He was breaking out in large pimples everywhere on his face, neck, chest and back. He was running out of the prescription cream, which had worked pretty wel for a while, (but not great) and I had to decide if it was worth a trip to the doctor to get a new prescription. After I looked at the cost of the prescription meds without insurance, I began to research natural cures for acne. He was also using a sulpha wash and an 8% benzyol peroxide wash to try to keep the acne at bay with no success.

After doing some research here on Earth Clinic, I decided to try some of the methods others were having some luck with. First we tried diluted ACV and it seemed to smooth his skin, but since his skin is ultra sensitive, it burned quite a bit even though it was diluted far more than recommended by other posters. So while it could work well occasionally, I knew we would not be able to use this on an daily basis.

Topically applied zinc also sounded promising, but before we went out and bought zinc cream, I decided to make our own concoction out of what we had in the house. I used a Miconazole nitrate cream, (which I had read worked for some acne suffers), and zinc tablets which I ground with a mortar and pestle. We have applied the cream for two nights now and it is working so well it is hard for me to believe. He has no new pimples (some were getting large and cystic--one by the side of his nose kept coming back no matter what we treated it with) and the old ones are disappearing. I wish I had taken a picture of his face before the treatment to compare.

He says the cream tingles a little when it is applied, but that sensation goes away quickly. While it is too soon to tell if this is a viable long term solution, the immediate results are promising.

In the meantime, we have ordered some commercial zinc cream (around $8) and are looking forward to trying it to see if it will work as well as our homemade cream.

I am 75 years old, have had acne since I was 13, and while in the years of raising my children, not many problems with acne, till in my early 60's. Now there are these bumps under the skin, they sometimes get inflammed, but require a needle to get them, and their little roots out. so it leaves scars. I tried the ACV, teaspoon in cup of water, but the best way I like it, is from Dill Pickle juice, and it also works for coughs, and colds. I am not consistant with it, but going to try it now diluted to 1/2 teaspoon to cup of water, for sinus by spraying it into them.

Try smelling some of the stuff that comes from pimples, think you will be surprised!

Epsom Salt baths for acne treatment

Hello : ) I am 31 years old and have been dealing with moderate acne since puberty. I have tried everything from popular name brand acne cleansers, hydrogen peroxide, tea tree oil, prescription acne cream, not wearing make-up, cutting sweets out of my diet, cutting junk food out of my diet, steam bathing the face, exfoliating facial cleansers, overnight acne treatment creams and birth control. Among all of those treatments, only staying on birth control seemed to make any real difference, however, it did not make the acne disappear entirely during menstruation.

I am now 20 weeks pregnant and the hormones have been wrecking even more havoc with the skin on my face since pregnancy. I also developed a rash on my tummy. As a result of reading many different solutions on the internet, I decided to give an Epsom Salt bath a try. I have been taking these baths each night for the last 4 nights and have seen remarkable improvements, such as:

- The little white bumps (that have been on the back of my upper arms since puberty) have almost disappeared altogether
- The rash on my tummy has disappeared entirely
- The few hard "under-skin" bumps/cysts on my face (which have stubbornly been there for a couple of months) have virtually disappeared

From my readings on the internet, bacteria (that causes acne) cannot be live in a salty environment; therefore, washing with the salt water kills the bacteria.

I have simply poured 1 to 2 cups of Epsom Salts into a full bath tub of warm/hot water and stirred the salt around in order to dissolve them into the water. I bathed for 10 to 15 minutes and rinsed my face a few times. I highly recommend this treatment to anyone with acne problems.

Hey I would like to know where do you get the epsom salt?

I was suffering from acne and tried many different treatment such as high does of Vitamin A, E, Zinc, turmeric, apple cider vinger, coconut...I really was really desperate. My face continued to breakout and it had been going on for about two years. When I went for a facial the girl did extractions and it just really aggravated the problem and she told me to try this new onion ointment wow my skin really went from bad to worse. So I did some research on Panthothenic Acid also known as B5 and I began to take it not the super high doses that Dr Leoug suggests (I only weigh 100 pounds and I'm hypersensitive ) I would take between 4000- 5000 mg a day of Panthothenic Acid along wtih 200 mcg Selenium. My understanding with supplements is that you have one day a week where you do not take any so I rest on Sunday! My face is now completely clear it is glowing and no blemishes of any sort. I know we are all different gentically but this worked for me and hopefully it will help you