12 Proven Natural Remedies for Acne

Hydrogen Peroxide, Aloe

Posted by Sophie (Portland, Oregon) on 12/03/2007
★★★★★

I've never had breakouts before and suddenly I have acne all over my chin and some on my forehead. . I began trying all of these high end products I buy from Nu-skin, well it just became more aggravated. I became totally flipped out, because, we are havinge two big parties to go to in five days and one we are hosting in ! I couldn't focus on what I was going to wear until I had my acne under control. I looked up this Eerth Clinic site and reading people stories. I ran to the store. I purchased Aloe Vera gel 99%, Aloe Vera Juice and Hydrogen Peroxide. All three products cost $10.00.

I took a hot shower and put the Hydrogen Peroxide on a cotton ball and held it on acne prone areas for a few minutes. Afterwards I put some Aloe Vera gel on my face, then I drank some Aloe Vera Juice diluted with water and went to bed. When I woke up in the morning "BEHOLD A MIRACLE" all the acne was gone and my complexion was glowing, and creamy. So, save your money and your energy just try this it works, of course it might not for everyone, but it sure blew my mind!

Acne Tips

Posted by Kris (Omaha, Nebraska) on 09/19/2007
★★★★★

My decade-long bout with facial acne ended when I (1) Quit using liquid make-up, and (2) Started using a facial wash with alpha hydroxy acid. My absolute favorite is the brand Alpha Hydrox Foaming Facial Wash. Awesome AND inexpensive. I think that quitting using concealers and liquid make-up to cover up the skin is crucial to stopping the acne cycle. Even if a liquid make-up claims to be non-codemogenic it may aggravate the acne. For a while I used powder make-up, which didn't cause break-outs, but now I rarely even use that.

Acne Tips

Posted by Chet (Los Angeles, CA) on 01/21/2006
★★★★★

STOP USING SLS (SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE) AND ANY SULFATES IN YOUR BATH PRODUCTS!!! This ingredient is found EVERY body and face soap...and EVERY shampoo. IT IS ALSO WHY YOUNG MEN ARE GOING BALD!!! For acne, I'm trying the lemon juice exfoliation and the cucumber juice face mask. Seems to be working.

Flaxseed Oil

Posted by Tina (Chattanooga) on 03/09/2023
★★★★★

Acne has plagued me for most of my life beginning in my teens. Dietary changes helped but now at 56 and post-menopausal, the hormonal acne that started around my mouth and on my chin takes full advantage of any dietary lapses.

I began taking flaxseed oil to help with hot flashes at a relative's suggestion. After several months, I realized the flaxseed oil didn't help much with the hot flashes so I stopped taking it. However I now realize it WAS helping with my hormonal acne because my skin has been going crazy since I stopped taking it. My daughter's skin has too.

The company I've been ordering from is no longer selling it so I am now on a search for another brand with the same stringent production methods and wonderfully "clean" product.

Urine

Posted by Denise (Massachusetts) on 09/29/2018 26 posts
★★★★★

If you want to get rid of acne pretty fast, there is something you can do but it may seem gross. However it's natural but we've been so sanitized that our beliefs are all over the place. Here's the trick - urination! Yes, your cure is in your body. Tell your teenager to simply put some of his/her own urine onto the acne and let it dry. It may have to be done a few times a day for a few days but I bet he/she will see improvement on the first day.

Also urine is good for insect stings.

Niacin

Posted by Pb (Cape Breton Ns) on 02/11/2018
★★★★★

I started taking niacin for anxiety, and to my surprise my skin cleared up quite quickly! (I didn't notice an effect on anxiety). You can purchase niacin in "non-flush " formats, but it's the flush that works to heal acne (I've tried both kinds). I think the tablets are 250 mg, I take half a tablet a day. After awhile you may notice the flush isn't as pronounced because you kind of get used to it, but if you take the niacin with coffee or with a tsp or two of apple cider vinegar, it make the flush more pronounced. The flush is rather uncomfortable - for me it's a prickly, itchy, hot sensation - but it goes away after about half an hour. You also look very red (although I have pale skin) so you might want to time it so the flush is gone by the time you need to go out! Good luck!

Dietary Changes, Detox Cleanses

Posted by Mama To Many (Tn) on 05/10/2017

Dear Kyle,

Your situation seems a puzzle - you are so attentive to your health and the acne persists. I will share a few thoughts and see if anything might be of help for you.

My first thought is to try vitamin C and turmeric if you have not done so. I noticed my young adult son's acne improved when he got sick...and I was giving him vitamin C and turmeric. Vitamin C is good for the skin and immune system, turmeric addresses infections from bacteria, viruses and fungi. Both are anti-inflammatory.

Even very healthy diets can leave one with some holes in their nutrition. These missing building blocks in the system can cause a breakdown somewhere, causing health problems. If there are any food groups you avoid for health purposes, consider what nutrients they may provide that you may be lacking in.

Have you tried checking your pH? Too acidic or even too alkaline pH means something is not right, and you can have health issues.

Does your body sweat? Sweating allows the body to remove toxins through the skin. If you do not sweat, I believe acne could result as the body tried to remove toxins. If you deal with constipation, again, your body's elimination systems isn't working well and the body will try and eliminate toxins through the skin.

I hope these will give you some ideas for what to try next.

Keep us posted!

~Mama to Many~

Zinc

Posted by Alan (Mexico) on 01/21/2017
★★★★★

For acne on the chin - try zinc 50mgs a day ...ingested.

And diluted peroxide (the regular one that they sell over the counter) diluted 50/50 with water topically on your skin.

Great results in a week!

Vitamin A

Posted by Stephanie (Napa, Ca) on 12/12/2016
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Vitamin A is the answer! We tried it all, cut out dairy, cut out wheat, which both helped to a certain extent but nothing came close to Vitamin A. My son had terrible ace and even some very red cystic acne, we started by giving him 50mg day of chelates zinc which helped a little until I read that Accutane mimics Vitamin A in high doses. We then added 40,000iu of Vitamin A per day for a week and now just 20,000iu daily with the zinc, taken with food and his acne is now GONE. It has only been less than a month but we initially started seeing results within the first few days all the cyctic bumps reduced in size almost immediately! Stick with it, I know it's frustrating but you are worth it!

Pantothenic Acid

Posted by Jim (Massachusetts) on 02/13/2016
★★★★★

I have been using pantothenic acid [vitamin B-5] for years for acne. It works great! I take 1,000 milligram tablets not capsules because the tablets are slow release. With slow release tablets a much lower dose is required. I take four of these a day. You should probably take one at a time throughout the day but I take two at breakfast and two at dinner, that works fine for me. I also take 25,000 IU of vitamin A retinol. I recently reduced from one a day to one every other day of these because of concerns of toxicity at that dose for a prolonged period. some people will say that dose is still too high but not according to my research. Read reviews for these products. Do your own homework but these have worked for me. I also take high doses of vitamin E and D but the pantothenic acid is most important for me. Whenever I try to stop taking them, within a week or so I start breaking out again. I hope this helps!

Homeopathic Remedies

Posted by Rw (Southwest Virginia) on 11/18/2015
★★★★★

Two homeopathic remedies, Arsenicum Album 200c and Hepar Sulph Calc 200c, given at the same time, once every other day cleared my son's acne within a few weeks.

IMPORTANT: Stop giving the remedy after the acne clears. And if there doesn't seem to be improvement after about 3 weeks, don't keep giving it. These can be bought on Amazon or any site that sells homeopathic remedies. If you get the BB size pellets, one pellet works as well as the 3 or 5 the bottle says to give. It works on an energy level so you're not getting any more benefit by giving more than one pellet at a time, just spending more money.

Coconut

Posted by Haler (West Coast, Ca, Usa) on 05/11/2013

To substitute healthier snacks for our 13 year old, I lightly toasted regular grocery store shredded coconut in my cast iron skillet. Yum! I noticed, after our teen ate a teen-sized handful at breakfast - his acne was always totally clear by dinner, for a couple days. When he'd eat a handful at dinner, by morning time, his skin would also be all clear. We love that it seems now (3 years) to have cured our lethargic appetites and healed our lower digestion functions too. Our teen loves the cleared skin and renewed energy! Thanks for this site!

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Julie (Washington, Dc) on 03/08/2013
★★★★★

I just had to share my experiences and results with this wonderful community who finally helped me get a handle on my acne.

I am in my early 30's and have struggled with face and body acne since my teens. I was put on a wide variety of drugs for a good part of my 20's but I knew they were just a band-aid and not dealing with the root cause (and they were waay expensive). I finally went off of them a few years ago and have been trying one thing after another to get this under control.

After reading a bunch on your site at the beginning of this year this is what I have done:

* Take ACV every morning.
* Cook with coconut oil and drink in my tea throughout the day.
* Stop using my 'acne pads' that are very drying - I just learned from a former skin care consultant that these products are so drying that they can actually trigger the oil production response in your skin. What! That makes sense to me so I stopped about a month ago.
* Each night I wipe my makeup off with a gentle face wipe and then I wipe my T Zone with Hydrogen Peroxide. It makes my skin feel SOOO clear and dry and smooth
* Each morning after my shower I use a gently high quality moisturizer on my face.
* The only other thing I have done in relation to my skin is that I cut out the greek yogurt I was eating everyday.

Obviously I tried a lot of things at once so it is hard to tell what made the most difference. My heart tells me the biggest shifts came from the ACV the Hydrogen Peroxide and ditching the super-drying acne pads.

Now that I am 2 months into this process I can't tell you how different my face looks and feels. No more deep cystic acne. Significantly reduced pimples, smaller pores, and the redness from years of other pimples is starting to fade. When I get a pimple here or there it is gone quickly and isn't nearly as painful.

I do still believe I need to make more shifts in my diet for the acne to go away completely but I am SO pumped that these remedies are helping as much as they are. Thank you Earth Clinic!

Carrot Juice

Posted by Heather (San Diego, California) on 03/04/2013
★★★★★

I am in my 40's with a mild case of PCOS and have dealt with acne since I was 19. In the past 16 months I've found things that help.

Eating raw carrots OR carrot juice can help with acne considerably. According to Ray Peat (Google him), carrot fiber reduces amounts of toxins in the gut that contribute to hormonal acne. He also suggests that activated charcoal has the same effect. So, in this case, it's the fiber, and not the carotenoids that do the trick. On the other hand, we all know that vitamin A has an impact on acne, so carrots may help in that way too.

I've recently read a post by Ted that drinking carrot juice before meals lowers the blood sugar, which is interesting because carrots are a high sugar food. There is a strong correlation between high sugar levels in the blood and acne, so this might be the triple whammy. I keep a bag of organic baby carrots in the fridge and munch on them in the mornings (4-7 baby carrots - equivalent, I suppose, to one large carrot. ) Doing so has considerable improved my acne.

When I get sick of eating carrots, I take a few activated charcoal caps in the morning instead.

Lastly, when I've neglected to do those things, and I break out terribly, I (after immediately incorporating those back into the diet) have had success in clearing up the acne quickly by rubbing a lemon over the breakout after washing my face, and before I go to sleep. (I have fair skin - the first night doing this, my face turns bright red.)

Another thing that really helps me is drinking peppermint tea regulalry. Don't know why it works. I avoid soap, except for liquid castille. Coconut oil internally and externally did not help whatsoever.

Liver support helped quite a bit - detoxing, N-A-C (600 mg day) and Milk Thistle (1, 000 mg 4 x day during breakouts) and this is another thing I do when I get the occassional bad breakout (usually after neglecting my carrots.) In my case, there is a strong gut/liver health component to my breakouts. Keep in mind that there are different causes. Middle aged women with hormonal acne may have a cause different from a teenage boy.

I eat a low sugar diet, and that also helps. When I have bread (less than once per week), I usually get a zit within a few days. Rice doesn't seem to have this effect. I think that tomatoes could be a problem, still experimenting with that. Peanuts are a huge problem, as are any nut or seed oils that are mostly polyunsaturated fats. Eliminating those from my diet helped many things, including acne.

Zinc helps, and I take it a few times per week. Rubbing the face with calamine lotion provides zinc and also dries out the pimples. And ice cube on a zit, held there for as long as possible, breaks down the tissue, and allows the body to remove the debris. I read this in an acne book a decade ago, and all I know is that it does help.

That said, I have not completely cleared my acne but I also drink milk and coffee daily, so those may be contributing. Carrots (or charcoal), some zinc, avoiding polyunsatrated fats, drinking peppermint tea, and liver support vitamins have improved the condition by about 90%. Iodine makes my acne worse, and I am aware of the protocols to increase salt and other nutrients to reduce acne while on Lugol's.

Things that haven't worked:

Magnesium applied topically (but I think this works for teenage boys)
Face masks
Proactive
Hydrogen Peroxide
Coconut oil
Castor oil (made acne much, much worse)
tea tree oil applied topically
B vitamins (but they work for other things)
Probiotics

I'd just say yes to carrots first thing in the morning, or on an empty stomach, as a first step if you're dealing with adult acne.

Borax

Posted by C (California) on 03/08/2018
★★★★★

Borax works sooo well for me and my face literally feels so soft. It's really hard for me to be satisfied with the results of many products but this diy home remedy was perfect. I use this twice a week and it really helps unclogging the pores! Add a nose strip and you're good to go! I use this on my back, face, and chest.

(Also heard it can reduce dark armpits but haven't tried it yet.)

Borax

Posted by Anna (GA) on 07/16/2025

Sunscreen should not be used on skin. It's pure toxic. Read the ingredients that you're putting on to be soaked in to your pores!

Supplements

Posted by Jamie (Chattanooga, Tn) on 12/28/2010
★★★★★

I have researched many cures for acne on line and have put together what works best for me.

Daily Plan:

Vitamin A 3 8000iu (24, 000IU) capsules 2x's daily

Vitamin E: 1 200IU 1 or 2x's daily. (i find 2 sometimes makes my face greasy)

Zinc: 1 caplet 1 time a day (can't remember the mg off top of head)

Niacin flush daily. You will have to experiment to find the appropriate amount of Niacin to cause the "flush" which I have found to be the MOST helpful part b/c if I miss it a day or two I have a breakout. My flush amount is 300mg on empty stomach. Wash 2x daily with ben Peroxide wash and use salicylic acid moisturizer.

Dandelion and Burdock

Posted by Linde (St. Paul, Minnesota) on 04/23/2010
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I had an acne issue when I was in my 30's. The zits would be a collection of 3-5 small zits in one big bump!!!

A local herbalist gave me two tinctures to take - dandelion and burdock. (5 drops per day of each for the first week, then 3 drops a day of each for 3 months).

He told me that it would be a slow process. As I remember, he said it was candida that had gotten its tentacles into the bones of my face and it would take a while to get them 'weeded' out.

I didn't change my diet at all, I just took the drops in a glass of water the first thing in the morning. Sure enough, after 3 months I never had one of those big zits again. And that was almost 20 years ago.