12 Proven Natural Remedies for Acne

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 25 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!

Goldenseal

Posted by Pzolnir (Az) on 08/06/2017

It'a been over a month now and his face is the clearest I have seen it since his face started to break out. The break outs are now controlled and the deep pockets of acne are starting to clear. I noticed if he stopped taking the Goldenseal internally, it would not work as effectively. The key is to take the Goldenseal internally and continue the washes and mask. It does work and is making a difference. The Goldenseal is working better than anything a dermatologist has prescribed.

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~

Green Tea

Posted by Jakestap (East Lansing, Mi) on 04/19/2017
★★★★★

I've suffered with acne for many years. I was put on Accutane in high school, which cleared me up but wreaked havoc on my system. Apple Cider Vinegar has helped me, vegetable juicing has helped a bit, and avoiding sugar/dairy has been beneficial. But my acne still persisted. Recently I started drinking 1-2 teaspoons of Organic Matcha Tea per day and my face cleared up almost entirely, and with remarkable speed. I don't know if I found my personal cure, or a cure that could help others but I know how painful it can be physically and emotionally to deal with acne so I wanted to share this. And honestly, even if this doesn't work for you, you will be glad you started putting Matcha in your system. I feel better in all aspects.

If you do decide to try Matcha Tea I recommend choosing a pure, organic source. Finally after years and years of searching, I found something that really helped me get clear. Hope this helps someone out there! Acne sucks.

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!

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 Southernarc (Durham, Nc, Usa) on 03/06/2012
★★★★★

I discovered long ago when I was in college that using Boraxo on my face would not only keep the oils down, but my skin was soft and smooth when I was done and also appeared vibrant looking. As soon as I started using it to wash my face I noticed how acne pimples started going away within a few days. I've been using Borax ever since even though I no longer suffer from acne. It's great especially in the summer time when you just feel like you can't get rid of the grime. This stuff really works for acne. Give it a try!

Acne Tips

Posted by Skinnythia (Canton, Georgia) on 02/20/2012

Sometimes, just changing your soap, lotion, cream, medicine, make-up, what ever, will cause a period of break out. You have to give yourself an adjustment period. If it does continue, you know it is the new product, habit, whatever, and to discontinue.

L-Glutathione, Vitamin B6

Posted by Penelope (Boston, Ma) on 10/24/2009
★★★★★

The most incredible supplements I have ever tried for acne are L-Glutathione (500 milligrams up to 3 times a day) and vitamin B6 (ONLY get the P5P form. The other form can cause neuropathy). Split a 50 milligram pill of vitamin B6 (P5P) up and take a few times a day. I would ask your doctor about going up to as high as 100 milligrams of P5P if you really need that much to keep your skin clear. My skin is completely clear as long as I take the B6 or the L-Glutathione. I do not need to take both of these supplements together to have clear skin, - both have worked separately equally as well to clear my skin in record time (about a week to see results) but test it out and see what works for you - both have amazing health benefits. I have noticed that L-Glutathione has the added benefit of also making my hair really shiny and healthy looking.

Both vitamin B6 and L-Glutathione are potent detoxifiers of the liver so go up to the dose you need VERY slowly! If you break out initially, bear with it - this is just a detox/cleansing reaction.

Try opening a capsule of vitamin B6 (P5P) and take a third of it - or half of it - and see how you do Same goes with the L-Glutathione pills or powder . You can take the same dosage up to 3 times a day. Definitely take the B6 with food because it can make you nauseous. Also, the B6 (P5P) could keep you up by giving you energy if you take it late at night.

Topically, Jojoba oil is great for acne. It moisturizes without clogging pores. I wear it all over my face and neck at night. It is the only moisturizer that does not break me out!

I have suffered with severe cystic acne and was on 3 courses of Accutane so I know what it's like to suffer with acne. With either of these supplements, thankfully I don't have to suffer anymore. I hope this info helps anyone out there who is struggling with acne.

An Unlit Match

Posted by Christine (Wisconsin) on 03/17/2017

Hi! I just found these last night and am going to order for my teenage son. I am going to tell him about the unlit match tonight, I think it is the sulphur..... There is a homeopathic company that sells individual remedies - sulphur iodatum, hepar sulphuris calcareum, calcarea sulphurica (hint: starts with a 'B' and the company is from France)

Aloe Vera

Posted by Aseel Moughnieh (Tyre, Lebanon) on 04/07/2008
★★★★★

I was suffering from acne scars , and severe red cheeks , now I've been only drnking Aloe vera juice, and it did wonders , my face has a clear , compelxion , the scars are there but the redness minimized , I can't wait till it gets better!!

Aloe Vera

Posted by Norma (Sanford, Fl) on 09/14/2009

If you can get your hands on a real aloe vera plant and put some the the gel on your face it will take care of your scars. Good Luck!

Aloe Vera, Milk Thistle

Posted by Atoya (Washington DC) on 10/01/2007
★★★★★

I just recently started to develop acne after my 25th birthday, before I would have a pimple or two only around the time of my cycle. Since then I have basically tried everything I could get my hands on over the pass eight months or so to rid myself of this embarrassing ailment. One day on one of my usual quests to find a real cure, I went to the Vitamin Shoppe looking for some type of multi-vitamin, hoping that I would find justice. An elderly Sales man, who was very knowledgeable, told me that my liver was full of toxins and Milk Thistle and Aloe Vera would clear my ailment right up. I took 200mg of Milk Thistle a day and 1 capsule of Aloe Vera and it did just that. After about a week later, I could see a huge difference - no breakouts. Your bowel movements will become more and more frequent which is what helps to release the build up of toxins in your body. He told me to take it for about 2 months and I should be okay. I still keep some on hand but at a lower dosage since my initial cleanse, I take 70mg (a lower dosage) two to three times a week for maintenance. It is not good to take any type of herb for an extended period of time unless recommended by your physician. Believe me, this inexpensive concoction is a sure-fire way to rid you of all of your stubborn acne.

Honey and Cinnamon

Posted by Ruth (Arcadia, CA) on 12/07/2006
★★★★★

For months I've been stressed out and my face has been breaking out with red swollen pimples, which just wouldn't go away. I spent a lot of money on expensive facial cleansers, toners, and lotions...none worked. After finding information via internet regarding honey and cinnamon paste for acne, I tried it. The next morning the pimples were visibly improved, shrunken. I did a test by not putting the paste on one part of my face, and sure enough that part remained the unchanged. I'm on my 4th day sleeping with this paste on my face and very excited that something so simple is working.