Acne
Natural Remedies

12 Proven Natural Remedies for Acne

Basil

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by SC (India)
★★★★★

Grind basil leaves with a little water, then squeeze the paste to extract the juice. this can be used for a week if stored in the refrigerator. mix this juice with turmeric or lime or milk.


Bentonite Clay

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Fighting4ourfreedoms (Spotsylvania, Va) on 06/04/2012
★★★★★

A few years ago I started having severe skin disorders and ended up with severe acne. I've tried everything from honey masks, herbal detoxes and tinctures, colloidial silver, vegetarian, primal, mediterranean diets, etc etc, Even expensive facial creams and soaps stuffed with glycolic acids and AHAs. And while I can delight in two-three pimples at a time instead of 40, my skin still stresses under change in weather. It peels off and sheds profusely when it's cold out, but a few days ago... BAM! Hot, humid weather and my oil reserves see no end. I started breaking out again and desperate, I grabbed an old jar of Calcium Bentonite (the green-external-use-only-kind) and washed my face with it. It WORKED. All day my face had zero oil. And my pimples were drying out. Praise God for dirt that cleans my face!

Also, I usually don't write these things because the solutions never last long enough for me, but this one truly is a blessing, even if just for a few days. See, I had mixed it before with water/apple cider vinegar and left on my face to 'pulse' for suggested time.... Big no-no. It was way too harsh for my sensitive skin. But a little pinch mixed with a lot of water, massaged onto skin like soap, and immediately washed off works just right. I hope this helps someone else who has a big tub just sitting around! It's worth a try!


Bentonite Clay
Posted by Aquarelle (West Coast, America) on 05/31/2012
★★★★★

Yet another acne remedy I discovered while helping out a family member: Bentonite Clay applied with apple cider vinegar. A specific clay was touted: Aztec Secret - Indian Healing Clay. Apparently this is benitoite clay from Death Valley, Ca and has been baked dry at a certain temperature. I do not know if other benitoite clays have the same property as Aztec; I would assume so. My relative just started using it and reported improvement in skin but has a long way to go, and is of course making other changes in order to heal from this condition. Also, there are many types of clay which are beneficial for different skin types/issues, but this was the one I found to have the most reviews on Amazon and elsewhere in treating up to severe acne. But... It should be said that other clays would likely be beneficial.


BHA

Posted by Alex (Nyc, Usa) on 01/04/2013

From my experience, I am over 30 and suffer from adult acne occasionally I apply BHA for months and it does help from acne occurring again. Also home remedies such as banana peel, olive, avocado, and honey are a great help for making acne disappear without leaving spot and scar.


Black Mud Soap

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Samantha (Las Vegas, Nevada) on 07/24/2016
★★★★★

Another AMAZING remedy (topical) for acne that I want to mention is Black Mud Soap from the Dead Sea. It draws impurities right out of your skin, and clears up acne like you wouldn't believe. I think it also has actually helped to fade the red marks/scarring I had. You can use it all over your body and face. If you use it on your face, make sure to moisturize after because it can be a bit drying.


Blackstrap Molasses

3 User Reviews
5 star (3) 
  100%

Posted by Chelsea (Minneapolis, Minnesota) on 02/13/2011
★★★★★

This did wonders for my face and skin as a whole. I decided to start living a more healthy life last summer of 2010. I came to this wonderful site and started trying a lot of remedies for various ailments. Concerning acne/the look of my overall face, the ACV remedy did help a little bit for the acne and made my skin a nice healthy color as well as bringing out my eyes more. Oil pulling also helped clear it up a little bit (less than ACV though) and made me have a fresh look in the morning (the bags under my eyes, although not as prominant as some people, seemed to disappear). Applying Hydrogen peroxide to the face helped a lot, but it seemed as if I am allergic to it since I started to get a lot of small flesh-colored bump on my face (which also happens when I tried Benzyl Peroxide).

However, Blackstrap was by far the best acne treatment for me. I do have low iron (too low to donate blood even though I ate many foods with iron in them every day), so maybe that was a factor that was remedied and therefore gave me clear skin. I rarely have even a pimple anymore. It also made my face unbelievably soft, softer than ACV, Oilpulling, or Hydrogen Peroxide, although those things are better for other ailments.

To make mine, I use the recommended TBSP with a little bit of honey, stir with a bit of hot water, add 1-2 TBSP of Half and Half


Blackstrap Molasses
Posted by JEM (Fort Worth, TX ) on 02/15/2009
★★★★★

I kept getting breakouts on my chin and around my mouth. I somehow stumbled onto blackstrap molasses. I take two tablespoons a day (in Stash's double spice chai tea- really good) and it really seems to help. No new breakouts. Just the fading red marks from the old ones. I pretty certain it's the molasses because I stopped taking it for about a month while I was on vacation and the acne came back within a week.

I also did some research- blackstrap contains copper which helps skin repair itself and a bit of zinc which when taken consistently has the effect of an antibiotic/anti-acne prescription. Just make sure you get the right ratio of zinc and copper- they block the absorption of each other and can cause an imbalance.


Blackstrap Molasses
Posted by Nathan (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) on 07/24/2006
★★★★★

Supplementing my diet with molasses has decreased my acne about 97% in two weeks. I take two tablespoons when I wake up in the morning, and two before I go to bed at night. It eases digestive problems, so if your acne is related to constipation, it's a sure-fire bet. It also supplements you with minerals such as Chromium, which about 90% of Americans are deficient in.


Borax

4 User Reviews
5 star (3) 
  75%
3 star (1) 
  25%

Posted by Linda (Indianapolis, Indiana, United States) on 03/04/2013
★★★★★

Wow!! That's all I have to say about borax. I have found the best product on the market for my stuborn blackheads and clogged pores. I swear just from washing my face once with borax all my blackheads, dead skin and clogged pores are gone.

This is what I do: wet your face with warm water, get about a teaspoon of borax in your hand and then apply on your face AVOID eye area and under eye. Scrub gently with the borax around the problem area, rinse with luke warm water and watch your face glow. AMAZING

After I rinse the borax off I apply a toner 50/50 ACV and water with a cotton pad to minimize the size of my pores, after it dries a apply coconut oil and my face is like a babys bottom :)

Make sure you always apply suncsreen to the face.

I also use borax as a scrub for my body, I used to have back acne and they are almost gone, my skin feels like silk. I swear by borax.

Replied by C
(California)
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 Mable (Benalmadena, Spain) on 06/25/2012
★★★☆☆

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

I've been fighting skin parasites or something on my face for 2 years chronically and 8 yrs of 'acne' previously. Tried Ted's remedy in capsule form as recommended on curezone. I would not use in that way again, and would follow Ted's recipe of putting it in water to sip throughout the day.

I quit the cure after a few days due to the effects the borax had on my mental state. It was almost like a drug in the way it made my mind feel very aware. If I wanted to get off legally without being out of control, I would use borax.

I think I would try it again, using a very very small dosage, maybe even smaller than Ted's. A side effect that I liked was that the horrible bad breath I had experienced for a year went away within a day or two and stayed away for a couple of weeks. Perhaps my breath still stunk to other people, but the horrible disgusting taste in my mouth when I woke up was gone.


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!

Replied by Southernarc
(Durham, Nc, Usa)
03/07/2012

Note to add: The Borax I use is "Boraxo Powdered Hand Soap" and the contents are listed as Sodium Tetraborax Decahydrate, along with 'fine toilet soap'. One or two applications a day, scrubbing for about a minute, then rinsing thoroughly, will keep the oils down and the acne from occurring. Overuse of this soap will cause skin drying.


Calamine, Witch Hazel

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Seven (Neosho, Missouri, USA) on 05/23/2009
★★★★★

I have adult acne (I'm 34f) due to hormonal imbalance and problems with my digestion. They tend to bother me a great deal causing me to pick at them and otherwise make them worse. I tried a lot of different expensive commercial products without success. The ingredients usually burned and inflamed my skin and didn't do anything for the acne.

Finally I came across an "acne cure" that people were paying up to sixty-dollars per ounce on the Internet. I found out that it was simply Calamine lotion and witch hazel and I already had that in my medicine cabinet. I tried it out and it works great.

I wash my face good in the evening, use witch hazel as a toner then apply the Calamine lotion. (I am going to see if ACV works better then Witch Hazel after reading about it here on this site.) The Calamine dries up the acne usually overnight and has always made it better including really deep hard nodule type of acne.

Chamomile lotion doesn't prevent or otherwise cure acne but it does dry up outbreaks extremely rapidly, keeps the acne from itching and being irritated and doesn't burn, sting or otherwise have side effects that I have experienced. I wish I had known about this as a teen.


Carrot Juice

4 User Reviews
5 star (4) 
  100%

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.

Replied by Heather
(San Diego, California)
03/04/2013

PS: I've also tried topical antibiotics, systemic antibiotics, retin A, daily zinc lotions and zinc potions, glycolic acid peels, a and d lotion, lavendar oil, various soaps, and everything the drug store offers (benzol peroxide, salicilic acid), apple cider vinegar, and probably everything that looked promising on earthclinic.

Carrots, and avoiding the foods mentioned above, beat those things in effectiveness.


Carrot Juice
Posted by Theresa (Washington D.C., USA) on 02/12/2009
★★★★★

I have been an avid reader of Earth Clinic since finding a great sore throat cure here in desperation last winter.

I suffer from moderate adult acne and I wanted to share with you my results from drinking freshly made carrot juice, blended with fresh parsley, apple and ginger.

Anecdotal evidence (my own) suggests that the Vitamin A (Beta Carotene) in carrots is helping heal my skin. Parsley contains high amounts of chlorophyll and Vitamin C, and Apples also contain vitamin C. Ginger is a potent herb known for it's curative properties.

To get the full benefits of this regimen, use ORGANIC produce.

I recommend starting on the juice regimen as a daily practice.

NB: You will need a juicer, NOT a blender! I use the Breville brand of juicers, they are the absolute best and easy to clean.

The recipe I use:

12 organic carrots - do NOT juice the greens - they are toxic
2 organic apples (do NOT juice the apple seeds. They contain a trace amount of cyanide)
1 very large bunch of fresh organic parsley
1 hunk of fresh ginger (about 1 - 2 inches long)

Carefully clean and rinse produce. Chop off the top and tip of the carrots. Leave the peel ON.
Divide the apple into four quarters. Chop off the part where the seeds are.
Wash the parsley and place on a paper towel.
Scrub the ginger well with a vegetable brush. Cut off any dead looking areas.

Carefully inspect the juicer and turn it on.

S-L-O-W-L-Y feed the parsley into the juicer with the safety pusher
then slowly feed your apples through
then slowly feed the ginger through
then slowly feed the carrots through.

STIR THE FINISHED JUICE WELL BEFORE POURING.

DRINK IMMEDIATELY! Juice starts to lose it's vitamins on contact with air. If you do make too much juice, refrigerate it in a GLASS CONTAINER and use it within 24 hours.


Carrot Juice
Posted by Sarah (LA, CA) on 01/08/2009
★★★★★

I had tried everything as a teenager to get rid of acne and finally took accutane for a couple months and it totally worked and changed my life. I have since been trying to find a natural alternative to recommend to friends. Recently my facialist told me that her great grandmother in Finland or something had a cure that worked (probably for the same reason that accutane- a very strong form of vitamin A- worked). The remedy is this: Eat and drink nothing but fresh carrot juice for 3 straight days... acne will be GONE. wondering if anyone has heard of this before?

Also- this is just cosmetic... but have always used hydrocortisone and Visine to dab on a freshly-picked zit. the Visine constricts blood vessels to take away redness and the hydrocortisone cream dramatically decreases swelling almost immediately.



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