12 Proven Natural Remedies for Acne

Baking Soda

Posted by Phoenix (Tampa, Florida) on 04/30/2011
★★★★★

I used to have really bad acne on my face, back, chest. My acupuncturist told me to put 2 TBSP of Baking Soda in a bath and soak, submerging my face. It's worked so well for me I've been doing it for years! At first I soaked 3x a week but now I take a bath every week or two. I started putting fresh aloe on my skin right after. It always clears my skin, shrinks pores, and diminishes fine lines.

Pantothenic Acid

Posted by Caitlyn (Bloomfield, Mi Usa) on 03/02/2011
★★★★★

After literally trying everything under the sun, I came upon this article from a naturopathic doctor (link to copy and paste is below post). I've seen much discussion about B5 (pantothenic acid) for acne, but the amounts you need to take are excessive. This article explains how you can take L-Carnitine to boost the benefits of B5, necessitating a lesser amount. (L-Carnitine fumarate is the more absorbable form of it-- just google L-carnitine fumarate; many places to purchase will show up. This worked much better for me than regular L-Carnitine)

While they recommend 750 mg. of B5 with 250mg. of L-Carnitine 3x per day; I took 1000 mg. of B5 with 500 mg. of L-carnitine. (Mainly because the capsules I purchased came as 500 mg. Each, so I took two B5 and one L-carnitine per dose. I've found if I'm having a problem, adding an extra dose or 2 (making 4 or 5 times a day) works better and much faster, then you can lower the doses per day for maintenance.

Additionally, Vitex (chaste berry herb), and saw palmetto are very, very helpful and safe for hormonal acne.

Blackstrap Molasses

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

Pantothenic Acid

Posted by Lita209 (Sanford, Fl, Usa) on 06/25/2010
★★★★★

Pantothenic Acid - B-5 is also great for acne. This is the only thing that worked for me; megadosage of Panthotenic Acid.

Pantothenic Acid

Posted by Cl503 (Oregon) on 02/17/2016
★☆☆☆☆

WARNING!

Please please understand that hairloss is a possible side effect. I read about it and didn't think it would happen to me. About 12-15 days into taking large doses of B5, even with a B complex, I began losing hair at an alarming rate. It took me many months and hundreds of dollars trying all sorts of things to gain control over the situation. What ended up helping me was balancing my hormones-- DIM, Iodine and folate. I took a host of other supplements as well but believe these 3 helped the most and truly balanced my hormones---blood tests before and after proved it.

Zinc

Posted by Bill (Prescott Valley, Arizona) on 03/13/2010
★★★★★

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.

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Kat (Pdx, Or) on 02/28/2010
★★★★★

I've had acne on my cheeks and jaw line for over a year tried multiple things. I'm a vegetarian and I read that zinc deficiency can cause acne. So I started taking Zinc 50 mg 2x daily and I also stopped drinking milk because I read that milk is indigestable by the body and causes toxicity. I take two showers a day so I started washing my face with about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, while in the shower and would allow it to sit on my face for a couple minutes then I would rinse it off. Once out of the shower I would a splash organic apple cider vinegar on my face and let it air dry. My acne is now completely gone my skin is glowing and clear. I hope this remedy helps someone like it did me.

Vitamin A

Posted by Frances A (Jacksonville, Florida) on 11/29/2009
★★★★★

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.

Zinc

Posted by Kai (Randolph, Nj) on 11/13/2009
★★★★★

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.

Shalini's Acne Remedies

Posted by Shalini (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) on 09/12/2009
★★★★★

First of all, thanks very much to Earthclinic for all your help!

I've been struggling with acne for a long time, and after trying out some remedies from EC have found a combination that made a dramatic improvement in my skin. I was quite astonished at how fast it healed, compared to the turtle speed of most acne meds.

I've eliminated all soaps and medications, and am using only natural products. In the morning, I apply a baking soda mask for 5 minutes. It stings a lot, and be careful not to scrub, just leave it on. This disinfects your skin and gradually shrinks acne. At night, I apply a turmeric mask for an hour. Be careful with turmeric because it will stain - on my tanned skin it just blends in. To moisturise, I use coconut oil, less in the day and more at night.

I also take coconut oil internally, one tablespoon morning and night. I also take two tablespoons of granulated lecithin, and 3000mg of high quality fish oil. The fish oil showed me an overnight improvement, and even helped me sleep better.

Here's what didn't work: ACV is not my friend, unfortunately. Evening primrose oil did not work at all. Blackstrap molasses is incredibly helpful for my menstrual cycle, but again no difference in skin.

Hopefully this will help any acne sufferers out there, good luck!

Urine

Posted by Tony (London, UK) on 07/16/2009
★★★★★

Hi there, read the comments on Urine Therapy and thought, 'why the hell not?'. I've been using it on my face for the last 2 weeks, one to two times a day and it has really cleared up my skin and made it glow. People have been commenting, not least my girlfriend who was very amused when i told her what I had been up to.

It's not horrible, it doesn't smell when it drys and if you are worried just rinse with water. i do it in the shower first thing wash the rest of my body and then rinse it off last thing. I've stopped using soap on my face as well and my chronic mild acne (20 years and counting!) and bumpy forehead has cleared right up.

thanks for all the posters, great site.

Aloe Vera, Milk Thistle

Posted by Molly (Rocky Mount, NC, USA) on 06/13/2009
★★★★★

I have struggled with weight issues since childhood. I can look sideways at a piece of cheesecake and gain five pounds. However, this all change recently with the addition of this wonder supplement to my diet. A few months ago, I began a popular portion-control diet that is low in fat. In 9 weeks, I'd lost 12 lbs. I then added a new fat blocker to my regimen. I began noticing quicker results with weight loss BUT I still suffered from low energy levels, yeast overgrowth, severe cystic acne... among other ailments. Searching for acne remedies here on earth clinic, I read one lady's entry which advocated the use of aloe vera and milk thistle. In the past week, after consuming approx. 10oz of Aloe Vera Juice per day, taking 250mg of milk thistle with each meal, and washing my face with apple cider vinegar water, I feel like a new person! In the past week, my acne has healed about 60%, my vision is clearer, I don't need massive amounts of stimulants to wake me up in the morning, my eczema is vanishing, I have plenty of energy, my dry and cracking heals have begun to heal, and I've lost 6lbs!

Urine

Posted by Jerry (Belen, NM) on 05/24/2009
★★★★★

I have a medication induced acne on sensitive skin. After suffering for many, many, years I ran across "urine therapy" and tried it out of desperation. After researching the use of 'urine' I decided to try it instead of more medicated shampoos, salves, and antibiotics. It did what my many doctors and Rx's over the years couldn't do in just under two months! For the last two years I gloated to the doctor and skin specialists shaming them for prescribing antibiotics for more than twenty years when antibiotics are only good for ten days. Then one doctor examined me and asked if I wanted him to prescribe some urea for me! No thanks doc I have my own pharmacy and laughed my way out of his office. Okay, I was bad!

Then a couple of weeks ago I treated myself to a pedicure and enjoyed the experience so much that I subjected myself to a facial not realizing that I was fixing to destroy all the good efforts I had achieved. The scrub felt good; the message felt better; the mechanical scrubber and steamer did its job as I relaxed in the chair. Then the facial mask was applied and finally a scented oil rubbed in. The next day pimples were erupting all over again! Back to the urine therapy which is slowly undoing the damage done by that great facial! Okay, I should have known better, but since I solved the problem, and two years had passed, I thought it might make my skin cleaner.

Back to the urine therapy and no more facials. As I looked in the mirror and felt my beard I could feel what the facial had done. Immediately I recalled lessons learned in curing my skin just two years ago:

First, you must have a balanced diet and exclude ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS from your diet.

Second, you must not use SOAP, any kind of soap on the face. Why, because sensitive skin only requires the solvent WATER to clean. Straight from the faucet use water that is neither real cold or warm. Soap changes your skins pH balance!

Third, the warmer the water the more your pores open up--the colder the more they tighten up. Once we get our natural skin pH back with urine therapy eruptions will cease to become a problem then apply cooler water, but NEVER SCRUB OR WASH in circles for this opens and spreads subterranean vessels where infections are being fought off.

Fourth, do not use oils or alcohol on your skin. The skin is the largest organ of your body. It continues to regenerate itself ever so many days. If you do take baths make sure you use Nature's solvent, clean good pH water to bath with. The more alkaline or acidic soaps you apply to the skin the more difficult it is for the skin to adjust its pH balance. Sensitive skins cannot adjust to these sudden changes. By the way, a soak in a clean bath tub full of good water is equivalent to drinking eight glasses of water a day, but ask any nutritionist and they cannot tell you where that guideline comes from for it has not been established.

Fifth, all of your body organs are pH Alkaline in nature. It only stands to reason that the more acidic your water the harder it is for your body to repair itself. Your blood is 7.4 alkaline and doctors say that if that blood changes just 4 tenths of one percent you will die in either direction! A good dose of pineapple is pH 10 and so is watermelon. This is where drinking water should range. Investigate your water pH content along with looking at your diet. Researchers have known for years that ANY TYPE OF VIRUSES WILL NOT GROW IN AN ALKALINE SOLUTION! Cancers, viruses, and other diet related problems usually boil down to bad water supply! Check it out please.

Don't you just wish there was a mask you could put on and take off without disturbing your face? Hahahahahaha

EC: Just to clarify, did you drink your urine (one method) or apply it topically? Thanks...

Calamine, Witch Hazel

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.

Baking Soda

Posted by Sid Davis (Springfield, Missouri USA) on 05/07/2009
★★★☆☆

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

I read that some people use baking soda on the face for acne, and since I have had a life long problem with minor acne, I thought I would try it. I wash my face twice a day, once in the morning when I shower, and once before bed, so I bought a large box of baking soda and poured it into a plastic kitchen storage container so I could easily scoop out a hand full to use instead of face soap. I wet my face and hands first and then used the gob of baking soda like I would a face scrub.

It quite definitely cut back on outbreaks, and what few did develop were very mild. I am guessing that the sodium in the baking soda is killing bacteria on my face (like when you pour salt on a garden slug).

The only problem I have is that where I have had a pimple develop it seems that it takes an extra long time to heal, and that it leaves what looks like a little reddish burn scar which is something that never happened when I did not use the baking soda. I think the whatever is killing the bacteria may also be damaging the new tissue that grows to heal where the pimple was.

Has anybody using baking soda on their face for acne experienced this problem?

Steam

Posted by Nature Lover (Grand Rapids, Michigan) on 03/29/2009
★★★★★

Background: I had a problem of adult acne for several years. I used to have at least 2-3 active zits over my face. I tried everything: OTC Acne products, ACV, H2O2, and went to a dermatologist for creams and Zyrtec. Then I cam across steam bath at my apartment complex. Within a week my skin was great, no acne problems for months! And then the Steam bath was out for repairs and my problem slowly crept back. So I bought a 'Steam facial' on Amazon for about $30 and it works almost just as great.

Measurements that worked for me: Steam bath/ steam facial: 10--15 minutes, three times a week. I make sure my face about 5 drops of sweat trickles down on the towel. I saw dramatic improvements within a week. In steam bath, I make sure the heat is enough to accelerate my heart without any pain or discomfort.

My results: I haven't used ANY skin medicines for 5 months and going strong! It also helps get rid of any cold/ cough symptoms. My wife saw her back-ache vanish.

I have used many remedies from this site and I thought I should share this very natural, no-chemicals-involved remedy with you.