Earth Clinic Mobile: Home Remedies for People and Pets

Multiple Remedies for Acne

5 star (10)		91%
3 star (1)		9%

Crystalice (Canada) on 10/17/2015:
5 out of 5 stars

I am in my mid-twenties and I am not an acute acne sufferer, however in the past year I have had my second terrible breakout. I realized the cause of these random breakouts was due to poor-diet with a high sugar intake that exacerbated my skin. My onslaught include using different holistic methods simultaneously to achieve the best and effective results. It requires patience and commitment but it definitely helped clear my skin and I was able to regain my healthy, bright complexion.

It took about a month and a half to achieve clear, smooth skin. The results aren't instant and it took few weeks to actually see the effects from my natural remedies.

My regime included:

a healthy diet (minimal sugar or foods high in saturated fat)
drinking green tea each morning
1-2x a week lemon/cinnamon/honey mask
2-3 x a week using baking soda masks (baking soda + a dab of water on acne and rubbing circular motions then washing off in 5 minutes)
rubbing lemon on my face
drinking water and lemon slice before bed
Apple cider vinegar toner (ration of one part ACV and two parts water
In addition, the acne medication I used to attack the acne bacteria were a benzoyl peroxide face wash + spot treatment cream.

Good luck, and continually seek out natural remedies that work best for your skin type!

Elsa (Wellington, Nz) on 08/27/2014:
5 out of 5 stars

My two daughters used this formula For acne...you can try this If you want..Take one to two tbsp of brewers yeast, one to two tbsp lecithin granules or two caps, one tbsp cold pressed safflower oil. Take with milk, nonfat dairy milk, or apple juice.

to remove acne scar, apply a thin layer aloe Vera gel (cut the leaves close to the ground) over the skin twice a day for as long as it takes. In addition, use a natural fruit peel to continuously exfoliate and encourage new skin.

Really effective!!

Julie (Washington, Dc) on 03/08/2013:
5 out of 5 stars

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!

Wyevon (Midland, Ontario Canada) on 04/23/2010:
5 out of 5 stars

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...

Kat (Pdx, Or) on 02/28/2010:
5 out of 5 stars

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.

Juno (West Hollywood, California) on 12/22/2009:
3 out of 5 stars

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!

Stephanie (Salt Lake City, Utah) on 05/26/2008:
5 out of 5 stars

I am amazed people! I had old depressed acne scars on my face and was very discolored. Four days after doing the first of five Fraxel laser resurfacing treatments, I broke out in new acne and sandpaper type bumps under the surface of my skin. I stopped using the creams the Doctor gave me and went to this routine:

I wash my face in plain baking soda, then I put raw organic honey, cinnamon, sea salt, a splash of lemon juice and a splash of ACV in the palm of my hand-mix it together and spread it on my face.I leave it on ten or so minutes while I drink a Tbls. or so of ACV in water, rinse my mouth in baking soda and brush my teeth. Then I rinse my face off in tepid water and dry.

I have a spritz bottle that I filled half with lemon juice and half with ACV and a little distilled water so it wouldn't sting and I spray my face with that.

Then I have another bottle filled with Lavender, tea tree, grapeseed and helychrisum oils that I spray on and let air dry.

I cannot tell you people what a miracle this is! My face is looking beautiful! It cleared up the acne and surface bumps in less than two days. I wake up to tight, smooth soft skin. My tone and texture are amazing. I never wear makeup anymore. I swear by this stuff!!! I love also what the fraxel is doing for my scars and color. I have only had one treatment so far and the results will take longer to be complete, but I will never use anything on my face again that you can't eat. I go in for my next laser treatment this week, and the first thing I will put on my red swollen face when I get home is honey. Honey, ACV and Lemon juice are fantastic! My teenage daughter is doing this same routine and has gone from a pimply to perfect complexion in under a week. We love it!

Molly (Berlin, Germany) on 04/25/2008:
5 out of 5 stars

Hi everyone! first I wanted to say that I love this site and have found it very helpful for minor skin ailments. I am 24 and have always had fairly decent skin, al ittle on the dry side, easily scars, and prone to pimples and have tended to over due it in the product department. In the past couple of months I have developed mild acne probably due to hormonal changes..so i checked with this website and have put together my own skin regime I have found very successful and would love to share with all of you! First I use an all natural but basic bar of soap with as few additives as possible (I happen to use a brand handmade in california called Beesworks as I have found the products to be really gentle and effective, plus they smell great and are all natural and organic! but on that note im sure any natural organic soap would work) About every other day I mix in about one table spoon of baking soda into the soap lather and gentle massage into my face, especially focusing on the problematic areas. The key word here is GENTLY as i have found the if I over scrub or use the baking soda on my skin too often it can be harsh and drying, otherwise it works great in healing my acne. Then i rinse with cold water and after patting my skin dry I splash apple cider vinegar on my skin as a toner, then finish with pure vitamin E as a moisturizer and to heal my acne scars. the ACV is not the nicest smelling toner and the Vitamin E can be a little sticky so I usually save this regime for nighttime before bed and in the morning just stick to the bar of soap and a natural moisturizer. An alternative to the ACV is just plain lemon juice and i have found this more pleasant smelling, but not as effective as the ACV. A couple of times a week I do a homemade mask of yogurt and honey. This makes my skin so soft and dewey and also helps with the acne. The best part about this regime besides how effective it is, is its cost! It happens to be really affordable so stop buying those fancy expensive skin care products ESPECIALLY if they have ANY chemicals in it and experiment with natural ingredient instead until you find a regime that works for your particular skin type.

Simone (Portland, OR) on 04/20/2008:
5 out of 5 stars

I've had fairly bad acne for about 20 years. Nothing worked - not even accutane. Finally, a friend trained in Eastern medicine made some recommendations that have worked wonders. The cure for my acne has been the following regimen:

Wash face with water. Don't use soap b/c it changes the pH balance, making it easier for bacteria to thrive & cause acne.

Sanitize face with grain alcohol. I think you can use other sanitizers, as long as they are acidic & not basic.

Apply coconut oil to face morning & night.

Ingest either a tablespoon of coconut oil (tastes great in hot chocolate!) or flax seed oil each day.

Ingest a tablespoon of liquid multivitamins each day.

Eat one apple every day.

Acupuncture

The root cause of my acne was digestive & immune system problems, not the skin per se. Where you break out on your face is a clue as to where your health problem lies. For me, I was breaking out around my mouth, which indicates a stomach problem, & on my neck, which indicates an immune system problem.

Once you get your health back on track, your skin should clear up.

Nina (Los Angeles, CA) on 04/01/2008:
5 out of 5 stars

After finding out about all these harsh chemicals in our toiletries & makeup I realized that must be the reason so many of us have developed skin problems. Therefore I started looking into all "natural" toiletries and face care products but they just dont seem to be as effective,and thats when I came up with my own gentle yet effective face wash. I didn't really measure anything I just wanted a good consistency, not too thick not too thin, so I went on to mix baking soda, a little bentonite clay, raw honey and just a little apple cider vinegar in a glass jar, mix it well, you may add a little more a little less of any ingredient until you reach the consistency that is right for you. I use this product every night and it makes me feel at ease knowing I am not putting any chemicals on my face! I also make 1 serving of oatmeal but instead of using 1 cup of water I use about 1/3 or a 1/4 apple cider vinegar and the rest water pop it in the microwave then I let it cool down a little and apply it on my clean face for about an hour. This really draws out the dirt and grime in your face and makes it easy to take out those stubborn blackheads, not to mention it leaves your face feeling soft and doesn't overdry, yey! After I rinse off the mask I just spray my face with a mixture of Lily of the desert aloe vera gel and purified water, again I don't have the exact measurement but don't make it too thick it should still look like a liquid and it should be easily sprayed on a spray or even better with a mist bottle. And lastly I apply lime juice to any blemishes and dark spots I may have and I always try to get at least 8 hours of sleep. In the morning I simply wash with water and apply the aloe vera and water mixture, then I apply my organic mineral makeup. Hope this helps you guys, and remember nature is your best friend!

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