I am so confused

[Kimmiepie]

I have read so many acne related threads trying to find something for myself, and I am drowning in information. I don't know what to try! Basically I'm wondering what has worked *the best* out of all the suggestions (honey, olive oil, bs, tto, etc) and what regimen you follow. I have BAD acne, all over my face, even chest. It never stops. I'm mostly interested in people who have a similar condition, but will take advice from anyone. Thanks! \

Edited to add that this is what I tried tonight...I washed my face with bs, then applied honey and left on for about 45 seconds. Next I put on witch hazel for toning and then a bit of olive oil (for moisture??). I have lavender eo, what could I add this to, or how would I use it? Is there anything I should cut out of this regimen that could be bad for my acne?

[melove]

I think you might be using too many things on your face. Have you ever tried oatmeal soap and then just some gentle lotion like Kiss My Face?

[Kimmiepie]

Yes, I have. I've even tried Burts Bees and stuff, but nothing works so I thought I'd try a "home remedy."

[TrishWSU]

I too have had bad acne for years, all over my face, but none on my chest. I went back and forth with Proactiv, Nature's Cure, Burt's Bees and too many products to name products. Probably about 3-4 weeks ago I switched to honey and BS and holy cow! the results are amazing! I haven't gotten any huge new zits in days (just a few small bumps that are already going away) and this is big for me. I normally have huge monster zits that are very painful popping up everyday practically!

So after reading about it here I started washing my face with raw honey mixed with a little bit of BS (I was preggo and really oily) every night-I mix it up in my hand, then apply and leave it on while I brush my teeth, followed by Burt's Bees Garden Tomato toner (because I had it already), then some moisturizer I already have (w/ hydralauric acid.) I have some other face wash and toner w/ gylcolic acid in it that I use in the morning-mainly because it was really expensive and I don't want to waste it, lol! Anyway, I started to notice almost right away with the honey that a lot of the red/purple acne scars I have were starting to fade and/or get smaller. After about a week of the honey wash I had a breakout, but I think this is a normal detox that will happen with any new product, and it only lasted about a week. Pretty much as soon as the new zits popped up they started to go away. Now, like I already said, I haven't had any major new ones in days and my scarring is really improving.

Right now my face is really dry (miscarriage and sudden temp drop outside) so I've stopped adding the bs and started adding ground up oatmeal for extra moisture. It seems to be helping make my face not peel.

When my other face wash runs out I'll probably switch to just honey in the a.m and the honey w/ bs in the p.m. I also want to try using shea butter when my other moisturizer is gone. I've heard that it's great for acne.

My suggestion is to try a system that you're comfortable with (what you did sounds good to me-but that's just from reading stuff about the honey) then stick with it for at least one month to give it a chance to work. I think I read somewhere that it takes about that long for your skin to adjust to a new routine so you don't want to change it drastically before it has a chance to work. There is a huge honey thread somewhere in this forum that has a ton of good info if you read through it (which is a big task!) I'll try to find it and add the link.

Hope some of this is helpful and I hope you find something that works! I know how horrible it is to deal with adult acne.

ETA: here's the honey face washing thread: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ighlight=honey

[cottontail]

I don't think I'd do the olive oil, especially if you are leaving it on your skin. I believe that shea nut butter, jojoba, and coconut oil are better choices for us acne prone citizens.

I've tried everything. The only thing that has helped my adult acne is pregnancy. It started when I was about 23 and is primarily on my chin. I'm almost positive mine is hormonal and there's not much I can do about it, except just be gentle with my skin and forget about it.

And....I clicked on your myspace. I think your skin looks really pretty!

[Kimmiepie]

Thanks Mollybeesmama but those are rather old pics. My skin just erupted about 2 months ago. So it's BAD now. I wish it still looked like that!

Trish, That's where I got my idea from was the honey thread. That's why I was so confused, there was so much info in there! Anyhoo, when I woke up this morning I was amazed! My skin looks so different! Even dh noticed. I didn't get any new pimples...usually I wake up with several, the old ones are fading in color and are flat instead of raised, and my skin just looks smoother and more even. I'm in

[TrishWSU]

Originally Posted by Kimmiepie

Thanks Mollybeesmama but those are rather old pics. My skin just erupted about 2 months ago. So it's BAD now. I wish it still looked like that!

Trish, That's where I got my idea from was the honey thread. That's why I was so confused, there was so much info in there! Anyhoo, when I woke up this morning I was amazed! My skin looks so different! Even dh noticed. I didn't get any new pimples...usually I wake up with several, the old ones are fading in color and are flat instead of raised, and my skin just looks smoother and more even. I'm in

Yep, TONS of info on that thread, but I'm so happy I read it and gave it a try. Just make sure you don't freak out and give up if you go through that 'detox' period that many mentioned. I probably would have said "oh well this isn't working" and stopped doing it if I hadn't read that others experienced that as well.

[Valkyrie9]

One other thought: are you sure you really need to be using a moisturizer? If you're oil prone anyway, I think you're probably producing enough to eliminate the need. That, combined with the moisture from honey and the fact that you're not stripping your face with harsher cleansers, may mean that you don't need any olive oil or any other kind. You might be over-moisturizing. I've read a lot about acne being caused by bacterial concentrations on the skin, and part of the way to treat it is to remove the conditions that allow the bacteria to get established--perhaps the olive oil is doing that. I know cornstarch is one very key culprit in bacterial breeding grounds. It follows (to me, anyway) that other food-like products that aren't washed off the skin might also foster an environment that is very bacteria friendly. Good luck!

[Kimmiepie]

I think I will cut out the olive oil unless I'm having a dry day. I noticed my skin to be a bit more oily today when it's usually more combo.

[the_anti_grrrl]

I feel your pain! My acne has really cleared up (except a few small pimples and some "nice" sized ones during that time of the month with the help of Burts Bees garden complexion tomato soap and switching to mineral makeup. I exfoliate with baking soda and moisturize with pure jojoba oil mixed with a tad of tea tree (jojoba oil doesn't clog pores - i was scared at first because you always hear oil and acne don't mix...but it works awesome!).

good luck!!

[the_anti_grrrl]

oh...and YIKES! Cut out the olive oil! That clogs pores big time!!! Jojoba and Vitamin E oil are both ok for acne though

[jocelyndale]

My husband uses a mix of natural, not-so-natural, and aspects of TCM.

First off, the TCM. He gets two kinds of acne. He gets pussy, angry, deep cystic acne. And he sometimes get tiny traditional acne vulgaris--pinpoints, shallow, productive.

Anyhow, he feels that the pussy stuff is caused by dampness. He's eliminated most dairy and pork from his diet, as these are dampening foods. He tries to eat foods which counteract dampness, like root veggies.

The angrier acne he attributes to pent-up emotional fire. He does yoga and tai chi, but if some of this acne surfaces, he generally decides that he needs to cry on a regular basis.

Amazingly, these techniques have actually cleared up his skin to a great extent. They're what work for him, your mileage may vary.

He has super oily skin. He washes with the same soap I use (Grandpa's Pine Tar), but he also washes his face with a benzoyl peroxide soap (oxy).

He moisturizes with jojoba. Yes, oily skin needs moisturizer! When he uses jojoba regularly, his skin starts producing less sebum. He spot-treats any infected-ish spots with TTO. And he tones with witch hazel, which helps keep his pores from looking quite so huge.

He's tried every medical treatment. He's even tried some snake oil. (Actually, it was inositol, derived from shark cartilage, and it actually worked, but he had issues with sustainability and availability. It might be synthetically produced now.)

He's happiest with his current methods.

[mgilleran@earth-co]

I have skin like PP's husband it sounds like. I am now having hte best results I have ever had. I wash am & pm with Grandpa's witch hazel soap. I tone with witch hazel. Sometimes I also tone with my no-poo ACV/water mixture first. Then I moisturize with jojoba. Jojoba is a god-send. I absolutely love it. I no longer get the deep, puss-filled sores. They were few & far between before, but I did get them once a month or so. Zero is so much better! The jojoba makes my skin so soft & my eye area looks better now too, not as puffy.

[elelvee]

May I suggest reading this:

www.fourfoldhealing.com/Q&A%Acne.htm


.

[~Shanna~]

I'll offer my own experience, but I warn you: I was skeptical at first too.

I've had terrible acne most of my life. Starting around age 15, it got worse and worse, culminating about a year ago with the worst it's ever been. Painful, cystic, red and deep. I finally got to the end of my rope with it and a sense I had that it was related to repeated miscarriages - both seemed to be strong signs that I wasn't as healthy as I always thought I was. I finally took the advice of a mama here on MDC who suggested it could be a digestive disorder. It sounded so wacky to me, not to mention how inconvenient to determine if that was the cause. I decided to give it 1 month of going dairy and gluten-free. No change. I then decided I would give it 1 more month of something more intensive, and then I was going to declare it "not related to digestion". I went on the SCD diet that is discussed over at the "Healing the Gut" tribe, and proceeded to treat myself as if I had Leaky Gut Syndrome. I saw the results within 1 week, and I'm going on 10 months of being on the diet. No new outbreaks, so I'm able to focus on healing the redness and scars of the old outbreaks with tamanu oil.

Another place to check out is the "Mamas with Bad skin" tribe, there's a lot of info there as well.

[Kimmiepie]

Hmmm some very interesting information here.

I have cut out the olive oil and am going to find out where I can get the jojoba oil.

jocelyndale, I am glad your husband has found something that works for him. It sounds like he really knows his body. However, I think all that might be a bit much for me at the moment.

shanna, I will go check out those areas. I *know* I have digestive issues but I'm just stuck on where to start. Cut out gluten? diary?, can I afford special diets?, the blood type diet?, leaky gut? ahhh it makes me : just to think about it. Plus I'm nursing so I'm trying to pinpoint ds's allergy/s. Hopefully your suggestions will help. I've never even thought of going over there.

elelvee, the link didn't work for me.

[jocelyndale]

I have two or three acne/sore triggers. High fructose corn syrup will get me every time. Losing weight will make me break out in a detox reaction. And hormones will give me one or two spots. I can't do much about the last two, but I *can* avoid HFCS. That really does reduce the worst of the breakouts, for me.

My husband really does know his body well, but he started listening out of frustration. He was sick and tired of spending money on dermatologist visits and spending years at a time on antibiotics and topical steroids. He didn't want to go back on retin-A or Accutane, so he started exploring other avenues.

[bubbles]

Can anyone suggest a good source for jojoba oil? Do you use a straight oil from the HFS or do you use a particular mositurizer? I am going to try the BS/Honey/Jojoba oil. I am also currently getting my thyroid and adrenal issues under control and helping that those will make a big difference in my skin.