Natural acne help

[jenholle]

I am 35 and have been dealing with acne for as long as i can remember. I have done the dermo. route and even accutane in my early 20s. Does anyone have some products to recommend for clearing adult acne? Washes, moisturizers, etc? Everything that's out there has parabens, SLS, and a ton of other chemicals in it. We plan to TTC in the next few months so I want to avoid all of that junk. Any help you have would be greatly appreciated. I should add that I did see a homeopathic doc. and did allergy testing- and I have none. I am taking zinc, omega-3 with evening primrose oil, and a prenatal.

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

Jenny
mommy to Quentin and Ariel

[Fiestabeth]

I am currently battling a flare-up of my acne due to stress, and I found a homeopathic called Acne Relief (might be by Nelson's, but I'm not sure) that seems to be helping. My face still looks bad, but it is mostly in the healing stage now. I'm also drinking a ton of water, and trying to eat really well.

Some natural products that I have liked are Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash, Everyday Moisturizer, and Humphrey's Witch Hazel & Citrus toner.

[jadekat]

Subbing
I also have acne and it's driving me crazy! I've tried pretty much every regular brand of face wash and it makes it worse. I've been using Proactiv for 3 years now and it doesn't work anymore.

[Parthenia]

I have rosacea, which isn't treated the same way as acne, but is just as annoying. I go through periods where my skin is mostly clear and periods where it seems all my triggers go off at the same time without my noticing. I'm in the midst of one of the worst flare-ups I've ever had. I'm also having a candida flare-up and I can't help but think they're related. So no sugar, fruit, yeasted breads, dairy, alcohol, or refined grains for me. I don't drink coffee, but I do drink black tea. I work nights, and tea helps me stay awake. I can't give it up. I'm adding flax seed oil into my diet for the omegas. That helped once before.

I wash my face with water only. Soap, even home made, ubermild, or made for sensitive skin soap causes break outs. I use warm water. Not too hot, not too cold. I use oil and extra thick fragrance free moisturizers.

Other than avoidance of my triggers (the ones I can avoid), nothing works consistently. Not the prescription stuff, not the homeopathic stuff. I've have marginal success with evening primrose oil.

There is one thing that seemed to help: being pregnant. Unfortunately that's not an option right now.

[ladyinred]

My acne isn't as bad now as it was when I was younger, but it's still annoying to get bad break outs from time to time as an adult. Mine seems to be mostly hormonal, PMS and stress related break outs, but since I started washing with honey it has improved a lot. Now I'm only getting pimples down around my chin area and have even managed to get my shoulders to clear up, something that even acutane couldn't manage to do! I just use raw honey, nothing else, once a day in the shower. It took about two weeks to make any difference but now it's amazing.

[Pynki]

I apply straight TTO to any actual break outs I have. You could add it to any facial wash you use to help aso.

[jenholle]

How do you know you are having a candida flare up? I have always wondered about that. Maybe laying off of the sugar would help me????
Jenny

[jenholle]

Originally Posted by Parthenia

I have rosacea, which isn't treated the same way as acne, but is just as annoying. I go through periods where my skin is mostly clear and periods where it seems all my triggers go off at the same time without my noticing. I'm in the midst of one of the worst flare-ups I've ever had. I'm also having a candida flare-up and I can't help but think they're related. So no sugar, fruit, yeasted breads, dairy, alcohol, or refined grains for me. I don't drink coffee, but I do drink black tea. I work nights, and tea helps me stay awake. I can't give it up. I'm adding flax seed oil into my diet for the omegas. That helped once before.

I wash my face with water only. Soap, even home made, ubermild, or made for sensitive skin soap causes break outs. I use warm water. Not too hot, not too cold. I use oil and extra thick fragrance free moisturizers.

Other than avoidance of my triggers (the ones I can avoid), nothing works consistently. Not the prescription stuff, not the homeopathic stuff. I've have marginal success with evening primrose oil.

There is one thing that seemed to help: being pregnant. Unfortunately that's not an option right now.

Opps...I screwed up...how do you know you are having a candida outbreak????

[jadekat]

Originally Posted by ladyinred

My acne isn't as bad now as it was when I was younger, but it's still annoying to get bad break outs from time to time as an adult. Mine seems to be mostly hormonal, PMS and stress related break outs, but since I started washing with honey it has improved a lot. Now I'm only getting pimples down around my chin area and have even managed to get my shoulders to clear up, something that even acutane couldn't manage to do! I just use raw honey, nothing else, once a day in the shower. It took about two weeks to make any difference but now it's amazing.

I tried honey too. I only used it for about a week and it seem to make my skin worse. But when I switched back to Proactiv it seems like it doesn't work for me at all. Maybe I'll give honey another shot.

[Chakra]

I used to be a Esthetcian (still cant spell that word lol). I worked for a natural salon in NYC called Jurlique. The best program that worked for my clients (very very high success) was burdock root tincture (google it) and limit flours.

On the face I found this system worked better than the jurlique products.

Wash with a super mild cleanser like dr bronners baby mild

tone with a gentle toner like rose water or just plain cold water

use 100% raw unrefined shea butter on the face. Its greasy but works wonders on the skin. It takes about 10-15 minutes to soak in the skin so wait before applying makeup.

Try light herbal steams once a week too.

Important things to remember about acne....

NEVER EVER EVER USE OR DO....

Use harsh toners on the skin. A lot of ppl think they need strong toners. It just makes the acne worse and makes the skin produce more oil causing more acne.

Use scrubs and if you use a mask make sure its VERY GENTLE. Like a french green clay.

Make sure the lotion you use is a very mild and gentle. The shea butter is the best!

Treat ance skin like it is your new born baby. Its very sensitive and needs lots of TLC.

hOPE THAT HELPS.

tHE BEST SHEA BUTTER i FOUND that actually works is found at
www.aaasheabutter.com

www.supersalve.com has some of the best skin care products for acne prone skin!

[mgilleran@earth-co]

Originally Posted by Pynki

I apply straight TTO to any actual break outs I have. You could add it to any facial wash you use to help aso.

This works like a miracle!! I definitely recommend it.

[MrsMike]

I truly hate acne. I've been battling it since I was 10 years old. I'll be 30 in August. The only thing that really cured me was pregnancy. A few months after my son was born, it came back. It even came back on my back and chest, something I haven't had to deal with for about 4 years. I haven't tried oral homeopathic remedies because I haven't found one that can really pinpoint my problem and I don't want to make things worse. I have tried Nelson's homeopathic ance gel and didn't notice any difference. I've begun an all-out war on my acne and I'm determined to make it go away. I am sick and freakin' tired of having to wear shirts with collars that come up to my neck and sleeves to cover my shoulders when it's 95 degrees out. I have a lot of cute tank tops and sundresses and I'm determined to wear them, dammit! I'll be a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding this summer. The dress is strapless and shows a lot of back. So...........I'm using a new method.
First, and it may sound odd to you, but I told the acne that it was not welcome on my skin anymore. I'm one of those people who believe that mind has a lot of power.
I don't use cleansers on my skin. A few minutes before my shower, I use an organic cotton pad to swipe pure, undiluted tea tree oil to my face, neck, chest and back. I let it sit on my skin for about 5 minutes and then I apply honey to the same areas. Again, I let the combo sit for about 5 minutes and then I hit the shower and rinse it all off.
For a moisturizer after my shower I use organic jojoba oil. I find I only need to use a teeny little bit to combat any dryness.
I don't wash my face throughout the day. If I really feel the need to, I'll splash my face with some cold water.
At night, I use plain old witch hazel as a toner/cleanser and that's it.
It has taken a few weeks, but I am definitely seeing results. Oh, and I use the TTO for spot treatments, too. I get whiteheads every few days. I find that dabbing straight TTO on the whitehead will make it disappear, almost immediately, 70% of the time.
Good luck. I know how much acne hurts.

[Jojo F.]

Acne and me are not friends!! Grrrrr. I have cycstic acne and the occassional small little pimples. Went the over the counter and prescription route with no luck.

What has worked for me-
-NO gluten
-NO dairy
-fermented foods and drinks- sauerkraut, water kefir, kombucha, etc.
-wash with the Oil Cleanse Method once a day, this includes a very light steam. My oils are castor-drying and great for acne- jojoba, rose hip seed oil, EV olive oil, lavender EO, calendula EO, and a bit of lemongrass EO. Some other EOs I would like to add are violet and pansie- also great for skin problems.
-at night an aspirin and raw honey mask- I leave this on for as long as possible and do as many times a week as I like/need.
-if I don't use the oil cleanse method I use Oyin's black soap foaming cleanser- also has honey, lavender, and calendula in it- great for acne.
-moisturize with jojoba oil- just rubbed onto hands then patted gently onto my face
-TTO on the pimple itself

It's better to try to wash your face less, just like your hair.
I truly believe that acne shows there is inflammation on the inside. There is imbalance. Your skin is an eliminatory organ and when things are not going right it shows on the skin. This is the main reason why I tried cutting out gluten and dairy. Not only did my face clear up but many other problems I had been having for many painful years dissappeared.

[jenholle]

You ladies are wonderful! I am going to try Chakra's method first and see how that goes. Thanks SO much!!!

Jenny

[Chakra]

A friend told Dr Mercola has some good information on acne on his site. Treating it through diet.

[sprouthead]

my acne seems to be finally going away now that i'm trying to wash it and treat it less- i think the more i did just made it worse. now i wash w/ raw honey at night, put diluted tto on my zits (pure tto aggravated my acne), and i moisturize w/ one drop of jojoba oil. in the morning i rinse my face w/ just lukewarm water, apply more diluted tto to my zits, and use cetaphil moisturizer (just because i want something noncomodogenic (is that the word?) w/ an spf). my acne's really calmed down for the first time in years and overall it just looks much less red and irritated.

good luck!

[jennyfah]

Hi there! I didn't read the posts super carefully so I don't know if this has been mentioned, but ACV is highly recommended by a lot of people (me included) for acne. You can use it as a toner---the smell is a bit off-putting, but once it dries it's fine---or ingest it, a tablespoon or so, mixed with 8 ounces of water.

I've also had good success with an aspirin mask. Aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, but in a very inexpensive form. Just dissolve a few tablets with water to make a paste, let it dry in your skin, and rinse. I don't know how much of the acid would be absorbed through the skin, but it surely can't be worse than Proactiv or other OTC acne treatments (all of which I think I have tried).

The aspirin mask is also very good for spot treatments, as it seems to reduce inflammation. I also like TTO for spot treatments.

Peace,
Jen
battling the zits for 15+ years. Yikes!

[crosscat]

Many thanks to those who've suggested honey for acne in this thread. I tried it a few days ago and I'm having dramatic results. I'm really thankful, as I am pregnant and want to avoid anything that could be harmful to my little one.

I may try tto as well, but I'm having such great results with honey alone I haven't bothered so far.

[jyurina]

I have used the honey and it works wonderfully-but if I don't wash my hair at the same time i end up with sticky hairline no matter how careful I am. But I have used something new and I am officially addicted to teh stuff. I have ordered a bunch of stuff from Oyin Handmade. They are the Funk Butter people The Black African Soap cleanser is magic. I have been using it in conjunction with their Whipped Shea butter and my skin is dramatically different. I have had nasty adult onset acne since my daughter was born and have tried many things with limited success. This works-really really well. And the products are handmade by people that return your e-mails. And there are no weird ingredients.

[PatienceAndLove]

Honey, Apple Cider Vinegar and calendula lotion (I like weleda or california baby)
I use the nelson's acne gel for spot treatments as well.