12 Proven Natural Remedies for Acne

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.

Milk of Magnesia

Posted by Pamela (Houston, Texas) on 12/18/2008
★★★★★

I didn't believe it but a friend of mind share with me an article he had read in the newspaper about a man who used milk of magnesium to clear up a long standing bad case of acne. We both have been putting the milk of magnesium on acne break outs at night before we go to bed. We are both happy at the results as both of the problem spots on our faces are clearing up. Who would of thought it would work. I have tried everything on my face and there were always some spots that nothing seem to work. It works slowly but everyday you notice the acne getting smaller and smaller. Plus I am noticing that I am not getting the usual breakout of new blemishes.

Turmeric

Posted by Njay (Fargo, ND) on 10/17/2008
★★★☆☆

WORKED TEMPORARILY

I'm 40 years old woman. I have been having this pimples all the time on my chin about 10 years.(never had adolescent skin problem) sometimes a littel better some times a little worse, you know. But this time it was so painful that I couldn't even open my mouth and it had no sign to go away even after my period started which was usually the case before. Then while I was shearching for the "answer" I found this site. I have been having turmeric as the way I learned form this site, but divide by 4, so a little less than a teaspoon every 5 hour or so.(why take the risk while you are sleep, right?) To cure this things the taste doesn't matter a bit for me. At first I misread the direction and had one Table Spoon after the meal two times and changed to right dosage but it started to work only after a day. Painful swell was gone just after a day! You could literally see it was going down! I was amazed because I have been doing just about everything and was about to succumb to depression. After 3days or so my boil become just a.. well... pimple and disappointingly enough other small ones still coming up but it was not that painful and healed faster so I had gone on with great hope. it's been a week and a two days.

And.... this morning I was dismayed to find two potent pimples popped up around mouth over the night. Ok, I have been drinking coffee as usual which is less than 1 cup a day and didn't eat anything unusally greasy food or anything yesterday or the day before. I had 2 whisky before I went to bed last night but it couldn't have ruined everything just like that could it? Now, you might say it's just two pimples and I make such a big deal out of it but I mean, these people are saying turmeric cured their cyst and MRSA and they are problem free years since they found it, but it won't cure my stupid pimples? I'm from Korea and turmeric is known herbal medecine there too(though not so famous for healing boils)and this site is saying after a while problem might be getting worse before it gets better again because it's part of the healing process to build a harmony of the body or whatever but you see, it's my face! I can't afford to wait and see if my body's going to work it out itself as my face start to have all this ugly scars and painful boils, right? What they suggest is, against the advice of some poeple here, to lower the dosage instead of raising it. What do you think? If I stop now wouldn't it all go berserk? I am confused and hurt. It was working so well and what happend? :( Please anybody, any suggestion?

Baking Soda

Posted by Ange (Clarkston, WA) on 10/09/2008
★★★★★

The first time I tried baking soda on my face, I could see a visible difference in a couple hours. It took a lot of redness away and made the zits shrink. I'm really bad about picking at my face, and if I have one of those zits that doesn't want to pop, I'll squeeze it until it gets much bigger and redder...so this is a much better option. Not only that, but I had little bumpiness on parts of my face and those have gone down and in some cases disappeared. I've only been using it for about 4 days, and it's done better than anything I've ever used, including prescription medication.

All my zits are gone except the few that I had picked at pretty bad and those get smaller and less red every time I apply it. The first day I started using it, it also pulled the bacteria out of a lot of zits and made them form white heads right away so I could pop them and be done with it.

This is how to use it:

Mix one part baking soda to two parts water- I used 1 tsp to 2 tsp. and that'll last you at least a few days. Apply it like a toner- on days that I am able to not go anywhere, I've been applying it every few hours and have been avoiding wearing makeup to help my skin detox. If you can do that on the weekend or something, that will help speed the process. But if you have to go to work or school, apply it in the morning after you wash your face. Leave it on for 10-20 minutes, and then I put face lotion right on top of it. Make sure you use a non-greasy face lotion, like Eucerin or the generic version of it. Apply it again at night after washing your face. It'll dry your skin out a smidge (really not bad though, nothing compared to how much Salycilic acid dries your skin out) so only put it on trouble areas, not your whole face.

Also, avoid your eyebrows and if you have dark skin, you may want to start with once a day and see the results because it may have a slight skin lightening effect.

Detox Teas

Posted by Erica (Birmingham, AL) on 10/02/2008
★★★★★

I have been taking a red tea remedy that is designed to boost liver function, and my acne is nearly gone! I have adult acne, and have had constant breakouts, and I am seeing my clear skin for the first time in about 15 years! It is Get Clean (Republic of Tea), a blend of Rooibos, milk thistle, sarsaparilla, dandeliaon, chicory, burdock, and red clover. A side note, it also helps my irritable bowel issues, which are much less severe.

Milk Thistle

Posted by Erica R (Miami, Florida) on 09/25/2008
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Milk Thistle cured my acne! I'm now 21 and have had acne for a few years. After many trips to the dermatologist, I was prescribed Accutane which gave me acne-free skin for about a year. I then did acid peels which only made my skin worse. I was also put on birth control - that didn't help either. After lots of research, I finally decided it was time to attack the CAUSE of acne, and not the actual problem. For those of you who don't know it, acne is the cause of a poor functioning liver. If the liver is not functioning properly, acne forms (these are the toxins trying to get out of your body). Therefore, MILK THISTLE is a great natural herb that promotes healthy liver function by getting rid of the damaged liver cells, and creating new, healthy ones. I have not had a pimple since I started taking it, but be patient, it could take up to two weeks for you to see great results! Also, I take the liquid herbal extract - about 30 drops in a glass of water, twice a day.

Jojoba Oil

Posted by Cathy (Medford, Oregon) on 09/03/2008
★★★★★

For acne, coconut oil is not recommended, it will actually plug your pores and cause more breakouts. Jojoba oil is a long known remedy for acne. It is almost exactly the same composition as our skin's natural oil, so when you apply it, it will actually slow the production of sebum, which causes acne. I didn't believe any oil could help acne..but jojoba does..and removes wrinkles too..try it on the frown marks!

Jojoba Oi

Posted by Cathy (Medford, Oregon) on 09/03/2008
★★★★★

Selenium

Posted by Lori (Phoenix, AZ) on 08/30/2008

To the person who wrote about Selenium as an antioxidant: I am glad that Selenium works for you, but PLEASE be careful not to take too much! It can be toxic. Find out from your doctor what the max is. God bless!

Evening Primrose Oil

Posted by Randahl (San Jose, California) on 08/17/2008
★★★★★

This remedy, unfortunately, only applies to women with acne problems--however, it worked REALLY well for me. About one year ago I suddenly got a moderate case of acne, and nothing I did would get rid of it. Putting ACV on my face and drinking it kind of worked in keeping breakouts small, but didn't prevent them from appearing.

One of my friends had been in a similar situation a while before and recommended that I try Evening Primrose Oil. I did some research on it and lo and behold, it has anti-inflammatory and hormone-regulating qualities. I started taking one 500 mg pill 3 times a day, and it helped ENORMOUSLY.

I also would like to mention that being on a birth control pill like Yasmin or Yaz, combined with Evening Primrose oil, got rid of ALL acne. I mean absolutely every little bit. While on BC, I only took EPO twice a day, but once I went off of it, I went back up to 3x a day and my acne is still very under control.

Hope this helps!

Turmeric

Posted by Havilah (Auburn, CA) on 08/06/2008
★★★★★

I have had boils and severe acne since I was ten years old. I'm twenty five now. The boils spread from my face to my back and arms, and then to my thighs and other areas in that region. I was unable to find a remedy. It was very frustrating and painful. I discovered this website last year and have used several remedies successfully for other issues. One day I discovered the section on boils and saw that many people recomended turmeric. I started taking app. 7 capsules of turmeric every day. I purchased the capsules from Wal-Mart. They are very inexpensive. Within two weeks my face cleared up. It's been four weeks now and no new boils have appeared at any place on my body. I get compliments from friends and family asking what I did to clear my face up. The turmeric not only cleared up the boils but the acne as well.

Probiotics

Posted by Yvonne Vefik (Rocklin, CA) on 07/19/2008
★★★★★

After 10 years of suffering from food allergies.. and many prayers to God, I discovered Acidolphilus quite by accident. I broke out in large boil like bumps all over my face when ever I ate any dairy products. Milk, ice cream,cheese and yogart was elimnated from my diet. I constantly had antibiotic prescriptions from doctors for whenever I broke out.I was looking for an allergy cure and started taking acidolphilus. It cured my food allergies and now I enjoy ice cream and milk again! It took about 30 days to completely clear my face and then I kept taking it for a year. And it's cheap! You can buy it at Walmart. What I discovered after doing research is that when you take too many antibiotics, it kills all of your bad and GOOD BACTERIA. SO the acidolphilus restored my good bacteria to fight infections!!! HOPE THIS HELPS EVERYONE! Oh! I sugggested this to my young teenager daughter-in-law who had pimples and she said her face cleared up right away and now she is also using it regularly!! MAY GOD BLESS ALL WHO READ THIS!

Baking Soda

Posted by Lexie (Clifton, NJ) on 07/04/2008
★★★★★

I've suffered from acne for over 15 years and have been on accutane, minocycline, and every topical with no sucess.

This has worked - I've had great success with using Baking Soda as a facial cleanser. To use wet your face first, and create a paste with about 1/2 tbsp of baking soda and water. Gently apply to face, lightly rub for 30 seconds then wash off. I use tea tree oil on new spots if any. Many people use this method and have also had great success.

I hope this helps someone!

Zinc

Posted by Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 07/02/2008 490 posts

For all of those with acne - sometimes a zinc supplement will make acne better - a clue that you might need some zinc is white spots on your fingernails.

Turmeric

Posted by Donna (Janesville, WI) on 07/01/2008
★★★★★

Facial Acne: I have no idea why Turmeric isn't #1 on here! It is amazing! You can buy it at your nearest Tree Hugger Store. Like Basics, or Whole Foods. My daughters face was red, purple and bumpy. Just after 1 cap. a day for the past 4 days, she is almost completely clear already!!! I am to excited and tell everyone I know~every chance I get! The pill is a little big for my daughter, so I give it to her with a little yogurt to help it go down. I love you Earth Clinic and all its members! God Bless!