The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Carrot Juice
Posted by Tony (Toronto, Canada)
★★★★★
I notice drinking pure carrot juice everyday works to clear acne.. Also eating/drinking watermelon juice does the same... Now I incorporate these two fruits into my diet for healthy looking skin...
Castor and Olive Oils
Posted by Lisa (Marathon, Fl) on 06/30/2010
★★★★★
I have been using 20% Castor oil with 80% All Natural Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil for acne. That is the mixture for normal skin. Oily skin: use 30% Castor and 70% Olive oil. Dry skin: 10% Castor and 90% Olive oil. Before I take a shower, (no soap at all and a dry face) I put less than a .25 cent size on the palm of my hand rub together to warm and massage into face (or even on an incoming pimple anywhere on the body). Warm a facecloth with very warm water and place over (opens pores) do this a couple of times. Use hot (don't burn yourself, silly) water on the same cloth and wipe away. My skin has never looked so clear and clean. I have been doing this for about a month. Pimples/blemishes disappear quickly. Your skin will lose it's dryness/oiliness naturally and return to normal. The oils DO NOT clog pores, they clean naturally and will remove makeup also. ENJOY!
Castor Oil
Posted by Heather (San Diego, California) on 03/04/2013
★☆☆☆☆
Castor oil. Made my adult hormonal acne much worse. May be good for scars though, so I kept it for a scar on my leg.
Castor Oil
Posted by Lady From London (London, Uk) on 04/06/2012
★☆☆☆☆
I tend to get cystic type spots around period time, and I tried castor oil for the last 4 days. I've been cleaning my face with steam and oil first, rinsing then before sleep, I apply a thin layer of castor oil neat all over my face. I can't say I've seen a difference at all. In fact, I got even more spots on my chin and neck than before I used it. I can't say my skin feels or looks much better. Maybe I'm not patient enough, but I don't want to create more spots for myself than I already have! So, I'm wondering if it just might not work for me, or if I'm doing something different?
Castor Oil
Posted by glegs1992 (Weatherford, Texas) on 06/23/2009
★★★★★
I have struggled with acne for years and finally (at 42 year old) found a solution - castor oil! I found the cure on this website. I put about a quarter sized dollop in my palm then rub into my face. Let sit for 2 or 3 minutes, then take a hot wash cloth and lay it on my face for about 30 seconds. I repeat that 2 times and after the final time "steaming" with the washcloth, I scrub my face with the washclooth. I follow up with a cotton ball soaked in ACV or hydrogen peroxide then finally an oil free moisturizer. Hope it works for ya'll!
Replied by Tussy
(Clinton, Iowa)
06/23/2009
Replied by glegs1992
(Weatherford, Texas)
06/24/2009
Cayenne
Posted by Vinny (Atlanta, GA) on 05/16/2008
★★★★★
Not only does Cayenne Pepper & Aloe Vera prevent hair loss and help in it's growth, it also SUBSTANTIALLY diminishes and/or gets rid of acne where ever it is applied. I would suggest not to use the household cooking spice (if you can help it) only because I believe the Cayenne Pepper tablets are much stronger. I mix Cayenne with Aloe Vera and put it on my face and after application, I get more Cayenne Pepper to mix it in just to make sure there is enough C.P Be cautious that it does not go in your eyes as it will burn! In fact, after application, it will burn but you have to be strong! I usually keep it on my face for about 20mins so I try to leave it on there. It will burn but after you rinse your face with COLD water (carefully making sure it does not go in your eyes), you will be glad you did. After an hour or so, you should see a huge difference, if not right after your rinse.
Coconut
Posted by Haler (West Coast, Ca, Usa) on 05/11/2013
To substitute healthier snacks for our 13 year old, I lightly toasted regular grocery store shredded coconut in my cast iron skillet. Yum! I noticed, after our teen ate a teen-sized handful at breakfast - his acne was always totally clear by dinner, for a couple days. When he'd eat a handful at dinner, by morning time, his skin would also be all clear. We love that it seems now (3 years) to have cured our lethargic appetites and healed our lower digestion functions too. Our teen loves the cleared skin and renewed energy! Thanks for this site!
Coconut Oil, Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Libraloveshealth (Los Angeles) on 02/27/2017
★★★★★
Coconut Oil and Tea Tree Oil:
Works great! I have a preparation made with some coconut oil and a bit of tea tree(melaluca)oil mixed in. I rub it on my face at night after using a gentle cleanser. It has worked pretty fast to get my acne under control. I have always dealt with some pretty annoying breakouts before/during periods. I was taking clindamycin lotion and adapalene gel which helped but sometimes would dry my skin out too much/cause easy sun burns. I love how this works better and is natural!
Coffee Enema
Posted by Jacqueline (Portland, Or) on 12/29/2014
★★★★★
I think acne might have various causes because for me, it is all related to how clean my blood is. When I do several rounds of coffee enemas (not for everyone, but I have had great success with them, do a Google search for pros/cons) my skin will clear up completely. Knowing my body reacts this way I would self-diagnose as having a clogged liver and "leaky gut" which causes my skin to excrete toxins and thus get clogged and result in acne. It is much easier to use coconut oil as an ongoing treatment for cleaning liver/digestive tract (and reducing leaky gut for cleaner blood) instead of the coffee enemas (VERY messy and VERY time consuming! ). :)
Cool Water Rinse
Posted by Brittbritt101 (Little Rock, Ar) on 08/24/2013
★★★★★
I have had acne since I hit puberty at the age of 15. My mother always told me to wash my face with hot water to clean my face and open pores. Well, I still had acne as a teen and all the way to adulthood. My acne disappeared while on birthcontrol with hormones (don't recommend) as an adult, but with other side affects. Well I got off of the birth control and my acne reappeared. Especially during that time of the month. Well, anyways my mother called and told me that I need to wash my face with cold water instead of hot water to keep my face from breaking out. I thought about it and it made perfect sense. When we wash our face with hot water our skin pores are opened up allowing the release of oils and bacteria. If our pores remain open we will allow bacteria to re-enter our pores causing build-up, black heads, pimples and all of that ugly stuff. After washing my face with plain hot water, I would rinse with plain cool to cold water to close my pores. Now you can put vitamin E oil or coconut oil on your skin after the hot wash followed by the cool rinse. This will allow for the good stuff to get in there.. Gives you smooth soft skin. Well anyways, I have not broken out an any pimples, cystic acne, or knots on my face in 2 months now. I do this for the rest of my body also.. Hot shower.. Hotter than I can stand it followed by a cool rinse. No body acne.. No face acne.. all free.
Cornmeal and Aloe
Posted by Venise (Kingston, Jamaica) on 06/24/2009
★★★★★
When I was a teenager I had very very bad acne. I used CORNMEAL. I got a jug of hot water, washed my face before with soap and faucet water then soaped my hands then add some cornmeal and massage my face. I leave it on and steam my face with the hot water covering my head with a towel while holding it over the jug of hot water (he will have to come up for air sometime) I then wash the face with warm water. This opens the pores. I then squeese some of the bumps but try not to tear the skin.
After that I wash my face with faucet water and soap. I then applied small amounts of baking soda to this face (this will burn a little bit.) Sometimes at nights or when I was home for a weekend I mix the CORNMEAL with ALOE VERA and leave it on my face overnight or for a day. THIS WORKED WELL FOR ME. Be minded though that some acne may be caused by anxiety, in which case exercise will help.
Cucumber
Posted by Earth Clinic (USA)
★★★★★
In a blender, liquify a peeled cucumber. Apply the juice to problem areas. Also drink four or five cups of cucumber juice daily for a week. Doing so is said to purify the blood and lymphatic system, resulting in clearer skin.
Dandelion and Burdock
Posted by Linde (St. Paul, Minnesota) on 04/23/2010
★★★★★
I had an acne issue when I was in my 30's. The zits would be a collection of 3-5 small zits in one big bump!!!
A local herbalist gave me two tinctures to take - dandelion and burdock. (5 drops per day of each for the first week, then 3 drops a day of each for 3 months).
He told me that it would be a slow process. As I remember, he said it was candida that had gotten its tentacles into the bones of my face and it would take a while to get them 'weeded' out.
I didn't change my diet at all, I just took the drops in a glass of water the first thing in the morning. Sure enough, after 3 months I never had one of those big zits again. And that was almost 20 years ago.
Detox Teas
Posted by Aquarelle (West Coast, America) on 05/31/2012
Yogi Tea makes a Skin Detox Tea that has great reviews on many different websites (amazon being one) in it's use for acne. I actually made my own version (not for acne, but for skin-glowing benefits) which does not contain the green tea as I am caffeine free (as far as beverages go - do enjoy chocolate! ). I also added several other herbs which I found in an online article for skin glowing tea. Many of the herbs flush out the system and help with digestion, blood purification, etc... So this tea could benefit most. In the article I read it was recommended to drink the tea for 3 weeks then take a 1 week break. Yogi's tea does not specify this that I know of, but many reviewers on amazon give in-depth descriptions of how/when they used the tea for results with acne.
My personal version of the tea wasn't anything special, just all the herbs I could find at my co-op, unmeasured and thrown together. I would go high on the hibiscus, orange peel and honeybush (plus green tea or any other flavor enhancer you like)... But all in all, it's good enough to drink : )
Burdock Root
Cardamom Pods
Dandelion
Hibiscus
Orange Peel
Yellow Dock
Sarsparilla
Sassafras
Honeybush (similar to roobois tea)
Oregon Grape Root
& powdered Stevia leaves for flavor (or honey)
Also on my list that the co-op didn't have or that I thought I still had at home (but didn't) were:
Rose petal
Red clover
Nettles
Cleavers
Detox Teas
Posted by Lady From London (London, Uk) on 04/14/2012
★★★★★
For the last 2 weeks I've tried a great deal of things to deal with a sudden eruption of acne cysts on my throat, chin and jaw. I tried the lavender oil, ACV application, vitamin E, oil cleansing, Castor oil. Nothing worked. Then, I figured I will try something different.
So, I went and bought some Detox tea that has dandelion root, milk thistle and then I mixed in my own nettle tea. They are all herbs that are liver cleansers and blood purifiers. I drank 4 cups yesterday, and low and behold, the cysts have settled down overnight. There was one on my throat that was pretty persistent, and it's the one that has gone first. I have the scar now to deal with - so am applying Vitamin E to it.
it seems to be working so far.
