Useful Natural Home Remedies for Acne Skin

If you suffer from acne, you’re not alone. This problem is one of the most common skin conditions, affecting an approximate 50 million people in the United States alone. It can be minor, with the occasional blackhead, white head, or pimple, ruining plans for a date or special occasion. Or it can be severe enough to cause you to want to hide out in your house and never face the world again.

You probably feel like you’ve tried every single skin treatment on the market; the cost can become prohibitive, and the results are often hit-or-miss. You might be at the point where you’re looking for a natural remedy that you can make at home, but do these remedies really work? There are so many recipes online, you may be utterly confused about where to start. After all, you don’t want to spend more on a natural remedy that you make at home than you’ve already spent on other treatments.

Don’t despair; we’ve got you covered. Try the following recipes to treat your acne naturally at home. You should be able to find a natural skin treatment on this list that works for you.

Apple Cider Vinegar Treatment

Since we’re dealing with a condition that is caused mainly by bacteria that accumulate in your sebaceous glands when you produce excess sebum (an oily substance generated by your skin), apple cider vinegar is an excellent natural remedy to combat the issue due to its ability to fight bacteria and inflammation. It also contains lactic acid, which aids in the healing of scars. Best of all, a skin treatment using apple cider vinegar dries up the excess oil that is often the culprit in the development of pimples. That’s a lot of bang for your buck when you consider that you can get a bottle of organic apple cider vinegar for under $5.

Here’s a simple, easy-to-make recipe for an apple cider vinegar skin treatment:

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons water

Directions:

1. Combine apple cider vinegar and water (use more water if you have sensitive skin).
2. Cleanse and rinse skin thoroughly.
3. Gently apply the cider vinegar mixture to your skin with a cotton ball.
4. Allow to sit for 30 seconds, then rinse with warm water and pat dry.
5. Repeat up to 3 times a day.

You should start to see results almost immediately for excess oil, and within a week for pimples and whiteheads.

Honey Cinnamon Skin Treatment

Honey and cinnamon both contain an abundance of antioxidants; a recent study found that the topical application of antioxidants to the skin is more effective in fighting acne than benzoyl peroxide and retinoids, the top sellers in topical skin treatments.

Use the following mask once or twice a week. In addition to its effectiveness at combatting blemishes, it smells and tastes delicious, so you won’t mind if it gets on your lips!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 Teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix honey and cinnamon together to form a paste.
2. Cleanse face with warm water and cleanser. Rinse and pat dry.
3. Apply mask to clean skin. Let sit for 10 – 15 minutes until completely dry.
4. Thoroughly rinse mask off with warm water. Pat dry.

Brown Sugar Exfoliating Scrub

Exfoliating – removing the surface layer of dead cells on the skin that clog the pores – can be done mechanically (with a brush or gritty scrub) to manually remove the dead cells, or chemically with an acid peel designed to dissolve them. In addition to improving the overall appearance of your skin by removing dead cells, it is also held by many homeopathic and medical skin professionals that exfoliation can make other skin treatments more effective because it removes topmost layer of skin. It may even improve the appearance of scars and discoloration, although there hasn’t been enough research done to prove or disprove this definitively.

There are a plethora of exfoliating treatments available, but you can make a scrub at home that will be just as effective, not to mention gentler than an acid peel. The key ingredients are things like sugar and salt, that create friction and cause the dead cells to be removed. The following recipe employs brown sugar (a common ingredient in expensive commercial scrubs), but you can substitute regular sugar or salt in a pinch. Use the scrub once every day (don’t use it more often or you run the risk of irritating your skin)and follow up with your regular skin regimen.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar (or granulated sugar or salt)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil

Directions:

1. Combine brown sugar (or granulated sugar or salt) an coconut oil. Mix until a gritty paste is formed. Be careful not to overmix; you want it to be gritty enough to scrub the skin.
2. Wet face with warm water. Apply scrub to skin and scrub, starting from the bottom of your face and working upwards in a circular motion. Scrub for 1 minute. Be careful to avoid your eye area.
3. Rinse thoroughly with warm water and pat dry.

Other Natural Treatments

There are many other easy-to-find items in your kitchen that are effective in drying up oil, refining your skin’s texture, tightening pores, and improving your appearance and, thus, your confidence. Some of them include:

• Taking an oral zinc supplement.
• Spot-treating with tea tree oil (1 part tea tree oil to 9 parts water, applied to the affected area).
• Spritzing your face with cooled green tea (steep it for 3-4 minutes), or applying it with a cotton ball as a toner.
• Toning the skin with witch hazel.

From the above list, you will undoubtedly find a combination of treatments to incorporate into your daily and weekly skin regimen that will reduce the appearance of blemishes and prepare you to face the world with more confidence.

If you feel like wanting to try a commercial product I can recommend only one. Zenmed’s Acne regime.

A note of caution: The suggested remedies for treatments of ailments are for an informational purpose. You may try them at your discretion. The information provided is not to replace a doctor’s or professional practitioner’s advice.