All I ever wanted for Christmas was clear skin…
Acne and I: inseparable since 7th grade. It requires pages to explain the myriad of treatments, lotions, potions and prescriptions under my belt. Basically, I’ve tried every prescription besides Acutane and birth control pills (and I will never touch those). Everything from drugstore cleansers to $100 serums have graced my medicine cabinet. I’ve even invested in at-home peel chemical peels, a Clarisonic, and laser treatments.
Natural acne treatments that work!
Beginning the GAPS Diet to address my autoimmune disease made significant changes in my skin. Unfortunately, my improved facial acne situation was still considered “severe.” I’ve been experimenting with this specific combination of natural acne treatments and I think I’ve discovered what is going to permanently treat my acne.
I went cold turkey on all my skin care products–albeit “natural” products–and have been using the following, homemade regimen for about a month. While my acne is not completely gone, I know with a bit more time this routine will cure my acne.
1. Oil Cleansing in the Evening
I was apprehensive about smothering my face with oil, since my face has always been veritable oil slick one hour after I wash it. So it took a big dose of courage to throw out my face wash and tried this method for oil cleansing. I love it! It removes all traces of makeup and leaves my skin soft.
Most importantly, my face’s oil production is normalizing. This is because–in conjunction with the facial oil I’ll talk about–it does not need to overcompensate with oil production like it did when I cleansed with soap.
2. Honey Cleansing in the Morning
In the mornings, I wash my face with honey. With slightly dampened fingers, I massage about 1/2 teaspoon of raw honey over my dry face and then rinse. The antibacterial properties of honey work to inhibit breakouts. Additionally, it removes excess oil but leaves skin moisturized. You can read more details on my post The Honey Cleansing Method.
3. Apple Cider Vinegar Toner for Acne
Mornings and evenings, I spray my face with a mixture of 2/3 alcohol free which hazel and 1/3 raw apple cider vinegar. The apple cider contains gentle exfoliating acids to calm acne and it balances the skin’s pH. It also allows my homemade facial oil to absorb quickly and evenly.
4. Homemade Acne Facial Oil
For years, I diligently avoided any skincare product with oil. After all, I reasoned, oil clogs pores and causes more acne.
Now, I’ve had the opportunity to research and experiment with holistic skincare. I am also privileged to learn from Michelle Ornstein, founder of Enessa Skincare, who is one of the leading organic estheticians in LA.
Oils targeted for acne-prone skin provides powerful properties to normalize oil production, reduce the signs of aging, and heal old acne marks. Only synthetic oils (like mineral oil) or some heavy (comedogenic) oils does oil-based skincare cause breakouts.
I share simple DIY Facial Oil recipes for acne in my free digital book QUIT ACNE RECIPES.
5. Honey, Cinnamon and Nutmeg Spot Treatment
If you ever visit my house without giving me prior warning, you might just see me walking around with dots of gooey cinnamon on my zits. This is my normal routine ever since discovering that this mask makes a super effective spot treatment.
I mix raw honey with enough cinnamon to form a paste, add some freshly grated nutmeg, and store it in a small container in my bathroom. I’ll leave this spot treatment on for a couple of hours. If you want to use it as a full face mask, leave it on for only 10-15 minutes.
6. Acupuncture for Acne and Hormone Balance
Before starting the GAPS diet, my health was so poor that I rarely got periods. GAPS brought my cycle back, but also delivered intense PMS. I’m talking nausea, headaches, and doubling over in pain from cramps. Desperate for a solution, I gave acupuncture a try. After two months of weekly treatment, my periods are getting better and better.
So how does this relate to acne? During that time of the month, my skin usually erupts into landscape of deep, painful cystic acne. Since starting the acupuncture treatment, I’ve noticed a marked improvement in PMS breakouts. I am going to continue regular acupuncture to see if my periods will continue to improve, and I think it will continue to reduce my hormonal acne.
UPDATE: Imbalanced hormones were absolutely the main cause behind my acne and cystic acne. After many, many hours of research and self-experimentation, I have learned how to balance my hormones naturally through dietary, lifestyle and supplemental changes. My cystic acne and PMS is now a thing of the past! I share all the resources and instructions to end PMS in my new ebook Quit PMS: End Your Menstrual Misery.
7. Enessa Clove Acne Control for Cystic Acne
Yes, so the title says 7 things. But I had to update this post with a #8 because I couldn’t believe I had forgotten this! I rely on Enessa Clove Acne Control to reduce cystic acne (the deep and painful hormonal acne). This is the only topical treatment I’ve found that drastically reduces the inflammation and redness of cysts overnight. I always have an extra bottle around because I cannot bear to run out of this magic potion.
Enessa Clove Acne Control is a proprietary blend of clove oil and other essential oils in a base of jojoba oil. Do not go out and by a bottle of clove essential oil and think it will do the same thing. As a matter of fact, putting straight clove oil on your skin will burn and damage the skin (speaking from experience), because it is so strong. The Enessa product may be a bit pricey, but it works… so it is a worthwhile investment for me.
[UPDATE] Michelle, the founder of Enessa, found this post many years ago and reached out to collaborate. Since then, I’ve had the privilege to learn about holistic skincare under Michelle’s tutelage. Recently, we worked together to create a package of my essential products for you at a discounted price.I worked with Michelle to create the Acne Kit, which contains introductory-sizes of the following products:
- Bergamot Purifying Cleanser, an ultra-gentle, morning-and-evening cleanser
- Tea-Tree HydraClear, a skin superfood toner
- Clove Acne Control, my Holy Grail product that diminishes cystic acne overnight
- Moringa Balance Elixir, a light moisturizing oil that absorbs beautifully
- Seaweed Bio-Exfoliant, a gentle exfoliant suitable for sensitive skin
Click here to get Enessa’s Acne Kit.
Why go the natural route for acne?
These homemade acne cures may seem crazy, but it is not as crazy as dousing one’s face in toxic, stripping, chemical-based products. Normalizing the skin’s oil production, using gentle spot treatments and exfoliation and (for the ladies) balancing period hormones through acupuncture means a safe and effective solution to acne.
Are you passionate about effective skin care without toxic ingredients? Then use the buttons below to share these tips!
Hi. I could really use your help!
Hi! I am a nearly 25 year old woman who has suffered with acne since I was at least 14. For about 10 years I’ve been going to dermatologists (who keep telling me that my acne isn’t caused by anything I’m eating or doing to my skin, it’s just “genetic”) to help “manage” my acne, and they have prescribed me all sorts of topical creams and antibiotics–from Azelex and Differin to Tazorac and Benzaclin, Doxycycline to Minocycline, and others that just aren’t worth mentioning. Even with ingesting and applying all of these toxic medications on my skin, I still experience painful, deep cystic acne all over my jaw line, around my mouth, and on my cheeks–things will get better, then worse again, better then worse…and when I feel like it’s finally clearing up for good, I’ll once again develop red inflamed cysts all over my face. I am beyond frustrated to say the least.
I would like to ditch the pharmaceuticals and try a natural approach to treating my acne, but I am terrified that if I stop using the medications and start a new regimen I’ll go through a withdrawal phase where things get really bad before I see any positive results. Frankly, I’m not sure if I could mentally handle that at this point.
Are my concerns valid? I would really appreciate your input!!
Hi! I am an almost 25 year old woman who has suffered with acne since I was at least 14. For the past 10 years, I have gone to dermatologists to help “manage” my acne, and they’ve prescribed all sorts of topical creams and oral antibiotics–from Azelex and Differin to Tazorac and Benzaclin, Doxycycline to Minocycline, and others that just aren’t worth mentioning. Even with me ingesting and applying these toxic medications onto my skin, I still have persistent and painful, deep cystic acne all along my jawline, around my mouth, and on my cheeks. Things get better then worse, then better and worse again…and when it seems like my skin is finally clearing up for good, I breakout once again with red, inflamed cysts all over my face. My doctors insist that my acne has nothing to do with what I’m eating or what facewash I’m using, that it’s “genetic” and I just need to stick with my medications. It’s humiliating and infuriating. I am beyond frustrated to say the least.
I have been interested in ditching the pharmaceuticals and trying natural remedies to treat my acne for quite some time, but I am absolutely terrified that if I stop using the medications and start a new regimen I’ll go through a withdrawal phase where things get really bad before I start seeing any positive results.
Are my concerns valid? And which of the above treatments would you recommend for my type of acne? I would really appreciate your input!
I have a clean diet and have been applying these suggestions for about 5 weeks now. I have little bumps, acne and cystic acne; I’m a mess. The first week I applied all these suggestions, my skin looked as if it was just about to clear up! I literally thought it would be completely clear within a month there was such a drastic change. Now, I want to say it’s about 50% worse than when I started. Is this normal? Do you think I can expect results soon? 🙁
I’d tried every diet remedy from here to Timbuktu, down to the point where everything made me sick, and I’d only eat meat (a lot of times raw) and a few select vegetables (mostly fermented). I was desperate because with each change, the skin would get better for a while, and then it would slowly start to go back to its old ways. The way it was for 15 years — huge, leaving purple marks, 80 – 100 pustules at a time all over my neck and back.
Then I found NAET. It’s not been a fast process by any means, but after 8 months of treatmeant, I can actually eat almost everything and the skin gets better and better and better. Again — I was on a severe GAPS diet and could not tolerate hardly any foods without setting off massive chain reactions in the body, always fighting the constant acne and skin issues. These are all gone now and would love for others to feel the same kind of relief from an NAET practitioner in their area.