If you are a noob to this whole acne game, count yourself lucky to have come across this post now and not later.
Sit back and take notes, I'm going to tell you everything you need to know to save your precious skin.
If however, you've gotten to the point where you are tired of getting your hopes up for the newest, most promising acne treatment only to be let down... again. You're in good company, I've totally been there, staring at the bottles, trying to figure out which ingredients would annihilate my pimples and give me clear skin that I desperately wanted.
I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that this was a problem for me for so many years. My bad skin began in the appropriate high school years and progressed into what they call "Adult Acne" which is sad, really. Us adults have enough to worry about... I mean we've got debt, expanding waistlines, wrinkles, graying hair... throw acne into the mix and it's not fair.
As I have mentioned in my previous posts, I had an epiphany. I noticed that I was attracted to the products that emphasized their "natural ingredients". Which makes sense, I mean do you really WANT to knowingly put harsh and quite frankly, nasty chemicals on your skin, let alone your precious face?
The products advertising natural ingredients will appeal to your sensible and sensitive side; too bad they are luring you into their trap again. Because once you take a closer look at the ingredient list, you'll find that these products are still FULL of non-natural, harmful chemicals.
The same chemicals that do more harm than good.
Obviously I have what most would call a strong resentment against acne.
It's been my longtime (unwanted) companion until I was 27 years old. But I can't totally blame the condition when my own bad habits helped perpetuate its existence.
I once considered myself an expert pimple popper, reigning champ actually. I was also constantly racked with anxiety, meaning my hands would automatically drift to my face, reading it like I was blind and my breakouts were lines of braille.
That's a dangerous mix, bad habits and bad products.
Looking back now, it's no surprise that I struggled with breakouts for so long.
Let me show you how to make your own fusion of effective oils, that you can customize to fit your own needs, that has ZERO chemicals, and is 100% natural.
Best of all, it will cost you a lot less than what you're spending on the brilliantly advertised synthetic products. I'll also help you identify bad habits that do nothing but encourage more breakouts.
HABITS YOU NEED TO ADOPT
By applying these habits everyday in addition to using essential oils in your skincare routine, you'll see a reduction in breakouts and eventually clear skin EVERYDAY.
-Quit using products that contain ingredients you can't pronounce.
-Remove makeup EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.
-Ideally you shouldn't even wear makeup, but if you do, I highly suggest using all natural makeup.
-If you wear makeup, clean your brushes each week and replace sponges after each use.
-Quit touching your face frequently and popping zits/pimples.
-Avoid applying hair products close to your hairline/neck.
-Wash your pillowcases every week and use fresh towels every day.
-Use all-natural detergent to avoid skin-irritating ingredients found in normal detergents.
-Be strict with your skincare routine. Keep it regular, everyday, don't give up.
-Don't use products containing alcohol.
They dry your skin and ultimately cause your skin to overproduce sebum (oil).
-Try to eat more foods that are high in antioxidants, vitamin C & Omega 3 oil.
(Blueberries, goji berries, broccoli, kale/spinach, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, red bell peppers, pistachios, almonds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, water, water, water, water ;) )
ESSENTIAL OILS YOU NEED AND WHY
Tea Tree Oil
You probably recognize this one from companies advertising it's presence in their products (I can assure you, it makes up a small percentage of it). They will never be as good as the real thing. Tea tree oil is anti-microbial and anti-fungal, making it effective for treating mild to moderate acne.
Buy yourself some therapeutic grade, organic tea tree oil and apply 2-3 drops on a cotton ball and apply to affected area. If you find that this method is too harsh and drying on your skin, I highly suggest diluting it with equal parts or more of jojoba oil.
Also you can add 20 drops of tea tree oil to a spray bottle filled with water and spritz on your face and body for a refreshing way to fight breakouts.
Lavender
If you think your acne is stress related, lavender should be your go-to oil. Both for it's scent and it's ability to treat zits. Lavender is well known for it's ability to make you relaxed.
Diffusing lavender in your house is a terrific way to unwind from a long stressful day. I love to put some drops into a hot bath, it's the best way to make a nice bath even better. You can also keep the small bottle in your purse or car and apply a couple drops to your wrists, rub them together and inhale, this is a great way to quickly calm yourself if you're in a stressful situation like being stuck in traffic or studying for an exam.
Inhaling lavender will also help to give you a great night's sleep, this helps your skin (and health) immensely!
Now that you're using it to de-stress, you can also apply it to your face to fight breakouts. Lavender is anti-microbial and an anti-oxidant. It treats acne, heals dry skin and reduces the appearance of dark spots and scars caused by acne. In my own experience, lavender is quite drying for my skin when applied by itself so I suggest applying a mixture of 1 drop lavender mixed with 2 drops avocado oil or jojoba oil and applying that to the affected area every night. (I say at night because the lavender scent will help you sleep too.)
Rosemary
Rosemary also has benefits when inhaled, except that rosemary will energize you and improve your memory and mental sharpness. Also like lavender, rosemary is really beneficial when applied to your skin. Rosemary reduces excess oil on your skin and fights inflammation. It also improves cell regeneration, that means fading your scars and giving you a more even skin tone.
Rosemary is very potent. You should dilute it with jojoba oil before applying it to your face. I suggest mixing 1 drop rosemary oil with 2 drops jojoba oil and applying it to the affected area in the morning after cleansing. (I say in the morning because the rosemary scent will energize you.)
Lemongrass
Lemongrass is the repairing oil. It has vitamin A which boosts cell repair and regeneration. Lemongrass also has vitamin E, so it removes acne spots and fades scars from previous breakouts.
If your skin is finally done breaking out but your left with marks and scars from the ghosts of pimples past, add 3 drops of lemongrass oil to 6 drops of avocado oil and you'll see fresh new skin cells with little to no scars.
Frankincense
You'll notice that I will be suggesting this oil for almost every ailment I discuss in this series on essential oils, and that's because it's just amazing and I think everyone should have it in their medicine cabinet.
Frankincense oil helps with the repairing of acne. Much like lemongrass, frankincense will fade your scars and reduce the red marks. But it also will quite effectively speed up the healing process.
Also if you find yourself with a particularly painful pimple, you can apply frankincense directly onto it, frankincense is gentle on your skin and it is a natural pain reliever.
TRY THESE MIXTURES
In A 2 Oz. Glass Container, Combine These Oils For A Mixture That Will Last You About 1 Month. After 3 Weeks Of Applying Everyday, Assess Your Skin's Condition And Make Any Tweaks Needed.
For New Breakouts:
Fill half of the bottle with Jojoba Oil
Add 10 drops Tea Tree Oil
Add 5 drops Rosemary Oil
Add 10 drops Frankincense Oil
For Treating Stress-Related Breakouts:
Fill 1/2 of the bottle with Jojoba Oil
Add 10 drops Lavender Oil
Add 10 drops Frankincense Oil
For Fading Scars and Removing Red Marks:
Fill 1/2 of the bottle with Avocado Oil
Add 15 drops Frankincense Oil
Add 10 drops Lemongrass Oil
Add 5 drops Rosemary Oil
If you're still reading then congratulations, you've stumbled upon the best tip yet!
You can apply these oil combinations as spot treatments, or as moisturizers, but without a doubt I'm telling you this:
You've gotta try using them as oil cleansers.
Here's How:
STEP ONE
(WITH CLEAN HANDS!!!)
Apply a quarter-sized amount of the oil mixture to your face and neck- obviously avoiding your eye area ;)
STEP TWO
Massage the oils into your face and neck for about 2 minutes.
-Massaging your face increases blood flow and helps with elasticity.
-Massaging these oils into your skin on a daily basis will dissolve the oils that have hardened in your pores. It's chemistry people... like dissolves like!
STEP THREE
Take a clean washcloth and run it under hot water and wring it out a little bit.
Place the washcloth over your face and neck for about 45 seconds for a nice steam treatment.
-This helps the oils to penetrate your skin.
STEP FOUR
Rinse the washcloth under the hot water again, and in small gentle circles, wash your face and neck with the cloth.
-This gives your great exfoliation, removes dead skin which allows for new fresh skin to appear.
STEP FIVE
Once you feel that all of the oils have been removed, turn the faucet to the cold side and splash your face with as cold of water that you can handle.
-You probably want to skip this step but DON'T!! The cold water will help to close your pores, thus helping your pores from becoming clogged. The cold water also helps to sooth and tone your skin!
"Expert pimple popper." Lol - Good for you for putting yourself out there with a vulnerable post like this! A lot of people have this issue; most wouldn't be brave enough to admit it :)
Eh, that's not the worst thing to admit... is it? haha I don't know what it is about this place, but it's easy for me to open up in my posts. I know there's a lot of people here who appreciate genuine-ness! How ya doing Wade?
Definitely not the worst thing to admit!
I'm good, definitely can't complain. Btw, I'm stoked to see you're continuing to provide posts of value to this network. Keep crushing it ;)
No. As someone who has struggled a lot with the same issue, used also bio stuff and my skin just became worse.
Go to a good dermatologist and get to the root of problems.
Of course going to a dermatologist is the best way to get completely personalized care, but if you can't afford the appointments and the treatments, at least try a natural remedy first, but that's just my opinion.
i am quite sure the visit is not so expensive, isn't it? because most of the time the main reason is hormones imbalance. no cream or remedy will help :)
Very true. Diet can play a big part in balancing hormones too. Mind if I ask what helped you the most?
i was given two choices: birth control pills or external treatments. I chose the first. one stone, two birds hahahaha
In addition, it would be good if reduce a bit diary product consumption, but i cant help myself. cheese is life, cheese is happiness *sigh
Haha efficency is great :) yes cheese is one thing I have a hard time saying no to, I did successfully cut out milk though. Glad you found a way to clear it up!
"natural == good, unnatural/unpronounceable == bad" is not sound advice.
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-nature
@sneak you're a smart guy but you'll need to provide a link to better info than that if you want to argue the validity of natural vs synthetic.
How about the fact that pure, high quality frankincense oil has the ability to pass the blood brain barrier. This has cured cases of brain cancer that were otherwise inoperable. Not to mention the fact that this same oil doesn't damage perfectly good healthy cells like chemo and radiation does.
I'm curious what your thoughts on that are.
The other way around. I don't have to provide a link to better info - but you do have to substantiate your claim that things are bad if they are unpronounceable. I encourage you to try, but don't spend too much time on it, because you'll fail to prove a relationship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_hypothesis
e.g.: There are many survivors of disease out there who would take the argument that many "unnatural", unpronounceable things are extremely beneficial (and indeed lifesaving) for some people.
Well call me crazy then, because I believe that there's a reason for the rise in number of cancer patients... and I think there are many contributing factors, and they aren't derived from nature.
Why are you so against the notion that things exist in nature that are just as effective for some things as their synthetic counterparts?
It's a shame you can't put a patent on a naturally occurring substance, otherwise I'm sure we'd be programmed to believe that natural is better ;)
I'm using my own personal experiences with essential oils and showing how they've proven hugely beneficial to me. Not trying to start a war...
story of my life thanks for the tips :)
Keep me posted if you try any of these! I'd love to help you as much as I can :)
You're wonderful, Heidi. I admire your hard work and many great contributions on Steemit.
Wow, thank you so much for the kind words :)
great post. Love the use of essential oils.. I am an avid essential oil user and for the record frankincence and rosemary are my go to. very informative. cheers
great job
This is an objectively false statement.
Good post will follow you
The only thing that helped me was diet. When I cut excess sugar out of my diet I saw significant improvement. Now I don't eat dairy and am on a low carb diet. It's really helped and if I stray from my diet I do notice more acne popping up - even at 24 years old :/ . That's what worked for me though, which isn't to say it will work for everyone. I think getting to the root of the problem is the best way but obviously, natural oils and the like will help while you're trying to find that root cause. And the stuff that most people put on their face is absolute garbage! Good on you for spreading the word! Acne really effected me and my self-esteem through high school.
I just stumbled across this after I had just posted about starting the Whole30 diet to reset my skin! I loved your insight and I feel how you felt. I just stopped hormonal birth control pill after being on it for 10 years and my skin is completely out of whack right now! Definitely going to try these tips.
I'm also a newbie, I would love a follow and I'll follow back.
Thank you!!
-Jenna
Forgive me for asking a stupid question but how do you apply the oil mixture to your face from the glass container on step 1?
No such thing as a stupid question! Don't frame your questions this way, you're allowed to learn and that only happens when you ask :)
Lots of times the oils come in small jars with a top that acts as a dropper. Or with a fixture on the top of the bottle that only allows one drop at a time.