Get Clear Skin Using Home Remedies

Many people overlook the importance of good skincare until they have blemishes, acne, or dark spots. Skin is your largest organ and it protects you from UV radiation, supports your inner organs, and acts as a barrier from the outside environment. It contains nerve endings, fights infections, and helps maintain body temperature.[1] By treating your skin with homemade remedies, you can fight acne and correct dark spots. There are many remedies you can utilize to achieve healthy, clear skin.

Steps

Learning About Skin Conditions

  1. Understand what acne is. If your reason for wanting clear skin is because of acne, learn about the condition. Your skin has a large number of glands and ducts (pores) surrounding hair follicles. Hair follicles or pores can get clogged with dried sebum (a natural skin oil), skin debris, bacteria, or dead skin cells. This causes acne, which can appear on your face, back, neck, shoulders, and chest.[2] Acne includes blackheads (open comedones), whiteheads (closed comedones), pimples (pus-filled pores), pustules (large pimples), cysts, and abscesses. Cysts and abscesses are the deepest and most severe form of acne.[3]
    • Acne usually begins during puberty because hormones, especially testosterone, increase and stimulate sebum production.[4]
    • Acne can worsen from many kinds of makeup, especially those that are oil-based.
    • Mild acne constitutes fewer than twenty non-inflamed blackheads or whiteheads or less than twenty mildly inflamed, irritated pimples. You can treat mild acne at home with good cleansing techniques. See Clean Oily Skin.
    • A trained physician or dermatologist should treat moderate and severe acne. Moderate acne means you have more than twenty to one hundred comedones or pimples, with fifteen to fifty being inflamed or infected. Severe acne sufferers have more than one hundred comedones, pimples, pustules, nodules, and at least five cysts.[3]
  2. Learn about dark spots. Dark spots can occur on your face from acne, excessive sun exposure, or hormonal imbalances. These brown spots result from inflammation, which increases melanin production and leads to hyperpigmentation.[5] Increased estrogen from pregnancy or birth control pills can cause melasma (muddy-looking splotches) after sun exposure.[6]
    • Wear sunscreen with titanium oxide or zinc oxide.[5] Avoid direct sun exposure to prevent dark spots.
    • Avoid dark spots from acne by treating pimples with 1% hydrocortisone cream to reduce inflammation.[6]
  3. Consult a doctor. If your skin condition, whether acne or dark spots, is moderate to severe or affects your self-esteem, see a dermatologist. Your dermatologist can recommend treatment options to supplement in-home practices. He or she might recommend hormonal therapy or over-the-counter treatments such as topical benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid.

Clearing Acne With Homemade Remedies

  1. Develop a natural cleanser. For a cost-effective, homemade way to wash your face, choose tea tree oil. Tea tree oil fights bacteria. Studies have shown it works nearly as well as benzoyl peroxide in fighting acne and has fewer side effects.[7] To make your cleanser, acquire:
    • ¼ cup castor oil
    • ½ cup grapeseed oil
    • ¼ cup jojoba oil
    • 15 drops tea tree oil
    • Add the ingredients together in a clean bowl. Whisk them. Store in a clean glass jar.
    • To use the cleanser, wet your fingertips with the oil. Gently massage the oil on your face for one minute. Wet a clean washcloth with hot water. Place the cloth on your face. Steam your face until the cloth cools. Repeat once. Wipe the oil off your face. Pat your face dry with a clean towel.[8]
    • You can also see Make a Moisturizer That Gets Rid of Acne on how to make a moisturizer to help you fight acne.
  2. Reduce inflammation with aloe vera. Apply aloe vera on your skin. Aloe vera is a plant with antibacterial properties. It works to reduce inflammation and prevents bacteria from infecting your acne. Using aloe vera regularly should improve the healing process. Be sure to purchase 100% aloe vera.
  3. Make an egg white and lemon mask. Egg white works to remove built up dirt from your skin and tighten your pores. Lemon brightens and exfoliates your skin. The citrus fruit also is a good source of alpha hydroxy acids and vitamin C. Combining the two ingredients gives your skin a healthy boost. To make this mask:
    • Gather 1 egg white and juice from ½ a lemon.
    • Beat the egg white until it becomes frothy.
    • Add the lemon juice to your egg white.
    • Mix together.
    • Apply the mask to your face.
    • Leave the mask on for thirty minutes.
    • Gently rinse it off with warm water.
    • Follow with a moisturizer.[9]
  4. Apply jojoba oil for moisture. Jojoba oil is an effective, natural moisturizer. Place five to six drops of jojoba oil on a cotton ball. Dab on your acne. Jojoba oil does not clog your pores but instead works to improve your natural oil balance. [10]
  5. Bring a glow to your skin as well as be acne free. Follow the most relevant steps for you above, then, for glowing skin, hold back your hair with a head band or towel, if you need to do so to prevent it getting wet. Rinse your face with water at a temperature you prefer. Take a spoonful of sweet, and tasty organic honey and spread it evenly on your face. Leave for 30 minutes then rinse or wipe off.

Correcting Dark Spots At Home

  1. Use vitamins. Vitamins E and C are particularly helpful in beating dark spots. Put vitamin E directly on your dark spots before sleeping. Open a vitamin E capsule or purchase liquid vitamin E in a bottle. Dab the liquid onto your dark spots. This will provide the skin with plentiful antioxidants to help even your skin tone.[5] Additionally, eat foods with high vitamin C content, like strawberries or oranges. This will help reduce hyperproduction of melanin.[5]
  2. Use natural products. Using products from your kitchen cupboard to reduce your dark spots is economical and often safer for your skin. Natural products usually lack harmful chemicals that can wreak havoc on delicate skin. Fruits, dairy products, and oils all have beneficial properties for helping your skin.
    • Using circular motions, gently rub castor oil into your skin twice a day. This will bleach your dark spots.
    • Apply green tea extract to your skin. This will give your skin antioxidants to help remove free radicals and produce healthier collagen.
    • Dab milk with a cotton ball onto your dark spots. Leave the milk on your skin for eight to ten minutes. Wash it away. Do this twice daily for six weeks.
    • Rub aloe vera on dark spots. Doing this once or twice daily for several weeks can reduce hyperpigmentation.
    • Dab lemon juice on your dark spots for two weeks. This works well for dark spots from acne.
    • Additional natural products that work to reduce dark spots include pineapple, honey, horseradish, yogurt, cucumber, potato, turmeric, papaya, and tomato.[5] Leave any one of these items on your dark spot for two to three minutes. Wash them off and after several weeks, your dark spots can lessen.
  3. Make a homemade mask. Creating a mask to remove your dark spots has two major effects. First, wearing a mask can be meditative and relaxing. Second, masks stay on your face for several minutes. This gives your natural treatment time to soak into your skin.
    • Create a mixture of raw honey and brown sugar. Mix 1 tbsp raw honey with 1 tbsp brown sugar. Place the brown sugar and honey in a small bowl. Mix together well. Store in a glass jar with an airtight lid. Keep the mixture at room temperature. Wash your face well and then apply a ½ tbsp of the scrub to your wet skin. Massage the mixture gently in a circular motion. Avoid your delicate eye area. Rinse your face with lukewarm water and pat it dry.[11]



Tips

  • Use noncomedogenic skincare products. Noncomedogenic products are less likely to cause acne, as they are formulated to not block pores.[12] This information can typically be found on the label of face lotions, sunscreens, and cosmetics.

Warnings

  • If you use certain acne medications or other medications, realize some medications can sensitize your skin to sunlight. These drugs include antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim; antihistamines like diphenhydramine (Benadryl); drugs used to treat cancer (5-FU, vinblastine, dacarbazine); heart drugs like amiodarone, nifedipine, quinidine and diltiazem; Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like naproxen, and acne medications isotretinoin (Accutane) and acitretin (Soriatane).

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/skin-disorders/biology-of-the-skin/structure-and-function-of-the-skin
  2. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acne/basics/definition/con-20020580
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/dermatologic-disorders/acne-and-related-disorders/acne-vulgaris
  4. ↑ http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=172367
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 http://www.md-health.com/Dark-Spots-On-Face.html
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.allure.com/skin-care/2014/what-causes-dark-spots
  7. ↑ https://nccih.nih.gov/health/tea/treeoil.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.onesweetmess.com/2013/07/02/homemade-tea-tree-oil-facial-cleanser/
  9. ↑ http://homemademasks.net/face-mask/by-problem/acne/egg-white-face-mask-lemon-oily-skin-acne/
  10. ↑ Michalun, V. M., DiNardo J. (2014) Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary, ISBN: 978-1-285-06079-8
  11. ↑ http://thekitchenmccabe.com/2013/11/12/diy-brown-sugar-honey-facial-scrub/
  12. ↑ http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acne/basics/lifestyle-home-remedies/con-20020580
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