Acne Support Group

I had hereditary acne since I was about 11 or so, and through my teen years I thought it would never go away. Ultimately, sadly, I think what got rid of it for the most part was going on birth control, BUT along the way I found a few things that helped stave off some really bad breakouts.
Just for the record, this is only what helped me. I'm going to put it out there in hopes it can help others, but I'm not guaranteeing anything, results may vary, yada yada yada. haha, you guys know the drill.

Face washes:
I cut down on storebought products, and a lot of the time used a baking soda/water paste to wash my face. I would usually do this at night to wash off my makeup.
For storebought, I would only use two products: OXY-it's in a black bottle, and also AcneFree, in a white bottle. I've found that the only things that would help clear my skin were those containing benzoyl peroxide. Anything else would make me breakout, or just wouldn't work. Also, these two washes are what I would use in the mornings. I didn't use them both at the same time, I would go back and forth depending on the day, and which was in closer reach :P

Face scrubs: I always use homemade ones.
My favorite is mixing honey with brown sugar and scrubbing gently on my face. -this one is very moisturizing, so if you have oily skin keep that in mind!
Also I would use the baking soda and water, just simply with less water :P
You can also mix honey and baking soda.

When I dry my face off after washing I use a dry towel, and I pat dry. Try to make sure this towel is clean, or else I'd say maybe pat dry with disposable paper towels.

I'm not big on toners, but if you use them, I'd advise using a homemade one, I'm sure you could google it!

For moisturizers, I only use virgin coconut oil. I know what some people are thinking, why would you put oil on acne prone skin? The molecules are small enough they can sink into your skin and moisturize it correctly instead of sitting on top of your skin, building up. At least, this is just what I've heard/researched and it doesn't make me breakout.

For spot treatments I've found that mixing OXY face wash with toothpaste and letting it sit overnight greatly reduces size and redness of the big hurtful pimples, for others, I've also experienced it can bring some to a whitehead, making them able to pop.Toothpaste alone can work, just I've noticed not as well as if you mix it with OXY. AcneFree also has a sulphur(sp?) spot treatment that I like a lot. You can use baking soda and water as a spot treatment, it can get annoying though, because when it hardens it tends to flake off like crazy.

For girls-or boys too!-who wear makeup, try to go light on your foundation, especially if it's liquid...this stuff is like tar for your skin. Try using a mineral powder foundation if you can, or nothing at all if you're not planning on going out for the day, or at least not anywhere special. I use a higher end brand, but I don't want to make this too pricey, because I know how it feels to not be able to afford products you want to try. If you're interested in what foundation I use, feel free to message me, I personally love what I have!

hmm, if there's anything else that comes to mind I'll add it in comments. I greatly advise trying to use homemade/natural products for your skin and hair. Except of course for the two brands I mentioned above, because the active ingredient being BP helps me a lot, and I've heard it also helps others. If you're interested in homemade/natural products, put Google to work! You can find so many things out there. Anyway, I hope this can help someone out there who also suffers from acne, I know it can be hard to deal with, and takes a serious toll on one's self esteem =/ Good luck out there!
Posted on 06/08/12, 04:14 am