Homemade Acne Treatments
Look around the internet and you will see hundreds of homemade acne treatments being suggested. Some work great, others don’t do much and some are simply outrageous.
Based on what’s being suggested out there it seems like you can throw pretty much anything on your face and it will work for your acne!
While I am a big advocate for natural treatments, I only recommend them if they are scientifically grounded and have a proven track record.
Basically, for homemade acne treatments to work, they must meet at least one of four requirements:
- Have anti-microbial properties
- Absorb excess oil from your skin
- Withdraw impurities from skin
- Reduce inflammation
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I will present my top 5 favourite homemade acne treatments, along with information about why they work and which acne conditions best to use them for. I then list a few treatments that are commonly touted, but should be avoided.
Recommended homemade acne treatments:-
a) Baking soda
A common form is to use this as a mask. Mix a small amount of baking soda (50g) with just enough water to form a paste. Apply onto your face and leave on for about 10 minutes, then rinse off. This paste absorbs excess oil from your skin and also give some mild exfoliation to your skin. It works indirectly by addressing the root causes of acne but probably won’t work well as a topical treatment
b) Tea Tree Oil
One of my favourites- mix a few drops of essential tea tree oil into water to form a 5% solution. So if you were using 100 ml of water, add no more than 5 ml of tea tree oil. Rub some of that solution onto affected areas and repeat a few times in the day. Tea Tree Oil has good anti-microbial properties and some say a 10% tea tree oil solution works as well as a 5% benzoyl peroxide one, minus the side effects of course. A word of warning, do not apply undiluted tea tree oil directly onto skin as it can cause strong irritation.
c) Oatmeal Mask
Blend a handful of uncooked oats until you get a nice powder. Mix with some warm water and throw in a few drops of chamomile or lavender and you have your own oatmeal mask. Leave on your skin for about 10 minutes before washing off. Similar to commercial mud masks, it has a vacuum surface and draws impurities away from your skin and pores.
d) Honey Mask
Take a some honey (a few tbsp at most) and apply a thin layer to areas on your face affected by acne. Leave on for about 10 minutes and wash off with water. Honey has anti-microbial properties and as a bonus provides some additional moisturizing benefits too.
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e) Aloe Vera
This works best for inflamed acne blemishes and helps significantly with acne scars. Apply a thin layer to affected areas and leave on. Aloe Vera has been medically proven to work well on scar tissue and has great anti-inflammatory properties. This helps to improve the appearances of reddened acne lesions.
Methods NOT recommended
The following treatments get a lot of press time but there are some reasons why you should avoid these so called homemade acne treatments
- Toothpaste - Often recommended because it contains triclosan, which is antibacterial. However, they normally contain various other ingredients that cause severe skin irritation, that often leave your skin looking worse! My advice- keep toothpaste on your teeth.
- Lemon juice – There are merits to using lemon juice, but the one treatment I read about a lot is applying lemon juice directly onto the skin. Lemon juice is highly acidic, and will dry your skin significantly while damaging it slowly. Sure it may kill the bacteria, but it is definitely not worth the effort.
- Egg – I am personally bamboozled how this “treatment” even got around. Yes it has fantastic amino acids your body needs, but only if eaten, not if applied to skin. Probably acts as a good moisturizer and nothing else, I wouldn’t waste my time with this
In the end, be aware that even the best homemade acne treatments work only for mild acne. To avoid needing to use these remedies in the first place, you should focus on preventing acne. This comes through careful consideration of things such as your diet, certain lifestyle habits as well as some emotional factors.
Homemade acne treatments can only get you so far, and they do nothing to prevent you from having to deal with those frustrating acne blemishes in the future.