I am definitely not condoning all of these treatments, as some of them are flat out ludacris.  But there is a new movement in acne care that suggests a few different things.  There are those who avoid supposed damage to the hair by not washing it, because apparently shampoos cause hair to become more oily, and apparently these people wanted to follow the same mentality.  But I will start with the ones that actually do apply.

1. Start taking a multivitamin

Your body can be deficient in certain vitamins and minerals, and therefore it can be important to take a good multivitamin for greater results and better health in general.  This will get rid of many types of acne, and if your multivitamin has extra ingredients like antioxidants, you get even greater results.

1. Flaxseed oil

Flax seed oil is high in omega 3 fatty acids or good fatty acids.  These actually help to nourish and properly moisturize the skin, and they can be highly beneficial to many.

1. Drink  plenty of water

With more water, you more frequently flush out the skin and body and therefore keep it free of many bacterias and toxins that would lie in the skin and cause varying cases of acne. 

Now we move onto the ones that don’t work out

1. Stop using products

While some products are heavy and would therefore clog pores, not all are this way.  You should use sunscreen to protect your skin in general, you should use moisturizers to provide the right kind of oils.  Essentially, you should protect and nourish your skin.

1. Stop washing the skin

If you don’t wash your skin, the oils and bacteria will build up every day and cause more acne.  It seems stupid because it is stupid.  You cannot make a problem go away by ignoring it.  Now you should stay away from those products that are too harsh or only dry out the skin as they will not produce results.  But don’t stop washing your face all together.  This can only cause greater woes.

I was thinking about this the other day, and honestly, my skin is ridiculously thick, ridiculously resilient, or something.  I know due to other people’s experiences and other people’s product reviews that a lot of products like Proactiv and others based on alcohols and benzoyl peroxide damage your skin and cause irritation, redness, etc.  I always had really oily skin as well.  But a lot of the moisturizers that were too thick for others interestingly enough really didn’t negatively affect my skin either. 

Some of my acne fighting habits have been some of the worst, and I’m referring to those of my teenage years.  I was the pimple popper, the kid who used rubbing alcohol as a spot treatment, all of that good stuff, and yet I never had the same side effects as the people around me.  That being said, I never had clear acne.  So maybe that’s the downside.  My skin does not react to acne treatments and alcohols….period.  It doesn’t get irritated, but it doesn’t clear acne either.

On that note, if you happen to have a more normal skin type than I do, keep in mind that these are never good practices anyway.  For people like me, we use rubbing alcohols and see no difference at all.  However, for someone with normal to sensitive skin, you might use benzoyl peroxide or alcohols and see your acne temporarily disappear while accompanied by redness, itching, dryness, etc, and in most cases it seems that the acne always comes back.  However, even with my obviously resistant skin, I’ve noticed that tea tree oil in particular has been highly helpful.  You should keep in mind your own needs as you go.  Obviously, there is no one size fits all solution.  But for any skin type, I can virtually guarantee that there are solutions that are guaranteed not to work.

A recent trend has suggested that you could actually use aspirin in treating your acne in general.  They claim that it can be made in the comfort of your own kitchen, and that is true, generally finding aspirin in your bathroom cupboards.  However, a bottle of aspirin will not generally last long considering how many pills it does take to make a full mask.  They do however recommend using an exfoliator and also using the uncoated aspirin.  They also suggest a moisturizing mask to be used before using an aspirin mask, begging the question is it all the steps or the aspirin mask that will truly make the difference?

But in terms of actual and theoretical efficacy, aspirin masks could contribute to healthier skin in general or at least more beautiful skin.  Aspirin, otherwise known as white willow bark, has been used in multiple natural products before.  It can generally be found in most acne treatments, especially those that have high concentrations of potentially irritating ingredients.  It calms the skin essentially speaking and also reduces inflammation.  It produces the same benefits as it would for your body.  The only difference is it is being used externally instead of internally.  In terms of actually fighting acne, it seems that it would be the other treatments they recommend actually fighting the acne.  But the aspirin mask might reduce the irritation associated with other treatments or past damage in general.  This benefit is not to be downplayed.  But white willow bark or aspirin can also be found in many over the counter treatments anyway.

Rooibos tea, native to South Africa, has recently become the next health revolution in weight loss, acne, and everything else….literally everything else.  I don’t even want to get into some of the benefits they are claiming.  The fact is that rooibos tea does have some elements such as being an antioxidant, anti-mutagenic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral.  Will these promote amazing benefits, maybe to some degree.  In terms of acne, antioxidants benefits kill of free radicals and toxic buildup.  But they really don’t do all of it on their own.  So it will make a difference, just not a huge one in that way.

On a personal level, I am a fan of rooibos tea.  Ever since a trip to South Africa, it has been one of my favorite tastes along with oolong tea, which is apparently supposed to be high in antioxidants as well.  But I don’t think of either one as the miracle tea that will cure all your woes like acne and weight loss.  I don’t think that for a second.  I’ve been drinking oolong tea since I was 14 or so and rooibos tea for a few years.  I can honestly tell you they don’t magically get rid of acne.  Mine on a personal level was at its height despite heavy consumption in my teenage hormone driven years.  It was easily worse than that of my peers, and really tea did nothing to reduce it.  So I am as you can understand skeptical to say the least.