Acne is frustrating, let's face it. Whether you're a teen that feels like each new day you wake up with a fresh zit ready to explode to the point you want to miss a day of school or an adult who is saying "enough already, puberty is done and my forties weren't supposed to be like this!".
Fortunately, we have some natural acne treatments & home remedies for pimples.
As a women in her forties with a lot of stress and raging peri-menopausal hormones plus three teenage daughters, I wanted to formulate natural acne skincare products to create a healthy daily ritual for fighting acne that doesn't involve harsh chemicals, alcohols or synthetics.
These chemicals can not only exacerbate the exact problem you are trying to alleviate but they also fill your body with chemicals that can cause other health issues such as hormonal disruption, headaches, fertility, asthma, cancers and more.
Our Clean Kiss Natural Acne Skin Care products are not just for teens however, as many adults male and female alike suffer from acne on a daily basis or in sync with their monthly cycles or lifestyle changes. They work great and are safe for everyone in the family!
My personal experience with adult acne goes like this. In my late thirties and early forties my body was going through post-baby hormonal shifts and other health ailments such as osteoarthritis, hypothyroidism and PCOS. I felt I had to further refine my already-healthy diet as a result, and yep you guessed it, I removed gluten, dairy and sugars.
But the hormonal acne characterized primarily along the jawline and near the mouth area persisted with a vengeance.
Having studied organic skincare formulation, I immediately took to healing my own acne issues with topical skincare solutions that only included natural plant based ingredients designed to balance sebum (oil) production, assist with exfoliation, and to heal blemishes, dark spots and scarring.
What Causes Acne?
Acne vulgaris (common acne) occurs when a pore becomes clogged with dead skin cells, natural body oils, and a type of bacteria. These bacteria live on the skin and are called Propionibacterium acnes. If they enter and infect clogged pores, this causes acne blemishes to form.
But there is more to the story. When it comes to acne you need to really look at the whole lifestyle and health picture, meaning diet, hormones, stress level, and topical skincare routines. I've now also added sleep patterns to this list because if you are not sleeping 7-9 hours per night then you are raising your cortisol and stressing your body out. I hope you're getting the message here that it really is the full picture that needs to be evaluated in order to determine how to tackle an acne problem.
Let's start with topical skincare solutions.
Our natural acne treatment line, Kiss That Zit Goodbye, contains the ingredients I used to cure my own adult acne and will also work on both non-inflammatory and inflammatory acne. Of course, if acne persists or worsens by becomes severely cystic I do recommend seeing a dermatologist to find a solution. However, let's start with looking at great natural remedies for pimples.
Most traditional acne treatments contain salicylic acid to help with shedding skin and benzoyl peroxide to dry out the acne, plus harsh alcohols and often hydroquinone for scarring and skin lightening. Here we share a little about natural alternatives to these chemical counterparts and explain the natural ingredients we curated for the line.
Look for natural, clean and safe alternatives that work instead of chemicals in drugstore acne products.
Swap these four drugstore acne chemicals out of your skincare ritual.
Salicylic Acid
A top ingredient in many exfoliating acne scrubs, is a potent but unfortunately fairly drying ingredient. Available over the counter, it’s also commonly prescribed mainly for its redness-reducing and pore-clearing properties. For those of you who suffer from acne or oily skin, never fear!
There are natural solutions that are equally as powerful and – major plus - they don't dry out your skin: lemon essential oil and white willow bark. This oil is anti-bacterial and works to combat acne and hyperpigmentation while white willow bark manages the oiliness of the skin and is used as an exfoliant and an astringent.
Benzoyl Peroxide
Another popular acne treatment, is an ingredient with some very strong and potentially damaging effects. This ingredient is often prescribed to treat blemishes because it causes afflicted areas of your skin to dry and peel, essentially hyper-exfoliating your skin.
Thankfully, less damaging natural alternatives are out there: Tea tree essential oil (melaleuca) has the pore-clearing power to add the right amount of natural oomph to your acne routine. Tea tree essential oil is best known for its soothing, anti-bacterial and disinfecting properties – qualities essential to treating acne and inflammation.
Isopropyl Alcohol
Rubbing alcohol is also known as isopropyl alcohol, and has a drying effect on skin. When you apply rubbing alcohol to acne, it may dry out blemishes more quickly. It strips skin of essential moisture and leaves it dry, red and irritated. The burning feeling you might experience afterward is a sign of the damage being done to your skin.
Your skin requires a certain amount of sebum (that's the oil you're trying to get rid of) for protection and nourishment, and if you completely eliminate this secretion, your sebaceous glands respond by producing even more of it. That means more oil and more breakouts.
The longer you use rubbing alcohol, the more vulnerable your skin becomes to the effects of sebum and bacteria. Instead, we use witch hazel (alcohol free of course) in our acne toner and essential oils to heal and dry out pimples in a gentle, natural way that will help to balance sebum production.
Hydroquinone
This may be one of the more controversial ingredients in the beauty world. Known for its skin-lightening properties, hydroquinone is an attractive choice for many women looking to correct dark spots, especially those that come with age. But if your skin goal is overall evenness, there are possibilities that don't involve harsh chemicals: bergamot and chamomile.
Bergamot oil is derived from bergamot oranges (a likely cross between an orange and a lemon), and it improves the elasticity of aging skin and boosts overall luminosity. It rapidly repairs damaged skin and acts as a natural antiseptic, leading to overall flawlessness in the skin.
In case you need extra convincing to switch hydroquinone out for good, chamomile is another natural counterpart. Chamomile essential oil contains naturally occurring skin compound azulene, which calms a wide variety of skin conditions that cause unevenness in the complexion and inflammation.
11 Simple Tips For Chasing Away Zits:
- Drink lots of water and herbal tea to stay hydrated and to detox your liver.
- Take a daily probiotic to keep your gut microbiome healthy. 70-80% of your immune system function comes from your gut. It is your second brain according to both alternative health and medical professionals!
- Keep sugar consumption to a minimum. Erratic blood sugar causes hormonal imbalances and unhealthy gut bacteria to breed.
- Don't touch your face! The bacteria on your hands causes pores to clog and a breakout to occur.
- Never sleep with makeup on overnight!
- Hygiene is critical to kill those bad bacteria! Wash and disinfect your makeup brushes at least every month; use a clean, warm wash cloth every night to cleanse away dirt and bacteria.
- Change your pillow cases every 2nd day.
- Find a way to manage stress levels through meditation, yoga or an enjoyable hobby. High cortisol causes an increase in oil production and acne breakouts.
- Reduce local swelling of a pimple by applying ice in a cloth for no more than fifteen minutes at a time.
- Never pick or squeeze a pimple! Let it come out when it is good and ready on its own.
- Try a gentle scrub to exfoliate a couple times a week and/or an exfoliating tool such as a bamboo brush to gently remove dead skin cells. A great detox face mask is also a great way to purify your skin cells and you can try adding healing organic honey to really tackle acne naturally.
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Want To Know More About Clean Kiss?
At Clean Kiss we are passionate about creating natural skincare and body products that you can feel good about using yourself, and for your whole family.
From health-conscious, active mamas, to busy teenagers and dads, our customers love the experience of using our freshly-scented products that not only leave your skin feeling amazing, but ACTUALLY work.
Clean Kiss was founded by Family Natural Health Expert, Jodie Pappas, out of her own personal quest to find natural products for herself and her family that ACTUALLY worked. After first creating her signature natural deodorant, she went on to study Organic Skincare Formulation and produce a full line of skincare and body products.
Each product is created in small batches using chemical-free formulations that have been recognized with several awards, has developed a loyal customer base of Clean Kissers, and has gained some international media attention by Business Insider, InStyle Magazine, The Toronto Sun, Breakfast TV Toronto, Global TV Morning, CHCH Hamilton and more!
Visit us at cleankisslifestyle.com.
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