Friday 7 September 2012

Acne - no antibiotics

Weeeeellllllll.....

My background with Acne - I was grand as a teen, I hit 23/24 and ever since I've had terrible skin. Ragin!

I've been on and off antibiotics. I find they work temporarily and then it all comes back, so really they aren't working are they?! They kill the good bacteria in your gut which can take months to recover from and get back to normal. The pill didn't agree with me and anyway, I don't like the idea of putting synthetic hormones in my body. Like really, there must be a better way!

Noticing that my skin is seriously dry as well as having the acne, I thought I would experiment with making my own moisturiser, makeup removers, face scrubs etc. The idea being that perhaps the stuff I was using was drying my skin out.

See my previous posts on these...

Homemade Moisturiser
Oil Cleansing
Olive Oil for Beauty

I have noticed an improvement after switching to natural products. There was a bit of an adjustment period where my skin didn't know what was going on, but my skin seems in better condition. At the same time, I've been trying a few other things, so I can't quite put my finger on which one is working!

After a week in Spain, I'm sorry to say that the daily drinking was bound to be the reason for my breakout. So, I decided to try and cut down or at least not drink just for the sake of it.

I also:


  • committed to eating one piece of fruit a day. Stopped at a green grocer on a monday morning and bought 5 pieces of fruit to eat in work.
  • I've also been trying my best to add more veg into my diet. I love veg and don't know why I don't make more of an effort.
  • I've been using different oils to help the dryness in my skin e.g. olive oil, almond oil and coconut oil. I'm finding coconut oil to be most effective at adding moisture, but adding too much to my foundation was a big mistake! It slipped into my eyes - very irritating!
  • I'm taking a B vitamin supplement. I heard that acne sufferers could lack in the B vitamins.
  • I'm using my own natural moisturiser made with aloe vera, almond oil and coconut oil.
  • I remove makeup with olive oil
  • Make an effort to keep clean pillow cases
  • Drinking more water
  • Use 100% aloe vera gel if I spy a spot coming out



What I don't do:

I don't use any commercial facewash now. Just olive oil in the evening to remove makeup and splash my face in the morning with water. I honestly believe acne facewashes strip the oils from your skin and make you produce more spots. I always found them to be harsh and very drying.

Try not to put anything else on my face apart from my makeup

Don't use toner - I know this might be controversial, but I just think the more you mess with your skin, the worse it gets.

One last tip would be to try and control the amount of stress in your life. This really affects hormones, which can lead to acne.

I haven't had a breakout since coming back from holiday. I'm due to go away again, so I'm guessing it'll breakout again. But I'm hoping making these few natural changes will improve my skin in the future.


Have you found a way to combat acne without antibiotics? Would you consider ditching your antibiotics? Would love to know your thoughts below :)


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