Best natural home remedy for acne – proven to be effective on my skin

I had tried lots of alternative home remedies to “cure” acne in addition to traditional medicine from different dermatologists.  Anyone that suffered from acne has heard about these home remedies from many different sources (online, friends, magazines and etc).  Many of these home solutions for acne had actually made my skin worse.  Putting toothpaste on my acne is the worst; it made my skin super red but it didn’t do anything to heal the pimples.  The home remedy that I am describing below is somewhat labor intensive.  But it is all natural and it really works. 

I mentioned about this natural home remedy for acne in my previous blog entry “Daily acne skin care routine for oily, combination skin”.  I will describe this in details with pictures to help you make this at home.  It was given to me by a classmate in college.  At the time, I developed severe acne that had lots of whiteheads, papules, pustules and even 1 or 2 nodule.  It was a very hot summer and my skin was so oily.  Although I had acne before, it was the first time that it made me very depressed about my skin.  I noticed that she had severe acne on her cheeks but it was disappearing.  I thought it had to be something that she was using and asked her about it.  She was nice enough to give me the recipe for this all natural home remedy that really decrease the severity and amount of pimples in a short time.

It is not a home remedy that will work for every kind of acne.  Here is what is good for: oily or very oily skin, constant breakouts and sensitive or very sensitive acne prone skin.  It is less effective against monthly breakouts that most women suffer from.  However, it does lessen the severity of the acne and the amount of pimples.  Overall, it helps a lot with very oily skin where it will visibly reduce oil production on the face. 

Here are the ingredients that you will need; I also have this in picture to make things easier:

1. A big deep cooking pot that will hold all the ingredients plus water.
2. fresh sugar cane (1 foot or 12 inches for each serving)
3. fresh lemon peel (1 whole lemon peel for each serving)
4. Dried licorice slice, a Chinese herbal ingredient.  It can be bought at any herbal medicine shop and almost all of them have it in stock.  If you live in Southern California like me, you will be able to go to lots of Chinese herbal medicine shops.  These include Tak Shing Hong which has many shops located in the local Chinese community in Monterey Park, Rowland Heights and Los Angeles area.  You can also get them on online at Amazon. (12 pieces for each serving)
5. raisin (dried raisins that are not flavored, not your sun maid California raisins)  Again you have to buy this from a Chinese supermarket (99 ranch market, 168 market, Hong Kong supermarket in San Gabriel to name a few in Southern California).  Any Chinese supermarket should have this ingredient in stock.  Look to your right for picture.  (12 raisins for each serving)

As you can see from the ingredients above, this home remedy for acne is quite labor intensive.  Well, I never said that getting rid of acne is easy.  This home remedy recipe for acne really works so it is definitely worth your effort and time.

You put all the ingredients in a cooking pot of appropriate size.  It is easier to make a whole week’s worth of this home remedy and store it in the refrigerator for use later.  So that means 7 foot of fresh sugar cane, 7 whole lemon peels, 84 pieces of the dried licorice slice, and 84 pieces of raisins.  Chop the sugar cane into small pieces so that it fits into the cooking pot.  Add 21 cups of water into the cooking pot.  Turn on the stove and bring it to a boil first.  Once it boils, turn down the stove so that the mixture simmers for one hour.  21 cups of water is now approximately reduced to 7 cups which is one week’s medicine.  So basically, you want to boil down the water from 3 cups to 1 cup. 

Here is how you drink the medicine: drink it after lunch, this home remedy works best when drunk around noon time.  It also needs to be warm not hot when you drink it.  I just warm it up in the microwave and let it cool down a little bit before I drink it.  Here is what the acne medicine looks like. 

Home remedies for acne – things that will lessen acne occurrences

Acne has so many causes that it requires different treatments for different people.  That is why it is such a stubborn problem that is extremely difficult to cure.  Many people like me have suffered with it for many years with many unsuccessful treatments, over-the counter medicines and re-occurrences.  Don’t get me wrong, treatments are great things for acne.  But sometimes it is just not enough to get your acne completely under control.  Over the years, I came up with a list of home remedies / routines for acne that you can do that will lessen acne problems:

1. Develop a routine for your acne skin care, modify it and stick with it to see results.  This can be different for each person but most people with acne prone skin tend to have oily or combination skin types, click here to see my daily skin care routine.  You can see what I am doing to get rid of my acne and keep my skin relatively clear.  Feel free to change the skin care routine to better fit your needs.
2. Get enough sleep, at least 8 hours.  More importantly, sleep before 11:30pm.  Your skin will be nicer when you wake up because like our bodies, it needs plenty of rest to repair and restore itself.
3. Drink plenty of water during the day.  It is not only good for health, but it is good for your skin too. 
4. Drink one cup of water when you first wake up (no beverages, coffee or tea).  This should be the first thing that you put in your mouth.  It will flush out all the wastes that are stored in your body. 
5. Your pillow case should be 100% cotton.  Those of us with constant acne flare ups can experience allergic reactions with other synthetic materials such as polyesters and etc that can make the problem worse.
6. For those that live in a dry area with low air humidity should consider using a humidifier to add moisture.  There should be one in the office and one at home to provide you with more moisture.  When the weather is very dry, our skin will compensate by producing more oil.  Oily skin is one of the worst problems associated with acne skin care and must be avoided at all costs.  A humidifier will help you alleviate some of the oily skin problem.
7. Manage your stress.  Constant stress will cause more breakouts. 
8. Treat your skin gently when washing, toning, or moisturizing.  Acne prone skin is even more sensitive than regular skin.  Lightly tap your skin instead of rubbing is the best way to make your skin less inflamed.
9. Do not touch your acne or skin all the time.  Chances are our hands are dirty from work, school and a lot of other things.  You don’t want to add inflammation to an already infected pimple. 

10. Don’t drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes.  These toxins will make your skin even worse.  Your body will be burdened with more things to deal with once your take up alcohol and smoking.  Acne skin care will be even harder and more breakouts will certainly happen in the near future.
11. Don’t wash your skin more than or less than 2 times a day.  Many people that are suffering from acne also suffers from oily or combination skin type.  It is so important that you don’t make your skin produce even more oil.  If you wash your skin when it starts to produce oil, your skin will think that it needs to produce more oil to compensate for the oil loss.
12. Use only a few products at a time; this applies to the external medicines (over-the-counter) for acne.  You don’t want to pile on a ton of different chemicals on the pimple to help it heal.  This applies to the amount you are using as well.  Don’t pile on the medicine to the point that you actually see the color of the chemical.  Just apply a light layer on the affected area.