Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Beating Acne Naturally

I found a great little homemade recipe that I've been using on my oldest son.  Now that he's been in his teenage years for a while now, the dreaded acne appears every so often.  So he's been my guinea pig.  I don't think he minds being my tester for this as this recipe works quite well and it doesn't involve a lot of effort on his part (smile).

Teenagers get acne.  Not every teenager experiences this but many do and various factors come into play regarding why they get it.  Hormones are the biggest one but also diet, environmental factors and gut flora can play roles.  Now when adults experience acne this is another story: hormones can still play a key role but gut flora and liver imbalances are the biggest culprits.  This is all one continuous cycle because what we eat, our lifestyle choices and stressors all affect our gut flora and liver and this in turn affects our hormones.

Changing your diet to include good quality fats (REAL butter, pastured eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, fatty fish like salmon), probiotic foods (yogurt, fermented vegetables, kombucha, beet kvass, kefir, fermented cod liver oil), water, lots of fruits and veggies (fruits and veggies are detoxifying) and taking out sugars, processed foods and vegetable oils can go a long way to making your skin healthy and acne free.

So as you change your diet you can also use this easy to make recipe for any blemishes that do appear.  You actually may notice an INCREASE in acne and other blemishes when you begin to make changes to your health - these are normal reactions and can be a positive sign that your body is beginning to recognize these changes.  In time this should improve.

In the meantime....

Tea Tree and Lavender Acne Remover
1 ounce jojoba oil
10 drops tea tree essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops rosemary essential oil
3 drops lemon essential oil
  1. Fill a small bottle (1 oz. works well) with the jojoba oil
  2. Add essential oils, cover and shake well
  3. Apply as needed to acne (be very careful around the eye area; like any essential oil, you don't want to get this in the eyes).
There are various manufacturers and distributors for essential oils. Make sure you're getting them from a good quality source. I love Mountain Rose Herbs (http://www.mountainroseherbs.com). They have wonderful products and also sell the amber glass bottles with reducers that are great for dispensing essential oils.  Young Living Oils are also another great source of good quality oils. Because I have included the carrier oil, jojoba oil, in the recipe this makes the mixture a bit thicker. So keep that in mind as the oil is a bit slower when dispensing. Enjoy!!