Get Rid of Your Acne With This 7 Day Treatment

Acne, zits, spots, blemishes, pimples, the reason my social life sucks… Whatever you call them, you’re more likely than not to suffer from them at some point in your life. And they’re not just for teenagers – many a post-15-year-old suffer from these nasty little (or BIG!) buggers. Actually, just a few months back my own boyfriend got a huge breakout. He’s never had any trouble with acne before, and now all of a sudden his forehead was just filled with them. (he’s 30, by the way, not 13). Luckily, there are so many things you can do to get rid of acne, and to prevent them from coming back. I’m going to share my one week long homemade treatment that I developed to get rid of acne and to prevent new pimples from occuring.

First: Pin down the reason for your acne

Now, when a breakout happens all of a sudden like it did for L, it’s a really good idea to think about the reason for it, before starting to treat the acne. I will soon be sharing my 7-day treatment with you, but often it really pays off to dig below the surface of your skin. There are many different reasons for acne, and there might be need for different kinds of treatments. So, if you suddenly develop acne in a way that you haven’t before, start by thinking about if there are any changes in your life. These can be more lifestyle-related, such as stress, new job, a change in diet, excessive alcohol intake, less exercise, less water intake, a vacation in a tropical climate, more exposure to fumes … But it can also be something more tangible, such as a new facial moisturizer or other skin care product. Even new glasses or your cell phone can cause spots, because these things might collect bacteria that is then transferred onto your skin. Many women also get breakouts as part of their cycle, and if this happens to you – you’re in luck! This means you have all the better chance to treat it, since you know more or less exactly when your breakouts occur. Then you can start this treatment one or two days before you know you’re going to break out.

Now, if you can see a pattern here, try to think about if there’s anything you can do to change it. Your body might be telling you something, and in that case, it’s a good idea to listen. And before starting with the 7-day super treatment, I want to share an even superer super-treatment. Water. Many, many, times the skin doesn’t get enough water, and that might be one cause for the acne. I know that people really prefer acne treatments to be creams and lotions, things they can put on their faces because that offers a more tangible feeling that you’re doing something for your acne. But believe me, drinking enough water can really do wonders. Around 2,5 liters or 10 cups a day is a good aim. When it comes to diet, you’ll want lots of vitamins and minerals – you can read more about the best vitamins for skin care here. You’ll also want less saturated fats and more polysaturated fats. In short, eat more vegetables and fish and less red meat and butter (I don’t want to take the red meat and butter discussion here, but when it comes to acne it really is something you should avoid).

Once you’ve changed your life and all that, it’s time to start looking at what you can do topically to get rid of your acne. Basically what you’ll want to do is treat the possible inflammations that the current acne has caused, and prevent new acne from occurring by balancing your skin. This can be done in many, many ways. For Lasse’s recent problems, I developed this method that will – hopefully – help the acne calm down. There are six steps to this but you can leave things out if you like, though the more you leave out the less effective it will be, of course 🙂

Start the 7 Day Acne Treatment

Here’s what you’ll need:

Daily wash
1. African black soap is a foaming soap made from, among other things, ashes from the pods of cocoa beans. It is fantastic to use as a daily facial wash and especially good in treating acne. Some people find it too drying, however.
2. If you don’t have, or like, the black soap, you can try the honey wash or the oil cleansing method. Or use the scrub mentioned below both morning and night, not just night.
3. Scrub Make this scrub: 1 part ground almonds, 1 part ground oats, 1 part green or white clay. To use, take a small amount, mix it with some water and scrub away! If you don’t have clay, leave it out, but it is a great ingredient in acne treatment.
Facial toner recipe
1. 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
2. 6 tbs infusion with green tea, basil and thyme OR 6 tbs witch hazel.
3. 5 drops tea tree oil, 5 drops ylang ylang essential oil
  1. To make the infusion, pour nearly boiling water over the herbs, and let stand for about 20 minutes. Strain and add the apple cider vinegar. Keep in the fridge.
Moisturizing
1. Aloe vera is antiseptic and antibacterial, and will work wonders to take down the redness caused by acne.
2. Jojoba oil – You should not be afraid to use oils on your face when you have acne. The skin needs to get oil topically, other wise it will compensate by creating more sebum which will cause acne. But you need to find a balance, it’s not good to give too much oil either. If you don’t have jojoba oil, try almond, hemp or olive oil.
Nightly spot treatment

Use one of the following whenever you have a large spot you want dried out:
1. Make a paste out of clay and water. Green clay is my favorite, but any cosmetic clay should do the trick. If you want to, you can add a few drops of tea tree oil.
2. Mix equal amounts of tea tree oil and apple cider vinegar, and apply using a cotton swab. You really don’t need many drops of this, but you can mix some in a bottle (if you have an empty essential oil bottle for instance)
Face Steaming
1. Make a facial steam with some herbs and (optionally) essential oils. In a large bowl, add about 2 tbs (dried, 4 tbs fresh) or more of the following: lavender, thyme, nettles, basil, rosemary, red clover flowers, yarrow, sage or peppermint (if you have some herbal tea with one of these, the easiest is to just add a tea bag). Pour boiling water over the herbs. If you like, add two drops (max!) of tea tree, lavender or ylang ylang essential oil. Lean over the bowl, adding a towel over your head to create a mini-sauna. Stay there for about fifteen mintues or for as long as it feels comfortable. If the water start to feel cold, you can blow some air on it and it will release some more steam.
Face masks/treatments
1. Aspirin face mask: Grind two tablets of aspirin, mix with water or honey, and if you like, some tea tree oil. Apply to your face, lightly massaging with circular motions. Leave on for about 15 minutes.
2. Microdermabrasion: Mix one tablespoon of baking soda with some water, apply to your face and leave on for 20 minutes. Alternatively, mix 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg with 1 tbs whole milk (see the recipe here)
3. Clay and yogurt face mask – Mix 1 part yogurt with 1 part clay. Apply to face and leave on for about 15 minutes, before the mask has completely dried. Wash off with warm water.
4. Salt: Mix 1 tsp finely ground salt with about 1-2 tsp honey, depending on how runny the honey is. Apply to face and neck and leave on for about 10-15 minutes.

Phew, it’s quite an excessive list. Remember, you can skip some steps if it feels like too much! Well, anyway, here’s how you go about it: