Adult Acne- Take a Hike!

As an adolescent I suffered from fairly severe acne for a couple of years. It's hard to explain what a psychological toll it takes without sounding too dramatic, but suffice to say it weighed heavily on my mind at all times. I was always conscious of what it looked like to other people (something teens can't help doing at the best of times.) I tried to cover it up with makeup even though my doctor cautioned me that makeup would make the breakouts worse. I remember feeling very bitter when he told me that, thinking "what else am I supposed to do?" Mother nature resolved the issue as I got a bit older and my hormones were more regulated, but at its peak I looked at my face in the mirror and thought; "if I ever get to the point where I have so few pimples that I can easily count them, I will never complain about my skin again." But time passes and memory fades.

For a long time I was relatively untroubled by acne. I believe that being on birth control played a large role in preventing it. Unfortunately when the time came that I no longer wanted to take the pill, my hormones rebelled and I ended up with terrible acne on my back, chest, jawline and forehead. "Proactive" was newly available via mail order at the time, and despite being a poor university graduate I shelled out the $75/ month. It DID work for me quite nicely for the most part, but my forehead always had stubborn "bumps" that didn't respond to anything. I only needed to take Proactive for a few months before my hormones once again regulated and the acne subsided. After that I learned to live with the forehead pimples that never went away. I wore bangs, and I was conscious to always use foundation and reapply powder so the shine wouldn't draw attention to it. Fast forward to present day....

I am thrilled to say that after all the years and various over-the-counter products, just when I am starting to contend with the fine lines of aging, I have gotten rid of the forehead acne! I have found my magic combination that does the job when nothing else would. There are two things I use, and both are inexpensive.

1. Every morning in the shower I use good old St Ives Apricot Scrub, available absolutely everywhere (I have the one with salicylic acid for good measure.) I exfoliate my face and neck for about a minute, paying particular attention to my forehead.

2. At night I use the oil cleansing method that I mentioned in a previous post. To recap; I mixed 2 parts castor oil and one part extra virgin olive oil. I added some essential rose oil for its anti-aging benefits (see my post: Rose Oil is Wonderful), but that's completely optional. I massage a quarter sized amount into my face and neck and drape a very hot washcloth over it for about a minute. I wipe the excess oil off, rinse the cloth, and wipe a second time. It cleans, re-balances natural moisture levels, and removes my makeup in one step. My face is left feeling glowy and restored. Contrary to my deeply rooted paranoia that oil would cause a resurgence of my adolescent acne, it has worked to help make my skin healthier than it's ever been.

So there you have it...my inexpensive, do-it-yourself cure for the most stubborn adult acne. I wish I had tried this combination earlier in my life, but I'm certainly enjoying the result now.