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For those who have been suffering from acne, you might be wondering if there is any effective natural acne treatment to help solve your problem, so that you would no longer have to rely on OTC or prescribed acne medications. You then might also wonder what the best natural acne treatment is.

Well, the best and most natural treatment for acne is none other than…. live a healthy life! Eat a healthy diet, be physically active, and learn how to manage the stresses of life.

Proper diet as a natural acne solution

Increase fruits and vegetables in the diet, preferable at least 2 pieces of fruit and 1 cup of vegetables daily.

Eliminate sugar and sugary foods because sugar makes the skin sebaceous glands more active and secretes more oil. These glands are easily infected by acne-causing bacteria.

Avoid junk foods, fried and oily foods, and dairy products, as they tend to aggravate acne.

Take vitamins and supplements. Vitamins that will help improve acne skin are such as vitamins A, C and E. You can also take garlic and evening primrose oil capsules.

Other natural remedies for acne

You may also try herbal acne remedy  and homeotherapy to help cure acne problems. To use homeotherapy, it’s advisable to have a trained homeopathic health care provider to prescribe your acne medication.

Last but not least, practice good skin care. Cleanse your skin well every day to remove dirt and oil as well as acne-causing bacteria. Exfoliate your skin once or twice weekly to remove dead skin cells and prevent clogged pores.

People are all the same over the world. When it comes to festive seasons and special occasions, we all will want to look our best. At these times, for those who have acne problems will be crazily looking out for the best acne medications to clear up their zits and blemishes in a couple of days.

But there are so many types of acne medication available, which one should you choose? Well, first of all, you need to recognize the type of your acne, because different forms of acne requires different types of acne treatment. There are different ways to handle the different kinds of acne, you will get good results if you get the right help.

Acne generally has three stages as it develops - a beginning, middle and end. The best time to use acne medication is at the beginning stages. In the early stages of acne, the pores will enlarge and create thick oils. The pores will be filled up with black and white matter, resulting in blackheads. This is what that will cause acne and needs to be treated immediately. Also, it is important to exfoliate and remove the dead skin at this stage.

Generally, acne medication creams and gels sold over the counter in drugstores can be used to treat all types of acne. Of course, some may find that these treatments work very well and in a short period of time.

If you have a serious case of acne problem, then you might find the OTC acne medications not working well on your skin. You might then have to take it to your dermatologist. Usually, your dermatologist will prescribe some form of ointment or sometimes oral medication to get your acne under control, or even recommend other forms of therapy to help relieve your acne problem. In this case, it will take some time to clear up your acne. So it’s best that you get help way before the day that you want to appear looking clean and radiant.

Even if you are 30 years old, you may still have acne problem all the time, and naturally you’ll be constantly looking for the best acne treatment. Which woman wants to carry the ‘burden’ of zits all through their life?

While there are many over-the-counter anti-acne products you can get from the pharmacies, serious acne problems may need to be treated with medical options.

FYI, the top three acne medications are the following:

1. Benzoyl peroxide

This anti-bacterial medication (antiseptic) takes care of killing the acne-causing bacteria, P. Acnes. It is both over-the-counter and prescription drug that comes in gel or cream. After you start using BP, it usually takes approximately 3 weeks to notice the changes.

2. Salicylic Acid

Salicylic acid is normally used to treat skin disorders such as dandruff, calluses and warts,  but can also be used as an acne medication. It slows down the cells in the follicles from cracking; this helps to prevent blockage. It also assists in breaking down the whiteheads and blackheads.

Salicylic acid comes in many forms including cream, gel, lotion, ointment, and many more. You have to be careful when using SA - must use according to the directions from your doctor or on the label recommendations. It may cause side effects if wrongly used.

3. Sulfur

This ingredient is common among soaps, washes, and creams. It allows the skin to peel and dry, enabling the breaking down of the whiteheads and blackheads. As with SA, you have to carefully check the label directions to avoid unnecessary side effects or complications.

Some people might be allergic to the ingredients mentioned above, so you’ll want to be sure you are not allergic to them before you start using. Anyhow, it’s still the best to seek the advice of skin experts for acne treatment that is tailored to your condition.

Oh dear, I’m down with a flu again. Am also having sore throat and slightly feverish. I must have got it from my mom, coz when I went to my mom’s house few days ago she was coughing and speaking in a hoarse voice.

Okay, may be it’s partly due to my own fault, coz I had been indulging in too much fried foods for the past week, hence my body got ‘heaty’. Oh, and lots of coffee, too. Yeah, coffee is considered as a ‘heaty’ beverage according to the Chinese. And in traditional Chinese medicine. flu is associated with ‘heatiness’ of the body.

Somehow this ‘heatiness’ is also reflecting on my face! Several zits sprouted since two days ago, and now there’s some acne marks on my face. I wonder if there’s a really fast acne scar removal cream that can remove my acne marks by tonight? Because I will be going for my facial tomorrow, and I don’t want to hear what my beautician who will be most likely going to say, “Hmmm, are you picking on your zits again?” Hahaha!

Hands off my face today!

Below is an article taken from the “Anti Aging and Skincare Made Easy” ebook (see picture in sidebar).

Talking of anti aging or anti wrinkle skincare products, the first thing that comes to one’s mind is vitamin C-based antiaging skin care products. These products work by enabling the synthesis of collagen (a structural protein that is found in skin). This category of antiaging skincare products is related to anti-oxidants. Anti-aging skin care products that are based on vitamin C are, however, posed with the danger of having themselves oxidized (as they come into contact with air during their usage). So some antiaging skincare products are based on the derivatives of vitamin C, which are more stable and less expensive. However, the effectiveness of such anti-aging skin care is not as much as it is for vitamin C based antaging skin care products.

Besides vitamin C, vitamin E and lipoic acid are anti-oxidants too. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble anti-oxidant that is found in human blood and helps in building resistance against infection. Vitamin E is also known to inhibit cancer. Liponic acid is known to combat the signs of aging very effectively by reversing the skin damage caused by the aging process.

Phytochemicals form the other category of anti aging skin care products. Phytochemical are special chemicals that are extracted from plants. There are a variety of phytochemicals that are in use today. Phytochemicals prevent occurrence of cancer of certain types; these include prostate cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer. That is why they find their place in anti aging skin care products.

Some B-vitamins like B5, B6 and B12 are also in use for anti aging skin care products.

The field of anti aging skin care products is vast and needs a lot of research. Though the currently available products are effective, they still have challenges to combat. Hopefully, these challenges will get resolved in due course and help get better and cheaper anti aging skin care products.

However, anti aging skin care products should be used only as a supplement to the natural ways of skin and body care. So, drinking a lot of water, getting a good night sleep, exercising regularly, maintaining healthy eating habits and keeping stress at bay are essential means of delaying the aging process. No anti aging skin care product can replace them really.

Hope you have had learned something from this article. If you want to read more of these informative articles on anti aging or acne skincare, you can click on the link at the sidebar and find out how to download the ebooks for free!

My Cellnique pro-sebum gel is going to be used up soon, not sure if I should get another bottle now. Am a little bit tight in money this month since I’m waiting for my paychecks, hehe.

But if I don’t get it now, I will miss the current promotion at Sasa. The original price of this product is RM139, offer price is something like RM99.99. Plus, I now know of someone working in Sasa, I can get further discount if I buy it through this person.

If my main problem is blackhead, I won’t be so troubled about it because, in my opinion, blackhead removal is relatively easier compared to whitehead removal. I believe my beautician won’t complain as much if she were to extract blackhead instead of whiteheads or closed comedones during my facial! Haha!

Of course, it would be good if I can get hold of a product that can treat both blackheads and whiteheads at the same time. Although I sometimes use pore strips to get rid off blackheads and whiteheads, I also understand that it may cause some damage to the skin when pulling the strip. While it may clean up the nose in 10 minutes, it does not permanently stop the formation of blackheads and whiteheads. It is still preferable to use a product that targets the underlying cause of blackhead and whitehead formation.

So, to buy or not to buy now?

I don’t get it, why at my age, err thirty something, I still experience pimple problem on and off. I blame it to the dusty environment, blame it to the weather, blame it to skincare products that cause my face to be oily. Other than that, I can’t think of any other reasons.

Fortunately, my pimple problem is not some serious case. I don’t need a whole range of acne care products or some best acne pills to treat them. I think all my skin need is extra tender loving care from me, haha!

So what I do in the evening is, when I apply my SIMPLE soothing facial toner, I add 3-4 drops of The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil onto the cotton pad damped with the toner. I first wipe it all over my face, and then lightly pat the still damped cotton pad on affected areas more intensely. This helps remove traces of oil and dirt from my face, and at the same time it’s cooling and hydrating. This is followed by application of night moisturizer.

I know it’s probably more convenient just to get hold of a bottle of The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil Toner, but I’m just trying to be resourceful, hehe, using whatever I have on my dressing table. Well, after doing this for more than a week, it seems to work for me so far. My pimples are under control now.

I started using Garnier’s Age-Lift anti-wrinkle day cream more than a month ago, and now decided to switch back to L’Oreal’s Revitalift anti-wrinkle firming day cream (I refer it as ‘Gong Li cream’ when I talk to hubby). Why?

Firstly, I don’t really like its smell, it’s so fruity. May be it’s the blueberry extract ingredient?

Secondly, my face seemed to become more oily than before since I started using it, even though its texture is lighter than Revitalift. And it didn’t give me the instant glowing complexion after application, as what I have had with Revitalift.

Thirdly, the cream neither improves the fine lines on my face nor preventing them from becoming worse. I wonder if that’s why my beautician said that my skin sagged a lot recently.

I bought Garnier’s Age-Lift because it was RM10 ringgit cheaper than Revitalift, ha! Luckily, there was a promotion for Revitalift (now with elastin) in Jaya Jusco last week (not sure if the promotion is still on now). I got it at RM34.90, the actual retail price is RM49.90. So now I’m back to using ‘Gong Li cream’ again, my face ‘feels’ so much better now, haha!

I have been using Elianto Duo Wear Pressed Powder for more than a year and like it very much. Its powder is light, soft and provides certain extent of shine control. Although its coverage is consider light, I’m fine with it because it does help to brighten up my complexion naturally and does not look like I have put on any make up.

The only problem I have with it is, I tend to break its casing; all three that I’ve used!

Should I blame their design, casing quality or myself? I don’t know! Haha! May be I’m just a rough gal.

To avoid more ‘casing casualties’ (that’s my excuse) I decided to try a new product - Maybelline’s Clear Smooth Minerals Powder Foundation (current price: RM49.90).

I’ve never used any mineral face products before, but since they are generally claimed as the most natural and healthy products for the skin, so I thought I could give it a try. Using Elianto has not triggered any pore clogging or blemish problems (also one of the reasons why I like it). I hope this mineral powder one won’t, too.

So far, I’ve used it once. The coverage is considered satisfactory, but one has to be careful when applying. Start with just a little amount of the powder on the brush and slowly add on if you need heavier coverage. In fact, the point of using this mineral powder is to be able to use the least amount of powder to achieve the intended coverage. The result looked pretty natural if applied correctly (remember to read the instruction first).

Make sure your face is dry or not oily when applying. Otherwise the powder will stuck at those areas and makes your face looks patchy.

Maybelline Clear Smooth Minerals Powder Foundation comes with a kabuki brush. I also got a casing to contain the powder and the brush because there was a promotion 2 weeks ago at one of the pharmacies.

The kabuki brush - made from soft goat hair - is, well, not as soft as I interpreted from its name. It’s rather ‘pokish’, haha! (is there such a word at all?) But may be it is supposed to be in such a way so that the application is more even.

Anyway, I will be using this mineral powder foundation often from now onwards. If I don’t update any further about this product, that means everything is fine. If there’s bad news, I will let you know!