Natural Ways to Get Rid of Acne Quickly

Acne is a bothersome problem that can have a negative effect on mental health and self-confidence. Still, most people have to deal with it at some point in their lives. When my son was a teenager I decided to make a 100% natural acne remedy for him. It was fast-acting and the news spread quickly to his friends and they wanted to try it too. The Acne Healing Extract‘s reputation grew and grew until I finally put it on the market. There, it sold out in a flash and has since then been not only my most popular product but the most popular acne treatment in Iceland!

The Acne Healing Extract contains three herbs: Yarrow, Calendula and Arctic Thyme. I pick all the Icelandic herbs I use myself and, for example, use fresh Yarrow to make my acne treatment. I use fresh flowers and leaves to make tinctures (herbs in alcohol) from the herbs, which means that I make them the same day I pick them. Then I mix the Yarrow tincture with the other herbs and the outcome is the Acne Healing Extract.

• Yarrow is my favorite herb to reduce acne and it‘s also very hydrating for the skin
• Calendula calms red and irritated skin and makes it softer. It can also prevent scarring from acne
• Arctic Thyme is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory, which makes it efficient against pimples

All of these virtues are combined in the Acne Healing Extract, which makes it perfect against acne.

I never use any toxic ingredients in my skincare products but here you can take a look at my list of the 10 most toxic ingredients so you can learn to avoid them.

Acne is most often hormonal and therefore it‘s common to get it during your teenage years. Still, hormonal changes during pregnancy or menopause can cause acne in women. In those instances, lowering stress and eating well can go a long way. During puberty, hormonal pimples tend to appear on the forehead, nose and chin. Hormonal pimples that appear later in life tend to form mainly on the lower part of the face, for example on the cheeks and jawline.

Numerous factors can affect the skin‘s condition, as most people know, and the solutions can vary a lot between individuals. Despite that, here are a few tips that might help your skin:

Don‘t touch your face

By touching your face with dirty hands you spread dirt and oil from your fingers onto your skin, which can clog pores and cause pimples.

Change your pillowcase regularly

Oil and dirt from your hair can spread to your face from your pillowcase. Also, dead skin cells accumulate on the surface which we rub our face into night after night. By changing your pillowcase regularly, for example, two or three times a week, you can prevent dirt from transferring to your skin after you‘ve cleaned it at night.

Use a moisturizer

Acne is often accompanied by oily skin, which causes many people to think that they shouldn‘t add more hydration to it. The truth is that the skin produces more oil the drier it is. This extra oil can clog your pores and cause more acne. That‘s why the right moisturizer can be a game-changer for the skin. My moisturizer is designed specifically for oily and combination skin and therefore does not clog pores.

When I treat patients that want to get rid of acne, I often begin by changing their diet because it can have a big effect on the skin. I can‘t count all the times I‘ve seen diet affecting acne greatly, no matter the patients‘ age. Here‘s a list of the foods I recommend avoiding.

• Chocolate (this includes dark chocolate)
• Sweets and ice cream
• Soft drinks, energy drinks and coffee
• Dairy products
• Processed meat
• Fast food (such as pizza, hamburgers and deep-fried food)

Instead, I recommend eating more vegetables, fruit, fish, unprocessed meat and whole-grain bread. In addition to that, it‘s important to drink enough water and herbal tea.

If anything, mental health is even more important than physical health when it comes to acne. One of the most important factors that affect pimples forming is stress, but fortunately, there are many ways to deal with stress and learn to avoid it.

Meditation

Most of us are more stressed than we‘d like to be. To prevent that it can be good to know of a bulletproof way to calm your mind and deepen your breath. By meditating daily for 10 minutes you help your skin heal and boost your wellbeing at the same time. This one way to meditate:

• Sit or lay down and close your eyes.
• Put your hand on your stomach, focus on your breath and slow it down
• Let the thoughts that come into your mind float through it without judging them

Dance it off

Regular exercise is a great way to reduce stress, especially if you find an exercise that you enjoy. I like taking walks but I also recommend dancing, that way you can move without even noticing because it‘s so much fun! Listen to your favorite music and do whatever your body tells you to do, or follow practice videos online. Just remember to wash your face afterward so the sweat and dirt don‘t get a chance to sit on your skin for long.

I recommend shaking the Acne Healing Extract before each use. Then, use a cotton pad or Q-tips to apply directly onto acne only, three to six times per day. Keep in mind that you should not wash the whole face with this product. The Extract is safe to use during pregnancy and can also be used on body acne. I recommend using it with my Facial Glow moisturizer as it‘s suitable for sensitive and combination skin. First, you apply the Acne Healing Extract to the acne and then the moisturizer is applied on top. You only apply the moisturizer once in the morning (not each time you use the Acne Healing Extract). You can buy these two products together in the Clear Skin Value Set, which is my most popular product in Iceland.