I have struggled with acne for many years, since my early teens to be precise and now being 20, I have had a lot of time to trial an array of 'miracle cures'. Firstly, I would like to note that I do not believe in a 'miracle cure' that fix acne problems over night. This is an absolute impossibility, particularly for myself as I am battling old stubborn acne scars as well as active acne.
Firstly, I made many dietary adjustments and essentially ate a 90% plant based diet. For several months I had the dream skin I never thought I'd have and this lasted for a few years until I came across a second bout of acne for an unbeknown reason to myself. (I highly recommend adjusting your diet first as a natural treatment as this did work for me initially, particularly cutting out most dairy).
Like I just mentioned, I was completely blind sighted by the return of my acne. I refined my diet once again and became even stricter on the plant based front and reduced my sugar consumption as this is known to cause acne. However, my efforts proved fruitless.
I was eager to keep at it with the natural methods as I believe that if you're not willing to eat it then it shouldn't be going on your face as creams are absorbed into the skin and assimilated into the body just like food is. Thus, I began trying a whole host of natural creams and I particularly found success in aloe vera, I have my own plant thus apply it to my face straight from the plant. From research, the aloe vera is able to aid in the recovery of acne scars as well as fight active acne due to the hormones present in the plant. Hormones called Auxin and Gibberellins in the aloe vera are responsible for the useful properties. I found moderate success using aloe vera on my skin.
This result was not what I ideally wanted and thus, reluctantly turned to pharmaceuticals. I came across benzyl peroxide which was hailed a miracle treatment for problematic skin. I therefore have it a try (5% benzoyl peroxide) and found great results within a week of using the cream nightly. Not only were my spots healing up, but the cream also treats black and white heads too.
I have particularly oily skin and therefore the drying nature of the cream didn't affect my skin too greatly, however my skin became very sensitive. I am unsure whether this is a direct symptom of the treatment or whether it was caused by the enhanced sensitivity to UV rays (despite using SPF!). Since using this cream I have reduced my usage to every 3 or 4 days and my skin is still improving day by day. Just to note, I am still using aloe vera in order to re-hydrate my skin once a week.
My skin is far from where I wish it would be, however perseverance is key (or at lest that is what I'm telling myself)!
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