Gallimaufry Grove: Acne Rescue 101: All-Natural Remedies to Kick Acne to the Curb

We've all been there. You look in the mirror one day (or year...or lots of years) and realize that your skin is going absolutely haywire. So you do what any desperate person does. You head to the store to buy everything the ads tell you will help. Only it doesn't. Or maybe it does, but only for a little while, and then it stops working. Or it helps a little, but never really cures your acne, and leaves your skin dry, flaky or otherwise weird. Or it might even totally work, except that you're completely dependent on it because it deals with the symptoms (acne) but doesn't address the cause. If you got your cure-in-a-bottle from a doctor, it might just make you suicidal and cause birth-defects. Which means you want to die and your off-spring have issues, but hey, your skin looks fabulous. No thanks.

Oh, honey, I have lived this tale. About 10 years ago (yes, my teenage acne morphed into adult acne), I stopped buying all the hyped up products and delved into the world of DIY All-Natural Skin Care. I have never looked back.

It took years of trail and error to discover what was causing my acne and how to heal it, but now I can confidently tell you what I have learned and show you the path to clearer skin.

Beauty From The Inside Out.

A perfect skincare routine and flawless cosmetics will never make up for a body that isn't well cared for. Start by taking care of your skin from the inside.

1. Nutrition Matters. What you eat really does affect your skin. Maybe eating a chocolate bar doesn't cause you to look like a pizza face the next day, but poor nutrition will affect your skin. Your skin is the largest detoxifying organ in your body. You can't expect it to detoxify well if you feed it tons of sugar, chips and processed food. It needs dense nutrition to function well. And if your liver is overloaded with too many toxins from the lousy food you eat, it won't be able to keep up, so it will turn to other detoxifying areas of your body for help - namely, your skin. Voila! Acne. Your body is desperately trying to clean itself in any way it can. Give it a little help by eating well.

What to do: I know it can seem overwhelming to clean up your diet, but you really will feel better, and your skin will look better, too. Start by cutting back on sugar and finding more natural versions to replace your favorite junk foods. You can find out more about how to eat healthier here. And drink Green Smoothies!!! Every. Single. Day. My Green Smoothie Recipe is a super-easy way to get nutrition into your body, and the ingredients work to help detoxify your body.. Within about 1-2 weeks of drinking my green smoothies, my skin started turning around. I can tell by looking at my skin if I have stopped drinking them for awhile. Recently, I got my teenage daughter to try it and see if they worked for her as well as they do for me. And do you know what? Her skin is starting to turn around, too!! If my Green Smoothie tastes too much like lawn mower pulp for you, try the recipes at SimpleGreenSmoothies.com. They taste like a fruit smoothie and are a wonderful introduction to the world of green smoothies.

2. Water, Water, Everywhere. Seriously. Drink more water. Make sure it is filtered, because you really don't need all that chlorine, etc. from tap water. But drink more water. If you aren't getting enough water, your body simply can't detox well. And if you're drinking pop instead of water, please don't do that to yourself. It may be a hard habit to break at first, but your body - and your skin - will thank you.

How Much? Take your body weight and divide it by 2. Drink that number in ounces. It's probably a lot more than you're used to. Weird little side note: When you first start drinking enough water, you will probably spend a lot of time running to la toilette. Don't worry. Once your body gets used to finally getting enough water, it will stabilize.

3. Go To Bed. You wouldn't think the lack of sleep would have much impact on your skin, but it does. For starters, sleep deprivation throws off your hormone balance, and everyone knows that imbalanced hormones are a major cause of acne. But even beyond that, your body does a great deal of repair while you sleep. You wouldn't take your car to the body shop after a fender bender and expect them to have it looking good in only 30 minutes, would you? Yet we run our body in a sleep deprived state and expect it to do all the clean-up and repair from the damage we've done with our crazy lifestyle. Give your body at least 8 hours of sleep each night. If you are a teenager, you probably need more than that. Teenagers have a lot going on in their bodies and require more sleep to get it all done. If you've been ill, or are recovering from overwork or sleep deprivation, you will need more sleep. Be good to your body.

4. Stress Less. Stress has a very negative impact on the body and the skin. If you have a high-stress job or life situation, learn some coping mechanisms. What works for you may be different than what works for me, so find things that bring rest, joy and relaxation into your life. For me, my relationship with God is a major factor. Also, I try to find a few minutes each day to do something I enjoy simply because I enjoy it. Most of my life is involved in serving others, and practically every second of my day has to be productive. By stepping away from all of that to do something for sheer enjoyment rather than productivity, I am able to let off some of that built up pressure. Exercise can also be a great stress reliever, provided you don't try to do too much. Over-exercising is actually very stressful for the body, so be careful.

Beauty that's Skin Deep.

1. Stop using chemicals. Have you ever actually read what's in your cosmetics and skin care products!?! Your skin is permeable. What you slather on it soaks into your blood stream, tissues and nerves. If you wouldn't eat it, you should really think twice about putting it on your skin. And all those chemical laden things that promise they won't clog your pores? They lie.

If you aren't going to buy all the stuff the advertisers shove at you, what should you use?

2. DIY Skin Care. I made the skin care kit pictured above for a family friend. The products I put in there are all things I have tried and found to work better than store-bought skin care. The best part? You can make them yourself for a fraction of the price of most skin-care lines. You can find all the recipes and information about how to use them at The Skin Rescue Kit.

3. Tea Tree Essential Oil. Use Tea Tree Essential Oil to spot treat pimples. It has been found to work at least as well as Benzoyl Peroxide to heal acne, but without the skin drying side effects.

3. All-Natural Mineral Make-up WITHOUT FILLERS.

Instead of chemical-laden cosmetics that inhibit your body's ability to breathe, use all-natural mineral make-up that is made without fillers. Not only is it far more healthy for your skin, it does an amazing job covering up the blemishes. I use Beeyoutiful Skin. It works far better than even the other mineral make-up I have tried. Amazing stuff, folks. And the price isn't bad, either.

I find that if I let any one of these areas slip, my skin heads south. But when I do these things, my skin stays clear and healthy -- all without harmful chemicals or general weirdness. And I have heard good things from everyone else who has tried it, too!