Home
26
I joined acne.org and decided to post on the message board only to share a tip on clearing and preventing acne, cleansing from the inside OUT.
Back in May, my boyfriend was suffering from seasonal allergies (yes, I digress, but I have a point, please keep reading!!!), and his mother advised him to dilute a teaspoon or two of APPLE CIDER VINEGAR in a glass of water (3X a day). This was an "old cure" she found in her gigantic "Old English Remedies" book that is easily several centuries old. She claimed that the ACV helped to flush out toxins from the liver and intestinal tract, thereby enabling the systems to work more efficiently.
"Yeah, whatever," I thought. But much to my own surprise, the ACV did help my boyfriend's allergies, and, although nothing can really replace Claritin on a lush spring day, it was an excellent supplement. (By the way, only ORGANIC apple cider vinegar should be used for this purpose, because it is unprocessed and retains more of the original beneficial minerals.)
This got the gears going in my own head. (I have suffered with mild to moderate acne since I was 15. I'm now 25, and I had been frustrated well into my 20s that I have not outgrown this.) I googled everything about Apple Cider Vinegar "flushing toxins out of the body," and found a substantial amount of pages devoted to this very subject.
I started drinking 1-2 tsp of ACV in a glass of water, 3X a day. And I tell you...it worked WONDERS. For about a month, I had clear, clean, beautiful skin.
And THEN, in July sometime, because I'm silly...I thought to myself, "Oh, it's probably not the ACV that cleared my skin. It's probably all the water I'm drinking, or some miracle cream I've been using." (I was using MANY at the time...)
I stopped using the ACV and just stuck to drinking tons of water. And guess what?? The acne came back, in all the places it had become comfortable in over the past ten years (cheeks, chin, jawline, forehead, etc.). I had new pimples on a daily basis, I had scars from old breakouts, and I could even feel new, more painful ones forming underneath the surface of my skin.
In early November, I figured I would try the ACV remedy just one more time, only this time, I would STICK WITH IT for one month, and I would minimize my use of beauty products. I wanted the process of elimination to determine whether it was the ACV, or if I had in fact been correct in my theories the previous May.
In terms of skincare, I became rather complacent about it all, really, I only used bar soap and hot water. No toner. No moisturizer. No sublock. NADA. I didn't even use ACV topically. I also took the makeup down a notch after reading what kind of horrible ingredients are included in even the best cosmetic lines.
SO. One month later...Drum roll PLEASE...
I am clean and clear for GOOD. I am so sure now that ACV is responsible for controlling my acne, that I'm willing to bet my life on it. (Okay, maybe not my life, but definitely my house!) I have scars remaining from past breakouts, but I don't have ONE nasty little pimple waiting in the wings.
Everyday, I drink one tsp of ACV in every bottle of water I drink. This gentle dilution also minimizes enamel erosion on teeth, in case anyone is worried about that. As to taste...what can I say? It's not the greatest, but it is possible to get used to the stuff and to start liking the citrusy flavor.
Nowadays, I usually drink between 2-3 litres of water per day, each serving of which has at least 1 tsp of ACV in it. If I drink a large 1.5 liter bottle, I will put 4-5 tsp of ACV in it.
As a cleanser, I use whatever happens to be around. I recently used Aveeno's calming foaming whatcha-ma-callit at my mom's house, and it seems to make my skin feel very soft to the touch. To heal the scars from previous breakouts, I do swear by Aveeno correction lotion (this is temporary until the scars disappear) and, as a moisturizer, I just use Ultra Protection Water-Based Sunscreen Lotion SPF 25 by Kiehl's. (I am very unhappy about some of the ingredients, i.e., Ethylparaben and Methylparaben, etc., but have yet to find a natural alternative for sunblock, and I am determined to age well, so...my options seem limited.)
I swear by Apple Cider Vinegar, and I joined acne.org for the sole purpose of sharing this information. I know what it's like to feel too embarrassed to go somewhere because of breakouts. I sympathize with those who use makeup to cover up what they're too ashamed to show. And I understand the sensation of walking down the street, literally green with envy, of the person adjacent, who happens to have been born with flawless, beautiful skin.
I also have to say that I don't know if this will work for everyone, whether I just happened to be lucky enough to discover this remedy, or whether I happen to have the "right" genetic make up needed to respond to ACV. But I would encourage that this is worth a try for anyone with troubled skin.
Be patient, persistent, and consistent.
If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to offer whatever help I can. I'm certainly not a doctor, I don't work for any cosmetics companies, and I certainly don't endorse or sell any products or any of that. I am, however, an extremely HappyGurl, who just won one of the biggest battles of her life. In the end, though, lesson learned, I didn't have to fight it out, I just flushed it out.
Good night and good luck
HappyGurl
