22 replies to this topic

[EatsRainbows]

Well.... I think it's fair to say I'm desperate for clear skin. Before eventually turning to prescription medication, I tried a variety of home remedies in the hope that they would work. Now, looking back on my crazy acne-related adventures, I laugh.

 

I tried bathing in salty water, rubbing tomatoes/lemons/olive oil/various other items from my kitchen cupboard, all with no success.

 

And the worst...? Drum roll please... garlic. And no, unlike that 'very helpful internet site' said, the smell does not go once you wash it off... for 3 days!!

 

One that I've never been brave enough to try is urine therapy. To be honest, I thought it was a joke...

 

Has anyone else tried any crazy things in the fight against acne? I'd love to hear from you

[kyou]

I kind of find the things I've tried funny. The most weirdest was rubbing a potato on my skin. Yep. The things that i tried....

[Pianina]

The craziest and most dangerous - fasting. I was literally living on water and few diet bars for days. The most disturbing fact is that it helped significantly (warning - do not try it ever!!). I don't understand my body...
Another way of fasting - I was eating ONLY cucumbers straight from my grandma's garden for 3 days. I also used them on my face. This, however, was very purifying and I didn't felt weak or dizzy and my skin got brighter. I felt refreshed. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, as effects can be individual.
What else... Ah, I was putting my own saliva on the pimples    

[dejaclairevoyant]

Fasting isn't dangerous or bad for you at all. Quite the opposite. It has great health benefits that go way beyond acne. I fast pretty regularly but I've never noticed it helping my skin. However, it does help a lot of other things such as mood, aches and pains in the body, sleep, etc.

 

The craziest thing I've ever done was definitely attempting to kill "demodex mites" which are supposedly these tiny mites that live in the skin and cause acne. I was pretty gung-ho about this theory for a while. I REALLY believed that was what was wrong with me. The "treatment" involves expensive harsh creams which you can only get shipped from China and also keeping your face slathered in cold cream all day. The theory was that the mites needed to breathe so keeping cold cream on your skin constantly will suffocate them.

 

So basically, I walked around with a white mask of cold cream on my face 24 hours a day for weeks. Rarely left the house.

 

My acne got worse and worse and worse until eventually my entire face was being eaten away and then I got staph in my non-healing wounds (which probably couldn't heal because of being slathered in cold cream). I ended up having to go to the hospital because the staph spread into my blood.

 

After that, I got angry and decided that the mite theory was total crap.

[Pianina]

Fasting isn't dangerous or bad for you at all. Quite the opposite. It has great health benefits that go way beyond acne. I fast pretty regularly but I've never noticed it helping my skin. However, it does help a lot of other things such as mood, aches and pains in the body, sleep, etc.

 

The craziest thing I've ever done was definitely attempting to kill "demodex mites" which are supposedly these tiny mites that live in the skin and cause acne. I was pretty gung-ho about this theory for a while. I REALLY believed that was what was wrong with me. The "treatment" involves expensive harsh creams which you can only get shipped from China and also keeping your face slathered in cold cream all day. The theory was that the mites needed to breathe so keeping cold cream on your skin constantly will suffocate them.

 

So basically, I walked around with a white mask of cold cream on my face 24 hours a day for weeks. Rarely left the house.

 

My acne got worse and worse and worse until eventually my entire face was being eaten away and then I got staph in my non-healing wounds (which probably couldn't heal because of being slathered in cold cream). I ended up having to go to the hospital because the staph spread into my blood.

 

After that, I got angry and decided that the mite theory was total crap.

Isn't dangerous or bad? Well good if you know where to stop or how to do it, because I didn't (I'm sure I'm not the only one). I thought fasting = not eating. And you should never stop eating no matter what someone say. Seeing it helps my acne (I suspect it was because of my digestion problems) I was going on and on, skipping my lectures, sleeping all day long, feeling tired and depressed, until once I lost consciousness in a subway train. It wasn't fun at all.   

[dejaclairevoyant]

Do some research on fasting. There is plenty of info out there. Not only is it not unhealthy to stop eating for periods of time, it's necessary for health.

Watch the film "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" for more information about this. It's a really good movie aside from being educational.

[Sum1killme]

Ate rattle snake and skunk meat suposobly if they don't kill them right you can die, at the time I didn't really care. Too bad it didn't.

[dejaclairevoyant]

Someone told you skunk meat will cure acne? That is honestly one I hadn't heard before. lol

[Spotthedifference]

Well, let's see:

 

Salicylic acid cleanser, treatment, moisturizer and toner all at once, twice a day. My skin bled. Wasn't fun.

Rubbing as much skin as possible off with a microdermabrasion cloth.

Using a comedone extractor every single day.

Keeping my skin as dry as it could possibly be.

[Someclearday]

Craziest things..hmm let me think...

-Tried potatoes. Trying to get them to stick to my face and leaving them on overnight. Other various natural treatment like egg white mask. Ick
-Went crazy one time trying the "toothpaste spot trick" and put it all over my face. That wasn't pretty:/
-I remember once using those old Neutrogena spot patches. They were circular stickers you could put on and leave overnight. I used to pile them on and along with the other chemicals I was using they ended up leaving Dalmatian like red dots all over my face.

[CrimeinPartner]

Read that semen was good for the skin. Yea...

Salicylic acid +toner+BP 5% hurt like hell.

Antibiotics i guess are kinda crazy. Was on them for about a year. They do terrible things inside.

[AbyBar]

I slept with sugar on my face . I Damped my face with water, and applied a vast amount of sugar onto my face and slept like that. The next morning my bed was covered with sugar :/
Didn't help haha !!! My aunt told me it was a good remedy and I was desperate for a cure.

Edited by AbyBar, 01 February 2013 - 03:07 PM.

[lightersUP]

The weirdest is using ACV as a toner. It smells so bad! Surprisingly though it's clearing me up fast.

[xpaperbackwriterx]

Mixture of ACV, green tea, and tea tree oil as a toner. Smells DISGUSTING. Had to hold my breath to apply it. Funny thing is, I use it as a hair conditioner with a few drops of glycerin in it now. But its more tolerable when its not right under your nose.

 

Oatmeal mask. Or I tried at least. I couldn't get it near my face without gagging.

 

Right now I'm using Hibiclens. Yeah, the surgical pre-op cleanser that could blind you if you get it in your eyes. It's actually working. Sort of.

 

Blue light handheld thingy. Waste of fifty bucks.

[EatsRainbows]

Wow! Thanks for the responses guys! Glad to know I'm not the only one who's been a bit of a wombat I think it's great that we're finally seeing the funny side of things; if you can't laugh at yourself then what can you do, hey?! Keep them coming

[ohtokyovogue]

I would have to say urine therapy and taking shots of apple cider vinegar.. tasted horribly.. yuck! 

[darkheart]

My dad told me to use urine on my face (back when I was 13)  after he read online that it healed acne. I was like why not? so I used it for a few months. I'd pee in a cup and dip a cotten pad into the urine and then start putting it all over my face as though I would a toner. My urine is really clear (like water almost) and free of odor so it wasn't terribly gross but really it was useless.

 

I also was told to drink "potato juice" by a natural path for acne and this was also useless and it tasted like sh*t.

 

Washing my face with only bottled water was another thing.

Edited by darkheart, 01 March 2013 - 07:44 PM.

[Omnivium]

When I was a kid I tried whatever I found around the house - toothpaste, listerine, dish soap, vinegar, rubbing alcohol...

 

Years later I tried the caveman regimen...worst mistake of my life. I had no idea what I was doing back then.

 

I actually considered doing a "liver flush," which has a misleading name. It's more like just drinking a buttload of olive oil and epsom salt, and getting horrible diarrhea for a day. I'm glad I didn't waste my time with that.

 

I heard about urine "therapy," but I never even considered doing that.

[Aka*Tom]

Lool urine ?! You guys gotta explain that one too me

 

Seems like we've all used the same crazy shit. Toothpaste which covered my pillow cases, and somehow gets all over my duvet too. Aspirine masks, baking soda masks, egg white masks (that one was a bitch, whipping up an egg white every f*cking night!)

 

Oatmeal masks recently too to try and help with red marks. I like this one though, cos I can make up a portion, each most of it and save a bit at the end to apply to my face

[snsdgirl14]

Diaper rash cream. I actually have some on my face now hahaha. The main ingredient is zinc oxide, which is supposed to help acne/inflammation. It also contains cod liver oil which is good for acne.

 

It's no miracle worker, but I do think it helps calm down the redness and stuff.