I've been roaming this forum for a long time. I've gotten A LOT of useful info from its members and cured myself with the help of many wonderful people here who probably don't even know I exist, so I want to give something back to the people still struggling with acne before I lose interest in topics like these. If people can find something useful here, then I've done my job. If not...well, this post took me like 10 minutes to write.

The game changer for me has been using SUNFLOWER OIL as a cleaner. I massage it on my skin, let it sit a few seconds, take a clean cloth, warm it with some hot water, cool it down a bit so as not to burn myself, and proceed to cleanse gently over my entire face. It's really that easy.

I can get away with not doing this daily, but if I forget to do it for more than two days in a row, I will break out.

The key, as I said, is sunflower oil. No other oil has worked for me. I've tried them all, from argan oil, to jojoba oil, to emu oil, to grapeseed oil, to olive oil, to almond oil... and God knows what others oils are out there. Sunflower is the only one that works. Yep, the regular, cheap, unhealthy, cooking oil everyone has in their kitchens. Go figure.

One more tip for the outside of your skin, discovered totally by accident as I was roaming through my mother's cabinet. Try using a strong lifting cream that it's designed for people 45-50+ years old. It practically erased all my red spots within a few days. I don't know why this is, how it works and what's in it. I only care that it made my face pretty.

As for diet.

Unless you are diagnosed by a professional with an 100% certain allergy, then don't take that food group off your plate, whether it's daiy, or carbs, or sugar, or nuts, or whatever else you're thinking it's making your life miserable. If you do have suspicions, then use a strict portion control for the culprits, but DO NOT restrict your diet to only a small amount of "safe" products. If you do this, sooner or later you will start breaking out from them, too, or develop allergies for them as well. In my opinion, an allergy is nothing but a message your body is giving you that "he had enough of this food already" and that you should limit it from now on.

I think the human body needs variety to thrive and heal itself. I think that when we limit our food choices, we only cause it to overeat what's left on our plate. And yes, it's still called overeating if you do it on salad.

The one time I followed a strict diet of organic greens and lean meat (my family owns a farm, so I can guarantee that the products were clean) I broke out like crazy. Worst of all, I developped body acne. Never before in my entire life did I have body acne! Guess my body just didn't like all that salad stuffed down it's throat, day after day.

So basically what I'm advocating is sensible PORTION CONTROL and a great variety of foods. Preferably healthy.

Another very important thing. Not sure if it's just me, but have you noticed how after breaking out and trying to clean yourself by following a strict regimen, it doesn't always work? And then one evening you say, "to hell with it!", go to McDonalds, order a burger and be happy, and the next day your skin is clearer? Why do you think that is?

In my opinion, the other very important thing is MIND OVER MATTER. Go into any fast food restaurant and notice the people sitting at the tables. How many of them have acne? Now go on the internet and google "raw vegan diet and severe acne; is my skin still detoxifying after 6 months?" Lots of results, I bet.

The people at McDonalds don't give a cent about what they're consuming. They're eating their junk food and they're happy. The raw vegan advocate (female 99% of the cases) is probably agonizing over how much calcium the chia seeds have and what raw cocoa does for her skin.

I'm not saying quit healthy foods and be happy with crap, what I'm saying is this: when you do eat, whether it's healthy of junk food, BE HAPPY WITH THE FOOD YOU CONSUME. Forget about the calories, fats, carbs, vitamins and other theories. Enjoy the simple fact that you have food on your plate, that it's delicious and that it will give you energy for the next few hours. And since we're here and you're enjoying it - please chew it slowly.

That's about it from me. I can honestly say these have been the biggest factors in me clearing up for months now. Each time I forget one of them, my acne will return, but never like it was in the beginning.

I know people will come and say such and such idea is not valid and that I'm imagining things (as I said, I've been lurking on these forums for a long time and I knwo how things work, lol), but to be honest it doesn't really matter now since these facts have been useful for me, and I sincerely hope will be useful for others too.

Peace and clear skin!

xx