I plan on using a turmeric face paste tomorrow so I will let you know how it goes. This is the recipe I found for it:
4 teaspoons turmeric powder
4 table spoons milk
6 teaspoons gram flour
1 teaspoon almond oil
2 table spoons honey
mix all of them together to form a thick paste and leave on for 20-30 minutes. I also read that Indian brides will sleep with it on the night before their wedding so you could try that, especially since it has honey and almond oil it shouldn't dry out your skin or do anything damaging.
Tonight I plan on using an egg white and lemon mask to reduce redness and help with my breakouts. (I'm trying anything and everything before I ask my doctor to put me on the generic form of accutane that hasn't been taken off the market yet) This mask you sleep with and it helps reduce scars, redness, and blemishes: squeeze half a lemon and mix the juice with one beaten egg white and sleep with it on...other websites say to leave on anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour but I'm going to try to sleep with it on and wash it off with a moisturizing cleanser in the morning and moisturize immediately afterwards. One more face mask I'm going to try is the pumpkin face mask because it's suppose to be really great for acne: 2 teaspoons of pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon of honey, 1/2 teaspoon of milk, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon spice. Mix it all up and apply to a freshly cleansed face. Let dry for about 15-20 minutes and rinse off with water.
Hope these help. I'm trying to go an all natural/organic root with my acne and breakouts since nothing else has seemed to help and I've tried every pill, cream, prescription, fad there is. Now I'm trying to eat raw organic healthy foods and also use them as a topical treatment too!
I have used turmeric both topically and internally.
Topically, combined with honey and applied as a paste to cysts, definitely helps them to drain. I have covered with a bandaid at night to find it had opened and cleared by morning.
HOWEVER, and I may well be the exception with this experience, I have found this to also break me out! I seem to remember whiteheads popping up where I had applied. I don't know if this was a purging effect or what, but I use other spot treatments (3% hydrogen peroxide, held against blemishes with a q-tip) now. Also, when the cysts drained, the skin around them would be jacked up (not to mention stained, which I didn't mind much but others definitely noticed). I'm sure I was trying too many remedies at once.
I had similar results when I took the turmeric internally. I may have been too zealous, using too much (1-4 tbsp/day), but aside from encouraging a few bad cysts to come to a head and drain, I discontinued use because the rest of my skin had a negative reaction. I'm bummed because I've read such great things about the powerful antioxidant properties of the spice, benefiting people suffering from a wide variety of conditions from acne to cancer to arthritis to allergies. It seems to be an excellent anti-inflammatory.
Earthclinic is full of success stories, though, so it may well work for you. Good luck!
Ps: my favorite way to drink it is to mix with warm coconut milk + honey + a dash of cinnamon! YUM. Black pepper + fat (I prefer nut milk, dairy-free is the way to be!) is supposed to improve absorption.
