Hi there

I am new to the forum, and thought I'd quickly share my story and also keep a log of what I am using and what is working.

I hope it helps someone out there

I have had acne since I was 13, very hormonal, balanced out but then flared again. Been on birth control which worked well, and started accutane but had some bad side effects after a few weeks and decided to stop and steer clear. Stopped birth control and acne came back. It is quite cystic, I would say moderate - severe.

I currently have an autoimmune disease which I am treating also so I have decided to go all natural in my quest for clearer skin as I really want to keep my body away from harsh drugs.

What I am currently using and finding that is helping:

In my body:

- Fresh spearmint leaves in hot water

I just grind them up in a mortar and pestle and then just infuse in boiling water. A great natural anti-androgen.

- Udo's choice Omega 3-6-9 balance.

It's all about the balance of omega's, I found that nuts and avocado's etc broke me out but then other natural oils didn't, I then realised it was because the balance was so wrong. This product has the correct ratio already sorted, and I actually like the taste. It's great because it's vegetarian, too!

- Oil of Oregano

This is POTENT stuff, taken internally or can be used externally on problem areas. I have 3 drops a day in water or a smoothie, it kills bacteria and fungus in the body and cleans the blood and gut.

- Avoiding iodised table salt!

I love popcorn, and was always confused why my home-made popcorn was breaking me out a few days after a pop-corn sesh.

I recently switched the salt I use on it, I ditched the iodised table salt and replaced it with pink himalayan crystal salt....and I haven't had a break out following my beloved pop-corn sessions since.

- Ditched soy

Well, as much as I can.

I'm a vegeterian who is also lactose intolerant so I would drink a lot of soy and also have a lot of tofu. I read about soy effecting the estrogen balance in the body so I have been off soy for two weeks now and have had significantly less acne on my chin and jaw. I am replacing the soy milk with unsweetened almond milk, and also about to make my own hemp milk to see how that goes.

Dairy free probiotic & fibre

I take 2 x tablets of dairy free probiotic a day, and I make sure I take it at the same time as I take some plain fibre, in my case I use psyllium husks. I just mix it in the glass with some water and drink it quickly straight after I have taken a probiotic.

On my face:

I am currently using the Lush range, as well as every other day using Epiduo, I found that using it everyday was too harsh on my skin but it seems to be working much better if I use it every second day.

The Lush products I use are:

Fresh Farmacy cleanser

Tea Tree Water toner

Vanishing Cream moisturiser

AND last but not least.....

I use a home-made face mask every three days or so, which is so easy to make and so amazing.

I had a bit of a bad break-out a few weeks ago and I put this mask on and the redness was just gone from my face and the pimples had dried up.

I call it the "Corn floury, lemony, egg whitey mask"...because that's all it contains!

You take:

One egg white (make sure you save that poor egg yolk and don't throw it out! Chuck it in a smoothie or something) and simply add corn flour while beating the egg white, add enough corn flour for the mix to become thick but still slightly runny, it should be similar to the consistency of mayo...

Then, just add the squeeze of a slice of lemon, and viola....put this concoction to your face (avoiding eyes of course).

Warning: it will be somewhat messy, if it's hard to spread on your face just put a bit of water on your fingertips, and when it dries on your face, it dries like hard concrete. You'll only need it on for 15 minutes, and to take it off it feels nice to use a fresh face towel which has been run under hot/warm water....

So! That is what I am doing at the moment.

I will add some photos of my face tomorrow and will also be updating on progress!

Thanks for reading, have a great day!

Love and light,

Zeyla