I'm so happy I could burst. I can't believe I finally figured out how to cure my acne. Some products that have done amazing things for my skin:

• Bentonite clay mask mixed with raw apple cider vinegar
• Kombucha
• Kefir!!!!!
• Carrot juice

I also recommend drinking a green smoothie every single day. That's how I started using kefir. Cut back on processed sugar and white bread products. These only feed the bad bacteria in your gut that kefir and kombucha our overpowering. The Aztec Healing Clay (bentonite clay mask) was the first thing I discovered. I found it at my local natural food store, but you can find it online for about $6. Mix it with raw apple cider vinegar as the instructions say. Distilled apple cider vinegar works as well, but it's pasteurized, so all good enzymes are killed. Carrot juice is also amazing for your skin. My skin loves carrot juice; It reduces break outs and pore size. My skin shines with health, and if I don't drink it a couple times a week I notice a difference.

I started drinking Kombucha about four months ago, and my skin has gotten so much better. I had friends comment on the difference. It's no longer a battle with preventing breakouts. My jaw-line acne was still there and stubborn as ever. I recently read an article on NPR talking about the microbes in our gut, and how indigenous people have about 50 percent more species of microbes than Americans.

Here's the article if your interested:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/04/21/400393756/how-modern-life-depletes-our-gut-microbes

I mentioned the article to my husband, and he started looking at the amount of microbes in kombucha and kefir. The kefir has a larger variety of microbes (probiotics) than kombucha. So I added kefir into my daily green smoothie. I truly can't believe how much better my skin has gotten. I'm ecstatic. Just in time for summer time tank tops my acne is healing all over my whole body. My husband suffers from rosacea, and his skin is looking amazing too. We noticed a difference in his skin with cutting back on processed sugar and white glutinous bread, but kefir was the game changer for him too. I intend to continue the search for microbe rich food. I'm going to attempt to make kimchi, a korean dish that ferments cabbage because I'm all about those microbes!! That's what it comes down to. Our standard American diet feeds the bad bacteria in our gut, and we need to overpower them by eating good bacteria.

My green smoothie recipe:

• banana
• water/carrot juice
• spinach/kale
• clementines
• frozen berries
• lemon
• kefir

Using a blender I start out with a banana (always a good base to smooth things out). Then add water or carrot juice, just enough to blend the banana. Once the banana is blended I add a good handful of baby spinach/kale. I say baby spinach and kale because you can't taste them at all. Add more liquid as needed to blend. Next you add any fruit you have on hand. I like to use clementines and frozen berries. Then I add a slice of lemon. Last I add about a cup of kefir. Be careful drinking too much kefir at once because this can upset your digestion.

Backstory:

My skin has gotten progressively worse since I turned 18. I've tried everything over-the-counter, but nothing really worked for me. I used benzoyl peroxide for a long time, but it never cured my skin. I even tried antibiotics which were a bad idea. They killed all the good bacteria in my gut, even when I started eating yogurt to try to replace the probiotics. I tried oral and topical antibiotics, and both diminished breakouts to a point, but overall my skin looked much poorer. I also tried Retin-A; my skin was better, but never cured, and I still had breakouts. A few years ago I started getting jaw-line acne. I'm 28 now, and can't remember the last time I confidently wore my hair in a pony-tail.

Please let me know if this works for you.