I am now 20 years old and have suffered with bad acne since I was 13. All throughout secondary school I had the most awful and painful acne, I tried every topical treatment under the sun and a number of different medications. None of them worked and the topical treatments often made my skin break-out more. I have very sensitive skin and even moisturising with derma-logically tested products makes me break out badly.

When I turned 18 my doctor decided to let me try the contraceptive pill Dianette. This pill was the only thing that has ever tamed my acne, and some days i wouldn't even have one spot while I was on it, this was my miracle cure. However i knew it was a dangerous pill (causes blood clots) but I didn't care as I would do anything for clear skin and my confidence had came back. Dianette is only supposed to be prescribed for no longer then 6 months, however as I had moved doctor practices from my home town to my university town which is very student orientated, my new doctor didn't seem to care and I continued to stay on that pill for a year and a half.

Around 3 months ago I had to make an appointment which my doctor in order to get a 2 month supply of pills as I was going travelling, however she took my blood pressure, which was through the roof and told me i was no longer allowed on the combined pill or any pill for that matter. As i'm in a relationship, contraception in necessary, so I decided on the implant. This was very scary to me as I knew my acne would come right back and my confidence would go.

I was right, 1 week on the implant and my skin was getting as bad as ever, luckily I was off to south east asia for 2 months so the sun there kept my skin at bay. Ive been home for 3 weeks now and the moment i stepped off the plane I could feel my self getting spots. I had one of the worst breakouts, my forehead was covered in red sore bumps and my cheeks had new spots everyday.

So I thought to myself, the times when my skin is at its best is when I'm in and out of the sea and sunbathing. I used to use sunbeds for my skin which worked but I no longer want to use them. So I thought Id make my own sea salt solution and see if it worked. I dissolved a few spoons of sea salt in a bowl of boiling water, put my face over the steam with a towel over my head till it had cooled down enough to apply and then soaked a clean cloth in the solution and gently rubbed it into my skin. I noticed a difference in 1 day, the spots were drying up and I had no new pimples. I've been doing this for the last 5 days (morning and night) and my skin is practically clear.

I wish I'd discovered this method a long time ago, it's so cheap and simple. I don't know if this will work for everyone but it's worth a try as I'm very pleased with the outcome.