Hello!
I'm an 18 year old girl and I am struggling with constant pimples. I don't have proper acne, but I have regular breakouts. They are stronger one week before my period, but they never seem to go away. The pimples are not that big and they go away after a couple of days, but I always have them and nothing I do seems to work. I've tried EVERYTHING. I've tried every product ever and nothing worked. Now I'm going the natural way and my skin is better, but still not clear. I don't eat dairy or meat, but I do eat fish and eggs. I eat really healthy and don't eat sugar. I drink plenty of water and ginger tea, as I heard it has anti inflammatory effects. I don't wear any makeup on my skin. I don't exercise regularly, but I do try to move as much as I can. I drink and smoke and I know that might be a cause of the problem but I'm not going to stop either one haha.
My skin care routine is natural and simple. For toner I use rose water mixed with glycerin and I use it in the night and in the morning. During the night I moisturize my skin with unrefined raw shea butter and during the day I use Himalaya skin cream with aloe vera and winter cherry. I exfoliate twice a week with a homemade exfoliator made of brown sugar, honey, olive oil and tea tree oil. Then I put my diy mask made of illite (french green clay) and apple cider vinegar. I use tea tree oil as a spot treatment.
Please give me some advice what should I do to reach clear skin. I feel like I'm doing everything right but it's not enough. I'm thinking of going on the pill, I heard it helps. Any advice is helpful, thank you.
Just eat normal,get to your dr and dont leave without an oral anti biotic,something like tetracycline,if its the right anti biotic for you it will clear most if not all of your acne,add a prescription strength topical for active stuff and its even more effective.
anti biotics kills and stops the spread of acne causing bacteria,no bacteria=no spots/acne.
I don't think antibiotics are the right choice. They kill good bacteria in your gut which will in the long term affect your overall health, and they would only temporarily reduce acne, especially if it's a hormonal problem. You need good gut health in order to combat acne, and antibiotics will seriously mess that up and since you don't have severe acne, avoid taking antibiotics for the time being.
It sounds like you are doing everything right in regards to skin care, the only thing I would recommend is drinking more water and trying out witch hazel as a toner instead of rose water. I can't use any natural oils on my face because for some reason all of them break me out, maybe the shea butter is causing some breakouts? I'm 18 also and I smoked all last year and all I'm gonna say about that is I was getting cysts during that year which have stopped coming up since I stopped smoking, but you already know it's not doing your skin any favors so yeah lol.
I would try getting your hormones tested, honestly. I have a similar problem, nothing has worked for me topically, and to my surprise, my doctor detected an ovarian cyst. I think this could be my connection to acne. You may be suffering some sort of hormonal imbalance or thyroid dysfunction, both of which are treatable.