Braggs : Apple Cider Vinegar (as a topical)

I've been browsing these forums for quite some time looking for the antidote to my acne. As all of you can probably relate, it absolutely sucks to deal with acne while it seems everyone around you has perfect skin, and you do research and research and try product after product with no success. From all the trial and error and research I've done, one of the key things I've learned is that using natural remedies is ALWAYS better. I do want to quickly share my acne story, so some information about me is that I'm 24 and have suffered from acne since I was 15. I saw a dermatologist when I was in high school and it managed my skin well. Sometime when I was in college, I stopped and my acne came back so I battled confidence and self-esteem issues as my skin problems would cycle on and off. After college I went right to grad school, and was still fighting battles with really noticeable acne (mostly on my forehead), and then I found the regimen through Acne.org. This cleared my acne really well at first, but eventually I noticed my face just looked dry and unhealthy. I scoured the internet until finally I took a risk in using Cold Pressed Olive Oil (California Ranch brand), and after two months my skin never looked as incredible as it had! What I would do is use warm water every morning and night to open my pores, gently rub olive oil on my face, sit for 20 minutes, and then wash it off with a cotton ball soaked in green tea. I literally had flawless skin, and this remedied blemishes, wrinkles, and acne on my face. Then the dreaded day I had my graduation for my Master's program, and I wore that damn cap that I wore for hours and unknowingly irritated my skin terribly. I got home and saw that my skin had broke out horrendously! I panicked and started washing my face 3 times a day and using organic coconut oil as a topical. My skin broke out even more!!! I was in such a bad pit and right after I had cleared my skin! I panicked again and used benzoyl peroxide treatments, but they never really fully helped heal my skin. At the end of the day, here's what I learned. Once again, natural is better. It will take longer, but you cannot compare how great the results are with products with harmful chemicals. I also have a conspiracy theory that products like that are designed to make your skin become dependent of them so you keep buying them. Don't fall into the trap. Two is that diet truly matters. For a while I was consuming whey protein everyday, in addition to a lot of high glycemic foods. One New Year's Eve, I out of habit ate so much pizza, chips, and pasta in combination with sugary drinks and woke up to a face full of new acne. So that's what I've been battling to this day. But I decided to go vegan and saw significant improvements. Cutting out dairy and meat, and eating an overload of vegetables and fiber has seen my digestion and gut flora improve dramatically and improve my skin. Be conscious what you're eating because it is indefinitely a source of your breakouts. Three is that you need to exfoliate your skin to initiate a healing process. This is where apple cider vinegar has come into play for me. So with chemical treatments like benzoyl peroxide, those exfoliate your skin. I think these products stopped working for me because they did it too much and were actually aggravating my acne and in the end making it worse. Apple cider vinegar does exfoliate your skin and it is a natural product (as long as you're using a product like Bragg's with 'the mother' in it). So ACV has earned itself a spot in my routine, as well as my trusted olive oil and green tea. I've tried many things, but once I started putting in ACV, my skin is INDEFINITELY on the road to clearing up. It is just a matter of time and consistency now. Here is my routine; -(Morning and Night) Wash face with warm water -Gently rub Olive Oil (California Ranch brand) and let it sit for 20 minutes -Wash away with green tea -After a minute or so once skin is dry, use a cotton ball with DILUTED ACV (I use half water and half ACV) -After a minute again when skin is dry, use organic aloe vera I will say I did briefly purge from ACV, meaning my skin got a little worse before it got better. Therefore I decided to use it as a spot treatment, and was sure it was working because areas of my face that were already at their worst were starting to heal. But after a week and a half, like I said, my skin is about a few weeks time until it is perfectly clear. And apple cider vinegar is to thank for it! Sorry for the long post, but if you took the time to read I hope you learned something. One last thing I'll add is to be careful with the internet. Looking for solutions, you see the upsides and downsides of products you're thinking of using, peoples' wonder stories and horror stories, that taking the risk of using something new and controversial is absolutely NERVE-WRACKING. I remember my anxiety putting olive oil on my face. But I do encourage you to visit that forum on acne.org. I guarantee you that people sharing horror stories are referring to having used the wrong kind of olive oil. Same with any other post with any other product. People posting about their experiences has helped me so much, but their are posts that may influence your opinion that you have to read between the lines. Finally, one last thing. Some things I've incorporated into my diet that has significantly helped my skin too is hot water with lemon, hot water with apple cider vinegar, green smoothies (with spinach and kale), salads (the more colorful the better), and using spirulina and magnesium/calcium supplements. Like I said, diet matters. Hot water kick starts your digestion which will help flush toxins from the inside out and make a different with your acne. That's all I have to say. Best of luck!

Used it for a month for my enormous pores, had about 2-3 pimples before starting to use it. It started breaking me out so freaking badly, my face was never NEVER this bad. I have stopped looking in the mirror. I have huge painful zits all over my face, my dark spots are darker, my face is red, everything is a mess..everybody asks what has happened to my face, while making a disgusted face. And guess what the pores are worse. Wish I had never done this mistake. Thankyou acv for making me want to die. And yes I did moisturize and used 25:75 acv:water

I am 37 and had acne during certain periods throughout my life. 18, 27 and then it just recently started acting up. I mostly handle it with supplements, which has worked extremely well in the past, but this last bout was stubborn. I was getting these little bumps around my chin, and some would become cystic. I have always been a fan of ACV in my diet, but never considered using it as a topical. THANK GOD I DID! About two weeks ago, I had a revelation, without even reading any reviews (came here after the fact) and started using it as a topical. I do not dilute it, shake it up and use it straight out of the bottle. OMG, my skin cleared up in two days, hand to god, it's amazing. Since then, I use it morning and night and my skin has never looked better. All the bumps are gone, and my skin is super smooth. I know everyone is different, and some things may not work for everyone, but this was a miracle for me. Hope this helps!

I have come back to ACV as a cheap toner quite a few times now, but on it's own I never see a huge difference. If your skin's feeling a little gross still after washing it can help out, and it does seem to have a smoothing effect, but I saw no major differences in my acne. It's nice, but certainly not the miracle cure for acne, and can make skin more sensitive if you already have sensitive skin. Generally, I only use ACV when I'm not on any prescribed medicine because it is too drying. Even then though, if I use it every day than after maybe a week my skin will start to get dry unless I slather on loads of moisturizer. So overall I use it sparingly. Also, I find that it works best in a spray bottle rather than on cotton pads because of the rubbing. But, given how recently my skin has been dry and much more oily than usual, I may go back to ACV anyway.

I started using this a week ago every morning and night, at first it was amazing and I could see the difference but now my spots are really red and inflamed.. is this meant to happen? and if so when will it start to get better? and when will I start to notice a real difference? thanks

I've been using this for about 2 weeks. I dilute the vinegar 1:1 with water and use it as a toner after I wash my face. It leaves your face a little dry/smooth and obviously it smells pretty strongly (I find it goes away after a while,it might just be me adjusting). I've ALWAYS had texture on my nose and this has made it completely smooth. As for my acne, it's definitely improved. I 100% recommend this to everyone

I had a lot of questioning happening with myself when I tried out unfiltered apple cider vinegar (topically & in my diet; separately tested) for my acne and I was surprised to see that instead of helping it as I heard it had for most people, it made my acne more inflamed and worse!! I pushed through it and tried to keep taking it to see if it would get any better but I just saw the bad results and couldn't take the risk of it getting even worse anymore

Hey guys, My name is diamond and im 13 and i have very bad acne all over my face. Not so bad on my forehead but on my cheeks, jaw line. It isnt very bad , but to me it is bad. Acne lowers my self esteem at times. And it makes me very frustrated because nothings works. I looked high and low on the internet, and i have tryed many things but it never works, I use all products as such as Noxzema, Bioré , Olay products , St ives many things and home remedies but NOTHING works. My acne treatment routine is usally wash my face , Cleanse with noxzema and probably try some acne removal products. Not too long ago i started using Bioré (Charcoal one) I saw change but not too much. Remind you. I have lots of small bumps. I never really had huge pimples.. they come once in a blue moon. Recently my sister told me about Apple Cidar Vinegar and i tried it. I saw a difference in my acne INSTANTLY. Although if you dont mix it with water it may start to make your face itch..and it has a smell too but its ok. I recommend if you try this Mix it with watet and shake it up because it may make your face itchy. Im so glad i found out about this. I promise myself i will use it everyday. Hopefully my mom gets me a dermetologist soon. I totally think everyone struggling with acne should try this. It made my bumps smaller and all..its amazing i love it! TRY IT TRY IT TRYYY IT!! And to all the people struggling with acne..May god help get through this i hope one day you may no longer suffer from this you are beautiful with acne or with out it. Be confident. God made us all a certain way. Learn to accept and love yourself. Because you are beautiful no matter what. ❤

I normally use acv on my salad's dressing or put some in my food prep to add flavor. I had never knew people actly use acv on face to cure acne until I read an article. My face breakout seriously in this month (don't know why) and I was so upset to see those red bumpy dots especially at my lower left chin area. Moreover, my face turns dry and much oilier than usual. Post the article, I did a lot of findings & reading people's review on using acv as facial toner. Most of the reviews are with +ve rate & hence, I took the courage to try it on my face. It's been 2 weeks since my 1st use and I think I'm ready to share my experience here. The ratio of my acv toner is 2:1, i.e.: 2 for water & 1 for acv. The ratio is vary depends on the acceptance of the acidic concentration of each individual. I use filtered water instead of tap water because tap water contains chlorine which I believe the mixture from chlorine and acv isn't safe to skin. My 1st application was at night before bedtime and I got to see the result on the next morning! My face's acne shrink and they appeared less reddish! I was so surprised to see the result and I decided to replace my normal face toner with this so call acv toner. My skin care routine at home include cleanse, exfoliate (twice a week), toner, serum, mask (twice a week), moisturiser & eye cream, benzac ac 5. Although since after using acv my acne cure faster than any other method I ever tried, but, I started to realize my face was getting drier and tighter on the 3rd or 4th day. Then, I decided to do a small adjustment on my skin care routine -- apply sheet mask every night after serum and followed by the last 2 steps. With is small adjustment, my face is getting better, less oily, smoother & supple now although scars are still there on my face. Anyhow, I'm happy to see the improvement of my face from day to day. Despite how it cures my acne, below are my comments about this home remedy in other aspects: 1. Smell?: The sour smell from the acv itself will stay on the face for awhile but it's OK, I don't really bother about the smell.LOLx. (PS: It stings so do avoid eye area.) 2. Pores getting smaller?: Yes, can see my pores getting smaller along my acne recovering period. 3. Does it helps on black and whiteheads?: Yes. I find the extraction/removal especially on my nose is much easier now. I don't need to squeeze that much like past. Moreover, I can remove them using tweezer! 4. Does it even out my skin tone?: Yes. but isn't that significant to me since my skin tone is OK. 5. Does it helps fade away scars?: Whichever related to scar takes time. So, I still monitoring the scars on my face. I swear I will never buy any toner for now. Just stick to this home remedy will do. Save $$ and save my skin. *Happy reading*

I started using apple cider vinegar about a month ago after my acne prescription stopped working. At first I was nervous because it made me break out more but turned out just to be purging. I break out a lot on my forehead and cheeks but now there's about 6 tiny pimples on my face right now. It worked so well for me my complexion is evening out and my pores aren't as huge plus my face stopped being super oily!