Treat Acne With Tea Tree Oil

The antimicrobial activity of tea tree oil is what makes tea tree oil effective in treating acne. Its two important chemical constituents, Terpinen-4-ol and Cineole are responsible for killing bacteria and germs. As Cineole is also a powerful irritant aside from its strong anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, we would prefer to go for tea tree oil with low Cineole content to minimize skin irritation when applied topically to our skin.

As tea tree oil is an essential oil derived from steam distillation of the Australia's Melaleuca Alternafolia tree leaves, it is much safer from benzoyl peroxide which is often the standard ingredient used in treating acne. Even though tea tree oil might cause some skin irritation to acne sufferers especially those with sensitive skin, its degree and number of side effects are much more lower than benzoyl peroxide which will often itching, dryness, burning and stinging to its users.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that some acne sufferers are using tea tree oil as a supplement to benzoyl peroxide as their acne treatment as its antibacterial property will kill the acne causing bacteria; Propionibacterium acnes and its less harsher side effects.

As with most aromatherapy oils, tea tree oil completely penetrates your skin without leaving any residue on its surface. With such a strong penetration power, tea tree oil is able to reach and kill the acne bacteria that resides in the pilosebaceous units. With regular application, acne bacteria are killed and reduced and over times, new acne lesions are prevented and even the appearance of acne scars are minimized. The best part is tea tree oil still remain active in the fatty cells even after 3 to 4 weeks of application.

If you experience immense skin irritation with tea tree oil, then dilute its concentration with jojoba oil or pure aloe vera gel. When you start your acne treatment with tea tree oil, you should apply to your acne spots only and leave them overnight. To your surprise, those acne blemishes have become less inflamed in the next morning.

Aside from its usage in treating acne, tea tree oil is also effective in treating Athlete's Foot, Bronchitis, dandruff, Whooping Cough, and even Ringworm.

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Does Vitamin B5 work for acne?

There are lots of home remedies around which can be used to treat acne. One of them involves using large dosage of vitamin B5 which is also known as pantothenic acid to treat acne.

But does vitamin B5 really work in treating acne? According to a study conducted by Dr. Lit-Hung, not only high doses of Vitamin B5 (10 to 20 g ) was effective in treating acne but it also decreased pore size. I guess you already knew that one of the factors that causes acne is the overactive sebaceous glands that excrete an abnormally high amount of sebum/oil and when the P. acnes bacteria feed on it, acne lesions are developed. As most acne sufferers have a low level of fats metabolism, these fats are deposited in our sebaceous glands. As it takes Coenzyme-A to break down these fats, consuming mega doses of Vitamin B5 will provide our bodies with lots of Coenzyme-A.

Now, before you decide to take such a high doses of Vitamin B5 immediately, I would advise you to increase the intake of B5 gradually as your body need some times to adapt to such a high doses of B5 intake.

For the first 3 days, take 5 grams of B5 every day. And do remember to spread out your daily intake; say 3 to 4 times a day so that the level of B5 in your body can be more stable. Some people resort to time released B5 supplements but they are usually more difficult to procure. Then go for a B5 10 gram daily intake for 3 months. A tip that I like to share with you is to take B5 15 minutes before or during meals as doing so will minimize stomach or diarrhea problems.

How fast acne disappear from one's skin will vary from individual to individual. Some people reported that they have a clearer skin after a week while for others, they need a month for it to be effective. For me, it took around 2 weeks to have some noticeable improvements in many acne condition. For acne sufferers with severe acne condition, it might take 2 months for their acne to start diminishing and a total of 6 months for a flawless complexion. I know this news would be a BIG deterrent for many people but if you have tried almost everything under the sun to clear your acne, what do you have to lose in seeking this solution to your stubborn acne condition?

The key here is to be consistent in your intake of B5 and that means you must take the mega doses of B5 everyday in the 3 months period or until your skin is clear of pimples. Don't be alarmed if you notice that you have more pimples or zits after starting your acne B5 treatment as it only shows that vitamin B5 is working in pushing your existing pimples to the surface of your skin.

I also noticed that after a few days of taking B5, my skin became less oily. I guess B5 was lowering the amount of sebum that was produced in my skin follicles units and making my skin drier.

As taking mega doses of Vitamin B5 will cause deficiencies in other classes of vitamin B, I would advise you to take a supplement of vitamin B-complex (B50 or B100 complex would do). If possible, aim for a B complex which contain a low level of B6 or pyridoxine (less than 50 mg) as there were some study out there B6 increases acne breakout if taken alone.

You might experience chapped lips, stomach irritation, diarrhea or hair thinning during the course of your acne B5 treatment. For minimizing hair thinning problem, take more biotin ( a certain class of B complex vitamin). You can use the following guideline : 1 mg bitoin for every 2.5 g of B5 that you take.

Even though it is next to impossible to have an overdose of B5 as it is water soluble, somehow I would not recommend women who are breastfeeding or pregnant to take it as there is not much studies on its safety on such cases. Since B5 is water soluble, it is wist to drink plenty of water during your acne B5 treatment to lessen the above mentioned side effects.

Lastly, did I say that you can also apply B5 to your acne prone skin? Using B5 topically to complement its oral intake will make you having a higher success in treating acne with B5.

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A Look At Toothpaste in Treating Acne

You must have heard many contradicting views on using toothpaste in treating acne. Some people reported that toothpaste performs miracle for their acne while others swear that they would never ever try this acne home remedy again for treating acne as it only produces more irritation and burning to their face.

Why is it some of us are having great success in treating acne while for others, toothpaste do more damage to their skin? To have a better understanding, let's take a look at a toothpaste typical ingredients.

In most toothpaste, you will find fluoride or a variation of it such as Sodium Monoflurorophosphate or Sodium Fluoride. Fluoride is the ingredient that is used to prevent tooth cavities. If you ever suffer burning or irritation when using toothpaste to treat your acne, it is due to fluoride and it might also cause skin allergies for some of acne sufferers who have sensitive skin. However for acne sufferers who have less sensitive skin, they might find that it works for their acne as fluoride dries up the pimple contents and that's why people say that it works for their pimples.
Sorbitol, hydrated silica, titanium dioxide and Polyethylene Glycol which are found in toothpaste do appear in some dermabrasive products used to treat acne but their minute presence in toothpaste are too insignificant to render their effectiveness in clearing acne.

Glancing further at the toothpaste contents, you will note that the presence of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. This ingredient is also present in many toiletries products such as your shampoo, body wash, facial wash etc. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is the ingredient that produces bubbles in most of the toiletries products and you can bet that these foamy bubbles won't do anything to improve your acne condition.

To minimize tartar deposits on the tooth, Sodium Pyrophosphate is added to toothpaste to remove calcium and magnesium from the saliva. In the skin, calcium promotes skin cell growth and causes more hair follicles to grow.

When Sodium Pyrophosphate is applied to the skin, calcium reduction lowers skin cell growth which leads to less activities in the hair follicles. Bear in mind that one of the factors that leads to acne formation is the abnormal shedding of skin cells in the follicle unit and by having less cell growth activities, you will get less pimples on your face.

Now that you know more about toothpaste in treating acne, would you still like to use it to treat your zits? If you decide to proceed, make sure you only apply toothpaste to your acne spots (spot treatment) and don't leave it overnight. In fact, you should only leave it for 10 to 15 minutes. Never ever apply toothpaste to your pimples which has been popped as you will experience extreme stinging and burning sensation.

If you feel that toothpaste makes your skin too dry, apply a mixture prepared from three teaspoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder. This mixture will make your skin feel soft and less drying. On a final note, treating acne with toothpaste will make your skin ages faster due to its drying effect.

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Laser and Light For Acne Treatment

Laser and light therapies offer an alternative approach to treat acne without the associated side effects present in Accutane and oral antibiotic and also to acne sufferers who can't find a traditional treatment that can get rid of acne on their skin.

Working on the surface of the skin, light and laser treatments not only bring improvement to imflammatory acne but also to acne scars as well.

The wonder of laser in being able to shrink the sebaceous glands (causing them to produce less sebum) and kill acne causing bacteria (Propionibacterium acnes) without causing damages to the skin surface lies in the adjustment and focus of the laser beam used in treating acne. Bear in mind that overactive sebaceous glands and P. acnes bacteria are the two main causes of acne and by tackling these two factors, we can effectively treat or maybe "cure" acne.

Imagine a glass souvenir crafted with bubble images of words and images in the center with no damages to its outer surface. This is exactly what happens when we target the sebaceous glands and P. acnes bacteria which lie in the deeper layer of the skin. Both of these outcome are made possible by the application of controlled laser beam.

By inhibiting the growth of acne causing bacteria and also shrinking the overactive sebaceous glands that secrete sebum, we would be able to curb potential future acne breakout on our skin.

When using a high intensity visible blue light in treating inflammatory acne, a photosensitizing agent is first applied and left for 15 to 60 minutes on the skin to let it accumulated in the sebaceous glands. Therefore, when the intense blue light is applied to the skin, the chemical reaction with the photosensitizing agent in about 10 minutes will generate heat and kill the P. acnes bacteria.

After such a treatment, you have to keep yourself away from directly exposed to the strong sunlight. Remember to use a sunscreen to protect your skin to avoid sunburn and peeling. You will also experience temporary pigment changes, redness and dryness of the treated area.

Multiple treatments are necessary to produce satisfactory result as the P. acnes bacteria killed in this light acne treatment process will be replaced rapidly.

To treat acne effectively, it seemed that we need to destroy sebaceous glands as well as the bacteria. Hence, Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) which consists of a multitude of different light wavelengths are used to penetrate targets that lies in the various depth of the skin.

In pulsed light and heat energy therapy (LHE), light and heat are used to kill P. acnes bacteria and shrink sebaceous glands, and leads to a decrease in sebum production.

Diode laser uses invisible infra red frequencies which are longer in wavelength to not only treat acne but also in minimizing the acne scars appearance. It destroys the sebaceous glands in the inner part of the skin without causing any harm to the outer skin layer. As this type of treatment is painful, analgesics is applied before treatment.

In general, light and laser treatments side effects will include redness, dryness or swelling of the treated area. Other drawbacks include its high cost, time consuming and not covered under most insurance plans. Darker skin acne sufferers are also not advised not to go for laser treatment for their acne.

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Celebrities With Acne | With Photo

Don' t think that celebrities do not have acne with their flawless complexions which are shown on TV and movies. The fact is acne can affect everyone; and being a celebrity doesn't mean that one is immuned from acne.

Our previous post touched on Cameron Diaz acne condition and how she manage to control her adult acne condition. You can bet that she is not the only celebrity that deals with acne problem.

Britney Spear is another famous celebrity that have to face acne problem in her teens. She also had to deal with acne flare up problem during her first pregnancy as she experienced tremendous hormone changes during that period. Those flawless and perfect skin complexion pictures of that you saw during that time had been air brushed. Her acne problem was being highlighted along with Britney being a bad mother, an overweight dancer and starred in a bad movie as well as her many outrageous and destructive behaviors such as kissing Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.

However, nowadays it seems that not only Britney is able to put her acne problem at bay but also make a comeback with her electrifying Circus Tour concert.



If you have been paying attention to those acne ads out there, you would notice Jessica Simpson on ProActiv products promotion. This lady sure knows how to make money out of her acne problem. Not only the luxury deal she signed with ProActiv made her tons of money but also many youngsters with acne problem are lured into trying out the products. However, I do believe those who lay their hands on ProActiv products will have a successful solution as their acne treatments provided that they exercise patience and use the correct method in trying an acne medication.

Are you surprised if I tell you that Brad Pitt, the sexiest man alive, has acne? If not for the heavy make up put by his make up artists, Brad pock marks and acne scars would be visible under the camera lenses.

Even Leonardo DiCaprio had to deal with acne in his teens. But I guess his successful career launch with Titanic made people care less on his acne condition. In fact, it seems that the men in the spotlight show less care on their acne condition while the for women, having a flawless skin is paramount for them to remain in the public eyes.

Other celebrities who have acne include Victoria Beckham, Lindsday Lohan, Vanessa Williams and Kelly Clarkson. For Richard Burton, Tommy Lee Jones and Laurence Fishburne, having acne scars on their faces makes them more attractive and macho. But then again, all these celebrities all guys!

If the celebrities with acne can go about crafting a successful career in the limelight where appearance is of utmost importance, I think you should have the confidence to face those embarrassing and awkward moments that you might have in your daily life. If they can do it, so can you.

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Cameron Diaz Acne

Well, what you heard is indeed true. Isn't it comforting? Cameron Diaz, being one of the most beautiful woman in the world, has acne. In fact, acne has been part of Cameron Diaz life for the past 10 years and she attributed her acne to her heavy smoking habit.

What Cameron, 37, has is adult acne and unlike many people, acne still break out on her skin after her teenage years. Statistic shows that adult acne affects 50% of adult women out there.


Through many interviews, Cameron revealed that she has tried almost every possible acne treatments out there which include facial and acne medications and yet did not have any significant improvement on her skin till she stops smoking and drinks plenty of water. Zits and pimples on her face are a thing of the past till she uses a powder sunscreen. Before you head for some powder sunscreens, I would like to remind you that powder sunscreen instead of acne lotion works on Cameron skin because she has lot of sunlight exposures and I guess in her case, sunlight causes her acne to breakout on her skin.

Nowadays with the cigarettes out of the way, her skin looks youthful and glowing with the help of facials, oil free moisturizers, and acne medications such as Pro-Active. She is using Colorescience Sunforgettable SPF30 sunscreen to protect her skin under the sun.

Some sources reported that Cameron cleared her acne by taking certain type of birth control pills while other sources quoted that she got rid of acne with a cleansing diet, fruit juice and exercise.

Whatever the reasons that she cleared her acne, one thing is for sure. In order for her to have a clear skin, Cameron has to bid farewell to her smoking habit.

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Treating Acne with Yogurt.

Treating acne with yogurt is one of the home remedies that you should try as yogurt is found to be effective in treating acne and has no side effects at all. Not only it is easy to use yogurt to treat your acne but yogurt is also easily available and is practically affordable to any acne sufferers.

Some of us might have the opinion that yogurt might make our acne worse as yogurt is produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Something which is full of bacteria couldn't be good for our skin, could it? Well, don't think that all bacteria are bad for our skin as there are good bacteria which are beneficial not only for our skin but also health. And the bacteria contained in yogurt is good bacteria as the harmful bacteria in it has been killed by the acidity level in the yogurt (pH 4 to 6).


One of factors that causes acne is the proliferation of P. acnes bacteria in the pilosebaceous unit which causes infection, inflammation and finally leads to acne lesions. The population of P. acnes in the pilosebaceous unit which is made up of hair follicle, hair shaft, sebaceous gland and erector pili muscle is wiped out by yogurt acidic nature.

Aside from its antibiotic nature, yogurt also strengthens our immune system as it is rich in vitamin B and zinc. Having a stronger and healthier immune system will keep acne at bay. Have you ever noticed that you have more acne break outs when you are stressful ( for example, during the time when you are facing an exam or rushing to complete a project deadline)? It is during this period that you are experiencing high level of stress.

Many people have an upset stomach after consuming milk. It is the sugar (lactose) in milk that makes our stomaches unable to tolerate its effect. Instead of lactose, yogurt contains lactic acid which does not pose the same problem as milk to our skin and therefore a healthy digestive system will clear our acne.

Even though you can opt to consume or use yogurt topically to reduce acne, it is better to take it orally. Aside from its tasty feel, the healthy bacteria together with the minerals and vitamins will be absorbed into your body through the blood stream and not only will you begin to notice less and less acne lesions on your skin but also enjoy a healthier life.

As a topical use to treat acne, people usually go for a face mask made out of yogurt to soften and smoothen the skin, dig up impurities and heal blemishes. Here's how to make a face mask out of yogurt.

Mix a teaspoon of comfrey leaves fine powders(which you can prepare by grinding with a food processor), a teaspoon of honey and a teaspoon of cosmetic clay to a teaspoon of plain yogurt (preferably low fat type) to make a paste. Spread the yogurt face mask to your face for 15 minutes. Then remove the yogurt mask with a warm damp cloth. Lastly apply a sunscreen moisturizer.

You also use yogurt with pieces of fruit bits in it. Stir the yogurt content with a spoon till the fruit mixes and floats. This fruit bits are very beneficial to reduce and treat acne and acne scars as it consists salicylic acid. Next apply the solution to your face and leave it for 15 minutes. Finally rinse the face with clear water and pat dry with wash cloth.

Other than using yogurt to treat acne, you can take a look at more home remedies method to remove acne. Though some of them might look unconventional, but if it works on your acne, what do you have to lose? Your acne, of course!

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