How to Clear Up Acne Naturally in 3 Months

My story with acne was thankfully a relatively short-lived one. From the time I first started breaking out, to the moment when I realized that I hadn’t had any new breakouts for a couple of weeks, was about one year. Most of that time however was spent not being proactive about it, thinking it would just go away on its own. Once I set myself up with a plan for how to clear up acne naturally I saw results within 3 months.

There are about a billion stories out there on how to get rid of acne naturally, what worked for this person and that person. It can be very overwhelming when you’re trying to decide what to invest your time and money in.

I did a lot of research and concentrated on the inexpensive, natural tools that were mentioned most often and were available to me. I eventually condensed my skincare routine down to a handful of things.

I’m going to tell you my personal story first because I remember how frustrating and confusing it felt, not having the money to spend on fancy products, or even a good variety of cheap ones. I will then give you a rundown of all the things I used and how I used them to get rid of acne, when nothing else worked – the actual routine.

If you prefer to use a natural and minimal approach to your skincare, and you’re trying to clear up hormonal acne naturally, you’re in the right place. I hope the information below is helpful to you.

Table of Contents

Finding the perfect anti-acne routine (my story)

I had always been a low maintenance sort of girl, physically speaking, so I never really bothered with creams or make-up. I never washed my face – like, at all – and I never really had pimples.

Then at 18 I started getting some on my chin. At first just one or two – or three or four – but before I knew it my entire chin area was like raw meat.

My mother eventually took me to three different dermatologists but nothing really worked. And the mile-long list of possible side-effects to the drugs I was taking was almost as horrifying as the idea of continuing like that.

I felt powerless and hopeless, and so decided I had nothing to lose. I set out to try and find cheap, natural, homemade solutions to clear up acne naturally – and to try as many as I could. I remember not really expecting much, just thinking that I had to do SOMETHING!

My criteria for choosing were basically that it’d be natural, readily available where I lived, and cheap. So I went online, onto every forum and every group, and I read dozens of pages on how to clear up acne naturally.

I read about what supposedly caused acne and what foods I should be avoiding. This was the gateway, the opening of Pandora’s box for me: the stuff I was reading was blowing my mind!

Today I realize what a complex issue acne is. Like in most ailments, there are many factors that contribute to it (1), such as lack of exercise, toxic lifestyle habits, stress, poor emotional coping mechanisms, among others.

To clear up acne naturally, one of the most important and helpful things you can do for yourself to begin with is to take a good look at your diet.

CLEAR UP ACNE NATURALLY
– Diet

The number one thing for me back then, diet-wise, was that I decided to become a vegetarian. I stayed a vegetarian only a couple of years and my acne as never resurfaced even once.

I think it helped a lot overall to decrease my animal protein intake, which back then was entirely from industry animal products. There was no possibility to buy organic, even if we had wanted to.

Since I was never one for eating much salad, I believe most of the benefit came down to eliminating the animal hormones that completely saturate the meat, eggs, and dairy products of a standard diet.

I also replaced all grains I was eating with their whole grain version. I stopped eating industrial sugar and replaced it with dark brown sugar or honey.

If you want to clear up acne naturally, your first step should really be examining your diet and cutting out as many processed foods, sugars, and industrial animal products as you can. Sugar imbalance and artificial hormones wreak havoc with your hormonal system.

Some basic diet principles to help your body clear up acne naturally:

Decrease or eliminate processed foods, artificial sugars, refined grains, and non-organic animal products
Decrease or eliminate gluten
Increase your raw veggies and fruit intake
Increase your water intake
Decrease dairy intake
Try to include fermented foods, as much as possible (excellent for your gut microbiome)

Whatever your chosen diet, you have to nourish your body with whole foods and make a decision to stop eating crap as much as possible.

I’ve come to realize there is no one perfect diet that can be recommended to absolutely everyone. There’s just what works better for your particular body, at a particular stage of life and in a particular environment.

One thing most experts can agree on is that whole foods are overwhelmingly better for you than anything processed (vegetable or animal).

CLEAR UP ACNE NATURALLY
– Supplements & Teas

Alongside diet I was also researching supplements and teas that might speed things up. On my research to clear up acne naturally I kept coming across multiple references to detoxifying herbs, specifically burdock root, dandelion root, and nettle. I could find these things easily and I love herbal medicine, so I decided to try the burdock root.

Unfortunately, that tea caused me to break out even more. Back then I didn’t know about the concepts of healing crisis and cleansing reactions, and that you have to push through to see results (2). It seemed to make things worse, so it freaked me out.

Nevertheless, if you’re not put off by the idea of a possible temporary cleansing reaction, I would definitely recommend you give them a shot. Burdock can be especially powerful as a liver aid when trying to process toxins and excess hormones out of your system.

The other thing that kept popping up was Brewer’s Yeast supplements. Brewer’s Yeast is basically a dried by-product of the brewing industry, naturally rich in B-complex vitamins, minerals, protein and amino-acids.

It’s widely recommended for all types of skin disorders, for helping detoxification, promoting metabolic and cell health, and optimal digestion (3) (4). I had no adverse reaction to them and they were cheap as rain, so they became my anti-acne “drug” of choice.

CLEAR UP ACNE NATURALLY
– Natural Skincare

Now, slightly more fun for me to research were the skin treatments and ointments. I’ve always been a sucker for homemade concoctions.

I came across a great many recommendations, as I’m sure you probably have too.

However, of all the ones people mentioned the most as having been effective – and following my criteria of natural, readily available, and cheap – I ultimately decided to go for:

Aloe vera gel: for skin penetration and scar healing ability (5)
Lavender essential oil: for its antibacterial, antimicrobial, and skin healing properties (6) (7)
Vitamin E (in my case, in the form of olive oil): as a moisturizer, antioxidant, and wound healer (8)
Vinegar-water toner: for skin healing and pH balance (9) (10)
And green clay: for skin decongestion and detoxification (11) (12) (13)

CLEAR UP ACNE NATURALLY
– The Complete Routine

Internally (Diet)

9-12 brewer’s yeast tablets spread out throughout the day, taken with meals
A high plant based whole food diet (minimal amount of industrial sugars, industrial animal products and processed foods)

Skincare routine (morning & night)

Cleansing:

Wash face with a natural soap (no artificial coloring, no fillers, no perfumes)
Facial steam (night only): boil a pot of water and throw in lavender, rosemary, chamomile, eucalyptus, or mint. Steam face with a towel over your head for about 5 minutes

Toning:

Rinse with cold water (to close the pores and tighten back the skin)
Apply a homemade vinegar-water toner: 1 part vinegar to 7-8 parts distilled water. Use face pads, repurpose a spray glass bottle, or pour the mixture directly on your palms and apply to face

Moisturizing:

Mix a dollop of aloe vera gel with another of pure extra virgin olive oil. Add a drop of lavender essential oil.
Mix it in the palm of your hand fresh every time you want to use it.
Apply to face and neck with a massage.

Special Skincare Treatments (1x or 2x a week)

→ Green clay mask (at night)

After the facial steam don’t splash your face with cold water, just pat the skin dry and apply the clay to the warm skin. The pores are already open, so it’s even easier for the clay to do its job.
Mix clay and water to make a paste, apply to face and leave on for about 15-20 minutes (until it feels dry) – rinse off with water.
After you rinse off the clay, pat dry, apply the vinegar-water toner, and follow with the aloe vera-olive oil moisturizer (above).

→ Oat exfoliant (instead of face soap)

Mix one teaspoon of ground oats with enough milk or water to make a paste. Apply to the face and neck with a massage. Wash off with water.
Follow with toner and the aloe-olive oil moisturizer.
Oats have skin soothing properties and are gentle enough to use on acne-prone skin (14) (15)

How long until you see results?

Following this routine every day, it took me about two months to see a clear improvement on my skin. I suddenly realized one day that I hadn’t seen a new pimple or breakout in a while, and that the redness of my skin was fading.

I’ll never forget the moment when I was trying to find an acne scar I had noticed in the bathroom mirror once and I could no longer see it! I kept moving my face under the light, to get different angles and shading, but there was nothing there anymore!

It was so empowering to me, to know that I had been faced with a complex problem, but I was capable of taking matters into my own hands. I boiled things down to its most basic parts and found a natural, holistic solution. It was the best feeling in the world (it still is)!

CLEAR UP ACNE NATURALLY
– Other Tips & Tricks

The following are not things I was mindful of at the time, but I have since realized how important they are to the general health of your skin.

If I were trying to clear up acne naturally today, I would definitely be adding these three to the pile.

1 – Exercise regularly and properly

Focus on exercise that will make you sweat!

Moderate to intense exercise not only increases blood flow (nutrients and oxygen) to the skin, it helps to correct the hormonal imbalance and the stress-related cortisol spikes. (16)

The sweating will help to flush out the debris and gunk that’s in the pores. (17)

2 – Cycle-syncing diet

Speaking of hormonal balance and cortisol spikes, I highly recommend you check out the Cycle Syncing diet by Alisa Vitti.

She personally struggled with bad hormonal issues, including acne and endometriosis, since her teens. Over the last several years she became an expert on the female hormonal system.

She teaches women how to regulate and optimize their hormones naturally and holistically. I wrote a post on the cycle-syncing method she created to help regulate hormones and get rid of symptoms of imbalance, like acne. It will give you an idea on how to get started with it, if you’re curious to learn more.

Alisa has written a couple of books on the subject: The Woman Code and, more recently, In the Flo. I’ve only read The Woman Code so far, but I couldn’t recommend it enough – it’s an absolute game-changer.

I wish this type of information had been available to me back then. Things would have made a whole lot more sense.

3 – Pay attention to the pillowcases you’re using!

Another “small detail” that can help you clear up acne naturally. Make sure your pillows are made of 100% natural fibers (like cotton, linen, or silk) and don’t forget to change them frequently, to prevent being in contact with bacterial buildup.

The same could be said for any fabric that is in contact with acne-prone skin areas, like the back and shoulders.

It may not sound very important, but aside from the heavier toxic load of synthetic fabrics (and of how damaging they are to the environment), the fact that they don’t allow the skin to breathe properly causes a buildup of bacteria. (19)

With acne, that’s definitely something to avoid!

Acne can be a frustratingly complex result of hormonal imbalance (itself a by-product of so many other things) and it definitely takes a holistic, multilevel approach to fight it.

Help your body do its job by nourishing it and aiding your elimination organs (liver, kidneys, lungs, intestines, and skin). This way you will flush out toxins and prevent hormone imbalances.
Treat and decongest your skin topically, cleansing it every day (particularly before bed), using clean natural ingredients that help fight off bacterial infection and regenerate the skin.

You CAN clear up acne naturally! Like everything else in life worth doing, it requires some (or lots) of patience and dedication to a routine in order to see results. Sometimes that sucks. But there’s no greater feeling than pushing through it and being able to say to yourself, “I got this!”.

What about you? Any success stories using natural ingredients or other routines that you’d like to share? Is there anything you find that makes a huge difference in the health of your skin? Let me know in the comments bellow.

How to Clear Up Acne Naturally in 3 Months

Finding the perfect anti-acne routine (my story)

CLEAR UP ACNE NATURALLY
– Diet

CLEAR UP ACNE NATURALLY
– Supplements & Teas

CLEAR UP ACNE NATURALLY
– Natural Skincare