I’ve seen acne-like whiteheads on newborns. As skin and other factors
change, it goes through many adjustments. A gentle cleanser with salicylic acid
is your best bet for him to wash with, as it’s the only acid that helps the pores
exfoliate and clear. If that isn’t enough, you could rub a drop of jojoba on
them at night to help soften the matter and clear it. If you do not wish to
use a salicylic acid cleanser, then look in the files here for my oats, milk,
and sugar cleanser. Whatever you decide and can get him to use , you won’t
want to use the dry-up-pimple creams on blackheads or whiteheads or to strip
his skin of the oils he needs … rather, the focus is on assisting his skin to
exfoliate and clear.

How To Manage Child Acne is a post from: Cure For Acne

I’ve learned a lot recently about treatment for blackheads and whiteheads
by reading from several varied skincare professionals, and have learned
a few things that I’ll be doing differently … Here are a few tidbits I’ve gleaned
that make sense.

Bacteria is not the ONLY factor in whiteheads and blackheads … the matter and
surrounding skin needs to be softened so that the blackheads can be cleared -

Skin with acne is irritated skin, and irritating ingredients (even if they
feel neat) are not advised – such as mints, camphor, menthol, etc. -

Steaming pores is apparently not the thing to do, as it causes the tissues to
swell -

Cleanse*, Rinse Well, Pat Dry twice daily …

Each evening, take a warm wet washcloth and hold it over the acne for a few
minutes to soften the matter – you can try to clear them GENTLY – be sure to
use a tissue over your fingers to prevent slipping / ripping the skin, and do
not bruise your tissues as you coax them from “underneath” from various sides
- if they do not clear after a few GENTLE squeezes, they’re not ready yet (I
prefer to “clear” in the evening, as our bodies naturally heal faster during
the rejuvenation cycles of sleep) -

Follow with your toning and treatment of choice.

Treatment For Blackheads And Whiteheads is a post from: Cure For Acne

Are you sick and tired of using those products are designed to strip the oils
on your face? This results in the oil glands overproducing (more than before) to
compensate for the depleted oil. Your skin needs coaxing into producing less oil while you
maintain a clean face. What you want is thorough cleansing without stripping the
oil’s acid-mantle barrier. This is how to treat acne and oily skin problem.

For the extremely oily, I suggest jojoba. You’ll be amazed at how well it
can help balance this. Steam your face (or splash with very warm water),
apply some jojoba. It is technically a liquid wax most like our sebum,
though it feels oily. It helps to loosen the matter in the pores, softens
surface skin, and helps skin exfoliate properly, while also helping to
balance the level of oil production over time. Mix equal parts ground oats,
dry milk, and sugar – store in water-tight container and do not let water or
steam into the product. To clean your steamed / oiled face, pour about 1
Tbsp of this powder into your hand, add just enough water to make a paste,
and scrub without pressure, as if the oat mix were soft bubbles (let the
powder do the scrubbing for you). Rinse well. As you first start to use,
you may notice more flaking than expected … a wetted washcloth can help
remove extra flakes.

To close pores and assist the less-oil effort, you want something astringent.
However, alcohol is so drying, you’ll be again burning that candle at both
ends. Dimestore witch hazel with only 14% alcohol by volume is the highest
amount of alcohol I’d recommend for anyone. If that proves too drying, look
for less chemical products like Clearpores or Healthypores. You can get them
online.

Some theories are that a little of the right oil as a skin softener help,
others say it’s too much. If acne / clogged pores is a problem, then I’d
consider a drop or less of one of a few oils mixed into between 1 and 2 tsp
of the witch hazel. My experiments with a few vary with the season as to
results – humidity plays a huge role here, as well as temperature of the day

Try this and let me know how it goes …

How To Treat Acne And Oily Skin is a post from: Cure For Acne

I’m going to talk a little about different types of soap and how to choose one.

For soaps used as acne face wash … real, handmade soap is best. Here’s what to look for …

Forgot to tell you WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN REAL SOAP … soap is made by reacting
a lye solution and fats / oils. Lye should be listed as sodium hydroxide
unless the oils are listed as sodium whateverate. The oils chosen are what
makes the bar perform …

Palm oil is very drying and should be avoided by all with acne, especially by
dry skinned people. Palm kernel has become its substitute of choice, a much
milder and superior hardener and lathering oil. Your typical hardening and
lathering oils, in order, are coconut, palm kernel, palm, cocoa butter.
Cocoa butter is fine for very dry skin but not recommended for acne. Look
for natural soaps with either palm kernel or a mix of palm kernel and coconut
(vs. coconut as the only one).

Look also at the other oils and where they’re listed … if the hardeners are
listed first, the soap is harsher and more drying than if they’re somewhere
in the middle or toward the end. If the hardeners are listed first, the
amount of dryness to your skin may cause the pores to become too stiff to
clear themselves and they may clog up.

Olive oil is super kind to skin … soap “filled” in with olive (toward top
or middle of ingredients) has a nice, gentle, silky feel added … an
excellent choice. If a bar has only olive, it’s also excellent – gentle
enough for babies (but low suds) – or olive, coconut, and castor, it’s
probably still a very nice bar (again, depending upon proportions the
soapmaker used).

Conditioning oils are really important. Almond, apricot kernel, avocado,
evening primrose, grapeseed, hemp, and many others are used for superb
conditioning. Many of us like jojoba in soap, many do not … my experience
is that it’s awesome on oily skin with exfoliation issues (like in acne).
Castor is usually at the end of this list … it doesn’t take much … it’s
the only oil that is supremely conditioning and lathering. Reason it’s at
the end is that more than a little is not only a waste but also will soften
the soap bar too much. The conditioning from castor oil helps the
“elasticity” of your skin. Shea butter is commonly used in luxury
conditioning bars … in small amounts (toward end of list), it’s also
wonderful for problem skin due to a high sterol content and the fact that
only a percentage of it becomes soap (the rest remains as shea butter). The
newest one I’ve seen is meadowfoam which is superb for dry skin.

As for animal fats, lard and tallow make good, hard soap, but I wouldn’t use
them on acne. However, emu oil is excellent – more expensive, but very
highly recommended.

The lye often concerns people unaccustomed to real soaps, but is nothing to
fear. The amount of lye needed is figured, then discounted within a
percentage range … this is called superfatting, and ensures that all of the
lye is converted into soap and that no free lye remains, as well as ensuring
some free oils remain to condition your skin.

About additives, good and bad – many soapers use colorants, fragrance oils,
or essential oils … these are nice to use, but skin with acne is sensitive
skin and these should be avoided. Also avoid soaps with clays added – too
drying and can clog pores. Titanium dioxide is sometimes listed – it offers
no sun protection in a rinse-off product, but helps whiten the bar
(harmless). Oats, honey, milk from any source, aloe, cucumber, chamomile,
etc. are wonderful for anyone’s skin, especially troubled skins … however,
be sensitive to any allergies you may have (chamomile, for example, should be
avoided by those allergic to ragweed).

Above all – read the ingredients and be discriminating! Here’s why I get on
it about labels (and violations) – label regulations are meant for the
consumer to be informed. As reference, I’m in the USA, and other countries
have different regulations. For the purpose of addressing problem skin, I’ll
use the US guidelines.

It should never be acceptable for you to buy a pretty or great-smelling soap
that claims only to clean you … In this field, I can legally do that to
sell my soaps – only as soap (and make no claims other than that it cleans)
and avoid label regulations, but why should I bother, then, to learn my oils
and make anything that’s truly decent? I could throw together any cheap
soap that gives you bubbles (and maybe even beautifully swirled colors and
scents) and make a killing … and would be selling you soap with palm oil
However, when you have acne or any other skin condition, you need to know
what you’re putting on your skin! Instead of calling my soaps only soap, I
instead claim that they’ll soften, moisturize, or help exfoliate, all things
that enhance beauty, etc. – because I’ve put many hours into learning what’s
good for skin and go to the expense of using the better ingredients, I want
you to know why you should buy mine … This is classified as a cosmetic and
labelled accordingly (and is the reference to the labelling discussed above
in regard to the oils, etc.) What I cannot tell you without going through
much testing and having them approved and registered as an OTC drug with an
approved active ingredient is that they’re for acne, psoriasis, etc. To
claim that I have an “acne soap” is to imply that it will cure, treat, or
alter the function of your skin … for which I’d better have a properly
labelled product, a paper trail of compliance to back it up, and it better
contain an approved active ingredient that does what it says.

However, if going through all the different soaps confuses you, just pick up
this Acne Face Wash that I’ve used and highly recommend. (It’s much easier for travelling too!)

How To Choose Acne Face Wash Soap is a post from: Cure For Acne

Another home remedy for acne you can try out and experiment.
I’ve seen it do well as the sole cleanser for many, including my sister, who
probably needs to “lose the oil” part in her toner … if this is not enough
cleansing for you after a few weeks, then you should go for an acne face wash
like Clearpores. Those OTC products that dry up a pimple often overdry
the surface and turn it into a thick, dry patch. However, there are a few
things I’ve found that work well on those that you’d want to do in the
evening

Whenever there’s a horrid pimple or blister, or anything that needs to be
drawn out without drying, try this poultice:

I mix up equal parts each of sage, thyme, onion powder, and garlic powder.
You can add a part of ground oats if you wish (I’ve done it both ways). Work just
a bit of this mix into enough liquid honey to make the paste needed (you won’t want to store
leftovers, so keep the part you’re using separate from the dry). The honey
is quite thick and hard to work with (but a very important ingredient), so
you may want to incorporate a few drops of water. Apply to clean “open”
(steamed or warmed with washcloth) pores. When dry, a gentle but repeated
very-wet washcloth may be required, as it can be hard to rinse off … it
really works well for me and doesn’t leave my skin all scarred, scabby, or
dried out.

I’ve used this same mix with baking soda added for a rash that did need to be
dried out, and found it still didn’t dry as badly as some of the OTC
products.

Each of us is different, but these home remedies for acne have worked for me. Let me
know what you decide and how it works for you.

Home Remedy For Acne is a post from: Cure For Acne

When choosing acne face wash, most people avoid soaps. But not all soaps are bad.
Commercial soaps typically use the fatty-acid portions of certain oils that
provide the most suds and hardest bars, then add to that surfactants that
increase the lather. Why? Because the public demands it. Bubbles aren’t
necessary for cleansing, but … in providing them to please the public, they
also draw off the glycerin and sell it separately. These generally are not “real”
soap, though they have a little “real” soap in them.

Handcrafted soaps other than the clear, glycerin bars, are a different and
diverse ballgame. Depending upon the oils used, they can range from a
product that also would strip and dry skin to a product that pampers and
conditions your skin. They don’t need surfactants and they leave the
glycerin in … as well as provide some “free superfat” for additional
conditioning.

Whichever you’re using, the dryness is not a matter of your skin adjusting,
it’s simply using an acne face wash that is too drying for your skin. When choosing
acne products, you have to identify your skin type as well as the kind of acne
you have.

If you are not keen on soap, you can try a specialized acne facial wash like Clearpores

Acne Face Wash is a post from: Cure For Acne