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3 Simple Steps to Acne-Free Skin

By Tiffany Moore

Having touchably soft skin that feels as smooth as rose petals is the dream of many teenagers and young adults around the world. But it’s hard to put your best face forward when you troubled by pimples and acne, rank among the most nettlesome of inflammatory skin problems caused by crazy hormone levels and stress.

So much has been written about clearing up stubborn acne, and many treatments have been widely promoted, ranging from prescription creams and antibiotic, to steroid injections and microdermabrasion, to blue light or diode laser therapy. However, these expensive acne treatments usually mean you have to dig deeper into your wallet to pay for them.

Fortunately getting beautifully clear look-at-me facial complexion isn’t entirely out of reach. There are a number of little things that you can do now that will make a great improvement on your skin without putting a huge damper on your budget. Let’s look at the first one – making dietary changes.

Cure Acne Diet

Most acne sufferers are aware that what you eat always shows on your face. A poor diet that is seriously lacking in brightly colored fruits and dark leafy greens plus water can lead to all kinds of skin imperfections such as blackheads, whiteheads and boils.

But did you know that some foods including the seemingly innocent spinach, nori (seaweed), kelp as well as garlic can actually make acne worse? These foods are high in iodine, a mineral responsible for normal thyroid function but linked to teenage acne breakouts in individuals who are prone to acne and skin problems. This is because the excess iodine that is excreted via the sebaceous glands will irritate skin pores, causing inflammation, red spots and bumps.

Interestingly, a Dutch research study has found that cooked carrots and tomatoes if served with olive oil, butter, or margarine, tend to cause excess oil production, making the skin oilier, particularly in male adolescents.

Holistic skin care experts also advise staying off greasy foods, sugary and refined carbs to naturally cure acne. Such inflammatory foods may raise hormone levels in your body, which in turn increase sebum production and the buildup of dead skin cells. This combination can clog up pores, resulting in nasty acne flare-ups. So no more uncontrolled amounts of peanuts, candies, corn and tortilla chips fried in corn or soy bean oil if you want to stop acne from forming.

And because acne is an inflammatory skin disorder, it is worth your health to up your omega-3 intake and limit omega-6s. The right balance of omega 3 and 6 can help control inflammation and therefore, clearing acne naturally without medicine.

Make sure to include flax seeds and walnuts in your “anti-inflammatory clear skin diet”. Oily fish such as trout, salmon and herring, and believe it or not, papayas and pineapples also have omega-3 fatty acids in them. Alternatively, take a krill oil or fish oil supplement that provide both EPA and DHA.

Acne Skin Care Routine

The next important step to stop acne from spreading is a good skin care routine – cleanse, tone and moisturize. Always remove all traces of makeup at the end of the day no matter what or else it spells disaster for your acne-prone skin. Stale makeup plus dead skin cells, excess sebum and impurities equal blocked pores, which can trigger more frequent acne breakouts. Remember, acne skin care is more about being proactive than reactive.

Many acne sufferers think that washing their face often helps get rid of acne quickly but this very common skincare mistake does more harm than good. Over-washing often can strip off the skin’s natural protective oils, making it dry and scaly. So wash your face only twice, daily. If your face gets very oily in the afternoon, gently wipe with a moistened towel or tissue so that sweat and pore-clogging debris won’t trigger the acne bacteria and cause infection.

Use oil-free non-comodogenic skin care products specially formulated to control excess facial oil. Familiar purse-friendly acne-fighting drugstore brands include Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, Clean & Clear Advantage Oil-Free Acne Moisturizer and Noxzema Triple Clean Anti-Blemish Pads.

The other thing worth a big mention is, avoid using several anti-acne products at the same time. This is because it can lead to cross interaction of different ingredients, thereby potentially causing adverse side effects.

Also, keep long hair out of your face with a headband or ponytail to avoid grease from unwashed hair getting onto your face.

Acne Home Remedies – Tofu Face Mask

You can find endless acne quick fix home remedies floating around online like putting honey and cinnamon powder, or fenugreek paste on face. Coriander juice mixed with turmeric powder, chamomile tea bag, apple cider vinegar and baking soda solution are also believed to make acne go away fast.

Whether they really help heal acne or not depend greatly on a few factors such as severity of your acne problem and how often you use them. Generally speaking, mild acne – a few pimples with no severe swelling and redness – respond pretty well to home remedy treatments and can even be cleared up overnight.

I would want to suggest this massively popular acne quick cure – tofu face mask – that has long been widely used by the Koreans and Japanese since ancient times. Many teenage as well as adult acne sufferers in their 30s have found tofu to be safe and really helpful in their battle against acne.

Why tofu? It is because this cheap Asian ingredient is made from soy beans, which contain saponin that helps slough off dead skin while lifting out pore-clogging debris. And due to tofu’s relaxing cooling effect on skin, it provides an almost instant relief of redness, itching and irriation from acne.

In addition to its acne clearing benefits, tofu is blessed with a variety of other skin-protection nutrients – acid glycine (an amino acid), isoflavones, protein and Vitamin E – that not only hydrates skin but will also help improve skin elasticity, therefore keeping wrinkles out of your face. As an added bonus, apply tofu face mask on a regular basis will lighten acne marks, dark spots, and other skin blemishes, leaving your facial complexion whiter, clearer and more luminous than you ever imagined.

Blend silken tofu with 1 teaspoon unflavored yogurt, a bit of manuka honey or oat flour until you get a nice easy-to-apply consistency. Lay down and spread tofu mixture onto clean face. Rinse off with cool water after 15 minutes.

You can use only tofu on face, but adding plain yogurt will further boost its acne healing powers since the acidic nature of yogurt also help kill bacteria that cause acne. Manuka honey has superb antibacterial and healing properties while oat flour can be added to soak up excess facial oil.

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