MSM gel for acne scars & hyperpigmentationHey! So here’s a thing:

There’s this white powdery stuff called MSM (or methyl sulfonyl methane if you want the long, sciencey version) is pretty kick ass at healing up acne scars and red hyper-pigmentation.

Ever since I published a guest post a long time ago from a reader named Tamar, who shared her experience with MSM cream healing even her indented acne scars, Love Vitamin Readers, and Naturally Clear Skin Academy members have been going wild for the stuff!

While people have gotten great results with it, the actual cream that Tamar said she used… they’ve since added some suspect ingredients to it including petroleum jelly, so it’s not really all natural.

There are plenty of other creams on the market, but without personal experience since my own acne marks are long healed, I’m not sure of the best to recommend.

There is an alternative though – using actual pure MSM powder.

The benefit?

You know it’s pure. No petroleum jelly here.

So that’s comforting.

But how do you actually use it?

I decided to order a bag of it and get to the experimentin’.

I hastily bought a bag of it that I could get in Canada easily… there was no particular reason I ordered this brand, as I thought all were pretty much the same. Here’s a good one available in the United States.

I later read that some actually are cut with fillers, so make sure that whatever you buy, it says it’s 100% pure and preferably specifies there aren’t any fillers or binders. I got lucky mine seems to have checked out, but I could have been out of luck.

Either way…

Here’s the story on working with MSM powder.

It’s very grainy. Like chunky salt crystals. I didn’t realize it was so grainy. I tried to mix a little with water and apply it to my face, just to see, and the crystals just sat there on top of it. When I tried to wipe it away, it felt like sandpaper.

I did not like it.

This could be used to exfoliate your skin if you wanted, but I think for most people, it’s too abrasive and could really aggravate your skin, especially if you have active acne.

So what you want to do then is dissolve it in something and THEN apply it to your face.

At first I thought, oh you can dissolve it in, say, jojoba oil, if you are already using that to moisturize.

But then I found out it was only water soluble.

So then I thought… aha! Aloe vera is perfect medium. Because aloe vera also has very soothing, scar reducing properties… it’s personally what I used to use to reduce and heal my red marks when I was healing from my severe acne.

So I squirted some pure organic aloe vera gel in a bowl, and absolutely saturated it with MSM powder.

And I waited.

And I waited.

I waited DAYS for that stuff to dissolve.

But all I got was a big grainy pasty mess.

So I thought, okay let’s see if it dissolves in just warm water. So I saturated a cup of warm water with it.

And I waited.

And I waited.

And all I got was some water with a big grainy mess in the bottom.

AGH!

MSM gel for acne scars & hyperpigmentation
FAIL!

Okay, so then I started reading that it won’t dissolve properly if it’s not pure, OR if the ratio of MSM to water (or aloe) is too high. I really hoped I had just put too much in there and that I didn’t have to order new MSM.

Back to the drawing board.

This thing I read suggested that you only use 1 level tablespoon per 1/4 cup (aka 50 mL, or 2 fluid ounces) of aloe vera .

So I tried that.

MSM gel for acne scars & hyperpigmentation

MSM gel for acne scars & hyperpigmentation

MSM gel for acne scars & hyperpigmentation
MUaHAHAHA! SUCCESS!

To Make a Really Long Story Short

Here’s how you do it:

  1. Buy pure 100% MSM powder. If you’re in the States, I suggest this one. The one I bought in Canada seems to be legit too.
  2. Buy as close to pure aloe vera gel as you can. I like Green Leaf Naturals the best. Aloe straight from the plant would be absolute best, but the downside is that it lacks any preservatives so your MSM gel might spoil before you can use it all (or add a few drops of grapefruit seed extract as a natural preservative). So your call!
  3. Mix 1 level tablespoon in with 1/4 of a cup aloe vera. You can double or halve recipe accordingly.
  4. Let it dissolve. Should pretty much dissolve within several minutes if it’s pure. There may be chunks though, that you will have to mash out with a spoon… that’s good, actually… MSM will naturally clump, it’s a sign of purity!
  5. Use once or twice a day (or even more probably wouldn’t hurt), by dabbing a bit of it on your red marks and scars. If you want to, you can use it all over your acne prone areas… it will not hurt active acne, and may even improve it.
  6. At night, this would be the last thing you put on your skin (ie, after you moisturize). If you are using it in the morning, it would be after moisturizer, but under makeup if you’re wearing it.

Have you used MSM? Have you had good results using it to clear acne scars and marks?