The following is an interview with Love Vitamin reader Maria. After a four year nightmare with acne, she finally can share what worked for her!
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What was your experience with acne? How many years did you have it and how did it make you feel?
I have had acne since I remember but it wasn’t always a bad case. It had ups and downs through my teen years but the nightmare began about 4 years ago.
My lifestyle was the worst during that period of my life… eating out all the time, partying every weekend and I always had pimples…
What kinds of things did you try prior to holistic healing that didn’t work?
After a visit to the dermatologist, she prescribed me Accutane and after 2 weeks I started purging like crazy.
For 4 months I had my face all covered in cystic acne and I felt so depressed that I didn’t want to leave home. I thought it wasn’t working but I kept taking it (worst mistake of my life).
After five months, the pimples were gone but my face was covered in scars! I tried peelings and laser but nothing worked, and some months after I stopped Accutane the pimples returned!
Now I not only had acne, but I had all kinds of scars and a super-sensitive skin! I lost all my self confidence…
How did you discover that acne could be treated holistically?
Internet was my best friend… I kept searching and searching and I came to realize that I had to change my life, my food, and my skincare routine if I ever really wanted to be free from acne.
What were the specific things that made the biggest difference to your skin? What worked for you?
Well I started eating better. Basically I tried to eat organic fruits and vegetables and I cut the sugar. I only eat out once a week but the rest of the days I stay away from sugar, dairy and junk food.
I always start my day with lemon water and then some fruit and oats and I try to add some greens to every meal.
The skincare was my big obstacle… it seemed that every product clogged my pores!!
And I tried everything… until I found argan oil! Oh…what a life saver! I love it. I only wash my face at night and then 2 drops of argan oil and that is all my skin needs.
Were there any obstacles? Things you found difficult about the whole process?
The biggest obstacle was discovering what was right for me, because I kept reading about products and oils that did wonders for someone and then I tried them and they just didn’t work for me!
Even today, sometime I try something new but everything seems to make me break out. I realize it is because of all the treatments I used in the past that made my skin super sensitive …
How did you feel once your skin cleared up?
Free. But I still have the scars… they are my battle today. I use the argan oil and dermaroller every 6 weeks but they are still here.
Maria owns her own organic baby products business, and she loves to read about nutrition and natural remedies. She also believes everything happens for a reason and the truth is that acne has made her a better person, more aware and more healthy!
Hi Tracy..
I want to ask you something about the caveman regimen. Right now I have been doing the caveman regimen on my face for maybe about 7 months. While doing this regimen, I sometimes wash my face, and sometimes I don’t. However, my face really has a big improvement, but still not 100% heal. That’s why I decided to do caveman too on my back by just washing my back with water, because my back was full of acne. I live in tropical country and in my country, it’s hard for me to find natural skin care products, like natural oils. But it seems that i can’t always do the caveman on my back because it will be smelly when i don’t use soap on my back. And also for hair, i can’t find natural products, so i just use kids’ shampoo which doesn’t contain SLS, but it contains fragrants. However, I know that soap is a product full of chemical ingredients, but in my country, i can’t find any natural soap. Can u please give me some suggestions about what i should use on my body and hair??
Hi Vivi! 🙂 Glad to hear caveman has helped you so much. It’s very hard to give product recommendations for other countries because I don’t know what is available there.. you could look into doing the baking soda/apple cider vinegar for your hair. And maybe you can use natural raw honey to wash your back and a very, very gentle brush or loofah?
I’m afraid my hair and my body will be smelly when i use baking soda or apple cider vinegar. And for raw honey, i think it’s hard to find them too…
Emm, Tracy..I want to ask you again, sorry if i ask too much. Now i often have a cold. What should i do? Well, i admit that i seldom do exercise. Can u give me some suggestion what kind of simple exercise i can do because i’m a student and i’m busy. Sometimes i also stress because of school and other things. Do i have to take food supplements such as vitamin? What vitamin do i should eat? Thanks for your help!
Hi Vivi! I became inspired to answer to you 🙂 What you write, I can read “between the lines” that you have quite a lot of stress. I think it is stress that makes us more prone to get cold often. Exercise would be very important, because it helps to lower stress! I think very good simple exercise would be to walk every day, and if you walk in the nature it’s even better, it also lowers stress very well.
I am not a health care professional…but I take vitamin D every day and lemon (like squeeze lemon on water and drink) and have noticed it really helps to boost immunity, last autumn I did not get cold at all when I did this!
Thanks for your suggestion. Well, i also think that stress is the number one cause. Now i’m trying to find out how to control my emotion and lower my stress. I hope i can get rid of stress.
Sorry Vivi, not sure what to suggest then!
Hi Tracy,
I’ve been following your blog which has been great! I’m almost 29 years old and really struggling with my acne. I have tried almost everything you have suggested. In the last 2 years, after I had a surgery, my face, back and chest have been broken out in ways I have never experienced. I have tried every topical cream and prescription out there but have switched to a natural treatment which you mention. I have switched/tried: natural deodorant, facial cleansing and moisturizing oil (tried argan, jojoba, grapeseed, hemp), natural makeup without harmful chemicals or poor clogging ingredients, SLS shampoo and conditioner; had an allergy patch test and found that I’m allergic to nickel so I have eliminated nickel; I’ve been a vegan for almost 5 months, and recently have gone gluten free to see if that is causing the acne. I have also been seeing a naturopath and trying various supplements and taking vegan supplements as well. Essentially, I have tried as much as I can think of which little to no success. I’m not sure what to do now and would appreciate any help! Thanks!
Hi Amy – sorry to hear you’re struggling! What sort of surgery was it? There’s a few avenues you can look to: -a more targeted gut healing approach -hormonal testing to see if it’s a hormonal issue -focusing deeply on self love, inner healing, releasing emotions and issues that might be keeping you literally “stuck” where you are right now (I know this is often the last thing people really want to do, but emotional and stress related reasons can be a huge deal for the skin)
Hi Tracy,
I had a portion of my liver removed for a benign tumor. I’m completely healthy now though. I’ve been taking probiotics, food enzymes, and making my own kombucha for a healthy gut. Thankfully my identity is not in my looks or appearance so I have self-love 🙂 I’m just at a loss…
Hi Tracy, thanks for all your great insights! Do you use any suncream or sun-protection? Is there anything you’d recommend in particular?
Hi Christina 🙂 Check out my latest blog post: https://thelovevitamin.com/20382/acne-safe-sunscreen-love/
Amazing, you’re the best!