Linda Jane asked: I’m almost 22 years old. During my teen years and puberty I never had acne- with the exception of the occasional but rare pimple on my face, I consider myself lucky for not having to go through the acne phase most of my life.

As I’m getting older I’m noticing more and more acne starting to develope on my face. I don’t have an oily face or T-zone acne, it mainly developes on my chin area- and at the edges of my eyebrows. It’s not the acne thats full of puss and nasty- it’s 99% little annoying red bumps that usually turn out to be a black head in the long run.

My mother struggled with adult acne, so could this be happening to me? And what products would you recomend? I have semi-sensitive skin so Noxema or Neutrogena just breaks me out more- which is also a problem!

Any advice?

Help from our readers:

Hi, I used proactiv for about a year. It was amazing. My acne was gone. Then all of a sudden in December Proactiv started to severely dry my skin. Since then, I have transfered to natural methods of clearing skin. This only works so well though.

Anyhow, I used Proactiv once a day for a year. Again, it worked great, but dried my skin. I want to start using it again because it worked amazingly for the first year, but I am afraid it will dry my skin like it did the last month I used it again making everything worse. Any suggestions?

The appearance of acne can be devastating. Acne leaves the skin looking red, blotchy, bumpy, infected and more. To add insult to injury it also leaves scars, some easy to treat, while others are more difficult. Many people who suffer from acne wish to cover it up, hide it away and pretend it isn’t happening to us, no matter how mild of a case.

True enough, some acne scars are easy to conceal. These are the scars left by milder forms of acne, or acne that has been successfully treated in the beginning. If your scars are easily concealed, covering them with makeup will save you the expense of scar removal treatments - medical procedures performed by a dermatologist. For these milder scars, there is makeup available that can enhance the appearance of your skin, giving it an even look.

Deeper scars are caused by more severe types of acne and may require medical treatment to permanently remove as no amount of makeup will cover them. read the rest »

Do you make your own soap? A friend of mine just passed on a few recipes to me that she swears by.

I checked out the list and they look like natural acne fighting ingredients to me. At any rate, as long as you follow standard soap making procedures (anything with lye should age 6 weeks before use) these can’t harm your skin and may clear up any bouts of acne - current or future!

Oatmeal and honey, a natural astringent soap, and a refreshing acne mask recipes follow….

Natural Acne Fighter - Oatmeal and Honey Soap

All measurements, excluding honey and oatmeal are in weight, not bulk.
read the rest »