Acne Sucks! Here's How You Can Get Rid Of It Forever

More is not better when it comes to skin care. I know how tempting it can be when that new facial cleanser you just bought is showing promising results, and you figure using it even more will make it work even better. This is not the case, and you have to stop doing this.

Even over the counter acne cleansers contain powerful ingredients that can really do a number on your skin if you abuse them. Your skin should maintain it's natural elasticity at all times.

If you can't open your mouth real wide without feeling like your skin is going to tear cut back on the washing.

If your face has red patches, and flaky skin - cut back on the washing.

Dead skin cells are what clog your pores and cause acne in the first place, so don't turn your face into a skin cell grave yard by scrubbing your face 5 times a day with medicated cleansers.

Stick to washing 1 time a day using a cleanser made with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. Any other time during the day wash with plain water. And don't forget to pat dry or air dry your skin instead of aggressively rubbing away at it with a towel.

How good is water for your skin? If you answered very good you are correct. Now I'm not going to spend too much time with this one because I'm sure you all know about the benefits of drinking water. But just to recap; drinking water helps your body operate more efficiently. Water flushes waste out of your body, and helps keep your skin moist.

Most people say you should drink 6-8 glasses a day, but I've found that's not nearly enough. I try to drink at least a 140 ounces a day, and I weigh 157 pounds. How much you need depends on how active you are (how much you sweat), and your size. My rule is try and drink your body weight in ounces of water.

Keep some water with you at all times, and replace all other beverages with water. Even if you're not thirsty just keep drinking. Don't worry about drinking too much, you would have to drink A LOT of water to do any harm so drink up. This really will make a tremendous difference in your skin.

Here's how you'll know you're getting enough water

You should be making trips to the rest room every 2-3 hours. Then when you do go it should be crystal clear. The exception is if you're taking any medication or vitamins that can change the color of your urine.

Here's a little experiment you can try. Ask a dozen "acne experts" if what you eat affects your skin. Then ask a dozen people with acne if what they eat affects their skin.

Here's what you'll likely find out. All the experts will tell you No, what you eat does not make you break out. But the people who are actually living with acne will tell you the exact opposite, they'll most likely say Yes, what you eat does cause you to break out.

I'm not going to go on some natural health rant here, or tell you all doctors and drug companies are profiteering A-holes. I'm just trying to make a point that just because some guy in a laboratory says something doesn't make it true. In the case of diet and acne, I'm going to say that what you eat can cause acne. At least that was the case for me, and I don't care what anyone from the Harvard School of Medicine has to say about it because changing my diet gave me clear skin and their drugs didn't!

So assuming you're on board with the whole acne - diet connection here's what I suggest. Try to eat a clean diet that's low in sugar and avoid fatty meats. Eat as many raw fruits and vegetables as you can stand, and try to avoid processed and prepackaged foods.

The worst diet offender in your quest for clear skin is sugar. If you can try to avoid it all together. I mentioned above that I'll get an occasional zit once in a while, I can tell you that they almost always come after I've eaten too much sugar.

You're probably thinking "I already know all this". I'm sure most of you do, but are you following through? The diet is where most of you are going to stumble. Changing your eating habits is one of the hardest things in the world to do, trust me I know, I was also overweight at one time. Just remember the more bad stuff you cut out of your diet the faster your skin will clear up.

If you're drinking 8 cans of pop a day, and cut back to 6 I doubt you'll see any improvement in your skin. Drop the pop all together and replace it with water then you'll get some results.

Getting rid of dead surface skin is vital if you want clear skin. If your skin care routine does not include steps to GENTLY remove those pore clogging dead skin cells I want you add this cheap and easy exfoliating scrub right away.

If benzoyl peroxide, fish oil, vitamin B5, and other acne treatments that focus on bacteria and oil have not been working for you exfoliating might be the missing ingredient that's keeping you from clear skin.

Before I show you how this is done let me tell you why you should bother with exfoliating your skin.

Those of us who suffer from breakouts often have skin that does a poor job of "sloughing", or getting rid of the outer layer of dead skin cells. When this happens those dead skin cells clog our pores and lead to breakouts.

This simple exfoliating scrub will help remove that layer of dead skin before it can clog your pores.

Here's how is works:
* All you need is some plain oatmeal (not that flavored stuff), and some epsom salt which you will put in a coffee grinder or blender
* Mix 4 parts oatmeal with 1 part epsom salt
* Grind the oatmeal and epsom salt down until it's the same texture as flour. You want it to be as fine as possible so it's gentle on your skin

That's it! I make a batch using 1 cup of oatmeal and 1/4 cup of epsom salt and store it in a sealed container, but you can make any sized batch you want. The 4 to 1 ratio of oatmeal to epsom salt is what I like, but it's not an exact science so you can mix more or less depending on your own personal liking.

First of all you want to be very gentle when applying this scrub. If you're too vigorous it will damage your skin.

Place a small amount of the mixture in one hand (I like to do this in the shower because it can get messy) then mix in a small amount of water and begin rubbing it on your face or which ever part of your body you're exfoliating. Be gentle! It doesn't take much to remove the dead surface skin, and if you press too hard you'll be scrubbing away living skin.

Just go very light using your finger tips in a circular motion. You don't have to spend a lot of time scrubbing the affected area of your skin. It should only take 20-30 seconds to do your entire face.

After you're done just rinse with water, and as always apply a liberal amount of moisturizer.

How often should you use the scrub

I'd like for you to at least try this once so you see how well it works. If you find it helps I would use it 2 times per week. Just pay attention to your skin and make sure you're keeping it moist while using this.

You know your skin better then anyone. This epsom salt and oatmeal scrub is very effective, but it can be hard on your skin. If you're noticing any irritation cut back on how much you're exfoliating.

I don't mean to turn you off to the idea of using this scrub, it's just that it works almost TOO good and for some people it can irritate their already sensitive skin.

Vitamins, especially vitamin B5 (d-Calcium pantothenate), can help clear your skin. Dr. Lit-Hung Leung, M.D is credited with discovering the use of b5 for acne. He found that it helped reduce sebum production so you have less oily skin.

Less oil = less acne

One thing to keep in mind if you're going to use B5 for acne is that you need to take a large dose for it to work. In the study conducted by Dr. Lit-Hung Leung the people were given 10 grams of B5 a day spread out over 4 doses (2.5 grams per dose).

It you want to try B5 I suggest you start with 2 grams a day and work your way up to 10, and be sure to give it 2-4 weeks to work because it will take time before you notice results.

Other vitamins that are good for your skin are vitamin A, which is the base for the popular prescription acne cream Retin A, vitamin E and vitamin C which are both potent antioxidants.