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When it comes to acne… 54% of women over 25 have some acne. So I want you to know that you are not alone. And guys generally produce more oil. Even though I have not seen a formal statistic, I wouldn’t expect the number to be lower. With so many people in the world affected by acne, there is a lot of advice available on how to treat it and what works. From the internet to your best friend, everyone has some tried and true way to defeat those painful life-ruiners that seem to pop up at the most inconvenient times! You obviously have the medications. Some popular ones are now even available without a prescription, like Differin gel. A derivative of vitamin A. But with medications come some strong label warnings. They can irritate the skin, cause redness, and dry patches. And do all sorts of other damage. So I did some research and came across some natural at home remedies that claim to work. Let’s check them out.  Welcome to another episode of Skincare Secrets… First, I want to thank you for listening. And thank you for subscribing. And if you haven’t done it, you can do it now.Let’s start from the beginning...where does acne come from? Our skin is covered in tiny openings called pores. Pores are connected to oil glands that lubricates the top layers of skin. But when the pores fill with excess oil, dead skin, and bacteria - acne forms. Acne is basically an infection that causes inflammation and triggers your white blood cells to attack the infection to try to get rid of the bacteria. And you see the usual symptoms like whiteheads, blackheads, and pimples. Some acne is worse than others. There are a lot of factors that contribute to getting acne including stress, hormone changes, and a family history of acne. Now on to treating acne. Maybe you’ve tried conventional acne treatments and haven’t been that happy with the results, OR experienced unpleasant side effects. Or maybe you just want to try something different or more natural. Let’s go over these 5 home remedies for acne that you might want to try. The first home remedy on the list is Apple Cider Vinegar. Vinegars in general are known for their ability to fight off bacteria and viruses. Apple cider vinegar in particular contains several acids that have been shown to kill the specific bacteria that causes acne. It also dries up the excess oil and contains lactic acid that can improve scarring. Just a word of caution with apple cider vinegar, applying it to your skin can potentially cause burns and irritation. It should always be used in small amounts and can be diluted with water to make it more tolerable.You would apply the vinegar on the skin with a cotton ball. After a minute, you can wash off. Or if you can tolerate the small, you can leave it.The next natural remedy you might want to try is taking a zinc supplement. Research done in Turkey shows people with low levels of zinc in their blood have more acne. Zinc is an essential nutrient needed for cells to grow, produce hormones, metabolism function, and supporting the immune system. Zinc is actually a well studied treatment for acne. Several studies have shown that taking zinc orally helps reduce acne. In one study done in India, 48 acne patients were given oral zinc supplements three times per day for 3 months. After 12 weeks, 79% of the people experienced an 80–100% improvement in acne. Not bad. Certainly easy to try as zinc supplements are available anywhere. Tea tree oil is an essential oil extracted from a tree in Australia known for reducing inflammation and bacteria. In fact, several studies show that applying 5% tea tree oil to the skin reduces acne. It also comes with fewer side effects like dryness and irritation that benzoyl peroxide and retinoids usually cause. But keep in mind that tea tree oil is very potent, so always dilute it before applying it to your skin. Tea tree oil has some really good data behind it. I did a full episode on this - it’s #38 on the podcast, check it out.Spot treatment with tea tree oil is certainly worth trying. Green tea. Much like the other home remedies, applying green tea to the skin can reduce acne because it is high in antioxidants that fight bacteria and reduce inflammation. Several studies show that an application of a cream with 3% green tea extract greatly reduces oil production, which if too high can contribute to acne. The small study only had 10 participants, using green tea at 3% for 8 weeks. But another study done by the Department of Dermatology at the University of Miami tested green tea at 2% in a cream for 6 weeks. In this study, total pimple count went down by 58% and the severity of acne went down by 39%.Drinking green tea HOWEVER hasn’t shown to reduce acne. But studies have shown it reduces blood sugar and insulin levels which is also another factor in acne developing. Not difficult to make some super concentrated green tea, cool it down and apply if you want to try it.Aloe vera is definitely one of my all-time favorites to use in my home remedies. My grandma has aloe vera plants at home. For anything skin related, she’d cut a leaf open and put the gel on the skin. Aloe vera is an effective anti-inflammatory. The gel also contains sulfur and salicylic acid - both of which have been studied and shown to be effective against acne because they clear out oil and bacteria. Now, you don’t need to grow an aloe vera plant, you can buy aloe at the store but make sure to read the label to make sure it’s pure with no other ingredients. Now, the studies for individual ingredients are not super strong. In some case, something contained in the plan - like salicylic acid in Aloe Vera - has been studied, not the plant aloe vera itself. But people have been using plants, vinegar and other things as treatments for thousands of years. And yes, natural medicine is not modern medicine, but you’re not putting nasty chemicals in your body either. That’s all for today. Thanks for joining me. Hit the subscribe button and I will see you in the next one.