I am a 32 year old woman and I thought my days of embarrassing acne breakouts was behind me when I left the emo stage of teenage-hood. I was wrong because as soon as I start my monthly PMS cycle, sure enough, those sometimes painful red bumps start to appear on my face. It’s gotten worse since having a baby as my hormones adjust, so I know eventually it’s going to slow down, but until then — it’s special washes and creams to help keep it at bay.
If you’re dealing with acne either ongoing or a once in a while surprise (probably when you have an important meeting or a date to go on), there are some inexpensive at-home ways you can help ward off a major breakout and get rid of the one you have quickly.
Want to know my secrets? Here they are:
1. Toothpaste
I get that it’s not pretty, but I swear by this method and it works especially well if you have whitening toothpaste. All you need to do is before heading to bed, put a dab of toothpaste right on the acne dots and wear overnight. You’ll get the fun bonus of smelling minty-fresh and your acne will be dried out and less red by morning.
2. Baking soda
This is one of those miracle ingredients that everyone probably has in their kitchen cupboard and yet have no idea how awesome it is for beauty use. Using baking soda to treat an acne breakout works in two ways: it helps dry out the skin by removing excess oil, preventing an even larger breakout and it can help remove bacteria from existing acne or blackheads. All you do is mix some of the powder with water to make a paste and apply to the areas of concern.
3. Crushed Aspirin
If you have a breakout that’s left you with a big and painful acne spot, that’s where you’ll want to breakout the Aspirin to help. It will help reduce the redness and size of the acne and all you need to do is crush a tablet up, mix with a small amount of water to make a paste and place over your offending spots. Best to do this overnight or when you don’t need to go anywhere so you can leave it on as long as possible.
Photo credit: adapted from mason bryant | Flickr