Natural Products that are Bad for Acne
While I believe that natural skin care is best for acne, it doesn’t mean that just because something says it is natural that it is good for your skin. Here are some natural products that you should avoid, especially if you want to treat acne.
So here are a list of natural products that are known to be not good for your skin:
Fragrances – even natural fragrances can irritate the skin. The most common fragrances that irritate people are the sweet smelling ones such as musk, ambrette, cinnamon and bergamot. Try to buy fragrance free skin care products, and if you must use perfume, try to spray it on your clothes instead of your body. Be careful to make sure its “fragrance free” and not just “unscented”, as unscented can still have fragrances to mask other smells.
Harsh Scrubs - such as those with almond or apricot shells. These have granules that a square rather than round, which can scratch the skin. This can tear and damage skin and enlarge the pores. If you are addicted to your apricot scrub, at least try and use it only once a week and be very gentle
Algae Extract (also known as seaweed extract) – this is one of those products that is advertised as coming from the sea so it provides hydration to the skin. While this may be true, it is actually highly comedogenic, whic means it can block the skin pores. If your skin pores aren’t clear, this can plug the skin up and cause acne. This ingredient is also known to irritate some peoples skin.
Lemon juice – this is ok as a spot treatment, but a lot of people rub lemon all over their face. Lemon is acidic, it can strip the natural oils on your skin, so your skin will produce more oils thus clogging it up. It will also leave your skin harshly exposed to the elements.
Sunlight – this is not really a products but anyways. For many years people believed that sunlight was a natural acne cure. However this is incorrect. Although a little bit of sunlight exposure (like what you would get if you ate your lunch in the park for instance) will improve acne, constant sun exposure will clog the pores making your acne worse. Not only that but it can create more wrinkles and cause sun cancer.
Remember just because something is found in nature, doesn’t mean that it is good for your skin. Poison ivy is natural but you wouldn’t put that on your skin.
