Acne Magazine

This may sound a little out there, but some buy only organic milk, or stay away from milk altogether, as they believe it is not only bad for their skin (many believe dairy products contribute to acne), but also for the digestive system.  So, I decided to write a little about what kinds of milk are available that might be the lesser of two evils when it comes to drinking things that are better for our skin.

While shopping at Giant Eagle , I noticed that, in addition to their regular milk and organic milk, they had another variety called non rbSt/rbGH.  The rbST/rbGH stands for bovine somatropin for the first set of letters and bovine growth hormone is what the second set of letters stands for.  The bovine somatropin is a protein hormone fed to cows to produce about 20% more milk.  The bovine growth hormone is self explanatory.
The non rbST/rbGH milk comes from cows not fed these additives and only costs approximately 20 cents more per gallon.  Organic milk sells for almost twice the price of regular milk.  On the label for the non rbST/rbGH milk, it states that there is no signifigant difference between this milk and their regular milk.
I opted to look further into this statement as I find less chemical treatment of my food desirable while still keeping within my food budget.  One of the reasons people buy organic milk is to avoid the bovine growth hormone.  The concern is that milk treated with hormones could increase their risk of hormone related cancers.
The hormones were the main additive of a chemical nature that concerned me as my milk consumption averages about a quart per day.  How does this non rbST/rbGH milk differ from organic milk at twice the price?  Organic milk takes the non chemical purity of their product even further.  Organic milk comes from cows not treated with antibiotics.
The organic milk cows are fed grass or grains grown without pesticides.  Another standard held for organic milk is that these cows must have access to pasture. 
The elimination of pesticides, hormone additives and antibiotics clearlly make organic milk the winner health wise.  
Organic milk derived from cows who pasture is said to be higher in Conjugated Linoleic Acids- a factor that has been associated with lower incidence of heart disease and diabetes.
Organic foods, including milk, used to be available only in small stores and farmer’s markets, but now can be found in the large corporate grocery stores.  Organic foods are regulated legally in the U.S. and must be certified to sell their foods under the organic label.  Item for item, we each have to weigh out the health benefit versus the cost and how it will fit our grocery budget.
 
 

What is one of the top reasons you want clear skin? I can tell you one of the main reasons I want clear skin, and it is so that I can attain that coveted smooth finish that so many models are famous for. It’s usually apparent in photographs whether you have smooth skin or not, and increasingly apparent for actresses on tv as well with the advent of high def tv.

Hello everyone. Well, because I celebrate the Christmas holiday, I will not be doing a “real post” today, but wanted to at least take the time to wish eveyrone a Happy Holiday, no matter what it is you celebrate. Here’s to a great new year filled with lots of advances in acne skin care, rosacea skin care and new acne remedies and natural skin care products!

There have been a lot of correlations made between good skin and omega 3 fatty acids, and I must say that I do believe that this correlation has some merit, at least for my skin personally.

There are some people, like my sister for example, who has extremely fair and sensitive skin, who can only use the most gentle cleansers on their precious facial skin or they might end up getting red, irritated, and even worse, broken out with a blemish or some sort of crazy rash.  My sister was blessed with beautifully clear skin and never had a problem with acne, but did have a bit of a problem with facial flushing and extremely sensitive skin that is prone to rashes and irritation.  I was the lucky one that got the acne! 

Sensitive skin, especially on the face, should really be treated delicately and only with the most gentle, natural ingredients you can find, or else it could definitely be damaged and also show the effects of the damage a little more readily than someone with thicker skin that is also a little bit more naturally darkly complected.

Some things to avoid if you have sensitive skin in your skin care products and even the best natural acne treatments that are used for topical skin care such as facial cleansers, creams, serums, ointments and masks, are excessive alcohol.  There are different types of alcohol though, and there is one that has a more drying effect and one that has a softening effect.  I believe cetyl alcohol is the softening one, but don’t quote me on that.

Too much alcohol, of the wrong kind, can definitely be too drying on the face, and can actually promote breakouts and rashes for those that are already predisposed.  Other skin care ingredients to avoid if you have sensitive skin are certain types of sunscreen, which may be found in certain lotions.  Some sunscreens have shown to be very irritating to certain skin types, so if it has sunscreen, be sure that it’s a gentle formula and it says that it doesn’t irritate sensitive skin. 

Rosacea and acne rosacea go hand in hand, one is the skin disorder that flushes the skin (rosacea) and acne is the one we all know and love (not), which pits our face with permanent scars, and mars a many times gorgeous, flawless complexion with the drop of a hat or a little PMS (for guys, stress’ll do the trick).

Those with rosacea and acne rosacea (which is the combination of acne and rosacea together), there are many triggers that are readily available around the holidays that one must be careful to avoid if possible.  The first is alcohol.  There are lots of alcoholic drinks to be consumed during the holidays, including wine. 

Wine may not be so bad for some, but the really bad part of wine is supposed to be wines that contain sulfites.  Since most wines contain sulfites, you may want to stear clear of wines and go for only organic and sulfite free and see if that doesn’t flush the face first.  Alcohol in general is bad for rosacea and acne rosacea, and in fact, isn’t all that great for just plain old acne either, so try to limit the alcoholic intake during the holidays if you can. 

Another trigger is hot drinks such as hot cider, hot chocolate and hot egg nog.  Hot drinks are one of the most notorious triggers of rosacea, and it is thought that this is because they dilate the capillaries and tiny vessels in the face that cause the flushing.  Anything that will aggravate this should be avoided. 

And finally stress may also be a trigger and should be avoided, and we all know that no matter how wonderful this season is, there are many stressors around every corner, from buying gifts for everyone under the sun to family gatherings.  Any little bit helps, so if you can avoid the common triggers for rosacea and acne rosacea skin care during the holidays, you’re getting a good jump start on prevention! 

I’m not a fan of narcotic pain relievers.  One, they are extremely addictive, and two they make me break out.  They also make my heart speed way up, and I seriously question their safety.  Problem is, when you have a surgical procedure done, nothing else will even put a dent in the pain you’re feeling, and you many times need a narcotic pain reliever like Vicodin or Percocet, or worse yet Oxycontin, to even be able to have some sort of pain relief.

I recently had a fairly minor procedure done where I had the birthmark on my leg removed.  They also had to remove a piece of skin from my groin area, about the size of a fifty cent piece to graft onto the hole that the birthmark removal essentially left in my skin. 

You see, my birthmark was on the front of my right shin, and this area provides very little flexible skin to actually cover up the hole that was left when they dug the birthmark out, so they had to take excess skin from somewhere else on my body where it was more readily available to graft it on and hope that it would grow over.  The tissue had to be able to pick up a blood supply from the graft, and that is what would make the graft successful - so yeah, I’m laid up a bit for a few days so that my blood supply is more likely to lend itself to this new skin - fun! 

Anyways, I got way off track.  To combat the pain associated with the trauma, they prescribed Vicodin for me.  I’ve had this prescribed before when I had oral surgery a few times, so I am aware of how it works, and I’m also aware that if I take the whole pill, it will make my face break out.  I’m extremely sensitive to anything that speeds up my nervous system, which is why when I initally chose to treat my acne naturally, I chose the Zenmed Dermacleanse system because it helps calm the nervous system, which was my largest problem in my opinion. 

While I thought that Vicodin and other narcotic pain relievers acted as a nervous system depressant on most people, apparently it doesn’t work that way on me.  I get extremely hyper and feel as though my heart if going to beat out of my chest, and I felt as if my mind was racing twice as fast as the words I could get out of my mouth.  Oddly, with these narcotic pain medicines, there is a short time frame where I would feel amost euphoric (I know, scary), so I can see how so many people get addicted to them (yes, I know, scary again). 

My point is, that after a couple of days of just taking half doses, I noticed that my back has broken out, and my face is just now starting to break out.  Now, it could be a delayed reaction to the stress of the surgery because I do acknowledge that I felt stress about the shots I had to get for the anasthetic to set in, but I also am not ruling out the fact that the Vicodin may also be contributing to it, because I’m correlating it to other things that make my heart race and nervous system speed up that make me break out, like diet pills and stimulants with caffeine, guarana, or ephedrine in them.  Makes sense, doesn’t it?  Please readers, share with us if you’ve had similar experiences while on narcotic pain relief medications. 

I hate to break it to you, but while the holiday season does make you all warm and fuzzy inside, and is thought of as a time of great joy and comfort as the famous Christmas carol says, it also brings with it something else for most people - stress and anxiety.  And we all know what stress and anxiety often times lead to - acne breakouts.  At least for me, and as dozens of other readers have shared, it does for them as well. 

Not only does holiday time bring stress with the constant holiday gatherings, family “discussions” or fights in some families, and anxiety about visiting family in certain cases, as well as the stress of the enormous expenditures in Christmas gifts, but it also brings with it lots of skin unfriendly foods.  Those foods I speak of, of course, are primarily the plethora of sweets, in the form of cookies, chocolates, cakes, pies, and other dessert foods that are high in sugar, almost void in nutritional and antioxidant value, and are high on the acne-causing scale. 

We’ve talked numerous times about how sugars can really wreck havoc on the skin, causing breakouts, skin flushing, uneven skin tone and more of a tendency toward bumpiness and uneven texture.  We all do it though - every year, who can resist the temptation of these nutritionally void, acne-contributing foods?  And of course it’s ok to indulge - a little.  However, we all find ourselves over indulging during the holiday season.  I find myself gorging on bad foods for almost the whole holiday month many times! 

To try to alleviate a little of the holiday sugar overdoses, at least maybe try to drink fresh squeezed lemon juice in your water.  The acid in the lemon juice actually helps reduce internal acidity (I know, seems like a contradictory statement, but lemon juice is actually a very alkalin-izing food, which helps neutralize internal acid), and hence helps to reduce likelihood of acne breakouts, since they can be increased in severity by an overly acid diet.  When sugars break down, they cause exessive acid in the blood stream, which can increase inflammation, hence acne likelihood increases since acne and acne rosacea is an inflammatory skin condition. 

To reduce stress around the holiday, perhaps you can take up yoga or tai chi or something of that nature, where the concentration is on peace of mind, and the quiet, body moving time helps us to calm our nervous systems.  You could also try an herbal acne supplement to try to offset the bad eating and the stress and anxiety as well.  Not only that, just plain old fashioned exercise helps to work stress out in a healthy way, instead of it working itself out in the form of a new acne cyst on your face!   

I have an interesting story about my experience (very recent) with the Master Cleanse detox diet program and my skin.  First of all, I do have to tell you upfront, I only made it on this very strict diet regime for two and a half days.  Second, I have to tell you, I think it did improve my skin in just those two days I was on it.  You may have heard of the Master Cleanse diet system which is known for being extremely hard to follow, as well as being beneficial to those who can complete the ten day regimen without any real food.

The Master Cleanse has had some negative and positive publicity.  I think the negative probably comes from people who’ve tried it and thought it made them sick, when in fact, this was just their body’s way of purging it of the buildup of toxins and foods that have been consumed a long time ago.  For some of the acne products that can help eliminate toxins and hormonal imbalances, see acne product reviews and the Clear Pores review page.

These people usually don’t make it past 3-5 days, and this is the crucial part where you do start to feel sick.  I did experience feeling sick, and I went off of it because I knew I couldn’t deal with the diet’s stringency right now, due to the stress of the holidays and some other personal affairs that are going on.  However, I’m going to definitely do the whole regimen after the holidays, when I don’t have so many obligations and can focus more on healing my body and cleansing it. 

I do have to say, being on the Master Cleanse for just those two days did make my skin look as if it had just had a facial all the time.  It looked “glowing” on the second day of the cleanse, and I didn’t break out or anything, in fact my skin seemed to be healing itself, if that makes any sense.  Here’s why the Master Cleanse is so hard. 

You only drink a lemonade drink that is made of purified water, cayenne pepper, organic lemon juice, and Grade B maple syrup.  The Grade B maple syrup is supposed to provide all the nutrients you need as well as stabilize your blood sugar.  Believe me, you will experience hunger and temptation during the first few days, but I’ve heard it supposedly subsides after 3-5 days for most people. 

It is hard when you are around people who are eating right in front of you, but if you have the willpower to cleanse your body and purge it of the buildup of toxins, you can do it.  I did get sick with a slight sore throat and also a constant coating on my tongue for the second day, but that wasn’t too bad to deal with. 

You also have to take an herbal laxative tea every night and morning, or you can do the saltwater internal bath every morning, and you have to be close to a toilet for that!  Like I said, it is extreme, and definitely not for everyone, but I do believe it could benefit acne sufferers by cleansing the body as well as helping with sugar cravings and other naughty food cravings, which we all know can lead to acne in the future. 

I also like the fact that you are drinking organic lemon juice which I believe has many skin benefits, and the cayenne also helps to increase circulation, which might also account for my “glowing complexion”.   When I actually do the full run of the Master Cleanse, I will keep you posted on what it has done for my complexion and acne breakouts!

I received this question from a reader about a couple of different herbal acne remedies that we actually recommend here called Zenmed dermacleanse and Acnezine.  Please see the following question and anser, kept anonymous of course for privacy reasons. 

Question :

Im twenty-xxxx years old and hav had acne for about eight years.  I went on accutane when I was twenty-one years old and it greatly helped my acne.  However, my face still breaks out and I’m determined to get rid of my acne.  About two months ago, I started taking two pills of Acnezine and two pills of Biodermazen daily.  I was taking the Acnezine by itself for about two weeks and it improved my skin, but I’m now not sure if the Biodermazen is doing anything since I’ve only taken it in combination with the Acnezine.  Have you heard of quality results from taking Biodermazen?  I’m also about to buy Zenmed capsules.  Acne magazine seems to promote Zenmed and I was wondering if you would recommend it?  Zenmed says to take six of its product daily and I was wondering if I could continue taking two pills of acnezine along with six pills of zenmed daily?  I’m not mentioning topical products because I’ve been using Proactive and just recently switched to Exposed.

Would eight pills a day be too many?

Do you have any other internal suggestions?

I appreciate your help but please leave out the topical suggestions.

I am prepared to pay any amount of money so don’t be afraid to mention an insanely expensive great working product.

Thanks

Answer :

Wow, well I must congratulate you on your thorough research!  I’m also surprised at how many people write me to tell me that Accutane helped and then stopped working, or only got rid of so much of their acne problem and they still needed more.  As far as Zenmed goes, I highly recommend their Dermacleanse capsules. 

I took the product for about two months, and continued to take the product for a few months after to maintain results.  I still periodically use the capsules if I am going through a stressful period, which for me indicates a surefire acne breakout.  I hesitate to tell you to combine so many pills.  First of all, some of the ingredients may actually negate eachother, and second I’m not so sure that cluttering your system with too many herbs and vitamins is a good idea. 

You may want to contact the folks at Zenmed and get their opinion on combining products so they can give you a better idea of any interactions, but I myself would hesitate to tell anyone to take three different products at the same time.  As far as Biodermazen, unfortunately I have not gotten any feedback from readers on this over the past two or so years this site has been up and running. 

I have gotten some positive feedback though on the Acnezine product as a good antioxidant for the skin and sort of an “internal cleanser” of the cells and the underlying reasons for acne.  The difference between Acnezine and Zenmed Dermacleanse is that Acnezine uses a strong antioxidant to help eradicate free radicals which in part cause acne, and Zenmed uses principals in Chinese medicine and the idea of “internal heat” and cooling (you can read more on their site about that).  Good luck with whatever you choose, but I’d recommend contact Zenmed for further direction.