When it comes to natural acne treatments, you will see a common thread of natural ingredients and things you can do to help naturally treat your acne. I know you've heard of them once or twice. Here are the top four natural acne treatments I think of.

Tea tree oil. In the treatment of moderate common acne, topical application of 5% tea tree oil has shown an effect comparable to 5% benzoyl peroxide. Albeit with slower onset of action, patients who use tea tree oil experience fewer side effects than those that use benzoyl peroxide treatments.

See Doctor D. Schwab Controlling Products with Tea Tree Oil Here

Vitamin C. According to Acne.org, Vitamin C for topical applications only, brightens complexion, lessens red acne scars, slowly fills in pitted acne scars.  The only catch is it takes a while to have visual results.  Mixing a Vitamin C mask at home can be tasking, because the oxidation lessens the effectiveness, so it’s highly recommended to use a professional product line that controls the vitamin C exposure through packaging and complementary formulas with other natural ingredients.

Doctor D. Schwab C.S. Citrusome

Drink water – Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones. For healthy skin, you should be drinking at least 8 glasses of water every day. In fact, just adding more water to diet alone may be enough to give you the edge over acne. Hydrated skin cells are more supple and less prone to damage and irritation, but there's more to the benefits of water than just preventing dry skin.

Blemish skincare

Eat right – Fresh fruit doesn't just taste great, it's also one of the cornerstones of an acne-free diet. So cut down on those troublesome problem foods and replace them with fruits that will give your skin a natural, healthy glow. Some of my favorite fruits are vitamin-rich apples and berries packed with powerful antioxidants. Veggies are great too, like carrots and edamame.

Learn more about Doctor D. Schwab’s oily skincare products here…

 

Aromatherapy sounds mysterious. At first, you wonder if it’s some new-fangled way to treat people seeing a psychologist. Then you think about the first word, aroma, which refers to the sense of smell.

Many people give up at this point in sheer confusion, shaking their heads and refusing to investigate any further. Still others think that aroma therapy is just a tool for selling plug-in scentsitizers and candles. But if you really take a good look at this lost art, you may find more uses for aroma therapy than you realized.

Aromatherapy is a type of holistic medicine that uses essential plant oils and other aromatic compounds in order to alter a person’s mind, mood, or health. It is a natural way to reduce ailments or promote relaxation — depending on which essential oil you are dealing with. Those who practice this craft are called aromatherapists, and study all the effects of each essential oil to learn its benefits and possible negative effects.

For instance, you may already know that lemon oil is an uplifting and energizing scent. Some research studies, however, have found that lemon oil has been shown to reduce stress, and other research studies have shown that lemon oil may also help with relaxation. So if you're having a rough day, a little lemon oil can go a long way in soothing your mood.

Peppermint oil is also an energizing oil, and its scent is often used as an upset-stomach tamer — as well as a way of deterring ants and can be a sanitizer.

Another note-worthy oil is lavender. Lavender is an oil that is promoted as a sleep and relaxation aid, and you can often find it in room sprays, sleep masks, and candles.

However, not all oils can be used freely. For example, peppermint oil cannot be used to treat ailments felt by a pregnant woman as peppermint oil may cause the woman to go into labor. Rosemary extract is another essential oil you need to be careful with when working with pregnant women, as this too can induce labor.

You also need to be careful if you use drops of essential oils on your tongue, as they can cause a bad interaction with conventional medicine.

This is why aromatherapy is much more involved and complex than just buying a plug-in scentsitizer with artificially-scented oils. If it's done properly, it can have some health benefits that help you relax, stay calm, and have a positive effect on your health. View Ambrosia Aromatherapy products.

Are you a reformed sun-worshiper? Or someone who is starting to see the lighter side of life after a lifetime of worrying? Do you have fine lines in between your eyes, crow’s feet, or laugh lines? (We’ll pause here while you run to the mirror.)

Many people are starting to notice that their skin doesn’t have that “bounce-back” ability they used to. Frown and your brow wrinkled. But the wrinkles were gone as soon as your mood lifted. Now, though, two hours after a bad mood passes, people are still asking you what’s wrong. You’ve got wrinkles, that's what!

The solution? Ginkgosome. This hydrating daytime serum contains Ginkgo Biloba, a powerful herb that's used to fight the signs of aging. By incorporating Ginkgosome into your anti-aging routine, you can dramatically improve the look and feel of your skin and reduce the look of wrinkles.

Ginkgosome helps to not only reverse the current signs of aging, but also works to prevent future aging with special extracts. Your skin experiences stress when it is exposed to tobacco smoke, UV radiation (like the sun or tanning beds), or other environmental pollutants. It is this repetitive stress that accounts for 80% of skin aging, which causes wrinkles.

Ginkgosome also contains a time-release delivery system to your skin (peptides called alphasomes) which enhances firmness and smoothes out fine lines. These peptides act like a time-release sprinkler system for your skin, releasing moisture throughout the day and feeding your skin all day long.

In addition to enhancing your skin’s already existing moisture system, Ginkgosome supports new cell turnover and the growth of healthy cells; the result is a brighter, healthier looking skin and improved skin elasticity.

Ginkgosome also has skin-rejuvenating benefits: natural antioxidants and free-radical fighters packed inside which help to rejuvenate the skin.

For those of you who have lost that dewy glow, Ginkgosome improves skin tone, giving skin a fresh, dewy look and evens out skin tone. This can be particularly of interest to those of you who have age spots.

Add Ginkgosome to your daily routine today and reveal a younger you tomorrow!

Doctor D. Schwab products are made with botanical ingredients, but what exactly does that mean and why are botanical ingredients good for you?

1. What is Botanical Skin Care?

Botanical skin care products are products that are made with botanical ingredients. Botanical ingredients are derived from plants and include extracts from the roots, seeds, leaves, or flowers. In cosmetics, the botanical plant materials chosen for their healing properties such as antioxidants, vitamins, and living energy which are inherent in the plant. Botanicals have been studied and used for their calming and normalizing healing properties worldwide for centuries.

Use of Healing Botanicals Dates Back to 2700 BC

The knowledge of the healing power of plants is known as herbology, which dates back as early as 2700 B.C. and has been used by cultures and traditions including Greek, Roman, Chinese herbology, Ayurvedia (South Asia), Shamanism (South America, Himalayas), and Native Americans. Each of these cultures recognized the power these plants held!

2. Botanical Ingredients Are Better than Synthetics

Botanicals are better than synthetics in skin care because plant materials are very similar to skin – both are very complex in nature (unlike synthetic ingredients), so the two complement each other and are better accepted by the skin. The enzymes and peptides in botanical ingredients integrate easily with skin cells since they understand and communicate well with each other so the effectiveness is boosted. Not only that, botanicals are safe to put on skin and don’t have the adverse effects that synthetics have.

3. Not all Botanicals Are Good

Many botanicals have healing properties. However, some are toxic. Just because an ingredient is plant derived doesn’t mean that it has healing properties. A great example of this is Poison Ivy – it is botanical, but you wouldn’t want to use it on your skin.

On the other hand, there are many botanicals with high levels of effective antioxidants, which fight free radicals and protect from the effects of aging, therefore protecting skin and helping to keep you looking younger. There are also botanicals that are soothing and calming, benefiting sensitive skin, as well as botanicals which are antiseptic and benefit oily and acne-prone skin.

4. How Natural is it Really?

With the widespread understanding of the power of botanical ingredients, many companies have jumped on the botanical bandwagon so to speak and have unfortunately begun featuring one or two botanical ingredients in their synthetic products. How can you ensure that you are purchasing products that are all natural? You should definitely educate yourself by becoming familiar with natural ingredients and studying the labels of the products you use. Also, choosing products from a company with a history of creating natural products will help you weed out the offenders.

In the Doctor D. Schwab product line, all ingredients are natural, from Aloe Vera Extract to natural Vitamin A and E.

Also see: Creating Natural Skin Care Products for 28 Years

5. Can You Make Your Own?

Though you can definitely make your own skin care products, there is a lot of science that goes into creating products which are effective and safe to use on the skin. With some botanicals, there can be too much of a good thing. Take Pumpkin for example – Pumpkin is a great natural exfoliator, but if you put fresh pumpkin puree on your skin, it can throw the pH of your skin out of whack and you won’t get the desired result.

In the Doctor D. Schwab product line, we have researched the complimentary and synergistic effects of the ingredients and know which ingredients work well together so they boost the effectiveness. In all of our products, we ensure that the correct amount of an ingredient is added to have maximum effectiveness without being irritating or drying. We also include soothing ingredients in our products such as Aloe Extract and Chamomile Extract. The most effective natural products are created with an understanding of homeopathy and the effects of botanicals on the skin.

Interested in Getting Started?

Check out the products that are right for your skin type:

Anti Aging

Oily / Blemished Skin

Sensitive Skin / Rosacea

Normal Skin

Products for Men

Q: I've heard of ingredient sources that are either regrowable, reproductive, or synthetic. Can you shed some light on the differences between these?

A: It's a good question, as there is often confusion about these terms. They can all be considered natural ingredient sources, but are distinctively different. One way to describe regrowable ingredient sources is to say they are "life in suspension." For example, if you had seeds that were dormant in soil in an urn for a thousand years, you could add water and they would grow. If you add boiling water to the tea leaves forgotten in grandmother's cabinet for twenty years, the tea would still come alive with its healing, soothing, stimulating properties. Regrowable ingredients are found in many products you use every day. Ingredients derived from reproductive sources are drawn from non-alive sources such as oils, fats, or collagen recovered from animals. These appear in numerous common products. Synthetic ingredients are those created by humans through fermentation or other chemical processing alterations to natural products. Most sunscreens use synthetic ingredients. Although all three of these processes are natural since they derive, dead or alive, from nature, I believe our bodies are more attuned to accepting products from regrowable sources.

“Nature never dies. The natural ingredients have better benefits and no side effects.” Says Ursula Wagstaff.

Excerpts from an article originally published in Skin Deep, December/January 2007. Copyright 2007. Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. All rights reserved. http://www.ascpskincare.com