How to Naturally Reduce Acne and Injury Scarring
Scarring from acne or injuries can have a serious impact on your confidence. Of course, there are ways to completely remove or drastically reduce scarring, but a lot of them are costly for your pockets and even more costly for your skin due to the chemicals in the products. With a few changes to your regimen and some natural products, you can decrease the appearance of scars and maintain optimal skin health. Read below!
Changes in Regimen
Consider washing your face with a cleanser that has natural botanics and herbs like chamomile and tea tree oil. Both of these are pH balanced with anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
Try honey! Honey has many, many benefits and has been used in Ayurvedic practices for forever (I talked a little more about Ayurvedic medicine in my oil pulling post). For the purpose of reducing the appearance of scars, honey contains nutrients that help with fading scars and giving your skin a glowy look. Apply honey to your scars (or whole face) and rinse off after 10-15 minutes.
My grandmother used to keep an aloe plant in her window when I was a kid. For all my cuts and burns, aloe was always the answer. Although I don’t have an aloe plant (and I also don’t get hurt nearly as often as a did as a kid), I do have aloe vera gel that I keep in my refrigerator. I use it primarily to soothe my skin post-shave, but it can also be used to reduce the appearance of scars. After applying the gel, you can also add a natural oil that is pH balanced such as almond oil or jojoba oil.
Specific Products
Using ingredients that reduce the appearance of scars is only part of the equation. The other part is removing dead skin. Oatmeal is a great ingredient that can be used not necessarily to reduce the appearance of scars, but to remove dead skin. Skin on the face is often times more sensitive than other parts of the body, so using oatmeal is a sure way to be gentle, but it also gets to the job done.
I love witch hazel because it’s another multipurpose product. I often use witch hazel as a toner for my face. It can also be used after shaving to ensure that your skin is free from bacteria and other irritants, and it also reduces the probability of getting razor bumps. Now, you can add reducing appearance of scars to the list of witch hazel wonders! As a natural astringent, not only does is tighten skin but it also reduces dark spots.
Random fact: those “dark spots” underneath your eyes aren’t really dark! The skin under your eyes is particularly thin and the thinner the skin, the more translucent it becomes, giving it a darker appearance. Consider using witch hazel to reduce under eye puffiness and “darkness”.
Rosehip Seed Oil is high in essential fatty acid that heal dehydrated skin. You can get the oil by itself, or use a lotion or cream that contains rosehip seed oil.
If you’re not quite ready for the natural route but still want to avoid bleaching cream, consider trying Kiehl’s Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution. It’s pricey, but it’s worth it! IT contains activated vitamin C, white birch extract, and peony extract, and they all work together to diminish the intensity of deep-set dark spots and skin discolorations.
Remember: because these are natural dark spot/scarring remedies, they do not contain the chemicals that rapidly reduce dark spots. These solutions will take time, but they will work.
What other remedies do you use to reduce dark spots/scarring? Let me know in the comment below. Thanks for journeying with me!