Tea tree oil and benzoyl peroxide seem different to many.  But honestly speaking, they are much the same.  Why?  Because for one thing, benzoyl peroxide and tea tree oil were specifically compared to each other in one clinical study.  They were shown to be equally as effective as one another in the test groups.  The major difference was that tea tree oil did not cause any side effects!

Tea tree oil comes from the melaleuca tree.  It grows exclusively on one shore of Australia, making it a hard commodity to come by to some degree.  But they are able to harvest it well enough being that it his becoming more and more common.  In all reality, it has been around since the early 1900’s, and it’s been used in just about every cleansing and antibacterial related capacity.  However, it should be noted that tea tree oil should never be ingested! It can be dangerous in that use and it can cause severe problems and even coma.

On the other hand, there is benzoyl peroxide.  Benzoyl peroxide has been one of the most commonly used acne treatments on the market along with vitamin A.  Benzoyl peroxide is likewise a powerful antibacterial, and it has been shown to be extremely effective.  The problem is that it dries out and breaks down the skin, ultimately causing more damage and side effects than anything else.

So what else is there?  Obviously, many would think that the fact that one has side effects and the other does not would be enough.  But it should also be noted that many have reported eliminating blackheads and other precursors like that with tea tree oil, whereas they have not reported this so much with benzoyl peroxide.

If you know anything about acne, you know that you can literally have a breakout at any time, and sometimes you just don’t have the time to actually deal with it in terms of using the best acne treatment or otherwise to deal with your acne.  So you have to use makeup to cover acne breakouts if you are a girl or more recently even if you are a guy.  Makeup can of course be highly useful.

So how do you best use makeup to cover acne breakouts?  You don’t have to be a professional by any means, you just have to know what you’re doing.  First of all, they have spot concealers.  These are small, liquid concealers that you can put over darker or larger spots that may stand out even under regular makeup.  Then you can use what’s called Bare Minerals.  It’s the only concealer I would actually recommend, because it is balanced out.  It doesn’t have oils, it doesn’t have harmful preservatives, it is just all natural minerals.  So it’s actually helpful for your skin in more ways than that.

This being said, make sure your makeup to cover acne breakouts actually matches your skin tones.  This is a big mistake I’ve seen even smart girls make, and trust me, you can always tell when the color is that different.  So it’s important to remember this.  Outside of concealer, you can use other makeup to draw attention to certain areas such as the eyes.  But the concealer is of course the most important part.

Especially in American cultures, the idea is to satisfy the need now, provide instant gratification for just about every problem.  We are an impatient people, and we like the idea of problem solving now.  This is why overnight acne treatments are so popular.  We all want to know how to find the best overnight acne treatment so we can be ready for that big day, for our wedding, prom, etc, to look our very best, and not just by covering it up with makeup.

This being said, overnight acne treatments are somewhat misleading and sometimes extremely hard to find.  Some have used toothpaste, because it does seem to instantly deflate zits.  Some have used zit creams and otherwise that they literally paid hundreds of dollars for, to get an extremely small bottle too I might add.  They are notoriously undependable, and some also leave red and irritated spots of dry skin, because they use extremely harsh ingredients.  So are any of these overnight acne treatments actually proven?

Yes.  It’s hard to find a good overnight acne treatment, and that’s part of what we get for being so impatient.  We’re willing to use anything, and yet we don’t want to actually do the research.  One of the big things is to do the research and find the right ingredients.  The right ingredients could range from quick and powerful antibacterials such as tea tree oil to anti inflammatories to reduce the appearance and inflammation right now without causing irritation or redness such as white willow bark.  Second, you want to make sure you are getting the right combination.  One of these ingredients might do part of the job.  But you want the whole formula, the whole kaboom in some ways.

Ultimately speaking, it is this simple.  If you find the right ingredients and the right combinations, you have the right overnight acne treatment.  However, of course you know that if you have ever searched for the right overnight acne treatment, it becomes far more complicated, because quite frankly too many don’t bother using even one of the right ingredients, let alone all of them, and they use quite a few industrial chemicals.  So it’s a matter of be careful and make sure you are keeping yourself informed.

DHEA has been a big ingredient in mind altering things in terms of improving mood and brain function.  But as we have found out with DMAE, they will never limit themselves to just one thing.  They will never tend up telling you that realistically speaking it can only be used for depression or improved concentration.  DMAE spread to caring for wrinkles and reducing the problem of facial sag, if only by a little bit.  DHEA is essentially the element that converts estrogen and testosterone, which basically leads to improved things.  For example, you may not suffer as much from menopause if you have more developed levels of estrogen.  Likewise, men are far less likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction. 

This being said, apparently those who have used DHEA for 6 weeks saw a significant reduction in depression.  But in terms of the acne on your face, it would depend on the sex of the person.  By this I mean if you have more testosterone, you are more likely to suffer from acne.  However, for women having more estrogen is not actually a bad thing.  It will help you rather than hurt you in terms of your acne situation, whereas testosterone naturally produces more oils and otherwise.  All in all, it is considered to be relatively safe.  But I would recommend it more for women than men.

More than half the population has suffered from not only acne, but also acne scars.  Frankly speaking, just about everybody has suffered from acne by the time they hit adulthood, and it’s never really fun, whether minor or major.  It can cause quite a bit of damage, both physical and psychological.  This being said, the best way to deal with acne scars is obviously to prevent them. 

But what if you want to get rid of ones that are already there?  You can start by checking out a formula with AHA’s and BHA’s or basically different types of hydroxy acids.  These ingredients cause the skin to regenerate and heal itself at a higher rate while shedding away old and damaged skin, effectively lightening or lessening your scars.  The problem is that it often irritates and damages the skin in the process.  It can dry it out, make it red and irritated, and even make it peel in not such a good way. 

Naturally speaking, your other alternative is to use a wrinkle cream.  With the right peptides, collagen, elastin, kinetin, things like that, you can reproduce healthier skin cells, and this generally comes without side effects or irritation.  But of course, it is a personal choice in general terms.

Sometimes, you think you have acne, and sometimes you even think you have some severe form of acne, but it’s not, and you should go to your doctor or dermatologist to be sure that you know the difference should you experience the symptoms.  For one thing, there’s scabies which are otherwise known as mites or the itch.  Yes, they were quite original in coming up with the name.  But anyway, basically speaking, scabies result in a severe itching, and then you get these little s shaped lesions on the skin, which makes it look like acne conglobata with the burrowing and everything in a way.  You also get blemishes that look like zits and blisters, which is definitely not normal.  It can happen just about anywhere, and they are highly infectious. 

Basically speaking, there is no vaccine that you can use or anything like that.  You just have to use certain topical medications to kill both adults and eggs that may come up.  They have also found that certain acne treatments like tea tree oil and neem oil have been quite effective.  However, you have to know what you are looking at to really treat any particular condition, including this.

When I first heard about Neutrogena SkinID, I could understand why it was exciting for so many people.  I mean think about it, personalized skincare in general, not a bad thing, not a bad idea.  We all want to have that personalized touch that will finally work for our skin type, because obviously everything else is made for somebody else.  But their test doesn’t really ask particularly deep questions, and from what I found all of their formulas match each other. 

There are about 3 different formulas I would say disguised under various different numbers.  But the fact is that they are just as common as anything.  All of the ingredients are basically the same as you would find in any other common treatment you could buy for a lot cheaper, and they’re not original.  I guess I’m glad I looked into it before buying.  I mean I was drawn in just like everybody else. 

But honestly speaking, I thought I would compare it to my Proactiv bottle even, and the one they gave me was so similar it was ridiculous.  I just feel bad for all of the people who have wasted their money, and I also checked out a few different test results to see if the ingredients were going to be at all individual or different.

Witch hazel is a powerful acne fighting ingredient, and it’s all natural.  It works as an astringent to minimize pores to the smallest levels that your genetics will frankly allow, which varies between people in general.  So you have to have realistic expectations.  But generally speaking, they use the leaves, bark, and twigs to give benefits in general.  it can actually be used to soothe irritable bowel syndrome as well as getting rid of acne and working as an astringent. 

In addition, it has been used in certain forms to fight eczema and heal the skin, which is definitely beneficial to say the least.  This healing process could also actually help you to avoid scarring, redness, irritation, and other side effects associated with some harsher acne treatments in general.  This will help you to see the best results.  It should not be taken in too high of doses.  But it can be used internally or externally. 

It has a myriad of benefits and otherwise uses, and plenty of people have already used it to remedy various different issues.  It just depends on you in a significant way.  But witch hazel is one of those things that is definitely worth a try.

I love my sister. But honestly speaking, though her acne has never been horrible looking, it is quite prevalent. She has all these tiny little zits that are everywhere. So while you could never tell from a small distance off, up close, she has great make up, but she has all these tiny little bumps. Luckily it seems, girls have the option to cover up their zits, whereas guys are just stuck living with it. They are now giving guys makeup options. But especially in junior high and high school, most guys have too much pride to use makeup, unless of course they are in a school play or something and need to distort their face to a certain look.

But the reality is, and my sister has realized this, that you can’t really make acne disappear with makeup, especially when it sticks up, which it always does. You can realistically only minimize it. Some people try to make it invisible by putting so much foundation on and caking it. This will only clog your pores, make it worse, and really make it obvious that your face is not naturally that color or otherwise. In addition, you can go into a local beauty school and get microdermabrasion. It’s much cheaper. Light make up will cover up the redness, and it won’t clog your pores, and realistically pictures won’t really show it and most won’t notice. You just have to be realistic.

Nobody knows exactly what causes acne.  They assume it has something to do with hormones, because most of us over time outgrow it, and for women there are random kick ups throughout different times depending on hormone levels.  But we rely as a society for the most part on myths and illusions about what causes these problems.  But the simple fact is that while most named do contribute to acne, they do not actually in and of themselves cause it.

1.       Bad hygiene-bad hygiene like not washing your face can contribute to it.  The bacteria will compound upon itself at an exponential rate.  But it does not cause it to happen in the first place.

2.       Chocolate, caffeine, and fried foods-again caffeine overhypes the system producing more sweat, chocolate has all the sugars, and fried foods obviously have all the excess fats.  These can lie on your skin and contribute to acne.  But again, they do not cause acne.

3.       Stress-stress is a contributing factor, making the sweat gland produce more among other things.  But without the underlying causes, stress would not have this particular effect in terms of causing acne breakouts on the skin.

4.       Acne can be cured-Acne is a condition that comes with age and generally leaves with age.  It has no specific cause and cannot be cured.  You just have to wait it out.