Dosage:
Acne Gel: Unless otherwise directed by a physician, apply to affected areas 3-5 times daily. May be applied under make-up.
Acne Wash: Use twice daily. For best results, use DermaMed Acne Gel after cleansing to prevent additional skin irritation and for fast recovery of irritated skin.
Phytome: Take 1 Capsule with meal and plenty of water 2 times daily.

Ingredients:
Acne Gel: Water, Aloe Vera Gel, Viola Tricolour Extract, Tea Tree Essential Oil, Rose Hip Oil, Vitamins A and E, Grapefruit Seed Extract (Natural Preservative).
Acne Wash: Water, Vegetable Base from Coconut, 2.0% Salicylic acid, Green Tea Extract.
Phytome: Evening Primrose Oil, Flax Seed Oil, Soy Oil, Borage Oil, Wheat Germ Oil, Pro-Vitamin A (Beta Carotene), Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Niacin, Magnesium (Taurate), Copper, Zinc, Selenium, 72 Trace Minerals, Lemon Bioflavonoids, Lecithin.

Acne Gel Active Ingredients:
Tea Tree Oil: Tea Tree essential oil exhibits a broad spectrum of anti-fungal and anti-bacterial effects. Helps eliminate micro-organisms associated with skin infections while maintaining normal, beneficial skin flora. Inhibits the growth of most clinical fungal isolates.

Aloe Vera Gel: Aloe Vera helps restore tissue integrity and provides soothing anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.

Rose Hip: Rose Hip oil contains high levels of vitamin C and bioflavonoids which work synergistically to strengthen connective tissue in blood vessel walls, thereby increasing vascular resistance and integrity, and improving circulation.
Viola Tricolour: Viola (Wild Pansy) is a rich source of anti-oxidant flavonoids which provide anti-allergenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities.
Vitamin E: Vitamin E is a powerful anti-oxidant that helps retard cellular aging associated with free-radical damage. Protects the skin against UV-induced inflammation and maintains skin hydration.
Vitamin A: Necessary for the growth and repair of body tissues and helps maintain healthy skin integrity. Improves the resistance of the skin and mucous membranes to chemical and physical irritants and protects against hypo- and hyper-pigmentation.

Cautions and Contraindications:
No side effects or contraindications. Non-irritant to the skin. Not to be taken internally. Not tested on animals.

Acne Wash - Active Ingredients
2.0% Salicylic Acid: Will only penetrate the surface of the derma making it very safe in an effective wash. Salicylic acid reduces and isolates acne, plugged pores (blackheads and whiteheads), deeper lumps (cysts or nodules), redness and inflammation associated with acne, causing skin cells to slough off more readily and prevent pores from clogging up.
Green Tea Extract: Green Tea Extract is potent extract used primarily for fighting free radicals. Green tea extract contains potent antioxidants which are intimately involved in the prevention of cellular damage.

Phytome – Active ingredients
Evening Primrose Oil, Flax Seed Oil, Soy Oil, Borage Oil: These cold-pressed oils contain the essential fatty acids omega-3 (linolenic acid) and omega-6 (linoleic acid) as well as GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), integral components of the cell wall lipid bilayer. EFA’s are important precursors of prostaglandins which modulate the inflammatory response involved in migraine and are necessary for supporting healthy nervous, endocrine and immune systems.
Wheat Germ Oil: Source of folic acid and full-spectrum vitamin E. Helps maintain skin hydration.
Pro-Vitamin A (as Beta Carotene): Vitamin A is necessary for the growth and repair of body tissues and helps maintain healthy skin integrity. Essential nutrient for retinal health and improves night vision.
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine), B3 (Niacin): The B vitamins are important co-factors involved in many biological processes. They are necessary for protein, fat and carbohydrate metabolism and for supporting the endocrine (hormonal) and nervous systems.
Vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 is crucial for diamine oxidase activity, an enzyme necessary for histamine degradation and which has been shown to be deficient in some migraine patients.
Folic Acid: Folic Acid is an essential co-factor involved in DNA & RNA synthesis and healthy cellular replication.
Vitamin C and Bioflavonoids: Vitamin C and Bioflavonoids work synergistically to strengthen connective tissue in blood vessel walls, thereby increasing vascular resistance and integrity, and improving circulation. Vitamin C supports immune and endocrine system function and is a powerful anti-oxidant that protects against oxidative damage due to inflammation.
Vitamin D: Aids in the absorption and utilization of calcium and phosphorous.
Vitamin E: Vitamin E is a powerful anti-oxidant that helps protect against free-radical damage associated with inflammation. Supports the immune system, increases red blood cell flexibility and oxygen uptake, and decreases platelet aggregation.
Magnesium (Taurate): Magnesium helps regulate neuromuscular activity by dampening the nerve cell hyper-excitation that causes painful vasospasms. Increases tolerance to focal hypoxia, limits serotonin release by stabilizing platelet membranes, and is a regulating factor in calcium metabolism. Magnesium is often deficient in individuals who suffer from migraines.
Copper, Zinc and Selenium: These are powerful anti-oxidants and essential co-factors involved in many biological enzyme systems. Zinc also plays an important role in immune system support.
Trace Minerals: Trace minerals serve as catalysts for a wide variety of enzymatic and hormonal processes.
Lecithin: Lecithin is essential for the metabolism of fats and cholesterol.

Many of us are increasingly conscious about what is in the food we eat. Whether it be due to wanting to lose weight, not wanting our families to consume harmful chemicals, or just generally trying to ensure a healthy lifestyle, this change is becoming more and more apparent.

But why stop there? Many of us use a wide variety of lotions and potions on our skin every day. From cleansing products to skin care, from make up to moisturisers – but have you ever stopped to really look at what is in these products and think about the affect it is having on our bodies?

Whilst we are fully aware that anything we eat or drink is absorbed by the body –be it good for us or not – but did you know that the skin, the largest organ of the human body, absorbs as much as 60% of the chemicals it comes into contact with!? By using natural and organic products we can drastically reduce the amount of chemicals we absorb and benefit from an enormous range of natural products, many of which have been used effectively for hundreds of years.

We absorb more than enough toxins in our normal everyday life... ensuring that we use natural alternatives for our skin and health care whenever possible will give our body the tools it needs to eliminate these toxins and keep us healthy for longer!

There is now a huge range of natural skin care and health related products available – and the best resource for this is of course... Online!

It can be difficult (if not a bit of a mine field!) to work out which products are good for us, just because a product is listed as ‘Natural’ does not mean that all the ingredients are – in fact, in order to label a product Natural, only 1% of the ingredients actually have to be so.

By researching products online you have quick and easy access to loads of products without trawling round the shops. Not only does this allow you to look for the best prices, but you can choose from websites that ensure they list all the ingredients of their products – not just a line or two to let you know all the good points about the product. Do check the ingredients; some websites are so transparent that they will even provide an image of the box to clearly show the true ingredients list – perfect!

In the case of Organic products, it is still possible that they do include some chemicals so it is worth looking for the Soil Association certification symbol as they have strict guidelines about ingredients. The added benefit of organic products is the fact that the ingredients have been produced in an environmentally friendly manner.

It probably seems obvious when you first read the title of this article, that it makes perfect sense to fight Acne using natural ingredients as surely this would lead to less unwanted side effects and better results?

Yet Benzoyl Peroxide is an organic compound widely used for treating Acne – and as an organic compound, you may be misled into thinking this will be a miracle cure with no side effects.

In fact Benzoyl Peroxide often causes skin to dry out, leads to irritation and even burning, itching, peeling and swelling – all this to try and improve an acne problem?! Whilst improvements can be seen once a tolerance to the ingredient has been built up, it hardly seems the right way to go about improving a skin condition (have you seen what it can do to your clothes?!) – so what are the alternatives?

Don’t let the negatives of Benzoyl Peroxide put you off your quest for natural ingredients to clear your acne – there are effective solutions available with little or no unwanted side effects.

Look out for solutions that try and work at the problem from the source (inside the body) instead of just concentrating on the external symptoms. If you can start to work on the problems from within, acne breakouts will be smaller and less painful, so scarring will be reduced and getting rid of the unsightly spots will be much easier. Utilising natural ingredients within dietary supplements will benefit you as a whole, not just improving your Acne – that’s just a welcome side effect!

These are a good starting point;

Tea Tree Oil - As effective as Benzoyl Peroxide, but does not dry out the skin. Tea Tree Oil has anti-bacterial and anti inflammatory properties.

Aloe Vera - has a long association with herbal medicine and is widely used as in a topical application for skin complaints due to its antibacterial and antifungal activities

Green Tea – Packed full of antioxidants, so is a great basis for cleansing your system when trying to solve acne problems

Vitamin A – Helps maintain healthy skin and is necessary for the growth and repair of body tissues. Also improves resistance to chemical and physical irritants.

Evening Primrose Oil – Contains essential fatty acids which are required by the body, but must be obtained by diet (as we cannot produce them ourselves). Is successful in regulating hormones (often an internal cause of acne) and calms skin conditions and inflammation.

The list goes on, but the general message is that there is no reason to purely rely on antibiotics and Benzoyl Peroxide. There are now a number of products available that don’t rely on creams and gels that use harsh ingredients and encourage you to scrub away at your skin.
Have a look at ClearPores, HealthyPores, Acne Kit and Rosacea Kit from Nature’s Drugstore – all of these are a 3 Step process to clearer skin, use natural ingredients and include a daily dietary supplement to ensure your body has all the natural ingredients to fight this problem from within. It’s then just a case of finding out which one works best for you – we are all different, so we all need different solutions!