alternatives to the pill/medication for acne

Hey, don't take this the wrong way but are you Italian? your name gives that impression... if so are you eating alot of oily food... that's generally not a great thing for your skin?

Also are you vegan already, because some benefits of veganism even go as far as clearing acne cool huh? And be sure to drink plenty of water too.

http://www.pledgevegan.com/articles/2012/07/07/animal-free-all-natural-guide-treating-acne

all of these products are PETA approved, not tested on animals and are vegan:
https://www.dgskincare.com/aboutus_cf.cfm?cat=4&CFID=9556783&CFTOKEN=43b510bad6997180-6B908E43-ACA4-B570-83623C0AD3DB191F

There's some great advise, links and even business advertising there products in these:
http://www.unleashed.org.au/community/forum/topic.php?t=8554

http://www.unleashed.org.au/community/forum/topic.php?t=9410

Also have you tried searching www.veganonline.com.au


oh and before i forget just in case you didn't already know there is a quick way of searching this page, it took me ages to find it so i just thought id help anyone that's reading this out by telling you where you can find the search button, right down the bottom of this page you will find 4 rows of details spread out... on the one that starts with 'subscribe to E-news'... follow it down to the bottom button that reads 'search this website' it is sooooo much easer than searching google as the majority of time if people have a question someone before has already asked it and this forum dates back to awhile ago so it has lots of questions.

I managed to get rid of my acne for the most bit with herbal remedies like washing my face with witch hazel or apple cider vinegar. Also making a scrub with baking soda and water, or lemon juice and raw sugar can help remove dead skin.
Usually just keeping your face clean, toned and healthy is good and drinking detoxing teas like Green tea or some the premade detox mixes can help.
Stay hydrated, dont eat too much oily food and keep yourself clean and maybe do some scrubs and drying out treatments with apple cider vinegar and over time you should notice an improvement. Tea Tree oil also helps, and theres this range of cruelty free tea tree products in most chemists

No, I'm not Italian. I don't eat a lot of oily foods, for the most part when I monitor my nutrient intake my fats are pretty low and mainly come from avocado, coconut and olive oil. Yeah, I am vegan, have been for about 4 years, but the problem emerged in the time since I became vegan.

I'll look into the natural remedies suggested and the links, thank you

oh ok, hope you didn't think i was being rude by asking just curious is all as i know Italians and they eat very oily foods...

those are great sources of oils, i too use olive

that's really quite weird that the problem started when you first became vegan, as most vegans i know said there acne cleared right up.. hmmm, weird, but hey everyone's different i guess, i hope those links help

I didn't take offence, but thank you for your consideration. Sorry for the confusion - it didn't start when I just became vegan, but I was vegan when it started if that makes sense.  I'd been vegan for about... 2.5 years, at least.

cool

oh it makes sense perfectly, you were already a vegan with no skin problems.... then the acne attacked

Where is the acne mostly?
If it's mostly around the cheeks, then it is likely caused by hormones, not excess oil/dirt on the skin.
I have PCOS myself, which causes some hormonal acne, and I have found maca powder to be very helpful. I try to use it daily in green smoothies.

If the acne is mainly on the forehead/nose/chin, then those facial treatments are probably the way to go. I use witch hazel for cleansing, lavender essential oil for spots, and argan oil for moisturiser that won't clog pores. I order the oils online from Aromatics International, they are the most ethical company I have found for those products.

Yeah! it was (and remains) so strange.

It's cheeks, jaw line and chin. Thank you for the advice, I'll look in to maca powder and Aromatics International

They're the areas where I get all mine. Have you ever had a blood test to check for a hormonal imbalance?

Here's a page with some more natural suggestions, I haven't looked into all of them though:
http://www.highonhealth.org/suffering-from-hormonal-acne-here%E2%80%99s-what-you-can-do-about-it/

One suggestion on there is upping your Omega 3 intake. I forgot to mention that I also take an Omega 3 supplement called Opti3 (algae derived DHA EPA supplement.)

Good luck, I hope you find something that works for you! I understand how irritating persistent acne can be. xo