Best Ways to Heal Blackheads and Comedones Naturally
There are many different acnes and all require variations for optimal treatment – here is the protocol for comedones and blackheads. Do these things and I promise the comedones will cease and desist! 🙂
Other posts coming soon for:
- hormonal/cystic acne
- acne rosecea
- whiteheads/pustules
- acne scars
- emotional/stress related acne
Symptoms:
Tiny non-inflamed bumps, with very small white or blackheads OR pores that seem large and dark OR tiny bumps with no dark/light discoloration, just bumps.
Possible causes:
- High androgens (hormone imbalance)
- Insulin sensitivity
- Liver overwhelm
Treatment:
Nutritional Therapy:
Most important: eat lighter + decrease sugar and liver-stressing foods
Suggested beverages:
- green tea
- spearmint tea
- ginger tea
- dandelion tea
- turmeric milk
- water
- kombucha
Suggested foods:
- phytoestrogens (flax and soy)
- high fiber (veggies and certain grains and fruits)
- high protein
- decrease/eliminate liver aggravating foods, ie, greasy/fatty, sugar, alcohol, caffeine
- veggies and beans – can’t go wrong – make chili or kitchari!
- Increase: cooked veggies (esp. green + cruciferous), meat and bone broths, beans/legumes
- Ok: grains such as quinoa, millet (no gluten, high protein/fiber)
- liver friendly foods such as dark leafy greens, beets, grapefruit, garlic
- see this post on 14 foods to cleanse the liver
- ground flaxseed
- chia seeds
- liver (from grass-fed organic animals)
- organic eggs + fatty fish like salmon
Foods to avoid:
- greasy/heavy foods
- fried foods
- ALL sugars and refined carbs – including honey and agave. Sorry 🙁
- alcohol
- caffeine
- food additives/preservatives
- Omega 6 fats (corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, canola oil. Use ghee, coconut oil, olive oil or hemp seed oil instead.)
- Grain (not grass) fed red meat
- See this post for more info
Supplements:
- green tea extract (regulates androgens and sebum. Chi tea is the recommended brand, although I am trialing another supplier now – stay tuned)
- reishi mushroom (balances hormones + great liver support. Hyperion Herbs is the recommended brand)
- DIM (balances hormones. Estroblock is recommended the recommended brand)
- vitex (balances hormones)
- red clover (balances hormones + supports liver)
- burdock root (cleanses liver)
- turmeric (supports liver)
- dandelion root (supports liver)
- Bhumyamalaki (Phyllantus amarus) is the classic Ayurvedic herb for the liver
- Neem (taken internally)
- fermented cod liver oil (if you can’t find this than cod liver oil is better than nothing!)
- sunlight (get your vitamin D naturally. Artificial A+ D supplements stress the liver!)
Eating habits:
- eat lighter (ie less heavy foods and less greasy foods.
- favor veggies over other foods
- favor steamed, dry-baked or raw over other preparations
- eat less (don’t have huge meals that leave you stuffed and lethargic – instead eat small meals more often)
- don’t eat right before bed (give yourself at least 2 hours from your last meal before going to bed, 3 hours is even better)
- Most importantly – especially in light of the recommended lifestyle therapy – drink more water! A lot more.
Lifestyle Therapy
Most important: sweat regularly (through exercise or sauna) + drink lots of water.
Detox through sweat and massage
- sweat or steam – can even boil water and do a home steam facial at least 1x/week (moss herbal steam therapies coming soon – stay tuned!)
- use a sauna (wet or dry)
- sleep – get enough, especially during your woman time 😉
- massage – massage both body and face at least 1x/week (use abhyanga – detailed post coming soon – or google it!)
- exercise to the point of sweating regularly – hot yoga is perfect! Suggest 20min -1hr 3-5x/week.
- drink lots of water!
Skincare Therapy
Most important: exfoliate regularly + use castor oil (correctly) to cleanse
- oil cleanse with a high percentage of castor oil (I prefer 1/3 castor, 2/3 hemp seed) and decent exfoliation (use a washcloth gently or finely ground herbal powder) (moss‘s Vert Pur is a great oil cleanser with 30% castor oil. Castor oil is very purifying yet restorative.)
- use an exfoliating face mask at least once a week (fresh papaya, strawberry or yogurt, or a mix of any of these – ok to add honey – use raw + organic. max usage is every other day.)
- use a purifying facemask once a week (like bentonite clay or activated charcoal) (join the facemask of the month club for recipes and for ingredients)
- moisturize only with non-comedogenic, dry oil (like moss‘s Clear Resolution which contains loads of hemp seed oil and a therapeutic blend of essential oils to clear pores)
- use a topical with green tea extract and gentle exfoliants (like moss‘s Nutrient Synergist, which contains over 2% of green tea and pumpkin lactoferment for exfoliation)
Final Takeaways
-
eat lighter
-
decrease (eliminate if possible) sugar and refined carbs
-
go super easy on heavy/greasy foods, caffeine, alcohol
-
sweat regularly
-
drink lots of water
-
exfoliate regularly (yet gently)
-
use castor oil (correctly) to cleanse
Hope this helps – book a consult if you have any questions or need help sorting through all this! 🙂 Note – DO NOT overwhelm yourself trying to do ALL of this – within these lists you will find the few things that work for you – then take those and leave the rest. Trust your intuition and be prepared for a little trial and error.
xx
{ Shop moss products we recommend for clearing blackheads here. }
{ Read next: How to clear hormonal acne }
Hannah
Where does dairy stand in regards to distressing the liver? Should it be avoided to help clear the skin?
Celestyna Brozek
Generally, dairy contains hormones and sugars that activate the acne-causing hormones in our body, which is why it is usually a top food to be avoided for acne sufferers trying to treat it holistically. Its impact on the liver is less of a concern than its impact on the endocrine system and gut microbiome.
ginger g.
I love this post! Really great tips and I could definitely benefit from trying some of these 🙂 Thank you for sharing!