When you have acne

My story

As a teenager, I was lucky enough not to have acne. I had a few unsightly pimples (which I scratched off…) but no acne. Not so for my younger sister, who spent many Wednesday afternoons at the dermatologist. She was treated to all sorts of creams and lotions, each one more abrasive than the last, which turned her skin into sandpaper, gave her redness and burned her. It would have been quite different if we’d known about aroma back then! Thanks to their anti-inflammatory and purifying properties, hydrolats and essential oils work miracles on acne and unsightly pimples alike.

My tip

As a preventive and in-depth treatment, I recommend using yarrow hydrosol. Externally, to cleanse the skin, morning and night, using a washable wipe (found on slow-cosmetique.com) soaked in yarrow hydrosol. And internally, by diluting a tablespoon of this hydrosol with a tablespoon of lovage hydrosol in a glass of water, to be drunk every morning for 3 weeks a month. This daily routine can be completed with a mixture to be applied to cleansed skin, morning and evening. For this preparation, mix 10 ml of noble bay hydrolate, 10 ml of yarrow hydrolate, 5 ml of black cumin or calophylla vegetable oil, 5 drops of fine lavender essential oil and 5 drops of noble bay essential oil in a 50 ml spray pump. Shake before each use and mist over face before massaging.
For recalcitrant pimples (acne or other), apply a drop of fine lavender (or lavandin) or noble laurel essential oil directly to the pimple, every 2 hours for 1 or 2 days.

What does phytotherapy have to say?

Acne is a common dermatological disease that mainly affects teenagers, but can appear at any age. It is a highly localized inflammatory condition of the sebaceous glands and/or pilosebaceous follicles.
Essential oils and hydrolats, with their antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, healing and hormone-regulating properties, are perfectly suited to this condition. Yarrow meets all these criteria, and also has an anti-seborrheic action which is highly appropriate. Hydrolats of lavender, laurel, rosemary and thyme, which are antiseptic, are also very useful in the fight against acne.

Did you know?

To get rid of acne, naturopathy recommends local and general purifying action, by detoxifying the body. While hormonal changes play a part in the appearance of acne, they are not the only culprits. It seems that diet can play a role (mainly via refined cereals and dairy products consumed in large quantities), as can stress and prolonged exposure to the sun

I use hydrolats SAFELY

As a precaution, due to the presence of camphor, yarrow hydrosol is not recommended for pregnant or breast-feeding women (or for children under 3, although they don’t usually have acne problems!). It can be replaced by lavender or laurel hydrosol combined with vegetable oil.

ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM Yarrow

Its name is borrowed from the legendary Achilles, who, according to the Greeks, treated his warriors’ wounds with this perennial… Its haemostatic, anti-inflammatory, depurative, emmenagogic (regulates the menstrual cycle), febrifuge and anti-allergic virtues have long been known. Harvesting and distilling this plant is always risky, as its yield can be low, close to that of the rose! But while its essential oil is often very rare, the hydrosol is just as valuable, containing mono- and sesquiterpenes, camphor and cineole. Thanks to these components, yarrow hydrosol also has recognized antibacterial and antifungal properties, and acts as a sebum regulator.