Top acne fighting ingredients

We all fear this four letter word – acne and if you’re here reading this blog today, chances are you’re wondering how to banish them ASAP. There are various reasons that may contribute to a breakout such as excess sebum production, clogged pores, stress, poor diet, hormonal imbalance and others. We know it’s hard and sometimes impossible to control all contributing factors, there are definitely ways to help fight acne.

We previously talked about how to get rid of acne naturally through simple habits. Here, we’ll be sharing some amazing acne-fighting natural ingredients you should be looking out for. 

1. Green tea: Green tea contains a component called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which has been shown to be super beneficial to the health of our skin. It helps in lowering sebum production and treating acne. Perfect for those of you with oily or combo skin.
2. Honey and propolis: Honey is the sweet liquid processed by the bee while propolis is known as "bee-glue" which is used to fill in cracks and holes of the beehive. Both of them are anti-inflammatory and antibacterial which helps fight acne. They also really soothe and moisturise your skin, which is perfect for calming down irritated or stressed skin.
3. Tea tree: Tea tree oil is another wonderful natural acne-fighting ingredient as it has strong antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. There are people who don't react well to this ingredient so if you're someone with sensitive skin or has never tried tea tree oil before, you might want to take precaution or perform a patch test before incorporating it into your skincare routine.
4. The same goes with clove basil oil, which has powerful anti-inflammatory properties. A study has shown that a combination of aloe vera gel in 50% concentration or more and basil oil worked very well as an anti-acne treatment. Similar to tea tree oil, for those of you with sensitive skin, you should take precaution as it may cause skin irritation.

There are other ingredients that work really well such as benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid and retinoid aka Vitamin A. Retinoid is like the holy grail for all skin conditions. It's not only known to improve skin texture, fine lines, wrinkles but it's used to treat acne. However, retinoid is notoriously known to cause irritations such as peeling and dryness so it's recommended to start with a low dosage. Studies have shown that even a dosage as low as 0.01% has shown to be effective but obviously, the efficacy increases with the concentration.

Remember that everyone is different. What works for someone else may not necessarily work well for you. It may take some (or a lot of) time and effort to finally find a solution that works best for you. If you’re looking for more reading material, we have a whole series of articles dedicated to acne solutions. Happy reading!

Acne series:

How to get rid of acne naturally

Common skincare mistakes that can worsen acne