All summer, I tried to get my kid over there to try the acne honey-aspirin mask. He refused. I watched, as blemish after blemish came and went, and promised him it would work. He didn’t care. I mean, really, a kid who forgets to change his underwear probably doesn’t flinch at a zit or two.
It’s his face. So whatever.
He DOES, thank goodness, use the toner I made for him (recipe below) on a semi-regular basis, and I can always tell when he’s using it often. There’s no doubt in my mind that if you use it daily, it will solve a lot of acne issues. But he still wouldn’t put honey on his face, no matter how many extra hours of Wii time I bribed him with. At least the kid’s got boundaries.
It turned out, it wasn’t so much the honey, it was that he was deathly afraid that I’d take a picture of him with food on his face. And I would have. Wise child.
My last resort was trying this miracle concoction myself today. I don’t have acne, but I’m still prone to a blemish or two, usually at very specific moments during the month. I can plan ahead. It just so happens, this was a convenient time to try it – AND two crunchistas (Jessica and Kim) asked about acne remedies recently. Perfect timing all around!
A Couple of Quick Notes: Don’t use this if, of course, you have a sensitivity to aspirin. The aspirin provides a bit of salicylic acid, which is in a the majority of store-bought acne products. It can be harsh and drying, if left on for a great deal of time. Don’t use this mask if you have dry or sensitive skin. And be aware of sun exposure directly after using it, as salicylic acid can increase sensitivity to the sun.
The aspirin will also really, really help relieve redness and any pain that may be associated with your acne. But do not use it if you have the flu, as there are minute connections between aspirin use and Reye’s syndrome development, if aspirin is taken while you’re ill. Use this mask once or twice a week – no more. It will dry out your skin if you use it too often!
Acne-Busting Aspirin-Honey Mask
- 6 aspirin tablets
- 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1-1/2 Tbsp honey
Dissolve the aspirin tabs in the apple cider vinegar for about 3 minutes. Stir well. Add the honey to the mixture and stir again. Apply to a clean face, scrubbing very gently as you cover your whole face (avoiding eyes). Let the mask sit for 15 minutes. Be careful, because it drips a little! Keep a towel handy to wipe off little drips. The mask will not dry, per se, but it will become pretty sticky. Rinse well with warm water, scrubbing gently again as you rinse. The aspirin also serves as a magnificent exfoliator.
Use the toner below if your skin is very prone to acne, or use plain witch hazel as a toner to finish this treatment.
Apple Cider Vinegar Toner for Acne
- 1/4 C. apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. witch hazel
- 1/2 C. distilled water
- 10 drops tea tree oil or lavender essential oil
Mix together all ingredients and put in a glass bottle. I put the kiddo’s in a spritzer bottle, so he can spritz on and wipe off. Or, you can just put it in a bottle and soak a cotton ball or pad and gently wipe it over your face.
This doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and has a shelf life of at least two months.
Use daily for best results.
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Now, boys and girls, this mask/toner combo isn’t ONLY for teens! If you’re blessed with adult acne, you can use it too. Exactly the same way.
Proactiv’s got nothing on this!
Why I Oppose the Safe Cosmetics Act (and Always Will)
i wounder if this really works??
Wow, I’m so thrilled to find the ACV toner, and can’t wait to make it and try it! I used Proactiv for a month and a half and all it did was try my face out! 🙁
I would be careful. Our doctor recommended a crushed un-coated aspirin placed under a bandaid as a treatment for wart removal. It worked better than having the warts burned off by cyrosurgery at the dermatologist. In other words, Salicylic acid is strong stuff and I would not want it anywhere near my eyes. Pamela
is it okay to use just regular vinegar if you don’t have any aple cider vinegar around…?!
can you use regular malt or white vinegar instead of acv??????? that’s whats in my house right now and i’m desperate.
I’m just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for vegan honey alternatives to use in this recipe? I know lots of things to use instead of honey in food, but I’m wondering what a good option would be in terms of skin care?
I personally believe almond oil works equally well to make the skin radiant. You could add lemon juice too to help diminish any scarring or redness the way honey does & to add an extra antibacterial.
After the toner should you use moisturizer? I’m never sure if mosturizer is necessary or not. I tried the mask and LOVED IT! my skin felt so incredibly soft after i finished! I used regular moisturizeer after i used the toner but Im wondering if there is any natural moisturizer i should be using.
So glad to have found Crunchy Betty! Acne has been a big thorn in my side since my early teens, and now as I head into the big 4-0, it’s made a vengeful resurgence 🙁 I feel like I’ve tried nearly everything; the doctor recently mentioned accutane, but I’m not going there! I’m thinking about using the thyme-infused witch hazel (that was recently posted) in the apple cider vinegar toner above. Any thoughts? I’m also going to give the oil cleansing method a try. Fingers and toes crossed!
I just found your blog and am loving all the great info! This looks like a great combo of ingredients for skin. I can’t wait to mix it up today and try it. Thank you!
so I can’t wait to try this… in 5 months. My acne is HORRIBLE, but its also due to the fact that I’m carrying a beauty sucking baby 😉 Guessing the use of aspirin topically is probably just as much a no no as it is to take by mouth…?
Can I ask you a question? I am allergic to witch hazel (ridiculous, I know, but true — I’m also allergic to chamomile, if you can believe THAT). Is there anything you would suggest as a substitute for witch hazel?
Rosewater, in Indian grocery stores, natural food stores, or, for lucky people, in the international aisle of large grocery stores. It has the same gentle toning properties as witch hazel and smells incredible.
Just a side note: I’m sure this a fantastic idea (as all Crunchy Betty ideas are), but you shouldn’t use this if you are pregnant. Salicylic acid is on the “no-no” list for mamas-to-be. Sorry to be a buzz-kill…
Hi new to your site and I love it, but I was wondering if meadow sweet or fox glove which contains the same acid as aspirin would be a good subsitite? Aspirin kinda scares me. 🙂 Love your site so much!!
This is great! I love your site. I’ve always been mildly interested in trying to make cosmestics and masks like this myself, but I haven’t dared try yet. I’ll definitely be trying this toner though. When I do I’ll post about and link back! I don’t have acne either, but just like you I tend to break out a tiny bit certain times a month! Love what you’re doing here, keep it up!
Hello from Italy! =)
I often read your blog and I think you’re just awesome at giving those advices.
I’m 13 years old and I have oily skin (I don’t know if it’s oily, I just know that I have a couple bed pimples on my cheeks, on my chin and right in the middle of my eyebrows and shiny all over my face :S), my mum has just bought apple cider vinegar for a recipe, I’ve tried it and it works just great for pimples! For prevent new pimples I’d like to use the toner… can I prepare it using only apple cider vinegar, essentials oils and distillate water?
Thank you so much again for all your advices ^^
B.
I love this mask! Can you make it and bottle it up for later or does it need to be made fresh every time you use it?
hey crunchy,
have you ever thought of using powdered white willow bark instead of the aspirin? it was just a thought…that’s where aspirin was extracted from and it has mucilaginous properties that might help with the harshness that the extracted aspirin has. just wondering……
Omg Betty, I’ve been browsing your site for the past two days instead of writing a paper on 19th century French literature and this. This. I need this. I’ve been using proactiv for years because I love how well the cleanser works to exfoliate but their toner is way too weak so I have to use harsh name-brand stuff. And the lotion I use is a prescription. I can’t wait to talk to my doctor about stopping my ridiculous and expensive regimen and seeing what natural stuff can do for me.
Thank you so much.
Oh no! I hope you got the paper done. I was trying to think of a way you could tie French literature into homemade beauty … and I got nothin’.
Don’t be surprised if you get a relatively tempered response from your doctor about homemade products. They’re not always terribly open to alternatives to prescription medications. Although, y’know, I’m wildly interested in what he/she says about it. Do keep me updated!
I think I’m going to try a few things out before I talk to the doctor and if they work I can be like, SEE?! IT WORKS!
My doctor is super nice but she’s also employed by a medical corporation that does need to make money so I definitely expect some resistance. I can even just go with the “Hey I outgrew my acne!” line and she’ll probably buy that. I’ll get some aspirin and ACV at the store today and see how the mask feels, and I’ll see if France has any witch hazel or any sort of essential oils available (yeah I’m actually in France right now). Wish me luck!
Well, I got the stuff to make the toner and the acne scrub.
I am a tried and true proactiv user and it’s currently working wonders on my skin, so I’m a little nervous to fix what ain’t broke.
I may wait til I get another breakout and then try this. 🙂
can you use the toner with the coffee mask as well ? ( acne once a month on face)
Oh, and you can use the toner with the coffee mask – but I would recommend using the toner every night, a few days before and after you usually break out. It doesn’t really need to be in conjunction with the coffee mask.
Lavender essential oil is a great remedy for acne. That is the only one I’ve use, I do like all your other suggestions and they will be tried, thank you.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Hmm…Child A has some pretty bad acne and the antibiotic creams just ain’t doin’ it.
Wonder if i can talk him into this?
My daughter is just starting the acne phase of her life and coupled with the braces it ain’t gonna be pretty if we don’t get it under control. Aspirin is now on my grocery list. I’ll let you know how it works!
I wish I’d have known about this as a kid. That was back when OxyClean and Stridex were the only options. Oh, the good ole days.
What about the tinted Clearasil that was supposed to both kill the zit, and conceal it all day long?
It was hilarious how that one orange tint was the universal hue for all. I can remember trying to cover a whopper pimple up, and realizing that on my pale skin bright orange really got me the opposite of what I was aiming for.
I so wish I knew about this back then!!
Yay! Thanks! Can I use the toner to spot treat or do you feel plain old lavendar EO works better? I don’t have acne like I used to, all over all the time, but I always have a few blemishes, and worse around when Aunt Flo visits. But, my skin isn’t really oily, it’s normal to dry, just acne prone, so I don’t want to dry it out, it breaks out worse when that happens.
I would recommend the toner, and it’s really gentle enough that you can use it for dry skin. I use the kiddo’s a lot, when I’m too tired to go through washing my face before bedtime. You could use it all over your face or just as spot treatments – give it a try both ways and see what works.
The mask, itself, I’ve decided throughout the day, is probably a great thing to do just once, right when you start noticing the monthlies showing up. My skin doesn’t feel terribly dry at all (I have normal skin that vacillates between dry and oily), but very smooth feeling. Maybe a little tiny bit tight, but nothing major. I did notice, before I used it, that I was a little reddish … and now I’m not at all.
I’m going to do something on spot treatments really soon, though, which sounds like more of what you need. And I need.
What happened to the teenage mantra, “It’s okay, you’ll grow out of your pimples?” Ha.
No kidding! I’m sick of them already. Geesh.
Oh, is that apple cider vinegar with the mother? I think I remember that from somewhere?
Yep. The one with the mother. Bragg’s is probably the most widely available brand you’ll find, but any of them that are organic and with the mother are fine.
I don’t have acne but I would like honey on my face. Can I just put straight honey on my face? I’ll search your archives.
Yes, yes, yes! I loooove honey on my face. It’s softening, and cleansing, and lovely.
I did a post about honey here: http://crunchybetty.com/?p=511
Interesting! One of my teens has really bad acne and she is allergic to Proactive. We will have to try these. Thank you!
Thanks for stopping by! I’ll be doing another post soon about how to get rid of pimples and blemishes. Be sure to pass those on to her, too. Sometimes a pimple needs a little extra zapping.