Acne is the most common skin condition in America, affecting up to 50 million Americans, according to AAD, annually and leaving the dreaded acne scars. If you struggle with acne scarring, maybe you should try detox water, a health trend sweeping the nation because of its versatility.
What is detox water, and how can it work on acne scarring? Detox water, which is water with natural additives like lemon and ginger, is made to flush out toxins from your body, leaving you overall healthier, with better skin and less acne scarring.
There are some particular things you’ll want to put in your detox water specifically for acne and acne scarring, as well as a couple of ways to use it aside from just drinking it.
How Detox Water Can Treat Acne Scarring and Acne?
Scarring, especially on the face from acne, can be very distressing and hard to get rid of. Detoxing is a huge beauty trend right now, and it can even help with acne scarring by the forcing scarring-causing toxins out of your skin
Drinking detox water works from the inside out, cleaning out all the toxins that have built up in your digestive tract first before moving on to your other organs.
This happens as the antioxidants and nutrients from the detox water are absorbed through the digestive process.
Not only can you drink detox water, but you can also use it topically for acne scarring. There are certain ingredients that are better for your skin than others, which we’ll discuss in-depth below.
When purchasing detox water ingredients, try to stick to only organic, fresh ingredients as possible.
Detox Water to Drink for Acne Scarring
You should make different detox water recipes for topical application vs. for drinking. While what you use topically should be heavy in apple cider vinegar and honey, as we’ll discuss below, your drinking water should be a little more appetizing.
Citrus is also heavy on vitamin C, which is proven to help skin stay looking young and to boost immunity. It also is proven to help cognitive functions, as found in a test by The Clinical Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
If you decide to squeeze the juice into your water, only squeeze about a half lemon to a full lemon into your water for the day.
If you simply slice the lemon and put the slices in the water, you can use up to three small lemons. The acidity can upset your stomach if you use too much.
Ginger also helps you fight infections, prevent cancer, and improve brain function. While none of these are directly related to acne scarring, they are great health benefits.
It’s also a great anti-nausea, for any stomach upset you may experience when starting a detox.
You should only use about a half teaspoon of ginger to four cups of water of boiling, allow to infuse, and strain the ginger out.
Then, you’ll allow it to cool before adding the rest of the detox water ingredients. Too much ginger can cause heartburn and stomach upset. Read more on the health benefits of ginger here, on NCCIH’s website.
Blueberries are the best if you’re looking for as many health benefits as possible. Considered a superfood, it’s high in antioxidants that neutralize the free radicals in your body, which cause cancer. It also boosts the immune system.
Blueberries heal damaged skin cells, which can help lighten the dark spots of acne scarring. They also prevent further skins of aging, which can keep you from having any more dark spots.
If you’re pregnant, consume blueberries in moderation. To every 20 oz. of water, add about one and half cups of blueberries. You can leave them whole and let them sit for a long time or partial crush them to speed the process.
Cucumber is also high in vitamins A and C, both of which are good for your skin. They’ll help boost your skin’s ability to replace skin cells, which in turn, means you can replace scarred skin cells with healthier, new ones.
When you use cucumber, you should keep the peel on. It has a lot of the vitamins and nutrients in it, versus just the inside.
Make sure it’s very clean, of course, before you slice it. You can use a whole cucumber in your water or less, depending on your tastes.
Cucumber is very safe, so you don’t have to worry about stomach upset after you drink it. It can also be mixed in with your topical water, as a topical application can help hydrate your skin and give it vitamins from the outside in as well as inside out.
Here’s a great article listing 6 different recipes for detox water specifically for your skin over.
Detox Water Applied Directly to Acne Scarring
While the detox water you’re drinking is focused on cleansing your digestion and liver, any detox water applied to your face should be focused on lightening and repairing the skin. There are several things to try:
Apple cider vinegar is an acid, which helps with lightening skin. It also has antioxidants that help you remove bad skin cells and replace them with new ones. Many studies have been conducted to prove this, such as this one.
Keep your addition of apple cider vinegar down low, or risk dry skin. Half a teaspoon is plenty for a cup of water.
Go for organic, local honey. Honey is an antibacterial, as well as a moisturizer and loaded with minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Mix about a half tablespoon of honey to a cup of hot water for your topical detox water, or you may feel sticky afterward.
If you’re interested in the hard science behind honey, start here at the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s article on it.
Additions: 3 Magical Ingredients for Your Topical Detox Water
Finally, we have just three more things you can add to your topical detox water for your acne scarring. Aloe vera, lemon, and oil olive work together to finish caring for your skin and erasing those acne scars.
1. Aloe Vera in Topical Detox Water
Aloe vera doesn’t just heal sunburns. Aloe Vera has been used for centuries to cure burns, but did you know it can go past that? Its antioxidants and vitamins help heal skin and fight acne while hydrating your skin.
When using aloe vera, you should be careful about the dosing. You don’t want to use too much, or else it can cause skin irritation, but you can add as much as 40% aloe vera.
A better percentage is around 10%, or between one tablespoon to two teaspoons to every cup of water.
2. Lemon in Topical Detox Water
Lemon is your skin’s favorite thing. Just as apple cider vinegar helps lighten dark spots, the acidity of lemons can as well. Healthline has this article about the health benefits of lemon water, not just for your skin, but your whole body.
Just as cucumber hydrates your skin and gives it vitamins from the outside in as well as inside out, topical application with lemon helps give it extra vitamin C and acts as an anti-inflammatory.
In detox water you drink, you’ll need to be careful not to overwhelm your body with too much acid.
You can use significantly more lemon, up to 50%, in topical detox water versus the detox water you’ll be drinking.
3. Olive Oil in Topical Detox Water
Olive oil is full of vitamins for your skin. Your skin is eager to absorb nutrients as you’re flushing out your toxins.
Fill it back up with all the good vitamins that are found in olive oil. However, if you have naturally oily skin, be careful here.
You may want to apply a little bit of olive oil about twenty minutes before you cleanse so that while your skin absorbs some moisture and all the vitamins, it won’t get slick and greasy.
Some of the nutrients found in olive oil include antioxidants, fatty acids, and vitamin K. All of these can help hydrate and heal your skin. Read Medical News Today’s article on olive oil.
Final Thoughts
If you’re like many of us and struggle with acne scarring, Definitely give detox water a try! It’s simple, natural and there are plenty of proof showing it really can help lighten your scarring.
However, keep in mind that this is not a panacea. It for sure can help detoxify your body and help you feel better from inside and out, but there’s no such a miracle like waking up in the morning and suddenly have a baby-looking skin.
You May Also Like...
