This guide aims to help you get clear skin naturally. We explain why our skin can be prone to spots, blemishes and breakouts, share our top tips on how to get clear skin naturally and offer product advice to achieve a balanced and blemish-free complexion.
Key points:
- Harsh foaming actives and pore-clogging ingredients can dry and congest the skin, causing it to over-produce sebum (oil)
- For naturally clear skin, choose natural, non-comedogenic skin care that supports a healthy, balanced microbiome
- We recommend Green People Foaming Face Wash, which is rich in spot-fighting actives and microbiome-friendly Prebiotics
- For targeting blemishes quickly, try Oy Clear Skin Purifying Serum
The clear skin balancing act
The quest for clear skin is a real balancing act. You wash your skin to get rid of the build-up of oil, but before the day is out your T-zone is shiny, your chin looks greasy and that spot that was lurking beneath your skin has reared its ugly head in the most inconvenient place possible!
But if drying out blemishes isn’t the answer, what is the best way to clear your skin?
Why do we get spots?
Spots are caused by excess sebum blocking your pores. The blockage of sebum in your pores attracts acne bacteria, leading to spots and inflammation.
Really, sebum is good stuff that acts as your skin’s natural moisturiser and lubricant. A lack of sebum causes skin to become dry and scaly - for example, people with eczema don’t produce enough sebum and need to apply more moisturiser to keep their skin soft.
Many factors affect how much sebum our skin produces; hormones, skin care and environment all play a part.
And while you can’t control your hormones, you can undoubtedly control your skin care! Skip to our best natural skin care for spot-prone skin, or keep reading to discover our top tips for controlling spots naturally.
5 easy ways to control spots naturally
- GO MILD AND GENTLE: Swap harsh SLS foaming agents for gentler alternatives. Our Foaming Face Wash uses a unique pump which whips its blemish-busting formula into a deep-cleansing foam without any need for SLS.
- DITCH DEHYDRATION: Dry skin can over-produce oil, so keep your skin hydrated with a moisturising routine that encourages a healthy barrier function and helps stabilise sebum levels. We love Oil Balance Moisturiser, a non-drying, natural anti-blemish moisturiser that gently targets spots, a natural alternative to Salicylic Acid. More about that later.
- MICROBIOME BALANCE MATTERS: When harmful bacteria control your microbiome, spots will soon follow. Support your skin’s friendly bacteria by applying prebiotic and probiotic skin care.
- AVOID DRYING ALCOHOLS: Drying alcohol (ethyl alcohol, ethanol) is used to give a 'light-skin feel'. It instantly evaporates on contact with the skin, giving the illusion that a product absorbs quickly. These alcohols cause the skin to lose precious moisture. The result? A vicious circle of excess oil production and blocked pores develops as the skin produces more sebum to compensate for its moisture loss.
- LIVE WELL: If you embrace healthy lifestyle habits, it will show on your skin. Eat well, drink plenty of water and make sure you get those precious 8 hours of beauty sleep.
Best natural products for clear skin
Green People doesn't use harsh ingredients like SLS or drying alcohol (ethanol/ethyl alcohol). Instead we use natural plant extracts to cleanse and balance your skin, promoting a naturally clear complexion.
Build your best anti-blemish routine with our routine finder or check our natural spot-control collection for blemish-prone skin.
Here is our simple routine for naturally clearer skin in just 2 steps:
Purify, tone and clear with this certified organic foaming face wash
Foaming Face Wash 100ml
Balance and calm with our best organic day cream for spot-prone skin
Oil Balance Moisturiser 50ml
Need to clear skin quickly?
If you have a big event come up and you need to get rid of spots and blemishes quickly, our go-to is our Oy Clear Skin Purifying Serum.
It’s in our teenage range but it works well to clear adult skin too. This serum is rich in anti-inflammatory natural and organic actives to target redness and deep-cleansing Yucca, Willow Bark and Tea Tree to purify pores.
It also contains Rosehip Oil, known for its tissue-regenerative properties, to help your skin recover.
Oy Clear Skin Purifying Serum 30ml
Clear skin comes naturally with this skin-purifying serum for teens
8 tips on how to get clear skin naturally
Want to know how to break the cycle of spots and get clear skin naturally? Here are 8 key tips:
1. Be gentle with your skin. Wash it thoroughly with a hydrating, ethyl alcohol-free cleanser like our Foaming Face Wash morning and night to remove impurities, naturally cleanse and work as a gentle antibacterial for your skin.
2. Drink plenty of filtered water throughout the day. Water helps to detoxify your system, keeping your digestive system working efficiently to remove toxins that could otherwise try to escape through your skin as spots.
3. Target blemishes. If you want to target specific spots or areas of your face, use a small amount of Oy Clear Skin Purifying Serum directly over the spot to deliver an instant antibacterial action. This naturally effective organic serum contains Black Willow Bark, one of nature’s most powerful antibacterial ingredients, that works wonders to naturally clear your skin.
4. Always remove make-up before you go to sleep. Even people who usually have very clear skin may experience breakouts if make-up is left on overnight. When left on your skin for too long, make-up can block your pores just like excess sebum, trapping bacteria and developing into bumps, blackheads and whiteheads.
5. Ditch the cleansing wipes! Although they are convenient to use, cleansing wipes only remove impurities from the skin’s surface, leaving a build up of grime in your pores that can develop into spots. Wipes also contain an array of nasty, skin-irritating ingredients which have no benefit other than helping to preserve the wipes themselves.
6. Don’t squeeze spots and try to avoid touching your face too often. Both of these things help to spread bacteria and won’t help to clear your skin. Although it may be tempting to pick a spot or squeeze a whitehead – this will only cause the infection to spread to other areas of your face and result in more spots.
7. Gentle exfoliation once or twice a week, using an SLS-free scrub such as our Fruit Scrub, can make an instant difference in your skin. Exfoliating your skin removes any build-up of excess dead skin cells and helps to keep the pores open, thereby reducing the risk of blockages and subsequent spot formation.
8. Have a healthy, balanced diet. Eat plenty of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, supplement your diet with Omega-3 fatty acids, mineral-rich seaweed or kelp and enjoy gut-friendly probiotics from fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut. Not only will doing so give your body the fuel it needs to keep you healthy, you’ll also be giving your skin the vital nutrients it needs to remain beautifully clear, naturally.
Does Retinal help with breakouts?
We’re often asked if Retinol is good for acne and to that we say, Retinal not only has better skin tolerance than Retinol, it also has some fantastic properties that make it an altogether more suitable choice for oily and acne-prone skin.
How does Retinal help with acne? It:
Unclogs pores
Retinal helps increase the rate of skin cell turnover, which can help unclog pores, benefiting those with spot-prone skin.
Has an antibacterial action
Retinal has antibacterial properties that can help combat bacteria that cause acne and blemishes.
Are you looking for a gentle but effective Retinal for spot-prone skin? Target the early signs of ageing without irritating your spots with our Age Defy+ Retinal Booster Serum.
Clinically proven to be kind to sensitive skin. This product has been dermatologically tested and is gentle enough to use night after night.
Age Defy+ Retinal Booster Serum 30ml
Renew, protect and hydrate with this skin care revolution
Are you looking for a spot-fighting routine to help clear your skin naturally? Discover our best skin care products for spot-prone skin or receive some personalised recommendations with our skin care routine finder. Alternatively, you can contact our friendly UK customer care team on 01403 740350 or on social @GreenPeopleUK.
REVIEWED BY CHARLOTTE, FOUNDER OF GREEN PEOPLE
This blog post has been reviewed by Charlotte Vøhtz, founder of Green People, who has 25+ years of experience in the natural and organic beauty industry.
A recognised leader in the field of organic beauty, Charlotte helped inform the UK's first organic beauty standards and was voted the People’s Choice in the 2023 list of Who’s Who in Natural Beauty.
A published author, she wrote the organic beauty bible ‘Naturally Gorgeous’. Previously, she qualified as a nurse and spent over 10 years working in pharmaceuticals.
If you wish to republish this content, please credit Green People as the original creator with a link to 'How to get clear skin naturally.' Please do not use an affiliate link.
