No, we’re not talking about the kind of peppermint you throw in with chocolate to make peppermint bark in the winter. Crushed peppermint leaves—and, actually, some other types of mint, too—can be your friend when fighting to stay acne-free. The even better part is that this is a treatment most adults can appreciate on an emotional level, too. Personally, I probably wouldn’t have liked this much when I was a tween starting to break out. But taking a few minutes twice a week to relax, open my pores, and breath in some strong peppermint can provide benefits far beyond clearer skin.

Tip! To use crushed peppermint as your at-home adult acne remedy, start by washing and drying a good-sized baggie of peppermint leaves. Then, either crush or chop them—whatever you need to do to get every leaf broken down into fine pieces.

The peppermint is then wet with water, and applied to your face as a mask. It will feel cool and refreshing, and open up your pores to break down that acne-causing sebum and leave you feeling squeaky clean afterword. Any leafy mush you don’t use can be stored, and the process can be repeated as often as twice a week.

VIDEO: DIY Mint Mask for Acne and Inflammation

Tea tree oil is another home remedy for adult acne, and can be applied in a plethora of forms. My personal favorite is using tea tree oil in a bowl of hot water—just a few drops—to give my face a good steam before cleaning my face and applying my acne-fighting cream. 

That said, tea tree oil can be applied topically. This natural oil helps to open pores, and has even been shown to fight bacteria and to help your skin heal after bad breakouts—which, in turn, helps to avoid acne scarring. Tea tree oil can even be used as often as once a day.

Tip! What crushed peppermint and tea tree oil each do is open up your pores and promote blood flow to the surface of your skin. What they don’t do, however, is directly zap acne-causing bacteria. Use trial and error techniques to see what complementary acne-fighting products can work well with these natural exfoliating cleansers.

Stress isn’t a direct cause of acne, but it is one of the key aggravators of adult acne that you just can’t shake. Subtle—or even not-so-subtle—changes to your lifestyle that reduce stress can reduce your breakouts with it. If you’re able to identify any specific stress-causing projects, problems or relationships, be proactive about how to change the very construct of the situation.  Or, of your stress is more “general” or omnipresent, try any one of these stress management techniques:

• Avoid caffeine, alcohol and nicotine—these substances are the greatest stress-enhancing that we consume.
• Add more physical activity to your week—it might sound counter-productive to put physical strain on your body to release stress, but getting your heart rate up and exerting some of that pent-up anxiety outside or in the gym is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your stress level.
• Make sure you’re sleeping enough—stress can make this extra hard, but ensuring you feel rested in the morning helps you heal from the stress of the previous day, and helps you cope better with the stress of the next one.

There are several ways that changing your diet can help you fight adult acne. First and foremost, you might have light allergies or intolerances that you’ve never diagnosed. And even where you don’t have an allergy, sometimes your body reacts a little “harshly” to products it has a harder time digesting. This can actually result in breakouts of acne. 

Dairy products are a common thing that people with adult acne can try avoiding, which often proves to be helpful. Others try to limit carbs. If there’s anything for certain, it’s that junk food will never do you any good—the more corn chips or candy you eat, the worse it will be for your skin.

The final consideration for this home remedy is a little more delicate. If you struggle with regular constipation, changing what you eat could hit two birds with one stone. Your constipation could actually be the aggravator that’s leading to your breakouts. Waste product holds toxins that your body has to release—and if it’s not doing so efficiently, it will show in your skin. Eat more leafy greens or other sources of fiber to move things along. It could solve your constipation, and thereafter your acne.

Other cases of adult acne come back to negative reactions to different fragrances or ingredients used in other care products. You probably don’t think much about your acne when you wash your hair, but even something like your shampoo can aggravate your skin and cause breakouts.  If your skin doesn’t like an ingredient in something, it will turn your pores into battle grounds and leave you with fewer resources to fight of acne-causing bacteria.

If you’re going to try this home remedy, start with one product at a time. Change up your shampoo for a fragrance-free or a baby shampoo, and see how your acne does over a month. If nothing happens, but you’re in the height of summer for example, maybe your sunscreen is to blame. Perfumes and other products are worth considering, too.

Many of these home remedies for adult acne will be used in conjunction with the following over-the-counter products. Each acne product you find at the pharmacy will have an active ingredient. And, many though there are that fight acne, some ingredients work better than others. You can read about products that exfoliate, or that promote the production of new skin cells. But we’re going to focus on the two active ingredients that do the best job fighting the very bacteria that cause acne.

• Salicylic acid

This active ingredient is one of the most popular in over-the-counter acne cleansers. The acid actually dissolves some of the material—on a non-harmful, molecular level—that binds your skin together. It naturally exfoliates dead skin cells and dissolves facial oils as soon as it hits your skin’s surface.

And what’s the purpose of all that? It unclogs your pores. By dissolving some of the “glue” that seals your skin, and by penetrating natural oils and even clogged pores, and exfoliating your skin, salicylic acid is especially good for fighting whiteheads and blackheads.

• Benzoyl peroxide

This active ingredient actually kills the bacteria that causes acne in the first place. It also helps to exfoliate and keep pores clear and clean. Benzoyl peroxide will typically be available in over-the-counter products in 2.5-10%, but it can leave your skin dry and sensitive, so it’s wise to start with a lower concentration.

Benzoyl peroxide is also effective in opening your pores up to oxygen, which helps to further break down the gunk inside them. By “unplugging” your pores and attacking the bacteria itself, you could see an impact to your acne in a matter of weeks.

Read our detailed guide about adult acne treatments