Clear Your Acne And Have Perfect Skin - Naturally!
By Ryan Bauer
Most people who suffer from acne go out and spend good money on common over-the-counter acne treatment products. The truth is, most of these products are full of chemicals that can actually slow down the healing of acne, and irritate your skin, causing farther breakouts.
When an acne product has 20 ingredients listed on it, it can be hard to know if one of those ingredients is actually stopping you from having success. It can be even harder when you can't pronounce the ingredient, much less know what it is and how it is going to affect your skin.
Most mainstream acne treatments are not only much more expensive than common household items, but they also don't always work as well either. With that in mind, I will list some basic household items that can work wonders on clearing up your skin.

Baking soda – A very cheap cooking ingredient that most people have in their homes already, soda can be used as a great scrub. The purpose of a scrub is to exfoliate the skin, removing dead skin that can eventually clog pores and lead to acne spots.
To start off, you'll want to mix a small amount of soda with some water for form a paste. soda is very effective as a scrub, so you want to be sure to be extra careful when applying it to your face. Gently massage the paste into your skin for ten to fifteen seconds. Then rinse the soda off, and pat your face dry with a clean towel.

Apple Cider Vinegar – Though most people that use vinegar to treat acne use the apple cider form of vinegar, you can also use plain old regular vinegar. Regardless of which type you use, vinegar can be very helpful with it comes to clearing up acne. It can kill off acne causing bacteria, balance your skin's pH, and absorb extra oil on your skin.
Starting with clean, dry skin, apply diluted vinegar (eight parts water to one part vinegar) directly to your skin with a cotton ball, and leave it on. If you want, you can also use a stronger vinegar solution (say, 2 or 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar), and apply it directly to problem areas, rinsing it off after ten minutes.
Lemon or lime juice can also be substituted for vinegar. Both of these juices are rich in citric acid, and can exfoliate your skin very well, halting the growth of acne spots, as well as fading previous, non-active acne quicker.

Egg Whites – Rich in protein, egg whites can be used as a mask to heal and rebuild your skin. It can also help to absorb excess oil from your skin.
To start off, crack an egg, removing the yolk so that just the egg whites are left behind. Beat these egg whites, and apply them directly to your face. Let it sit for fifteen minutes, and then rinse the egg off.
Oatmeal – As odd as it may seem, oatmeal can absorb unwanted oil and draw

Review - Cafe Troisgros: Nishi-Shinjuku
Cafe Troisgrois, a casual dining spot from Michelin-starred chef Michel Troisgrois, turns out speedy, well-prepared lunches that offer good value for money (from Y1500). During a recent lunchtime visit, a platter of mortadella, potatoes, and vegetables, dressed in a piquant mustard-vinaigrette, was straightforwardly tasty, while a salad of crunchy tsubugai shellfish and creamy avocado offered an interesting contrast of textures. The grilled pork chop, overlaying a bed of red cabbage and accompanied by a blob of whipped potato-and-garlic rouille sauce, was well worth its Y250 surcharge.

During off-peak hours (10-11am, 2-6pm), Cafe Troisgrois's teatime menu offers the same frothy coffee drinks and sweet treats you might expect at places like Afternoon Tea, but with an upscale, gourmet twist. Mascarpone mousse, served alongside orange and carrot ice cream, is adorned with a lacy sugar-crisp. Honey-coated rusk toasts are dusted with jasmine-scented sugar.

Tucked away behind the eighth-floor glassware department in Odakyu Department Store, the space is a bit difficult to find. Despite the bold purple-and-green color scheme and the pleasant view of Shinjuku, the feeling of being in a department store never completely goes away.

Dinner is served until 8:30pm, but the atmosphere is not exactly conducive to lingering. However, the Y1050 corkage fee, which allows you to bring up a bottle of wine from the Boutique Troisgrois in the basement, may provide an incentive to stay.
09/18-09/20 US microbrews at Yokohama beer festival
Held over the three-day holiday weekend, the Great Japan Beer Festival in Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama is less crowded than the Tokyo version of the festival, with unlimited samples of more than 100 kinds of beer from around Japan and the world for your Y4500 admission price (Y4100 in advance).

And this year a number of US craft brewers will be featured, including Caldera, Deschutes, Dogfish Head, Great Divide, Lagunitas, Maui, Odell, Oskar Blues, Shipyard, Sierra Nevada, and Stone. Hours are 2-6pm on 9/18; 1-5pm on 9/19 and noon-4pm on 9/20. Check the website (www.beertaster.org) for details.
09/10-09/12 Belgian Beer Weekend in Roppongi Hills
Brussels, the Belgian capital, is the scene of a massive beer festival every year on the first weekend of September, and this year Tokyo will get a taste of that event one week later, with a three-day Belgian Beer Weekend to be held in Roppongi Hills Arena. More than forty Belgian beers will be available to try out, along with a wide assortment of tasty Belgian food.

The hours are 4-9pm Friday and 11am-9pm Saturday and Sunday; admission is free, with tickets sold for beer and food. Check the website at belgianbeerweekend.jp for more information and advance-sale tickets.
Brews News #101
Reviews of Bison India Pale Ale and upcoming festivals in the September/October issue of our Japan beer newsletter.
Review - Gaumarjos!: Gotanda
The Georgian chef at this tiny bar-restaurant turns out a good range of tasty dishes from his native land, with flavors that are quite exotic for Tokyo. The menu favors the meaty, well-spiced dishes of the Eastern half of Georgia, incorporating plenty of cilantro and other herbs, nuts and garlic. Georgia is also famous for its wines, and several varieties are available by the glass.

On a recent visit we started with a mixed salad platter - an appetizing assemblage of Badrijani (mashed eggplant with garlic and walnuts); Pkhali (spinach paste and walnuts); and kidney bean and walnut salad. Next was a thick, fragrant soup of the day made with rice and eggs, enlivened by a refreshing dash of wine vinegar. The beef stew had a complex tomato-based sauce and good-sized, tender chunks of beef - all good wintertime fare of course, but not unwelcome after a summer day spent in air-conditioned chill.

Lamb shashlik made a great finale - charcoal-grilled with a solid, smoky flavor; well-done but still tender, and well matched to our full-bodied Cabernet. Red, white and sparkling wines are all well represented, starting at Y700/glass or Y3900/bottle.

The tall, oddly shaped space - feeling more like a bar than a restaurant - is encased by double-height windows on two sides and features a big counter bar and a small balcony area upstairs. Geogian pop music videos play nonstop on the big-screen monitor. Dinner with drinks runs around Y3500, and the lunchtime buffet is Y1000.
Review - Cafe Russia: Kichijoji
Authentic Georgian and Russian food is prepared by native chefs in this unpretentious basement cafe. Georgian- and Russian-themed set menus (Y3000-3200 for lunch or dinner) are a good introduction to the kitchen's most popular dishes.

The excellent Geogian menu starts with the wonderfully named "herring in a fur coat," a layered construction of beets, potatoes, finely diced herring fillets, eggs and carrots. Other apps are a spicy ratatouille-style ajapsandali and refreshing, lightly pickled cabbage, followed by khachapuri, a flaky pie stuffed with cheese. The main event is tabaka - a big helping of garlicky roast chicken with crisp skin and succulent, juicy meat. We also enjoyed the eggplant with walnut paste and the kharcho (spicy beef) soup, but perhaps the thick, syrupy Georgian coffee is an acquired taste.

There's also an extensive a la carte menu, and lots to drink (Georgian wines, Russian vodkas). Y1000-range lunch specials are served until 5pm.
New - Little Delirium: Nishi-Shinjuku
This mini-branch of one of our favorite Belgian beer bars sits at the Yoyogi end of Southern Terrace; convenient to Shinjuku station but sufficiently removed from the bustling crowds. Despite the small size they boast an excellent beer list, with a rotating selection of ten on tap, plus a respectable food menu featuring roast Iberico pork, grilled horsemeat and of course mussels and frites. There's some outdoor seating.
Review - Ibiza: Hiroo
Ibiza calls itself a "fisherman's diner," and this unpretentious neighborhood spot offers a great selection of fresh-caught fish and seafood. Simple home-style recipes rely on the high quality of the ingredients rather than showing off any dazzling cooking tricks.

On a recent visit we enjoyed kisu (whiting) fritters flavored with ume and shiso; big portions of miso-simmered ginmutsu (bluefish); and first-rate grilled salmon belly. The hone-sembei (toasted mackerel bones) were crunchy and very tasty, and the cold chunks of cucumber in miso-meat sauce provided nice contrasts of flavor, texture and temperature.

If you're a fan of craft sake you'll probably find something to your liking on the extensive list; they also stock various Chinese liqueurs and ten kinds of umeshu. Budget around Y4000 with drinks. Note that the menus and service are in Japanese only, and the restaurant is quite busy, so bring a Japanese-speaking friend if you're not comfortable negotiating the menu.
Review - Kokekokko: Nishi-Shinjuku
Shamo is a breed of game bird known for its tasty, slightly chewy meat, and it's the bird of choice on the busy grills at Kokkekokko. This modest-looking yakitoriya serves the usual selection of chicken parts on skewers - all very high in quality - along with beautiful grilled vegetables and appealing side dishes, including chicken sashimi. Besides serving birds of distinguished pedigree (always fresh, never frozen), they also take pride in the quality of their charcoal (kishu binchotan from Wakayama) and their gourmet salt (sea salt from Bretagne).

The chicken wings are one of the highlights here, or actually two of the highlights - they offer both tebanaka and tebamoto (meat from the middle and upper wing, repectively), rather than the more common tebasaki. Both are served boneless and are quite juicy and flavorful. The sasami (breast meat) is very rare on the inside, topped with fresh-ground wasabi in tiny dabs that don't overpower the flavor. The tsukune (minced chicken patty) is substantial in size and very meaty, accompanied by a richly flavored, bright-yellow raw egg for dipping.

Lined up on the grill alongside the chicken skewers is an impressive array of vegetables - gigantic shiitake mushrooms, big chunks of eringi mushroom, large cubes of eggplant, and a few things you don't see every day, like baby corn and delicate, gingery myoga buds. Pickles are made from colorful Kyoto heirloom vegetables, prepared with a light touch so that they are fresh-tasting and just barely salty. Other side dishes include liver pate, tataki (chicken seared on the outside, raw in the middle), and a sashimi platter with raw chicken meat and chicken liver. Four premium sakes and a handful of shochu brands supplement the usual beer and chuhai cocktails on the drinks list.

The tiny shop is wedged into a basement corner of a shopping complex, adjoining the Shinjuku station underground (there's a Uniqlo at ground level). Seating is tight but the counter is comfortably wide, the modern decor is tasteful and subdued, and the atmosphere is convivial. The sixteen counter seats fill up quickly, but there's reasonable turnover during the course of the evening if you're a single diner or a pair. Groups can reserve a table in the separate private room, which seats eight. Budget around Y3500-4500 for a dinner-size portion of food and drinks.
Review - Bakuro: Ebisu
If you're not well acquainted with the subtleties of horsemeat cuisine, Bakuro can be a revelation. The food here is fantastic, showcasing a surprisingly wide range of flavors and styles. The atmosphere is lively and fun, the drinks list is well put together, and prices are very reasonable for this level of quality.

Bakuro occupies a narrow two-story residential building filled with antique furnishings and horse-themed bric-a-brac, which contribute to the charming retro-chic ambience. The upstairs dining area, reached via a steep staircase, is especially cozy, with little nooks, bottle-lined bookshelves and an artfully hidden toilet. Sitting on a quiet side street surrounded by other tiny drinking spots, it attracts a mostly young and well-dressed crowd - even by Ebisu standards.

The horsemeat here comes raw, charcoal-grilled, and served sukiyaki-style.....
Review - Paris 4ku: Nishi-Shinjuku
The setting here is bistro-style (closely spaced tables and a counter) and very casual, but the food is a cut above the usual bistro fare, with dishes like beef cheeks and anago eel stewed in red wine; sauteed fish in grapefruit sauce; game-meat pies; and well-prepared steak frites. Three-course prix-fixe dinners are Y3980, or you can order a la carte. Wines are fairly reasonable and not exclusively French.
Review - Esquina Brasil: Nakano
This casual cafe-bar serves Brazilian-style burgers and snacks - coxinha (deep-fried chicken dumplings), empadao (pot pies), empanada (stuffed pastries), feijoada (pork and bean stew), and churrasco (grilled meats). Fruit juice smoothies (Y500) come in a variety of tropical flavors - Andean blackberry, acai, guanabana and many more - or you just can add tequila or rum to create exotic fruit cocktails.
Review - Sasaratei: Nishi-Ogikubo
This lively neighborhood drinking spot is a branch of the long-established Fujintei izakaya a few blocks away, and the spacious, comfortable second floor is the place to be. The menu is disarmingly eclectic - Taiwanese sausage, charcoal-grilled prawns, shashlik kebabs made from premium Yamagata pork - and everything we've tried has been first-rate. The sake list is small but serviceable - this is the kind of place where you find a label you like and stick with it, rather than exploring different breweries.
Review - Kojiro: Uchisaiwaicho
Seafood is the star at this reasonably priced counter shop - the owner is a fisherman and he often serves his own catch alongside the daily selections from Tsukiji. The sake list is well above average for a place this size: five regular labels plus five guest slots reserved for seasonal brews. Lunch is a great deal - Y900 gets you an excellent kaisen donburi with anago, salmon and negitoro. Dinner runs around Y3500 with drinks.
New - Breadworks: Tennozu Isle
Luxuriously spacious and modern in feel, this combination bakery-cafe is a comfortable place to relax with a coffee and pastry, or a quiche, cup of soup and salad. There's also a bit of outdoor seating overlooking the adjacent canal. Take-out breads include tempting savory creations like gorgonzola-walnut and bacon-rosemary rolls, as well as focacia, whole-grain loaves, bread made with beer yeast (from TY Harbor Brewery next door) and assorted pastries and cakes.
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out impurities which reside deep in your skin. Cook some plain oatmeal like you would for consumption. Let it cool off, and rub it over your clean skin. Let it sit for a while, like you would a mask, and then rinse off. If you do this on a regular basis, you should begin to start noticing results soon.

Tea Tree Oil – TTO is a commonly used all-natural household antiseptic, which you can pick up at most drugstores or supermarkets. You can apply TTO directly to acne spots to kill bacteria, or, if you strongly dilute it with another oil (such as jojoba oil), over your entire face.
Tea tree gel can be easier to apply than the oil, and many are made for applying over large areas of skin, so they aren't quite as strong as straight TTO and do not need to be diluted.

Pantothenic Acid (Also known as Vit. B5) – Pantothenic acid can be taken in large quantities for the benefit of acne reduction. B5 works by helping your body to metabolize fats which would otherwise be later turned into sebum (oil) and excreted through the skin. Small amounts of B5 won't help though, and it has to be taken several times a day.
To help with acne, you will need to take 2.5 grams of pantothenic acid (the powder form is much easier to take), 4 times per day, for a total of 10 grams per day.

Aloe Vera – Aloe Vera has been used for many years in kitchens for topical application to burns. Another benefit of aloe is that it can prevent scaring, fade marks and help heal acne spots.
You now have an idea of some basic household items you can use on your skin, that work better than many OTC acne products, and are much cheaper to use. Since we have only really covered basic acne treatments, you can always take this to another level and take all natural, internal acne treatments.

This sums up our basic list of natural alternatives for chemical based acne treatment products. You can take this a step farther by attacking your acne from the inside out. Acne has been shown numerous times to be very closely affected by the digestive system, so keeping your entire digestive system working as smooth as possible can help reduce acne. I will help give you a basic idea of some all natural products you can take to help clear up acne.

Cucumber, lemon and carrot juice, brewer's yeast, and active charcoal pills are all capable of helping the digestive system function normally. Since the digestive system is closely related with the health of the skin, they should help reduce acne breakouts. Flax seed can also be wonderful for helping your skin heal faster.

About the Author

Ryan Bauer is a former acne sufferer who writes health articles and runs his acne treatment website, Acne Elimination.