I have always been fascinated by home remedies and natural skin care remedies. My mother swore by natural remedies, subscribed to “Prevention” magazine, and was an avid user of anything handy around the house, from olive oil to aloe vera leaf to baking soda and bacon grease. I naturally followed her example… to a point, and have frequently used aloe vera for burns, baking soda for insect bites, olive oil on my skin, but I never could bring myself to experiment with bacon grease.

Olive Oil

After a recent discussion about olive oil, it dawned on me — I cook with olive oil and I always wipe off the excess on my skin. I hold the bottle with my right hand, open the cap with my left, and wipe any little drip of olive oil from the palm of my left hand onto the back of my right hand. I have been doing this for decades, yet there is no discernible difference between my left hand and my right hand. My right hand always feels smoother after I wipe the excess oil on it, but the olive oil is making no change in the skin. On top of that, it is comedonic which means it can cause blocked pores. The squalene in olive oil is better for your body when ingested in food. While there is nothing wrong with wiping olive oil on dry skin areas and enjoying the smoother feel, three decades of applying it primarily to the back of my right hand have made no difference in the aging process.

In addition, after I developed skin cancer and went through a year of using fluoracil on the cancerous patches which were all over my face, my skin became permanently red and irritated. I used olive oil on it for months, during which time the condition worsened. It was not until I finally broke down and went to a dermatologist that I learned I had rosacea. Had I started treating my rosacea properly months earlier, it might not have become as serious and hard to treat as it was by the time I went to see a doctor. And the comedonic olive oil may be to blame for a couple of sebaceous bumps that formed on my skin during this time.

Cucumbers

I researched cucumbers for an article on puffy eyes and discovered much the same thing – cold cucumbers feel good on the eyes, and like any cold compress, they reduce swelling temporarily.  I have never found any conclusive evidence that cucumbers actually change the eyes. Cold cucumbers offer a temporary fix. However, cucumbers are not causing real change to the skin around the eyes. Much like olive oil, cucumbers do more good when you eat them.

Aloe Vera

Aloe vera has been used for thousands of years topically to treat burns, wounds, skin infections, and numerous other surface skin conditions. The gel from the aloe vera plant does seem to work on burns and irritated skin where the skin’s protective barrier is already compromised, but although I visited several legitimate medical websites, I can’t find any scientific evidence that molecules from the gel actually penetrate through the skin’s barrier to slow or reverse the aging process. It feels good on the skin, it may soothe some surface skin irritations, but there is no clear clinical evidence to document it works through the skin’s barrier to signal the body to change from the inside out. According to Wikipedia’s two cited sources, “Scientific evidence for the cosmetic and therapeutic effectiveness of aloe vera is limited and when present is frequently contradictory.”

Honey

Honey is a natural humectant. It does help hold moisture in and can make the surface of the skin feel more moist — and a bit sticky — to the touch. Does honey change the skin? I can find no clinical evidence to prove that it does.

Real Change or Good Genes?

When I read the testimonials of people who are praising home remedies, they almost always say something like “My mother/grandmother used it and she passed it down to me,” or “A famous celebrity says she uses it and look at her skin.”  In that case, I should start drinking heavily and smoke a pipe, because my father always looked a good 20 – 30 years younger than he actually was. I don’t believe I have ever read a documented case of someone actually reversing sun damage and erasing the signs of aging using cucumbers, aloe vera, olive oil, honey, eggs or any other natural remedies.

Temporary Topical Fixes

The test for any product, be it natural, over-the-counter, or prescription is skin CHANGE documented through clinical trials, not just “diminishing the appearance of fine lines.” While you and your mother might look young after years of using olive oil, that is probably simple genetics. There is some evidence some of these natural remedies can soothe and smooth the surface of the skin temporarily after they are applied, but it is questionable whether or not olive oil, cucumbers, aloe vera, baking soda, honey and the rest actually penetrate the skin’s protective barrier, much less have any device to signal the production of collagen or elastin through the skin.

Over-the-Counter Products

The same can be said for most over-the-counter skin care products which feel good on the skin and offer a temporary feeling of smooth, moist skin — which the products is still sitting on top of the skin’s protective barrier making the surface feel smooth and moist. It feels good, but it isn’t changing the skin.

Home Remedies & Natural Cures Can Be Deadly

When my own mother developed a small lesion on her skin, she began to apply a mix of baking soda and bacon grease to it. In spite of my pleas that she see a doctor, she continued her skin care home remedies. The lesion was a melanoma from which she died a few years later.

While this may be an extreme example, the point is home remedies usually offer a temporary fix that feels good after you use them and supplies the emotional boost of “I did it myself and saved money!” when they are not changing the skin at all. Furthermore, they can prevent consumers from purchasing prescriptions or buying products which have been clinically proven to effect real change through the skin’s protective barrier. In the worst-case scenario, they may prevent someone from going to a dermatologist or doctor with a skin problem that needs immediate medical attention. My mother’s home remedies proved to be fatal, and there is ample proof that natural cures, herbal treatments, and home remedies often cause more harm than good through allergic and toxic reactions.

Mixing Natural Products with Medicine

Botanicals and natural remedies do have a place in new skin care advances. There is quite a bit of evidence that scientifically mixing botanicals and other natural ingredients with medicated ingredients can, in fact, benefit and change the skin. The careful combination of the right botanicals with the right medications and other skin care ingredients can enhance and boost the effects of the medications as well allow the botanicals to help protect the skin’s surface.

Rodan + Fields

One company on the cutting edge of skin care technology combining botanicals with medicines is Rodan + Fields Dermatologists. Rodan + Fields is known as a pioneer in developing multi-med formulations. Their Multi-Med therapy approach combines the right ingredients, in the right formulas, in the right order to provide a delivery system that penetrate the skin’s natural barrier while providing the benefits of the right botanicals and natural ingredients combined with the right medications for maximum effect.

For more information, see Rodan + Fields Dermatologists, email me at skin_and_health@yahoo.com, or leave me a message below.

Also see:

• Can cucumbers get rid of puffy eyes? The healing properties of cucumbers
• Six treatments for scars: How to reduce scarring

Click here to order Rodan + Fields Products. Contact me at 615-662-6212 or skin_and_health@yahoo.com to save an additional 10% and receive free shipping.