The skin benefits of using apple cider vinegar as a face wash alone should be more than enough reason to pick up a bottle and give it a try. There's also a long list of other health benefits attributed to ACV, including enhancing your immunity, controlling blood sugar for weight loss and improving bowel regularity.
Apple cider vinegar is extremely good for skin. Our skin plays a vital role in keeping us healthy. it protects us from external, physical dangers. it protects us from harmful bacteria, free radicals, strong ultra-violet rays. it regulates our body temperature, which is at the core of our well-being. Finally, it acts to communicate the external conditions to our brain, thus helping us adjust our body to maintain optimum internal conditions.
However, our skin, which is the largest organ in our body, is constantly under attack. It is exposed to harsh conditions. To top it all, we are constantly using harsh soaps, face washes and even hard water.
Apple cider vinegar has antibacterial and antifungal properties to help prevent acne and skin infections. As well as effectively removing excess oil from your skin, ACV face wash is said to help balance pH levels and over time may prevent your facial skin from becoming both too oily or too dry by normalizing sebum production.
Apple cider vinegar also contains powerful alpha hydroxy acids to help remove dead skin cells and reveal a fresher and healthier complexion underneath them. Many expensive commercial face washes trumpet the minuscule amounts of alpha hydroxy acids they've added to their preparations, but ACV is full of far higher levels for much less.
For age spots it is usually applied undiluted, just to the spots directly. Preferably this should be done several times a day for at least a month.
Some people have even better results mixing the ACV with either fresh orange juice or onion juice and applying it several times a day. Particularly with the onion and apple cider vinegar mix, you'd want to make sure you're only applying it to the age spots, perhaps with a cotton wool bud, as it's likely to sting sensitive skin.
Warts are treated with apple cider vinegar in a different way. The method is to soak a small cotton wool ball in it and use tape or a Band-Aid to keep the soaked cotton wool there against the wart for as long as possible. This is either done in the morning and kept on all day or before bed and worn overnight. For even faster results change applications in the evening and have it on around the clock.
Many people report this ACV treatment clearing up warts in a week. Be aware that they may turn black before falling off. It is also recommended to continue with the treatment for a further week, even if the wart looks to be gone, to make sure it doesn't return.
In the long-term, what we put into our bodies affects our skin even more than what we put on it. One of the main causes of poor skin is problems with digestion and detoxification.
Ideally a well functioning liver should quickly eliminate toxins from your body. However, when it's overworked or poor digestion is creating a strain on it, your skin tends to be one of the first places to show it as it tries to help get rid of some of the toxic load.
Taking a twice daily tablespoon or two of organic ACV in a glass of water may aid your body's detoxification and elimination channels, thus easing the burden on your skin. First thing in the morning and again in the evening is considered good times to drink it. It takes time for skin cells to regenerate but there are many reports of this apple cider vinegar tonic improving skin tone and complexion.