Toothpaste does dry them up. Years ago, a friend of mine from Australia told me everyone used Crest or Colgate (I forget which) because Clearasil was so expensive. I tried it and it did dry them up. It does dry the skin in general, which is not so great. Another one was rubbing alcohol. Antihistamines keep them down a bit. Also, using cortisone cream just on the spot itself can take down the redness. Noxema was pretty much worthless, but it did not make it worse and it smelled nice.

And as Herself said it dries out the general area too. I have extremely- no ridiculously- sensitive skin so just about anything irritates it. The idea of a water based lubricant for zit-control is definitely intriguing to me. Oh and Noxzema was never so good for acne for me but it is terrific on sunburn. To me Noxzema is the smell of summer.

If it is, then it would make perfect sense that something that kills sperm would also have an impact on the bacteria that cause acne.

I looked on the interwebs but all I could not see anyting that said if it was spermicidal or not.

I started using Noxzema twice a day in seventh grade, and between the ages of 12 and 18 I got a grand total of four pimples. At 22, I got a very red, irritated pimple on my shoulder, and toothpaste cleared it overnight. To this day, I take very good care of my skin. Early intervention is key! :)

...It kills zits on contact.

Must...resist...urge...to...make....juvenile...oral sex joke...(;-P

--------------

A question for women (and, I suppose, perhaps some men too) on here:

When I was a little kid growing up/living in the British West Indies, I remember my Mom using something called "Witch Hazel" to clean her face.

Have any of you ever heard of that? I think it was alcohol-based, because I remember the smell of it.

I have NEVER seen it anywhere in Walgreens, etc., and I'm just curious to know if it is/was one of those old British colonial relics, or if it is/was widely used.

I don't know if you can get it by itself, but I do know that it's one of the main "active" ingredients in Bactine.

I always liked the smell, although its effects on mosquito bites were, imo, overrated.

I remember witchazel- my Mom used it often as a skin toner. Everything dries out my skin so I stopped using it as a teen.

It does have an alcohol smell - I think it is some herbs extractred with alcohol. I think you can still find it in drugstores though I haven't looked for it in some time.

Lulu Lulu have you ever considered that maybe you are blessed with good skin? I have a girlfirend like you but she never did much of anything to take care of her skin besides washing it and she almost never gets pimples- like you could proabably count the number. I intervened early and still get pretty bad pimples - which in large part seems to be cyclical/hormonal.

A quick query on Drugstore.com turns up 247 products with witch hazel, including bottles of plain witch hazel (they call it a "facial toner". I too remember the smell of it from my mother-she was an Ivory soap, simple-products kind of gal. It must work because she's in her 80s and still has nice skin. I'll have to ask her if she still uses it.

Part of the reason it stuck in my memory is that I remember the bottle my Mom's Witch Hazel came in - it was tall, thin and ornate, kind of like an antique perfume bottle.

I also think it's pretty darn cool that some of you also remember your own Moms using it! Even though I grew up thousands of miles away from the USA, little common links like these are pleasant reminders of how much we really do all share...

I've heard from models that if you put your first pee of the morning on your zits it clears them right up

Am I the only one who was really really reminded of _My Big Fat Greek Wedding_????

"Just put Windex on it!"

Pound an aspirin into powder, make it into a paste, and apply; the salicylic acid therein helps, though this is more of an in-a-pinch trick than a miracle cure.

What I really wish is that magazines would stop trying to sell products and start pushing the fact that diet plays a huge role in acne, especially for those of us with hormone. . . fluctuations. The thing that makes the difference with my skin is dairy--if I avoid it, I'm good. If I have more than three servings a week, my skin breaks out, especially right around my period. Birth control also makes my skin break out. :( Too much refined sugar or certain types of fat can also clog pores.

I've also known people who swore by using yogurt to wash their faces. . .

Mix a tablespoon of alum powder (it's an ingredient used in pickling and preserving found with the spices in the grocery store) with one egg white into a lumpy paste. Apply all over face (except, of course, the eye area). Leave on for 15 minutes. Wash it off by gently rubbing with warm water and a wash cloth. I don't know if it really does anything for zits, but it sure does exfoliate beautifully.

It's already been covered, but, yes, Witch hazel is still around and isn't just for the Brits. :) We had it and I used it, and I hate the smell. The other "natural" type cure I tried was tea tree oil, which has a very strong, pungent odor (pleasant, though, just very strong) and can burn a bit. Neither worked that well, but I have pretty bad skin.

Amusingly enough, I heard about the toothpaste cure when I was in Australia before the sixth grade, from other American girls. Still haven't tried it, but they swore by it.

A warning about a more conventional (and expensive) cure: Proactive can cause an allergic reaction after five years of use.

It's pretty unusual, but this seemed like an appropriate time to bring it up, and I like to warn people. I will always have acne scars on my cheeks (where I didn't get acne, normally) thanks to Proactive.