My skin has always been well-behaved—I might get the occasional spot on my face around that time of the month, but never anything more. So you can imagine my horror when a couple months ago, I started experiencing sporadic breakouts (plural!) on my chin. With seemingly no rhyme or reason as to the timing or cause, I completely spiraled: “Where is this coming from, why is this happening and how do I fix it?!”
I tried weaning off certain beauty products, washing my pillowcases every couple of days and continuing to avoid holding my cell phone to my face—all to no avail. Feeling helpless and incredibly self-conscious, I mentioned my woes to a friend. Without hesitation, she said: “Go to the store now and get evening primrose oil.” Expecting a far more arduous (and costly) solution—aka going to a dermatologist—I beelined to the closest market and picked up a bottle of said capsules in the vitamin aisle.
I took three pills a day (one with each meal) and after a week, my skin cleared up. I stopped taking them, thinking I was out of the weeds, and again the breakouts occurred—which led me to believe that the capsules were, indeed, my knight in shining armor. Now, I consistently take two or three a day and I’ve been breakout-free ever since.
Nature's Bounty Evening Primrose Oil, $10
Upon conducting some research (aka Googling till my eyes glazed over), evening primrose oil apparently regulates hormones, which were presumably to blame for those pesky zits. I found several forums and websites with women telling tales similar to mine and praising the miracle product for curing their skin woes.
I now take the pills as part of my regularly scheduled vitamin lineup and stock up when I hit Trader Joe's for groceries. (Yes, they sell it there!)
Have you tried evening primrose oil to clear up breakouts? Let us know in the comments below.
