Last Updated on October 24th, 2021
In the classic comedy movie Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Mel Brooks’ character Dr. Abraham van Helsing orders massive amounts of garlic to be placed in the bedroom of the young and nubile Lucy (played by Lysette Anthony) after tiny puncture marks have been found on her neck. 🦇🧛♂️🦇 A competing doctor played by Harvey Korman orders the garlic removed from Lucy’s boudoir, and the next night Count Dracula emerges from an insane asylum and uses hypnotic mind control to lure Lucy to a nearby garden, where she meets a ghastly fate.
Garlic is often portrayed as a magical tool with the power of preserving life from the forces of death. For centuries, garlic was used to protect skin from the ravages of acne. But if you don’t use garlic, will the acne vampires glamor and lead you to skin destruction?
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Drs. Karen Martin and Edzard Ernst of the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in the United Kingdom conducted a review of clinical trials of the antibacterial properties of common herbal preparations. They found that tea tree oil and wild basil oil kill acne bacteria. 🤺 Although wild basil (Ocimum gratissimum) oil is seldom found at the natural products store, Dr. Ernst’s experiments found that 5% wild basil oil was more effective for getting rid of pimples than 5% benzoyl peroxide—and it also smelled so bad that it drove away bugs.
The authors also found that tea tree oil was useful in treating skin infections—but for garlic, no such evidence was to be found. Does that mean that garlic treatment for acne is a waste of time?
Garlic is a traditional skin treatment in Unani medicine (or Yunani medicine), and it is still being used in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and Kashmir.
Traditionally garlic is used to stimulate growth of the skin after inflammation or infection.
More specifically, 🧄 garlic is used to stimulate growth in hair follicles rather than in sebum-producing follicles. When alopecia areata has made hair fall out, or acne keloidalis nuchae has trapped hair in pores, garlic is applied to the skin to correct the problem.
The inflammation and irritation that make the skin break, caused by the immune system’s response to acne bacteria, can lead to scratching, which can lead to wounds. There is some evidence that garlic can be helpful in wound healing, but it would be best to avoid this problem by being gentle with your skin.
If not garlic for your skin, then what? Here are some suggestions:
Garlic is not a whole lot more useful for fighting acne than it is for fighting vampires. A complete acne fighting system, however, may be exactly what you need and Exposed Skin Care comes with a complete money back guarantee.