DIY Beauty: Overnight Acne Treatment

Posted by Alexandra C. | Thursday November 7, 2013

Remember that AH-MAZING Asian acne absorbing spot treatment I found (slightly by accident) and fell in love with? I love it a little too much and ran out recently. My skin has been seriously parched lately (it's like a desert), so I've been looking for a new spot treatment that I can use only on a pimple so it won't dry out the rest of my face. There's a ton of buzz about Mario Badescu Drying Lotion and it has a bit of a cult following. I've never tried it but always wanted to, so when I found a DIY version of it, it seemed like a perfect way to introduce myself.

This DIY contains the same two active ingredients as Drying Lotion: tea tree oil and calamine. You know all about my love for tea tree oil by now. It is antibacterial and makes for a super intense acne fighter. Calamine is soothing for inflammation and also dries and shrinks pimples.

It's super simple to make and including all the materials, it will cost you about $10 (and that will give you enough to make a few batches of the product). Each batch should last about 6 months.

So, want to get to busting those bumps? Here's what you'll need:

Tea Tree Oil
Water
Calamine
Small Bowl
Small Bottle with Screw Top (I used an airplane travel-size bottle from the dollar store)
Dropper (optional)
Cotton Swab (For applying)

Pro Tip: In place of tea tree oil, you can use witch hazel which also contains antibacterial properties, but isn't as powerful and you won't need to dilute it.

Step 1: Pour calamine into bottle, about 1/3 of the way and leave to the side to settle. I just free poured but you could also use a dropper.

Step 2 + 3: In the small bowl, combine your tree tea oil and water (this makes sure the tea tree oil isn't too powerful). Your solution should be 2 parts tea tree oil, 1 part water. You'll need enough to fill the rest of the bottle.

Step 4: Once the calamine has settled, pour or use a dropper to add the oil-water solution to the calamine. I pulled a second grade move and used a straw to do the same job as a dropper. The liquids may mix, which is fine, let it settle for a few hours before using. It should separate in bottle.

Final Product:

Because this has calamine which dries to a chalky white hue, you should use this overnight. Because this product is a DIY and not a bought product, it doesn't contain preservatives, so avoid contamination with your fingers and dip a cotton swab into the bottle instead. Then dab the product onto your problem areas.

Have you tried Drying Lotion before? Would you try this DIY out?

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19 Comments

	on August 28, 2016 P Prowse said: If you're looking to replicate Mario, Kate (Somerville) or Bye Bye Blemish acne drying lotions, look again. None of the active ingredients (sulfur and salicylic acid - both well proven acne medications) in those products are found in this formula.
	on March 19, 2015 Joan said: This might be useful as is but it is not really related to the Mario Badescu stuff -- active ingredients include sulfur and resorcinol, and there's definitely no tea tree oil in it...
	on November 06, 2014 lindsay said: Will the clear calamine lotion work as well?
	on December 29, 2013 Whitney said: Thanks for the blog. I look forward to trying this regimen. In response to crowjane37, the reason the products separate is strictly based off of chemical properties. The tea tree oil and the water have a tendency to separate because of the hydrophobicity of oil in water. (this has to do with the chemical structures of the -OH in water and hydrocarbon chains in oil). Calamine, on the other hand, is composed of amine groups (-NH3) which also have limited solubility in water and oils. However, amine groups are fairly basic, which allows them to easily react with acid. Skin typically is fairly acidic (PH ~5.5), thus it makes sense that calamine is used to chemically bond with the skin and soothe it. As mentioned in the article, tea tree oil works as an antibacterial and can fight the bacteria that is creating acne in the first place. In theory it should not matter which ingredient is put on the skin first ( similarly that the order doesn't matter when you add 2 different dry ingredients in a recipe), however making a stock solution makes it easy to apply the regimen and not accidentally put on too high of a concentration of tea tree oil. I hope that explanation was helpful in explaining the science behind why this concoction should theoretically work in treating acne and the benefits behind making a stock solution. :)
	on December 10, 2013 Christina said: I will be trying this on my son at night of course, he's 14 and desperate to try anything at this point. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's a pizza face or anything! He has oily skin and breakouts quite often. He washes everyday and night. Bless his heart! I'm about to take him to a dermotologist, but I really don't want them to put him on anything!
	on November 18, 2013 AlexJC 50 said: @crowjane I agree, it is VERY confusing. I think, personally, it boils down to this: do what works for you. If this DIY isn't for you, then do whatever you feel works best for your skin. This one happens to work on my acne prone skin. That being said, in my experience here's some answers so your questions: I don't think its that you want it to be separated so much as it is that it naturally separates on its own. You probably could apply tea tree oil then calamine directly onto your face, especially it is doing the same thing though this would probably be too intense and concentrated for your skin, hence why we mix it with water here. I hope that helps and like I said before, be sure to do what's right for you!
	on November 18, 2013 crowjane37 5,483 said: I still, Just don't understand Why this formula should be separated? Why mix together things when you want them to separate in the bottle? Wouldn't it be more economical to just swab a bit of calomine and drip a drop of tea tree onto it..? If anyone is able to explain why one would want a separated formula, please do, because I just don't understand the benefit, and the mario badescu website doesn't explain why either, although they show a photo of their Drying Cream bottle that looks like Calomine at the bottom and Oil at the top... Oh beauty you sure are confusing
	on November 13, 2013 AlexJC 50 said: @crowjane37 I think there isn't a need to shake this because you are dipping your q tip all the way down. However, I think you probably could shake it if you really wanted to. Tea tree oil can get expensive, I agree. The bottle used in this article ran me about $10-15 but for this small bottle of treatment I created I used a very small amount from the bottle. You will have a lot leftover.
	on November 13, 2013 LittleMonroe1 4,057 said: Thanks for the tip. I'm definitely trying this out
	on November 08, 2013 crowjane37 5,483 said: edit: comment - I do use mario badescu drying cream, as I received a sample of it, and I love it because it can be used in the day (if you have lighter skin - it is slightly 'lightbeige' in colour) under makeup.. the compound in calamine lotion that mimics this is Zinc Oxide, and pretty much only that; the ingredients are as follows: Deionized Water, Zinc Oxide,Aloe, Beeswax,Cetyl Alcohol,Lemon Extract, Colloidal Sulfur,Ervol,Octyl Palmitate,Ichthammol,Polysorbate 80, Titanium Dioxide,Polyglycerylmethacrylate (and) Propylene Glycol