Having acne as a teenager is a common, albeit highly irritating, experience. But adult acne is far less common...and as a result it's far more irritating or embarrassing. Some adults try drastically altering their diets or taking powerful drugs or using harsh facial cleansers like rubbing alcohol for their acne. But there are effective adult acne natural remedies.

First off, however, it should be understood that acne is mainly caused by, well, faulty genes. Some people inherit oily skin and pores that easily clog up. Fair-skinned people tend to inherit this "fault" the most, although it's by no means limited to them.

However--this is only a tendency to get acne more easily than the average person. If you have adult acne, odds are some other factors are at play, and adult acne natural remedies will involve mitigating or removing those factors.

Many medical experts deny that eating chocolate or eating fried foods can cause acne. However, if you were born with the "faulty genes" that make you more prone to acne, they in fact can bring on an outbreak. But, the fact is that there are other factors that are much more likely to do so. One of these is stress.

According to James E. Fulton, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., founder of the Acne Research Institute in Newport Beach, California, "Working women are especially vulnerable. They're prone to lots of stress, plus they tend to wear makeup a lot."

Stress can be minimized by exercise, meditation, getting a massage, and making a concerted effort to think more positively about things.

As Fulton mentioned, makeup is another thing that can cause adult acne. It gets down into the pores and it prevents the skin from being able to breathe as easily.

So, two adult acne natural remedies are to learn how to stop stressing so much and, if you're a woman, change your makeup. "Oil-based makeup is the problem...The oil is usually a derivative of fatty acids that are more potent than your own fatty acids. Use a non-oil-based makeup if you are prone to acne," says Fulton.

You should also rinse your face off of makeup very thoroughly every night.

Another natural adult acne remedy is facial scrub such as St. Ive's Apricot Scrub. This kind of facial scrub gently peels off the outermost surface skin, which is dead and which blocks acne-healing and preventive elements like sunlight and oxygen from being absorbed by the skin. This will work wonders. The scrub should be used every other day. If some acne still persists, then immediately after you use facial scrub treat your skin with an over-the-counter acne medication with benzoyl peroxide in it, or wash your face with warm, salty water.

Fulton also believes that there is at least one food element that can bring on acne: iodine. "Iodine is a factor in some people who are prone to acne. Iodine enters the body and mixes into the bloodstream, with the excess excreted through the oil glands. As it is excreted, it irritates the pores and brings on an acne flare-up...excessive long-term ingestion can induce acne attacks."

Ground orange peel mixed with some water to create a paste, fresh mint juice, strawberry leaves, and two to three teaspoons of dried basil leaves mixed in one cup of boiling water (applied to the acne with a cotton ball) directly applied to acne, and drinking four cups of nettle herbal tea per day, have all been found to be highly effective natural remedies for adult acne.