Acne medications can often be harsh and damaging to the skin, especially for those who have a combination of skin dryness and breakouts. If you're looking for a more natural, gentler way to improve your complexion, try using a papaya-based solution.
Eating ripe papaya
Papaya offers a plethora of nutritional benefits. When eaten ripe, it is a rich source of beta carotene, an antioxidant. It also will provide you with folate, vitamins A, C and B. All of these nutrients can help your body to grow healthy cells, improving the appearance of your skin. Over-consumption of papaya can cause a harmless, temporary discoloration of your skin, especially on your hands and feet, but you would have to eat massive amounts of it for that to happen.
Ointments
Papaya-based ointments contain the enzyme "papain", which is extracted from unripe papayas. When it is in this form, it has the ability to break down certain proteins on the skin, removing the unhealthy, dead skin cells from the surface of your face and promoting the growth of new cells. In addition, the enzyme absorbs some of the proteins beneath the skin, decreasing the amount of pus and swelling attributed to pimples.
Unripe Papaya
If you would prefer not to apply a treatment topically, you can also try eating green papaya. Although it does not contain as much beta carotene as ripe papaya, unripe papaya does offer some benefits because of its papain content.
Make Your Own Papaya Paste
If you have an unripe papaya, you can try to make your own paste with it. The flesh is sometimes fermented just for this purpose, but you can also simply crush it up or turn it into a juice and apply it to your skin. In addition to accelerating the healing of your acne blemishes, it could also exfoliate your skin, giving it a clearer glow.
Latex allergies
If you are allergic to or sensitive to latex, do not use anything containing papaya. Although ripe papaya does not seem to affect many people adversely, it does contain some latex and unripe papaya, which contains an abundance of it, could cause a severe allergic reaction.
Pregnancy
The latex in unripe papaya has been known to trigger uterine contractions. Because it could cause miscarriages or premature birth, pregnant women should avoid it, even in a topical form.
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