Check the Medicine Cabinet

• Your bathroom cabinet probably has peroxide or alcohol, which are both good for drying out a pimple. But did you know that toothpaste is a good, fast-acting spot treatment? The brands that work the best are low-fluoride brands with bleaching additive particularly effective. Baking soda is an old home remedy for drawing oil out of the skin. However, people with dry skin should not leave toothpaste on their skin overnight.
  
  

Forage Your Neighborhood

• Some of the first medicines used to treat illness were made in Mother Nature's lab. So it shouldn't be surprising that a number of fast-acting home remedies are available right in your neighborhood. Herbs such as witch hazel, rosemary, marigold, garlic or lavender, which are used in landscaping, are frequently used as astringents or incorporated into home facial masks to treat acne as well. Be sure to ask your neighbors before snipping these herbs from their yards.
  
  

Ice

• When you suffer a sprain or strain, physicians recommend ice to fight inflammation, but it's also a good spot treatment to reduce the swelling and redness from a breakout. To treat your acne inflammation, take a piece of ice from the freezer, wrap three quarters of the ice in a towel and rub the affected area with the exposed portion of the ice for 15 minutes.