Bothered by acne flare-ups on your face, neck or back during certain times of your cycle? Many dermatologists put  the blame on testosterone during Week 2,which triggers an abundance of oil production that ends up clogging your skin’s pores. Other skin experts say that the inflammation caused by Week 3′s water retention leads to breakouts. Whatever the cause of your acne flare-ups, if you’re like me and prefer to skip pricey, chemical-filled drugstore and prescription products and use something natural, here’s the solution I swear by: Apply vitamin B3 either from a daily gel, like Metazene from lifelinknet.com ($19.95 per 2-ounce bottle), or from a twice-weekly mask made from water and a teaspoon of Brewer’s yeast (found in your supermarket’s baking aisle). A study in the International Journal of Dermatology reveals that acne-prone patients who applied a solution containing vitamin B3—also known as niacinimide—to their skin every day had 14% fewer pimples after eight weeks than those using the powerful prescription antibiotic Clindamycin. How does this nutrient work its skin-improving magic? It reduces oil production and inflammation naturally.

Bonus: Other studies show that vitamin B3 has also evens out skin tone by lightening dark spots and fades fine lines!

[photo: SashaW]

Are you a smoker who’s bothered by premenstrual backaches, bloating, breast tenderness or acne? Believe it or not, your plunging hormones may be less to blame than your cigarettes. A recent analysis of the famed Nurses’ Health Study reveals that smoking makes women more than twice as likely to develop moderate to severe premenstrual syndrome. The link? Smoking affects hormone levels and depletes the body of vitamin D—both of which worsen PMS, says study co-author Elizabeth R. Bertone-Johnson, Sc.D., from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

[photo: Valentin.Ottone]