Before taking any supplements, please do your research and consult your Primary Care Physician. I am not a Healthcare Provider or skincare professional, and all of the below information is based on my own personal research and experiences.

I posted an Instagram Story showing the multivitamins that I like to take, and some of you noticed that I didn’t have the Nature’s Bounty Hair, Skin and Nails gummy vitamins in the video which I had previously posted in an Instagram post. Some assumed that I wasn’t taking those vitamins anymore, and they were right… kind of.

I still take a Nature’s Bounty Hair, Skin, and Nails vitamin but now I take their pills instead of the gummies. I absolutely love these vitamins and have been taking them for years. However, a lot of ladies say that they are afraid to take hair, skin, and nail supplements (or any biotin pills for that matter) because of the acne flare ups that they have experienced or have heard of others experiencing.

I’ve been there! I’ve taken a vitamin with high dosages of biotin and while my hair was flourishing, my nails were longer and stronger than they had ever been, but my skin was suffering!

How could a hair, SKIN, and nails vitamin be ruining my skin so badly?

As someone that has suffered from acne (moderate, cystic acne to be exact), this was very disappointing. But I, of course, I did my research because I just had to find out why this was happening.

And I found almost nothing (as far as scientific research goes)…

I did find that there are quite a few theories as to why biotin can cause acne. One reason being that biotin can affect the absorption of vitamin b5 or pantothenic acid (source) which is thought to be a crucial vitamin for healthy, clear skin. It is also thought that biotin increases the amount of keratin that is produce causing it to physically clogs pores and mix with natural oil creating sticky plugs (source).

This made sense to me.

After finding this information, I made a few tweaks to my daily routine and my hair has been longer, skin has been clearer, and nails have been stronger!

So without further ado…

5 Tips to Help Reduce Breakouts From Biotin Supplements

This is not a sponsored post… I wish 🙂 however it does contain affiliate links of which I would receive a small commission for any purchase at no additional charge to you.

1.Drink LOTS of Water

This is something that everyone has already stated to do when taking biotin supplements and for healthy skin in general, so I won’t belabor the point. However, because biotin is a water soluble vitamin, it is especially important to make sure that you have an adequate amount of water to ensure proper availability and absorption.

2.Take Your Supplements as Early as Possible

This tip is something that goes hand in hand with drinking enough water. I remember running across a lot of people speaking on how they would take their vitamins before bed because it was easier for them to remember to take them when they were at their bedside table. This caused a serious issue for my acne flare ups! I then started taking them as early as possible, usually first thing in the morning before I eat anything. As part of my morning routine, I typically have about 16-24 ounces of water before I even have any food further helping with my water intake. I then make sure to have at least 32 more ounce throughout the day and that has really helped with making sure I didn’t get biotin induced acne breakouts. The amount of water you drink will be dependent on each individual, but it’s important that you have enough water and that it is a steady flow of water throughout the day (so you can’t down 64 ounces in the morning and then not have anyone for the rest of the day).

3.Don’t Take the Full Dosage

When you read a hair, skin, and nails supplement bottle, or a bottle of biotin geared toward increasing hair and nail growth, you’ll often see that the dosing far exceeds the daily recommended value. While this isn’t thought to be dangerous (source), mostly because there aren’t any studies showing such, I’ve still found that cutting down the dosage has significantly helped with seeing the hair, skin, and nails benefits without the acne flare ups. For example, the vitamins that I have almost 1,700% of the daily recommended amount of biotin.

1,700%

Even if I were just taking 100% of the recommended value, in theory, I should see a significant increase in the health of my hair, skin, and nails. But what I decided to do was take one to two-thirds of what the bottle was telling me to take, still giving me about 556-1,111% of the daily recommended value. This was made super easy because my vitamins says to take 3 pills a day, and I would instead only take 1 or 2. I would also alternate when I would take those pills, further reducing this biotin overload that could cause acne (so 1 pill today, 2 pills tomorrow, so on and so forth). I would also sometimes skip a day, and then pick up where I left off. This is also a good idea because we should also be getting biotin from the foods that we eat. So, it’s not that I wasn’t getting any biotin that day, I just wasn’t taking a supplement and getting the increased amount. Game changer for my clear skin journey!

4.Take with Vitamin B5/ As a Multivitamin

This step is directly related to the thought that biotin causes acne by disrupting the amount of vitamin B5 that is absorbed. Pantothenic acid, or vitamin B5, is a vitamin that has shown to help improve acne when taken regularly on it’s own (source). It has also been shown that biotin and vitamin B5 use the same methods for absorption (source), so if you have a huge influx of biotin, you may not be getting enough vitamin B5. For me, taking a biotin supplement on its own is what caused the absolute worst acne. The vitamins that I take now already have a high does of vitamin B5, so I didn’t have to go and get a separate supplement. But if you are taking just a biotin pill, you may want to consider taking it with pantothenic acid. I’ve found that I get the best results when I am taking a multivitamin that also happens to have high dosages of biotin allows me to get all of the nutrients that I need for the day including those B vitamins needed for healthy, clear skin.

5.Exfoliate

Exfoliating is something that everyone tells us we must be doing for healthy, clear skin, whether we are combating acne, or not. However, because biotin is thought to increase skin cell turnover rates (source), this step is pretty crucial. Whether you are using chemical exfoliants or physical ones (or both, like me), I have found that exfoliating is something that has greatly improved my acne. Exfoliating is something that we can all benefit from whether we are focusing on acne or just overall healthy skin.

Conclusion

A multivitamin will not cure all of your hair, skin, and nail woes, but it can definitely help. A multivitamin can definitely aid in overall healthier hair, skin and nails when used appropriately and in conjunction with a healthy balanced lifestyle and routines. In the end, your diet and skincare routine are just as important. But don’t let the fear of acne breakouts stop you from trying out biotin for hair growth, clear skin, and long nails. Instead, tailor it to fit your needs and maybe incorporate some of the above tips!

Do you use hair, skin, and nail vitamins? What has been your experience?