Here’s everything I wish I could tell my younger self dealing with acne and breakouts and to anyone currently experiencing cystic acne, hormonal breakouts, blackheads, whiteheads, and what have you. But first, everyone’s skin is so unique, which is why it’s important to find a good dermatologist who can help you clear up your acne. Meanwhile, I’m sharing the best skin care products for acne-prone skin, the correct acne skincare routine order and my best acne tips. Clean acne products fit a wide range of budgets from drugstore prices to luxury. From acne cleansers and serums to exfoliators and pimple patches along with skin tools I think every acne sufferer should have, this guide hopefully has something that will for your breakouts.

You’ve probably heard countless times from family, friends and concerned strangers to not pick your face, not eat greasy food and drink more water, so I’m sharing some acne skincare tips that is hopefully new information for you.

Fix Your Gut First

What’s going on internally actually matters more than what you’re putting on your skin. A holistic approach to skincare is always the best approach, because all the best skincare and treatments in the world will only be a temporary fix if there’s a deeper issue at the root of your acne. Looking internally should be the first step in helping acne prone skin. This is also where seeing a dermatologist can be very helpful.

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Acne Prone Skin Needs Plenty of Hydration

A little known fact is that acne prone skin actually needs plenty of hydration. Yes, acne treatments will work to dry out your pimple, but your skin overall should be well hydrated at all times.

Clean your Pillowcase 2x a Week

Your pillowcase can be a breeding ground for bacteria, and when it’s in contact with your skin for eight hours every evening, it can wreak havoc. While the rest of us get away with washing our pillowcase once a week, make sure to wash your pillowcases frequently, ideally twice a week.

Use Face Masks Regularly

Having a daily skincare routine is the basics, but incorporating face masks regularly (1-2x per week) can be so beneficial for skin. It’s like getting an at-home treatment without having to get an expensive facial at the spa. Face masks are a short (usually 15-20 minutes) but intense treatment to boost your skin health. Steaming your face to really deep clean and open up your pores before will make it an even more intense treatment. Just like the spa! But without having to leave your home.

The best face masks for acne prone skin are exfoliating face masks and purifying face masks. I recommend using an exfoliating face mask in place of a a face scrub. If you’re also using one of the exfoliating toners I recommend in the product list below daily, then I personally don’t think that you don’t need to use a separate face scrub. Especially if your skin is sensitive. An abrasive scrub could irritate your skin and make it worse.

Wear Sunscreen 365 Days a Year

Always always always be protecting your skin with sunscreen. It’s not just about harmful UV rays, but also environmental and air pollution that wreak havoc deep in our pores, especially if you live in a highly polluted or congested city!

Switch to Clean Makeup

Makeup could also be one of the culprits behind your breakouts. Not using expired makeup and cleaning your makeup brushes regularly are the basics. But conventional makeup often contains skin irritating ingredients and even toxins that make your skin (and acne) worse.

Acne Skincare Routine

The skincare order for acne is to first thoroughly cleanse skin (this is the most important step), then remove any remaining residue with a face toner, then apply a face serum followed by a moisturizer. When using a face mask, apply it after you cleanse your skin and before moving on with toner and the rest of your skincare routine. I cannot stress enough how cleansing is the most important skincare step. None of the products you apply afterwards matters if you haven’t properly cleansed your skin.

The most important skincare step also happens to be where most young people fail as they’re not used to and/or aren’t patient enough to dedicate the time and effort it requires. I cringe when I think of how many times my younger self went to bed with my makeup on because I was too lazy to do skincare. A minimum of two full minutes should be spent on cleansing, even longer if you’re double cleansing or even triple cleansing.

1. Cleanser (double cleanse)
2. Face Mask (1-2x per week)
3. Toner
4. Serum
5. Moisturizer
6. (Optional) Face Oil

A note on double cleansing and triple cleansing! Double cleansing involves two steps: 1) Oil cleanser or cleansing balm 2) Water-based cleanser. Triple cleansing involves the above steps plus an additional step at the beginning of using a makeup wipe or Micellar water.

Clean Beauty Acne Treatments

Here are my top acne treatment recommendations for spot treating your pimples as well as skincare tools that are great for acneic skin.

Derma E Sulfur Spot Treatment

The Derma E Sulfur Spot Treatment is a concentrated pimple treatment for blackheads, breakouts and cystic acne. Don’t shake the bottle – Dip cotton swab into pink sediment at the bottom of the bottle, then place directly on breakouts. The Sulfur Treatment helps dry out pimples and gets rid of them faster.

Innbeauty Project Pimple Paste

The Innbeauty Project Pimple paste is a drying paste with natural ingredients that are effective on breakouts like Willow Bark, Sulfur, Tea Tree Oil, Azelaic Acid, Clay, Zinc, Oregano, & Thyme that work overnight. We all remember using toothpaste to dry out those pesky pimples when we were teenagers. Now there’s a clean alternative. The Innbeauty Project Pimple Paste is a thick bluish grey colored spot treatment paste that’s alcohol free and dries completely so it doesn’t transfer onto pillows at night.

Hero Mighty Patch

The Hero Mighty Patch is a Pimple patch aka a hydrocolloid bandage that looks like a little round sticker. You leave it on overnight (or throughout the day even) and remove the patch the next morning. The patch helps draw out impurities and helps pimples clear faster.

Zitsticka Face Map

Odacite Black Cumin + Cajeput Pimple Serum Concentrate (Oil)

The Odacite pimple serum is an organic oil serum treatment that you apply to breakouts to clear them with natural ingredients. Black Cumin helps purify the skin and cajeput supports a blemish free complexion. Gigi Hadid loves their serum concentrates too.

Face Steamer for Facial Deep Cleaning

After cleansing your skin, try face steaming using a face steamer for at least 20-30 minutes for a deep pore cleanse. If you’ve gotten a professional facial done before, you’ll notice that every good facial involves a very long steam session, around 30 minutes. It’s a crucial step that allows for the transformative results of a top notch facial. You can mimic this at home with any face steamer device from Amazon.

Anti Acne Pillowcase

One area that’s often neglected is our pillowcase. You make every effort to not touch or pick at your face to prevent the transfer of bacteria, but it could be happening nightly anyways via the bacteria on your pillowcase. An anti-bacterial pillowcase isn’t necessary, but it’s an extra step that helps ensure you’re not spreading pore-clogging bacteria onto your face.

Odacite Black Mint Cleanser

Odacite’s Black Mint Clarifying Cleanser is a very strong, deeply purifying cleanser that would be great for oily and acne-prone skin. The first thing I noticed when using this black as the night Gel cleanser was the minty strength of the Peppermint and Tea Tree. The carefully chosen astringent ingredients target excess oil, pollution and impurities to help clear out pores and minimize their appearance.

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OSEA Ocean Cleansing Mud

Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Cleanser

Derma E Acne Deep Pore Cleansing Wash

100% Pure Rose Micellar Water (double cleansing)

Banish Acne Scars Pumpkin Enzyme Mask

The pulp-like concoction feels like it was freshly made from pumpkins, smells exactly like Trader Joe’s pumpkin pie and really works. The Banish Pumpkin Enzyme Mask is made with a blend of raw pumpkin, lemon peel extract, orange peel extract, glycolic acid, bilberry fruit extract, and ginger root and helps de-congest skin to leave pores clear and clean.

Youth To The People SuperClay Purify + Clear Power Mask

The Youth to the People Super Clay Purify + Clear Power Mask is a triple clay mask made of Kaolin Clay, Bentonite and French Green Clay to draw out impurities. It also has 2% Niacinamide and Salicylic Acid. Even for a wet clay mask, it’s very wet, for lack of a better adjective, and actually feels hydrating on my skin while it dries.

Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel

OSEA Red Algae Mask

Alpyn Beauty Huckleberry 8 Acid Polishing Peel

 

Native Atlas Zahara Enzyme Mask

100% Pure Anti Acne Sheet Mask (Anti-Inflammatory/Soothing)

Dr Zenovia 10% Glycolic Acid Acne Peel Pads 

Dr Zenovia Hormonal Dermatology makes some of the strongest peel pads I’ve tried. It has 10% glycolic and 2% salicylic acids to unclog pores, promote cell renewal, remove dead skin cells, and visibly target acne and post-acne scars. They’re pre-soaked too to make your skincare routine easier.

REN Ready Steady Glow AHA Toner

• Perfect for oily and acneic skin types
• Great value for money
• Skin-resurfacing AHA facial toner that exfoliates, brightens, tightens and hydrates
• Formulated with Lactic Acid (AHA) and Salicin (BHA)

Youth To The People Mandelic Acid AHA Toner

• Perfect for oily and acneic skin types
• combination of BHA, AHA and PHA that works to decongest pores, smooths texture, evens skin tone, and supports the skin barrier
• 3% mandelic acid to gently shift dull surface skin cells, 2% salicylic acid to unclog pores, and 1% gluconolactone (a poly hydroxy acid) boosts cell turnover and hydration
• Euclayptus scent

100% Pure Tea Tree and Willow Clarifying Astringent

Cocokind Postbiotic Acne Serum

Youth To The People 15% Vitamin C Caffeine Serum

It’s important for acne prone skin to use an antioxidant serum like a Vitamin C serum daily. One great option is the Youth To The People 15% Vitamin C one. It’s a clinical-grade 15% vitamin C serum boosted with clean, plant-derived caffeine from superleafs yerba mate and guayusa to immediately brighten, visibly reduce morning puffiness, and hydrate.

Derma E Acne Blemish Control Treatment Serum (Budget)

Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Serum

Herbal Face Food The Serum I

OSEA Blemish Balm

Tata Harper Clarifying Moisturizer

Banish Fighter Gel Moisturizer

While it’s called a gel, I find Fighter Gel to be more to be a jelly-gel hybrid with an impossibly velvety texture. This product was created by founder Daisy Jing to help with her eczema and psoriasis and was the only product that actually helped her. This jelly sinks into skin effortlessly and feels ultra calming and soothing.

Earth Harbor Obscura Detoxifying Reset Ampoule

This non pore-clogging oil helps purify and clarify pores with anti-bacterial Black Seaweed and Black Cumin Seed Oil. It’s a very thin and liquid-like oil that doesn’t feel greasy or heavy at all. Obscura also has Bamboo Charcoal to gently remove impurities, excess oil, and buildup from dead skin cells and toxins. Nourishing oils like Squalane, Kiwi and Tammany oils help balance sebum and reduce inflammation.

Zitsticka Megashade SPF 50 Sunscreen