Archived Post
Rant & Rave: Anti-Acne Products
This Week’s Topic: ANTI-ACNE PRODUCTS!
Your Mission: Tell us what you love, hate, or are otherwise indifferent to about anti-acne products and all that those entail.
Explore Temptalia
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Compare Any Two
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
74 Comments
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
Comments on this post are closed.
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
I am really digging the Dermalogica microfoliant. It’s really helped clear up some of my issues as far as clogged pores and bumpy texture in my skin.
Unless it’s prescription it really doesn’t seem to work. So i don’t even bother with them. Just drink lots of water and eat your veggies.
100% agree. Most OTC acne products don’t contain enough active ingredients to make a significant difference.
very true! save your face and the hassle of trying the wrong stuff and definitely consult a dermatologist
scrubs are possibly the worst thing ever
Mario Badescu is the only thing that’s ever worked for me. I’ve tried drugstore brands and they don’t cut it. These products are the best!
Drugstore brands rarely work on me. Higher end stuff is hit or miss. I’m thinking about talking to a doctor if my current breakout doesn’t clear up by the end of the month. It’s been going on since November.
So very confusing! And most of it doesn’t seems to do anything.
Side note-when is the appropriate time to apply cream before bed? Is it before or after moisturizer? I don’t like wondering if i’m limiting the effectiveness of either by trying to spot-treat zits!
Love hte clean n clear deep cleansing exfoliating scrub though, the one with menthol? I get maybe 2-3 actual zits a week when i use it regularly, as opposed to 5-7.
Most of them don’t work nearly as well as they say. 🙁 Clinique isn’t bad, and neither is Clean & Clear’s spot treatment. It doesn’t take zits away immediately though, as packaging tends to claim. It’ll always take time for them to fade.
Never found an anti-acne product effective enough that I would definitely buy it again though.
The best way to conquer acne and blackheads in general is regular exercise. It really lets the skin breathe and thus unclog your pores when you sweat, and your complexion improves a lot. Since exercise stimulates good circulation, it also gives you a natural healthy glow. That, personally, is one of the few reasons that can actually motivate me to get myself to the gym.
omg I did not even think about that!!!! omg thank you sooo much!
Mario Badescu!!!! Especially the Drying Lotion. That baby zaps away zits in no time. You instantly see results overnight. Thank you Christine for your review in his products. I probably would have never tried his products but I trust all of your reviews 🙂 and this one nailed it!
*oily/ combo kinda girl*
I tried ProActiv in college and it just made things worse – totally dried out my skin and caused worse breakouts 🙁 Tried drug store brands as well and most were just too strong for my sensitive skin. I finally went to see a dermatologist while still in college and it was worth it! Also getting peels helped a lot as well.
I’ve never had sensitive skin, but Proactiv made my skin all sensitive and quite raw 🙁 it stained my towels as well LOL
The best thing I ever did was take the Neutrogena Skin ID test and sign up to get my personalized skin care regimen sent to me! The test is very comprehensive (it even asks you what state you live in, and when you live in Florida, like I do, the climate really makes a difference!) Anyway, it seriously works! As long as you use it consistently, morning and night, your skin will clear up beautifully! I also find that is clears up quicker than with other brands. I highly recommend it!
I find most drugstore brands, and even higher-end products, to be too harsh. They focus on attacking blemishes, rather than restoring the skin’s natural balance. Too many of them strip all oil from the skin, which causes marking, scarring, and even more acne.
I’m absolutely in love with La Roche Posay’s Effaclar line. All of the products meant for “dry skin made sensitive by acne treatments”. They are mostly water-based, and really do not aggravate my skin in any way. I have noticed a marked difference in my skin since I began using this line, and I highly recommend it to people who have not had success with any other brand or product.
Me too!!!
Aha, something I can contribute to! The Neutrogena Acne Defense product line is really sensational. An answer to my acne-prone prayers.
The only thing that has worked just as well for me are the ultra-expensive ProActiv products, which I don’t recommend buying from the Guthy-Renker company–they hard a hard time stopping that auto withrawal from bank accounts. I don’t know anyone here in Missouri who hasn’t had a hard time with that company.
i have mild acne…i develop lots of clogged pores around that TOTM which is really annoying. Benzac 5% Water based gel and Duac are the only products that ever work. The drugstore stuff dries me out and just makes my skin flake and over produce oil to compensate.
The Chanel stuff for acne is sooooo bad!!! It’s like the worst thing ever for your skin. I had it all, their mask, the washing gel, the creams bla bla but they are really bad 🙂 and so is the hydramax if you usually break out
After getting my acne under control – after a visit to the dermatologist. I find that Clean & Clear’s Perasal Gel is great for spot treatment. It has been my go to product for the past couple of years.
Yeeeeessss! Persa Gel is wonderful, cheap and does the trick for spot treatments. Another one I like a little bit better as it feels stronger and a little faster-acting is Shiseido’s acne spot gel. You feel it drying and burning away the blemish!
I love Kiehl’s Acne Blemish Control Daily Skin-Clearing Treatment. It’s not magic–it doesn’t work as fast as some other products, but
it doesn’t dry my skin like those products either. I need to wait a few days longer for my acne to go away, but the result is amazing. My skin is smooth and scarless. Highly recommended.
I wish i could find something that cures t for me. Either I am taking too much oil off my face or not doing it at all. I cant seem to find the right balance. I wish there was a miracle cure that worked for everyone like Christine had mentioned in a prior post. :(….I dont want to have to wear layers of makeup to cover it. Acne products seem to become immune to me after a while. Vichy’s spot treatment was working well for me and now it isnt.Neutrogena BP spot treatment left a weird mark on ym face which thankfully has faded. I guess it was too strong for me! UGHHHHHHHH helppp
Your skin can/does get used to acne medications after awhile… I’m not an expert or a doctor or anything like that but I’ve had to switch back and forth several times between a salicylic acid spot treatment and a benzoyl peroxide one. I’m thinking it might just be something that happens because your skin adjusts to that stuff…
As for the oiliness you described, something that works for me in Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. It’s an oil free version of their regular face lotion (which is actually very good if you ever get dry patches). I’ve used it for years and even when I had super oily skin I liked being able to put some sort of moisturizer on without being super greasy. It’s not shine free or anything, but it definitely doesn’t clog pores or add to the oiliness.
I hope some of this helps you. 🙂
I agree, I have had acne for YEARS and found that the only thing that works is Neutrogena’s Acne scrub, the orange one, with Clinique’s moisturizing gel, birth control, an antibiotic, and Retin A.
But the birth control is what helped my skin the most along with routinely cleansins and moisturizing my skin.
If you want to know more about my experience with acne feel free to e-mail me at ellery.cushing@yahoo.com because I know how extremely stressful it can be and I’m so glad I was able to get the right information to fix mmine.
I had some good results with using Dermalogica products, but the only thing that really cleared up the acne on my forehead was Benzyl Peroxide 5%. My skin is now dry as my sense of humor, but atleast those nasty zits are gone forever.
Retin-A Micro works great for me, much better than Differin (both Prescription). It’s been the only thing to work for me so far (including everything at a drug store).
I have tried loads and loads of the over the years, and none of them work. The only thing that has ever worked for me was Accutane.
I AM stumped on what would be a good anti-acne cream. Most of them cost an arm and a leg!
I keep away from dairy product, and use Kiehl Herbal Blue Spot Treatment when I do break out.
havent found anything that clears up my skin yet:( i’ve tried a lot of drugstore stuff and a few clinique systems as well but nothing has worked yet. im going to the dermatologist soon and i wanna try some prescribed medication like daily pills, because no face wash/toner/spot treatment has helped!
I had really bad acne and one day decided to put some burts bees hand salve on my face. It is all natural and completely made up of oils. Oils are very good for your skin so I thought why not. It takes a long time to soak in so I put it on at night within a week my acne was nearly gone and I have used it for two years now. Even scars have disappeared.
H2O Plus Sea Results Overnight Perfect Peel is really awesome to get rid of those little acne red spots on my face that just won’t ever completely go away.
If we’re talking about drugstore brands then Clearasil works pretty fast but leaves darkened skin behind. Clinique always works for me. It may work slower but their 3 step system cleared up by skin. Their acne-concealer is the best because it conceals and treats.
An even better product but pricer and not sold in the US is SK-II products. They make your acne vanish with no dead looking skin behind.
Go to a dermatologist! They can offer the best advice in terms of over the counter or prescription drugs.
I have a few prescription things from my derm but I also have SpectroJel (available in Canada).
I have very sensitive skin so whatever works for me should be completly fine for people with sensitive or normal/combo skin types.
Once I picked up the Murad system at Sephora. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT! It made my skin break out in little scabby patches- basically the product was eating away at my skin. I immediately went to my derm and she noted that the combination of chemicals was too strong for my skin. My mother started using the system and it worked for her but she has skin that can handle anything. haha
So now I stick to very simple products and products prescribed from my doctor.
It legitimately depends on the kind of acne you have what is going to work for you. I had what turned out to be cystic acne JUST in one little patch on my chin, and no OTC spot treatment could touch those – they’d just irritate, rough up, and discolor the surface. However, on my nose or forehead, the occasional garden-variety whitehead does seem to respond to a dab of benzoyl peroxide 2.5%. The only thing that fixed the cysts was Retin-A Micro, though (even the generic tretinoin cream didn’t do much on them, but the higher strength and different formula of the Micro seemed to be the key.) I have Duac but I barely use it – I find that my skin dries out and flakes with the 5% benzoyl peroxide in it, whereas I tolerate 2.5% (like in Clinique Acne Solutions Moisturizer) better.
I heartily recommend seeing a dermatologist to anyone who’s really struggling with their acne. I know it’s a lot of money – even with insurance – but when I looked at all the products I’d bought to try to fix (or cover up) the cysts on my own, it added up to WAY more than the $200 I spent on the doctor’s visit and the Retin-A Micro. If you can make it happen, it’s the best thing.
i would agree but i would also add that you really need to see a specialist. i’ve gone to general practitioners and dermatologists for years and years and they prescribed me practically every medicine under the sun and nothing worked until i was prescribed 1% clindamycin phosphate gel by a dermatologist that specialized in cosmetic dermatology (of all things). i prefer salicylic acid to benzoyl peroxide so i am supplementing my clindamycin with dermalogica (because it uses salicylic acid). i find for drugstore, neutrogena products tend to work as well.
I agree completely! Retin-A Micro got rid of my cystic acne too.
I have had breakouts for, I’m embarrassed to say, YEARS. I am 49 now, and decided to try Pro Activ finally after seeing a review on YouTube by TiffanyD. I have purchased it in the past for my 4 then teenagers, and it worked great for them (all but one – one ended up on Accutane) but I always thought it would be too drying for me. In any case, I did try it last Fall, and my skin cleared up in about 3 days. I’m not kidding. I continued to use it for about 2 weeks, once a day, and then down to once a week. I haven’t had a break out since. Now I use other products but the problem is gone. Follow the directions, by leaving the cleanser on for a minute or two, and then follow up with the toner and medicated lotion. I never did use their moisturizer. Also, the clay mask is very useful.
Good think you did’t use their moisturizer, it is WAY too drying.
but i agree their commericals may be lame, but their stuff really worked on me.
& don’t be embrassed 49 is young! & now your skin is clear!
The 2 best products that have cleared my skin are Neutrogena Acne Stress Control Hydrating 3-in-1 Treatment applied in the morning, and Neutrogena Anti-Wrinkle Cream, Night version, applied at night obviously. My skin hasn’t been this clear since I was 10 years old. (I’m now 24.) I place the majority of the credit on the Anti-Wrinkle Cream; the retinol has done wonders for not only my breakouts, but the overall texture and clarity of my skin.
The only system that has worked for me is the Clinique Acne Solutions. This combined with Yaz has been a Godsend. I have gotten compliments on how pretty my skin is. I almost cried when I heard them. Two years ago, this never would have happened. Major problem skin all of my life has plagued my confidence. I once tried combining my Yaz w/ other systems including Lush but my skin went all wonky. Back to Clinique and back to clear skin. It can dry out the skin sometimes…but it is worth it! 🙂
I’m pretty young ( not older than 15) but I have acne. My regular doctor recommended Differin. It took a looooooong time, like, 3 months, but my skin started to clear up. Unfortunetly,I got a funny rash on my neck & wrists, even though I wasn’t applying it there. I made an appointment with a dermatologist who put me on Retin-A micro and benozyl peroxide. the Benozyl peroxide seems to work, but it bleachs stuff and smells nasty. I don’t really think the Retin-A did anything. It seemed to work for a while, but now I’m breaking out again, so I think I’ll try Mario Badescu.
I’ve used the Clinique clarifying lotion (used to be 4, now it’s 3) and it contains salicylic acid that helps prevent acne and I recently ordered a Clarisonic and I’m hoping that will help with clogged pores and makeup removal.
i’ve been using an anti-acne facewash forever, and i just switched to a non-acne facewash, and my acne has cleared up a lot. that’s kind of annoying.
i do love mario badescu, he’s saved my skin on more than one occasion!
I HATE that 99% of acne products are super drying. While I may have oilier skin, my skin is also sensitive, and when drying products are used, my skin becomes both dry AND oily, and generally worsens my acne.
I also hate how most OTC stuff for my acne, as well as prescribed, hasn’t helped my skin in any way. The only thing that has somewhat helped is the Drying Creme, but even that tends to be a hit or miss, and doesn’t work for all types of my acne.
If anyone here knows any good, affordable and easy to purchase spot treatments that don’t actually dry out the skin, I’d love to hear about it!
Honestly, I’ve tried a lot of things but I found that when my acne was absolutely terrible, the only thing that cleared it up was MAC’s volcanic ash exfoliator! I know it’s horrible to exfoliate everyday and you’re only supposed to do so 2 to 3 times a week but my skin has never looked better and I’m completely blemish free! Along with the exfoliator, I love Mario Badescu’s drying lotion… works like a charm when I have a nasty zit comin’ my way.
I used Proactiv for so many years and it did wonders on my skin. My skin was clear and beautiful. However, I have used it for so long that my skin has become immune to it and it no longer works for me. What it does now is dry my skin to the point where it becomes flaky. It becomes so dry that no moisturizer helps me get rid of the dryness. So that means I have dry skin and at the same time still have acne. I have been to the dermatologist many times and nothing seems to work. There isn’t a product out there that can keep your acne under control for long. I have spent tons of money and have yet to find a product that is worth my money.
I tried just about everything! Well not really, BUT nothing that I’ve bought from Clinique to Proactiv has worked for me.. the only thing is prescribed pills.
Prescription medication such as Retin A work really well and I like that it works quickly and effectively, but it also dries out my skin too much!
A combination of Evoclin (antibiotic) and Retin-A has been repairing my skin from Proactive damage slowly but surely. I still get zits but not big patches of them like I did before.
I have had decent skin all my life, bur toward the end of college I started getting these awful
pimples on my forehead. I started using a while host of harsh chemicals that only dried out my skin. In the end I finally decided to invest in a clarisonic and my skin has looked fantastic ever since. I just use it with and salicylic acid acne solution.
I like traditional, drugstore acne medicine. Like Clean & Clear’s clear salicylic acid, creams that contain sulfur like Acnomel, Clearasil, etc. I like high-end sulfur masks, but after years of experimentation, I really don’t notice much of a difference in terms of high-end acne creams. Sometimes, high-end makes things worse. To me, clogged pores are another story. They’re not acne.
proactiv really keeps my skin clear. of course my skin isn’t perfect, I still get pimples.
I think when I run out, I want to try clinique’s 3 step skincare system.
I never thought that drug store products ever worked, & I really don’t mind
paying extra, b/c its your face & you want to look good! the only thing i use are
St ives face scrub, I don’t think it would work if I used it only, b/c you should exfoliate one or twice a week.
It does feel nice to wash your face b/c of the beads.
the last ‘drug store” thing I use is neutroena rapid clear treatment pads. these are basically what i use
if I don’t have time to the whole 3 step system in the morning or when I’m really tired at night.
okay they are basically when I’m lazy. lol but it makes me feel better to use that than nothing at all.
so anyways pretty much proactiv worked for me, but I did recently try mario badescu samples.
I would have never heard about them if it wasn’t for xsparage on youtube. (btw thats how I found out through her about this site 🙂 she did a review on his products. They seem pretty unique: they have a lot of natural ingredients like strawberries & cucumber. On his website you can get FREE samples, which is awesome. the products that i tired made my skin feel so good after, like i was really cleaning my skin.
Only thing that has worked for me is what my Dermatologist perscribed.
Found out, by using most acne treatments, that I have a sensitivity/reaction to salicylic acid. This also goes for aspirin, after hearing people raving about using an aspirin mask for acne.
Both these things gave me a horrid rash and WORSE acne. I struggled for over a year without knowing it. Ive never taken aspirin, so I didnt know of this allergy. My mother is allergic to aspirin.. so its a possibility.
Lushs Cupcake mask is the best thing Ive found. Too bad its 1 hour drive away!
Id love to use Isotretinoin.. but no health insurance.
Im loving Garnier Pure Active scrub, cheap but really efficacious! 😉
im surprised no one has mentioned dan kern’s acne.org regimen, its what i use, basically its just using lots of gentle benzoyl peroxide and doing very little else to your skin, i wouldnt be without it now, ive been using it in conjunction with birth control for about a year and a half now and i would recommend it to everyone to at least try once. there are make up alley reviews of it too if anyone is interested
I’m having good results with MD Forte Cleanser II & MD Forte Lotion I. I use my Clarisonic at night only, and about 1x weekly do my Kate Somerville Exfolikate (I don’t use the Clarisonic or MD Forte Lotion on the night I do Exfolikate). I am 40, sensitive, super prone to clogged pores and have some pigmentation issues. For SPF, I’ve had good luck with Clinique Super Sheer City Block SPF 25 – doesn’t break me out and is not greasy, provides a nice base for foundation.
Hmm…a lot of people seem to be saying drugstore products don’t work, but here’s my take: a LOT of drugstore acne products contain salicylic acid as their active ingredient, and I have never found it to do anything at all. Benzoyl peroxide, on the other hand, is a magical miracle worker. The problem is that some products like Oxy/Clearasil have 10% benzoyl peroxide which is WAY to harsh and drying and basically fries your skin. The BEST most life changing product for me is Neutrogena on the spot acne treatment. It’s benzoyl peroxide at 2.5% which is not harsh or drying. If you apply this to a zit that’s appearing, it will often get rid of it quickly…but I use this as a preventative every night on my problem areas and it 100% works, it’s amazing…I would have so much acne if not for this product and when I use it my skin stays crystal clear. LOVE IT.
I really like clean and clear’s 2% salicylic acid gel. I had a nasty spot on my chin that would get keratinized and …. yuck. I use the gel regularly (it works like a peel) so the dead skin comes of instead of blocking the pores and causing acne- good bye, spot! It did take a couple months, but it really helped!
Honestly, I’ve never needed them. My skin has been clear up til now, though my mom had a bout of acne when she was in her 30s. Maybe I’ll need stuff like that then, though I’m not looking forward to it.
I had acne for about 8 years (since I was 11 years old ’till I was 19) but fortunately it no longer plagues me. However, I have very oily skin so I do get the occasional zit. I’ve been treating those with The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Blemish Gel and all I can say is that it’s fantastic. If I apply it (regularly) to the zit as soon as it appears, it will stop growing and will be gone in less than 24h. If the zit is already big and ugly it will take a little longer to go away but it’s still pretty fast.
By the way, something that really helped me when I had acne was the contraceptive pill. It didn’t clear my skin completely but it sure helped a lot.
What product is that exactly? I remember using their line before, but it just made my skin oily and often made breakouts worse.
Can you post a link to the product in question?
Here you go: http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/tea-tree/prod170280
i’ve had pretty bad acne and the only thing that’s worked for me is going to the dermatologist. they were able to prescribe me products with higher amounts of certain ingredients i needed and give me pills that would work inside my body.
the only times i get acne is when i’m not using one of the products because i ran out or because i’m pms’ing. and when this happens i’ve found that using a clarisonic brush or any facial brush (i got mine from crabtree & evelyn) works WONDERS. it totally gets all the cleanser into your pores and makes sure no makeup whatsoever is on =)
Anyone know where/if you can find Mario Badescu in Canada??
Mario Badescu has a list on their website of all the spas & salons that carry his products.
like: shiseido pureness line, b. kamins hydrating acne wash- really nice product, not drying but helps keep my skin clear.
love: my prescription compound in a neostrata toning exfoliating base and clyndoxal gel. i dont get a lot of acne, but when something comes up, its the deep skin acne (acne vulgaris, i think?), and these products *really* help keep my skin clear.
dislike: spot treatments because they *never* work.
I found that the worst thing to do with acne is use oil free moisturizers and acne specific cleansers!! After I started using a moisturizer with oil in it [dior light 25spf cream]my skin was much better, as oil-free wasn’t doing anything to help dry spots. Also, acne cleansers seemd to not work, like ones with benzoyl peroxide. Only use salicylic acid… but deep cleansers seem to work the best; I like shiseido’s. Kate Sommerville’s detox cleanser is good, but it makes any bumps you have turn into whiteheads, so definitely use it on rare occasion and do a mask the morning after to get them out.
haha I wrote a novel…
I have to switch mine up about every 6-8 weeks and I can get away with switching between two lines over and over again but find after time they lose effect and I need to switch it up again. I was on Accutane for one round in high school but it started screwing with my liver so I had to stop. It’s just trial and error. Some products work really well at first then lose effect. Others just dry me out. It’s irritating but I won’t stop trying products since I do still break out on a regular basis and at my age it’s no fun!
I found that Lush’s Cosmetic Warrior mask helps me a lot with post acne coloration. I used it three times and my skin was even toned. It smells a little funky with the tea tree and garlic but it was totally worth it.
Cetaphil seems to be the only thing working for me these days.