Recently, I have been having acne problems and no conventional methods have helped (not even Proactive). Well, lately have been using Badger Sleep Balm at night because I find it to be very moisturizing (especially after using a harsh acne treatment) but I have not been using any acne treatment products. After a while of using this product, I have yet to see a new pimple pop up (touch wood with fingers crossed), so I looked into the ingredients and their effect on acne--pretty much all of them are good for acne.

So, what have you found that works for you?

derma e makes a really great line of acne skincare products. I don't get acne much anymore, but on the rare occasion I break out (usually right before my period) I use their blemish spot cream.

My brother had really nasty acne as a teen. His dermatologist recommended he use Neutrogena's cleansing bar for acne prone skin. He also told my brother to give his face a good scrubbing with a hand towel when washing his face. It worked wonders for him.

I never had acne until I got into my 30's. I get painful nodules that don't have whiteheads to pop. When I start to break out, the only thing that works is antibiotics that my dermatologist prescribed for me. It only takes a few days of antibiotics before they start to disappear.

I have always had acne troubles and have yet to find something that will work for me. I've tried from the cheapest thing to the dearest and nothing seems to work. Now my spots hurt more when they come through and its always my chin!

Mine are almost always only on my chin too Vampira! Maybe antibiotics would work for you as well

Ginger: if it's just been recently, might there be an underlying cause? Sleep changes, food allergies, medication? I'm glad you found something that works for you, though.

I have a really bad T-zone, I get a lot of acne on the sides of my nose (in the folds...gross I know) and on my chin. I get whiteheads a lot and yes, I do pop them :-) I use Q tips, though. I used to have one of those zit popping instruments but it has been lost.

I find that regular washing, exfoliating (apricot scrub with the salicylic acid) and lightly moisturizing really keeps it under control. If I have a stubborn one, I use the drying-out gel (usually Avon brand but my skin isn't that picky) and it usually works.) I got pretty lucky in that I really only get zits around "that" time of the month and it's easily kept under control.

I want to try that gel moisturizer that Clinique makes, I hear that is good for oily skin.

Edited to add: whenever I wear makeup I make sure to use makeup remover and wash/tone/moisturize my face at the end of the day/night. Otherwise my skin freaks out.

I use anything organic/as natural as possible bc I have super sensitive skin, but have found that mixing a small amount of tea tree oil with witch hazel as an astringent works wonders & doesn't dry my skin out.
For actual pimples, peroxide on a q-tip will help dry it out, then I use Dermae Tea Tree & E antiseptic Creme as a moisturizer.

Sounds weird, but if you use a mixture of sea salt and water to form a paste, it'll work wonders for your skin.
I thought of it on my own but then Google searching showed me other people did it too. The reason I thought of it was because I have a lot of piercings. One time, one of my nipple piercings got infected and when I used the sea salt soak I noticed that it was literally pulling the pus out of the hole. Also, when it's a fresh piercing, it draws blood to the surface of the skin.

So what I did was I made a sea salt paste with a lot of water and rubbed my face with it like a scrub, to loosen dead skin. Then I applied the paste like a mask and let it sit until it was basically dry. My skin has never ever looked better, and I had acne problems before.

^thanks! i'll try that!

I hadn't had acne since high school but all of a sudden the last couple of months have been acne hell. All the salicylic acid in the world hasn't helped and I can't go on antibiotics without a really serious reason because they always give me super virulent yeast infections.

I think part of the reason why I'm having trouble is that i just went off birth control pills after taking them for 8 years. It really does seem that they control acne- at least for me.

birth control is the best acne treatment for me.

You know, I was on Ortho Tri Cyclen and it cleared up my acne for a while but the dosage was too strong for me, so I had to switchto Tri Cyclen Lo. It doesn't work as well for my acne.

Don't drink pop.
I had bad acne on my forehead. I used to drink a lot of pop.
When I stopped and started drinking water it went away.
I now only get them when that time of the month roles around and I only get one.
But that's just me.

acne myths

http://www.skincarephysicians.com/acnenet/myths.html

I thought it was too good to be true I guess I grew out of it.

Thanks for the link, SPF!

Soda is a dehydrant, so make sure you still get plenty of water.

Has anyone ever tried the OCM or Oil Cleansing Method?

^ no, what is it? As my zits get worse and worse I'm willing to try anything.