General

I'm lucky enough that I never had acne my whole life.

[quote=whatisausername]i just wash my face when i shower every other day.[/quote]

Same here, but every other month.

i just wash my face when i shower every other day.

Oh I actually work at a skin care store! tea tree oil is really for acne prone skin, you should try to find products that contain tea tree oil
I work at a korean skin care store called The Face Shop. We usually recommend a line called the Clean Face line, it does contain tea tree oil and is made to help control oils on your face as well. This line also contains a product that gets rid of acne scars. It's recommended for smaller red acne spots.
Because you're a guy, your face is most likely on the oily side so you need sebum control products!
Mung bean and green tea are also really good for acne prone skin. If you have a Face Shop near by, you should check it out!
There are a few products that help with blemish control as well!
but the best way to get rid of acne would honestly be taking care of your face, like you're doing right now! Keep cleansing it and moisturizing it. Make sure you aren't buying products that are actually for dry skin.
As for charcoal, i believe its mainly made for blackheads, but also good for oily skin.
&& DO NOT EXFOLIATE DAILY. It's bad for your skin, it'll make your skin turn red and make it sensitive!

I just use Cetaphill once a day and hope for the best.

i had pretty bad acne in middle school through high school and ended it with some visible scars, and just generally bad skin
i used products like proactiv and acnefree, but they were mostly ineffective, so i started drinking more water and eating a lot less junk, and now i hardly ever break out
but, i left myself with scars as i aggressively tried to remove blemishes from my face during those years, especially those sebaceous filaments on my nose

anyways, products

morning:
Etude House Milky You Cleansing Foam
Benton Snail Bee High Content Toner
Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid
Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence
Biore Sarasara Uv Aqua Rich Watery Essence Sunscreen

evening:
same thing as the morning minus the bha liquid
and end with
Natural Republic Aloe Vera Gel

and once in a while i'll use this clay mask of dirt i bought off amazon and apple cider vinegar. makes my skin feel good

i'd like to move away from the bha liquid (well, just cut down on products in general) because it burns my face if i shave that day, but man i dig the results

[quote=clementz]
Sadly, this strategy hasn't worked with my upper back or my shoulders, where I have a recurring acne problem.[/quote]

god i feel your pain

Doing everything everyone told me not to do.

Washed my face with soap, popped any and every significant blemish that appeared on my face, touched my face very frequently, etc., etc.
Benzoyl peroxide also helps
My face is very clear now.

Sadly, this strategy hasn't worked with my upper back or my shoulders, where I have a recurring acne problem.

ah puberty

Any pictures of your skin now and then?

I've used Cerave lotion and some body wash that was recommend on some acne skincare site and sometimes benzoyl peroxide (10% I think) for about a year now and none of my chest/back acne has gone away. And I use it every day.

I use green tea and aloe egg spread every week or so. Who has time to do this kinda thing twice

Each year of university, my acne would be more focused on some other part of my face, but they would only appear if I got stressed out (midterms/exams) or ate fried/spicy foods. My doctor prescribed clindoxyl gel, which costs $55 CAD for 45 g. This seems to work wonders on my cystic acne; it is never severe, but I get 1 or 2 on my nose occasionally. The gel is supposed to be used continually until removed, but my doctor also prescribed another ointment that would keep them away (don't remember the name). I do still have lots of whiteheads though ...

My daily regimen includes a cleanser. Any acne-reducing one is fine for me; I don't think they really help ... I prefer Cetaphil though. I used to use toner, but I stopped since I didn't notice any difference while using it. I use the Olay moisturizer like you . I have also tried the Origins charcoal mask from Sephora for both the whiteheads and acne on my face, but it doesn't do anything! What a waste of money. I feel like a lot of masks just get the surface material, but not the deep stuff. My doctor also told me to drink lots of water and avoid fried/spicy foods.

I had really bad acne (not cystic) from 10-17 and I went to the doctor (just a regular doc) and she recommended just washing my face with irish spring and she prescribed me doxycycline (pills) which was TERRIBLE because I got viciously nauseous from it and had trouble just staying awake. I was also given ziana (cream) which I thought worked better than the other two. The irish spring with the combination of the pills totally wrecked my skin and dried it out like a desert, which I understand is what __most__ acne medication does to your skin. I did notice slight improvement in my skin from the pills however the physical discomfort was just not worth it

then I went to an actual dermatologist and they prescribed me solodyn (pills), retina (cream), epiduo (cream), and sulfacleanse (wash). pills taken after a meal, retina in the morning, epiduo at night, sulfacleanse at night. this routine cleared up my face within weeks, probably 2 months to get all the active pimples out. I was still left with redness and scarring, however. I continued with this routine until I was ~19ish. I get pimples occasionally but if I leave the epiduo on it over night it goes away by morning. I'm 21 now so I don't have anymore extremely visible scarring and redness like before. it's SUCH a relief to be able to wake up with a fresh face and walk outside to get the mail without putting on pounds of makeup just to look presentable.

I was battling cystic acne from 6th-10th grade going back and forth between tazorac and some other benzoyl peroxide cream, but all they did was make it worse and dry my skin out too much. Went on accutane for 6 months during 10th grade which worked pretty damn well, but then our insurance ran out and I had to stop. Almost lost all of the progress i made on accutane in those 2 short months and had to go on it again for another 5 (I think you're only supposed to do 8 months max?) But now i'm off it and just take a bactrim pill at night and it keeps me clear with only 1 or two blemishes. If I forget to take it for a day or two it flares up again though and takes another week or so to get better Acne sucks

IMO, you're exfoliating your skin way too much, thus irritating it.

Here's what I do. I used to have cystic acne, too, when I was 10-14 (it was pretty mild in comparison to your case), but now I only get an occasional big pimple every few months.

Morning
1) Wash with rice water light oil cleanser (use rich oil cleanser if you have dry skin) from The Face Shop.
2) Follow up with a foam based cleanser. I have a generic Asian red ginseng one (not a sketchy brand). Basically I'm double cleansing my skin to get rid of the oil from the first cleanser.
3) PAT face dry with a soft towel or T-shirt (don't rub).
4) Apply green tea toner on face. A little bit is enough. Try to use one that doesn't contain alcohol, which will dry out your skin.
5) Follow up with seaberry face moisturizing oil. I use 2-3 drops for my whole face.

Night
1) Do step 1-3 of the morning routine.
2) Apply night cream.

Once every 7-12 days I will exfoliate gently with my white jewel peeling mask. I use the I always treat my face with care, and never rub ANYTHING on your face roughly - whether it be
cleanser, exfoliator, etc. because that will only irritate the skin. Seriously, apply as little pressure as you possibly can whenever you are touching your face, especially
wherever you have acne.

Personally, I never use moisturizing face masks because they always clog my pores = skin problems. I also don't use anything with benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid anymore.
I used to be like you and apply it daily, but it never helped. So I cut it out for a few months, adopted a new skincare routine, and things started clearing up a bit. My personal philosophy is,
if it burns or is harsh on your skin, don't use it. Also for some reason, I've found that popular brands like Origins and Neutrogena don't work for me. Which is why practically everything I use
is from The Face Shop, a Korean brand.

Also you might want to check if your hormones are out of wack. It's most likely the biggest culprit here.

by finishing puberty

[quote=gyroscope]What about Proactive ._.[/quote]

It's only good for some people. My aunt had a lot of acne but she used it & her skin is amazing now. It worked for my cousin's friend. It didn't work for my best friend though. You would just have to try it to find out if it'll be good for your skin or not.

What about Proactive ._.

stop using everything. ditch shampoo and don't touch your face. all you're doing is destroying your skin. eat less meat and add more vegetables into your diet.

quitting the product life is one of the best choices I made. my skin isn't pasty smooth like an Anglo-Saxon, but that's okay. I feel good and I can take two minute showers. beauty lies in the eye.

I usually use Cetaphil, exfoliator, and moisturizer. Only my mom uses the last two, and I bought the cetaphil.
Sometimes I don't wash my face. I mostly wash two times a day as usual but sometimes I skip it once when I don't feel the need to wash. But I'd still rinse my face with water.
I don't have major acne/breakouts. At least not anymore. I do have minor acne scar on my left cheek and quite some large scars near my temple areas cuz I was stupid and my parents never told me about it. If I ever get acne then it'll probably be near my jaw and temples. Idk why it's always those areas these days. They're mostly very minor. But if it's getting serious then I'll just get out my benzoyl peroxide tube that I haven't used since forever.

I don't really have a problem with acne, but the few pimples I do have all leave blemishes because of [url=https://np.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/wiki/pih]PIH[/url]. For my face, I've been using [url=http://www.target.com/p/noxzema-ultimate-clear-anti-blemish-pads-90-ct/-/A-12819150#prodSlot=medium_1_1&term=blemish+pad]Noxema Blemish Pads[/url], which have been good so far. I have blemishes on my legs and arms too and I just started using [url=http://www.target.com/p/ambi-skincare-fade-cream-2-oz/-/A-12435453#prodSlot=medium_1_2&term=fade+cream]Ambi Fade Cream[/url], waiting to see how it turns out

on accutane right now, almost a month through

Oh my god thank you so much! I was just going to browse that skincare subreddit but it seems like you did all the hard work for me.
I thought I was lucky as I had little to no acne during my teens, but as soon as I turned 20 a few months ago I started getting acne quite frequently (though not cystic acne thank god).
I haven't let it affect my social interactions but it would be a lie to say that it hasn't hurt my self-confidence a bit.
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Biore-Combination-Balancing-Cleanser-Ounce/dp/B006RFZ8NG]I was using this daily for the past 2 months but it has done nothing.[/url] I'll try your products. Thanks!

ur beautiful texas