Gentle Acne Remedy?

My 14 year old had been having breakouts for while now. He tried the products with salycilic acid and all it did was dry out his face. He now uses St. Ives Apricot facial scrub and a Garnier face wash...same stuff I use on my face and I have very sensitive skin.

If he uses both products every day his breakouts are minimal. He does use a Clean and Clear spot treatment that contains salycilic on the really virulent spots that crop up occasionally.

I also like Neutrenga products alot - not the acne ones, just the regular ones.

Try witch hazel. You can get it at the drug store.

Here's a cheap solution that I have been using myself these days. (I'm getting awful acne on my chin).

Crush a few cheap aspirin tablets and mix w/ a few drops of water to create a grainy thick mask. And either put it on your entire face or just put it on the acne areas, leave it on at least 10 minutes or longer (I keep mine on for an hour while watching tv at night) and wash it off. You will look weird and it's messy as it dries. DO NOT USE THIS MASK IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO ASPIRIN!!

The mask will dry out the pimple and create a white head so it can heal faster. But it won't dry out your skin.

Here's a link for more info: http://www.acne.org/aspirin-mask-reviews/75/page1.html Or just Google: aspirin for acne

Here's another thing that I do that's cheap. I put Carmex (original carmex jar, can find at a drugstore like walgreens) on my pimples, especially if I pop it (gross, sorry). The carmex has salicylic acid & menthol in it so it attacks the acne yet it keeps the pimple "moist" so you don't get that nasty scab and it heals nicely. Here's a link: http://www.mycarmex.com/our-products/original-carmex-jar/...

Sorry - my answers always seem to be so wordy!! Anyhow = good luck. Acne sucks regardless what of what age you are!!!

I used to use Proactive, but i now use Zap It- which utilizes tea tree oil and also salicylic acid. But many of my friends have just used tea tree oil as a treatment on their faces and they have noticed amazing results! Are you looking to just use it straight, or use a product that uses the tea tree oil as its treatment?

what % of benzoyl peroxide have you tried? I bought the cleanser, benz perox, and moisturizer from www.acne.org and have liked it. (I prefer my own moisturizer, but his cleanser is PH balanced and very gentle. The benzperox is not over-drying). I get the occasional pimple, but I am not very consistent with my cleansing. The guy who started the product line at acne.org tried out a lot of different %s of benz peroxide until he found that 2.5% worked well, but was mild enough to not over-dry his skin. Even if you don't buy his product (which is very inexpensive. You pay more for shipping than for the product) - his website has a lot of great information (ie, he likes a jojoba oil. Not sure if that's the same as tea-tree oil or not). Good luck.

Go online to Neutogena Skin ID-it works-it's about $20 to start-and then about $50/month-but you can cancel anytime-and you might be able to after the first month-not kidding, it really helped my son.Cetaphil is a good cleanser and gentle. OTC Neutrogena products are very good-but you might be able to get one from the dermotologist that is even better without the being too pricey. I buy this one by IS Skincare that is around $36/bottle but you only need about 1/2 tsp at a time-so it lasts awhile.

I recently started using a Burt's Bees product called an "herbal blemish stick." (I got it at Wal-Mart.) It also contains tea tree oil (mentioned in other posts). I put a little on a red bump (one or two times a day for a day or two) that is going to become a zit, but it never becomes a pimple. I feel it's helped me. You might want to give it a try!

Try using the Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing bar. I've used it for years and rarely have a breakout. It also helps clear up current breakouts quickly. My teenage son used to have terrible breakouts and acne treatments did nothing except dry his skin. Since using the Cetaphil he has far less breakouts, and they are very mild too.

You can buy it at most stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, etc. It is around $4 a bar, but it lasts a long time. I only have to buy one a month. My son washes his face with it twice a day, and I use it once a day. That's not a bad price for the amount of use we get out of it.

Make sure you don't get the anti-bacterial bar. Anti-bacterial is not good to use for breakouts. It can actually increase them.

I have tried EVERYTHING....I have resorted to using simple Clean and Clear and making sure to use a facial moisturizer (I think the one I use is Dove). Sometimes I use the St Ives Apricot Scrub in the shower....my face broke out when I was in my early 20's, then it cleared up when I was pregnant and nursing, and now it's back to breaking out again...I am wondering if something in my diet changed to make me break out (like not drinking wine, etc). Diet could definitely affect my face, but I do like my wine. :)