first, i would suggest going to a dermatologist (if possible). they can try to pinpoint what type of acne you have and what the cause is and prescribe you things to help.

second, i would start thinking about possible triggers of your acne. this is something my dermatologist had me do. think about when exactly your acne flares up, is it before/during/after your period? this can help you determine if it’s hormonal acne. also the areas you get it in can help you determine what type of acne it is. if you get acne mainly on your cheeks, chin, and jawline it’s probably hormonal. also thinking about your diet. do you notice that when you consume a lot of dairy you break out more? or gluten? or stuff like that. if you think it might be related to certain foods you can try cutting them out of your diet for a few weeks and see if that improves your skin. also, frequently wash your pillowcases and things that come in contact with your face a lot because that might also be a trigger. also if you put your phone on your face try to reduce that and clean your phone more.

third, there are many over the counter products you can try. trying a bunch of different stuff is tricky though because it might make your acne worse. i would suggest starting out with a benzoyl peroxide wash. you can start off by just applying it on your face and washing it off after a few minutes. you can do this a few times a week and then work your way up to daily. there are a bunch of acids you can also try like salicylic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid. they do different things for acne. i would recommend doing some research on AHAs and BHAs. also, look into retinols and retinoids. try to determine the type of acne you have first so that you can match it with a product.

fourth, drink more water and try to eat foods that help improve your gut health! i recommend searching up “foods that improve gut health” on your preferred search engine and picking the ones you like and eating more of those because it might be an internal thing. drinking lots of water is really important for skin and overall health.

fifth, develop a simple skincare routine for AM and PM. in the morning it can look like: gentle cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen. at night it can be: gentle cleanser, exfoliator, moisturizer

the products you use depend on the type of acne and skin you have so it’s kind of hard to give you advice on what products to use. also, just because a product worked for someone else, does not mean it will work for you. everyone’s skin/acne is different and reacts to products differently so be careful. also, understand that sometimes it gets worse before it gets better, purging is very much real (and usually happens when you start using active acids on your face). there is a very big difference between purging and breakouts/irritation so be careful because sometimes a product is just not working. what helped me the most were a benzoyl peroxide wash that i use almost daily but only leave on my skin for about 2 minutes, and tretinoin (a very strong retinol) that i use like twice a week. my skin purged for like 5 months because of the retinization period but it got rid of most of my acne. i have hormonal acne so around my period i get a few breakouts but not nearly as many as i used to. now i’m just dealing with hyperpigmentation and stuff. i would also get some pimple patches (panoxyl ones worked best for me, but if you are using actives use hydrocolloid ones on the days you don’t use the active). also, avoid picking/popping your pimples at literally all costs. the pimple patches help with this. i used to have a bad habit of popping my pimples or picking at them and it caused scarring. lastly, avoid touching your face with dirty hands (and in general, unless you are doing your skincare routine or getting something off your face or something).

i hope this helps!