Acne can seem like a never-ending battle. One day you have happy clear skin and then the next thing you know, your pores are clogged, you’re stressed and then those little red bumps start making their grand entrance. Uninvited as always. You then spend the next few weeks slathering your face with any and all products you have that are “known to fight acne”. And sometimes in the process, you end up irritating it even more! Then when you finally have it all under control and you’ve kicked out the zits and pimples welcoming your happy clear skin, it starts all over again. We just can’t catch a break!

Of course, there are all kinds of acne; hormonal acne, stress acne, cystic acne, and acne caused by irritation or an allergic reaction. Sometimes prescription strength products are needed to treat these skin conditions. But if you’re dealing with plain old oily skin, clogged pores, blackhead or whitehead types of acne, the range of products in the over-the-counter market place can be a bit overwhelming. There is one ingredient that you may remember from those awkward teen acne years: Salicylic Acid! It has been a skin care staple in acne fighting products for years and it continues to be a superstar ingredient when it comes to treating acne prone skin types.

What is Salicylic Acid?💦

Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid (BHA) that is probably one of the only BHA’s found in skin care products. This oil soluble ingredient allows for deeper penetration into the skin for not only surface exfoliation, but deep pore cleansing as well. Naturally derived from willow tree bark, this ingredient can go deep into the pore follicles, de-junk all the oil, bacteria, and debris to allow for cleaner skin. I mean it quite literally cleans out your clogged pores! Today, salicylic acid can be found in a multitude of products including, serums, moisturizers, facial cleansers, creams and it continues to hold the gold standard in effective acne treatment. Plus it works on all skin types!

What products are the best?👍

Now one product that was a staple in my teen and college years was the Clean & Clear Advantage Acne Spot Treatment. This 2% salicylic acid spot treatment was a skin lifesaver and my go-to for emergency acne pop ups when my skin was just fed up with my hectic college lifestyle. Fast forward to 2022 and there are tons of great new salicylic acid spot treatments with even better and effective ingredients!

My favorite has to be the Bliss Clear Genius Acne Spot Treatment. This product retails for around $15 and is beauty budget friendly as well as easily accessible at your local drug store. It is formulated with Bliss’s Clarity 5 Complex which includes: 2% salicylic acid, witch hazel, niacinamide, zinc PCA and cica. Now this blend of anti-acne, antioxidant, exfoliating, skin brightening and soothing skincare ingredients all packed into a tiny squeezy tube bottle can work wonders on your complexion.

It helps reduce redness, size and swelling of the blemish in just one use. The best part about this product is that it really works! I just dab the clear gel onto my blemish overnight and wake up the next morning with a significantly smaller and less irritated looking bump. This is my absolute favorite, most trusted and most reliable acne fighting product. What can I say, it works every time!

However, we all know everyone’s skin is unique and different. Here are some other similar products that might be more up your alley.