man oh man... welcome to the team foxhound! When you say 'mild acne' I'm assuming you mean non inflamed/infected acne?

If you are then I feel you, except i also have them on both my cheeks, upper lip is pretty bad too.

Basically, if its not infected and deep cysts/nodules (i joyfully also have them), then luckily its not too much of an internal thing, however I and others on the site have found that supplementing with oil vitamin A and vitamin D3 has 'dried up' their face alot in terms of actual oil production.

However, it sounds like youre more concerned with your products being too stripping.

I'm a nursing student so i'm big on science, reading dermatology studies etc and i can, with all due respect, say that the caveman concept makes me gag

There are alot of contributors to comedones but here are the main ones:

1) Your squalene layer aka skin is slightly disordered/uneven at shedding

the answer is, YES, more exfoliation. 100%. I've done a trillion peels, tried creams, ahas and bhas... i can honestly say I believe bhas are overhyped. LACTIC ACID and glycolic acid REALLY made a difference for me on comedones. For intense horror movie style breakouts, mandelic acids.

I've also been to dermatologist clinics where they have opted many times to use a mandelic peel over a salicylic one for my acne even though they have strong salicylic peels.

Heck, I own creams that have salicylic, lactic AND glycolic acid listed in the top ingredients. Ones that are awesome are by skin doctors. the gamma hydroxy cream and the 'no more pores' night treatment cream. If youre looking for cheaper alternatives in your country, try looking at the ingredients in anti ageing creams! Unfortunately, I suspect companies only put these exfoliating stars into anti-ageing cream because the main group who purchase these are generally of course older and therefore likely wealthier so they can up the price on them. Also a youth cream is alot more glamorous than an anti ageing cream, again upping the price. And the amazing thing about them is they will exfoliate twice as well, but STILL LEAVE your skin less irritated because they are rich.

This reason is why i cannot support the caveman/water only method.

2) the pH level of your skin

well, the pH level of anything in your body is important to your functioning. The blood, your stomach acids etc. This is pretty easy to fix luckily, just make sure all your products are specifically labeled to be a good pH.

3) the QUALITY of your sebum.

everyone focuses on the AMOUNT of oil, never the properties the oil they produce have. Scientests have recently (well, in the last 10 years or so) that people with acne and eczema have much lower levels of linoleic acid in their excreted sebum than those with clear, perfect skin. Study here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2936775

there is mainly linoleic acid/oil and oleic acid/oil. without linoleic acid, the sebum in our pores become harder/less liquid, and therefore cannot come out of our already semi-blocked pores (exfoliation please!) easily, causing blockage. Think of linoleic acid as a lubricant. cheapest way to fix this? feed your skin by topically applying a high linoleic acid to your face as a mask or moisturiser. Avoid oleic acid like satan. The best ones are borage oil and evening primrose oil. I just buy cheap evening primrose oil supplements and cut the capsules open with scissors and massage it into my face. I can literally physically feel some comedones come loose when i massage after 15 minutes. This really happened after the 4th or so time i did this over 2 weeks. Check this link for choosing an oil: [removed]

The more glamorous and comfortable option is to get a moisturiser that has linoleic acid as an ingredient.

ok SO, with all that wonderful exfoliating and sebum + pH regulating...

your skins natural barrier is gonezo. its EXTREMELY delicate, which is why babies, who have the clearest pores ever, get eczema and nappy rash so easily. Its really not our faults. This is where the caveman and water only methods think they shine, because it protects the acid mantle and the barrier layer. However, its just not realistic to only focus on this one contributor to acne and expect a cure when, like i wrote up there, there are just so many...^

4) The acid mantle/barrier layer

the non scientific description: our barrier/acid mantle is basically a very very thin layer of waterproof fats that seal the 'good stuff' (which us acne sufferers might not have much of in the first place) in, and keep the bad stuff like pollen, bacteria, out.

I have ONE WORD: ceramides. google them. then google ceramides + acne. be in awe.

seriously, this is SO IMPORTANT. they are used in a few of paula's choice's products too! The resist wrinkles + breakouts line has products with them (see.. saving it all for the wrinkles!! nudge nudge)

http://www.paulaschoice.com/cosmetic-ingredient-dictionary/definition/ceramides

This, plus the fatty acids from the evening primrose oil or borage oil = perfection.

The fight against acne that isn't cystic is pretty much a constant cycle of extreme exfoliating, then refeeding your skin the good things that you had to take away during the process of getting rid of the gunk and crap.

Yes its tiring, and it takes discipline, but it WORKS. and it has science behind it.

plus it will clear scars incredibly well.

My personal routine involves:

-cleansing with either a natural plain cleanser or a 14% glycolic cleanser from skinstitute

-moisturising with priori aha barrier repair complex moisturiser (game changing shit. and i have forever hated moisturisers)

-'feeding' my skin with evening primrose oil when i can, say every 2 days at home when i have time

-retin-a cream pretty much every single night except when i get irritated/flakey, then i'll use a lactic acid cream treatment

-for infected/open pustules i use over the counter azealic acid cream. awesome stuff

I also pop a couple evening primrose oil capsules, 10,000IU of vitamin D3 (i stay out the sun), vitamin C, zinc+magnesium tablet... i need to buy some more vitamin A cos once i ran out and stopped, i saw how much of a difference it makes

I REALLLY want to add a paulas choice toner, but its so hard for me to choose between the skin balancing one that has ceramides, or the resist weightless new toner which has more skin communicating ingredients and green tea extracts!!!

I want to add the toner to try out the vitamin B3 in them

What toner are you using from her? xxxxxxxx

all the best!!