I managed to get clear by avoiding harmful products and not applying them to my face, but I'm not hear to talk about that. I looked into salicylic acid because that was one of the many faillures I have had in my acne treating era and found a few decent reasons why you should avoid it.
The level of acidity is mainly why you should avoid this treatment, naturally you infer salicylic acid is acidic because of the name, but is that where your thinking ceased? Salicylic acid (SA for short) has a pH of 2.4, which is fairly acidic. The pH of the human skin is 5.9, which is reletively nuetral. This gap might not seem like much, but pH is based on logarithms, and a pH of 2.4 is actually 3162 times stronger than 5.9 (in terms of hydronium concentration) WOW!!! Acids this strong with similar concentrations as OTC SA will BURN your skin and can cause some serious damage.
Side effects of SA, and most acid include: Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); excessive burning, irritation, itching, peeling, redness, stinging, or tenderness)
I've been there and done that, and there's no way I'm putting something like this on my FACE ever again....
those side effects probably effect like 0.3% of people who use it.
It's true that the aforementioned side effects only attribute to a very small percentage of users, which has an accepted value of roughly 2.0%. However, there are many more side effects which are near guarunteed for the majority of those who apply SA to there skin. The common side effects include Mild, temporary burning, itching, stinging or irritation, and over time can truely take there toll and contribute to the development of more acne lesions, and based on personal experience SA does much more harm than good. However subjective my views might appear to be, it stands that many sufferers can confirm that SA has done more good than harm. I am merely attempting to inform people about the potential dangers of SA and how it has not worked for me.
I found salicylic acid makes my face very red for a few days, so I never use it. I use nothing but tea tree oil and seaweed for my face now. Natural stuff doesn't ever make me break out from it and it doesn't have many side-effects. Plus I love the smells of everything natural! Like pure tea tree oil. Mmmm! 
I wonder how similar glyolic acid is to SA? I had a bad bad experience with GA, and will never put any kind of potentially damaging acid on my face ever again as long as I live. Can't use benzoyl peroxide either as I am allergic to it so am pretty much screwed when it comes to topical options for treating acne. Luckily my acne isn't terrible. I am now strictly gentle with my skin, no harsh chemicals for me at all.