I just wanted to share a little story that I was thinking about today. 

When I was 16 my acne started to become noticeable. I had had mild skin issues probably since age 14 but it got to the point where it was noticeable and I wanted to fix it at age 16. I started washing my face with new cleansers (Benzoyl peroxide, Salicylic acid, etc) I would religiously wash my face 2 to 3 times a day.

This in hindsight caused my acne to become worse but at the time I thought it was just naturally getting worse because of puberty and all that. So i kept keeping my face squeaky clean washing it with salicylic acid cleansers and using alcohol toners. Finally my mom suggested a dermatologist appointment.

For some reason 16 year old me came to the conclusion that my acne needed to be at it's worst by the time the appointment came so I could get the best most powerful treatment haha. I stopped using the cleansers way less frequently for about a week. I would shower and only use water on my face during this week. I thought this would make my skin worse. I think I used the cleansers once or twice during this week, but compared to using it 2 or 3 times a day like I was doing this was nothing.

So the day before the appointment my skin had looked the best it had in a while. I was shocked. I had been overly cleaning for no reason. It was only making things worse. This is when I realized more does not mean better when it comes to acne products. What helped me the most is when i minimized my skin care routine.

Now I use a Benzoyl Peroxide cleanser once every 1 or 2 days in the shower and after the showers I use neutrogena oil free moisturizer. During the day if I feel oily I splash my face with water and pat dry with a towel. This has been probably the best routine I have come across. 

I am just sharing this information because I feel like a lot of new acne sufferers go to the same line of defense I did. They get overly clean and it causes things to get worse. 

Thanks for stopping by if you read this far!