I used to frequent this forum on a daily basis, and was on every possible vitamin/treatment (except for Accutane and Birth control stuff), since I started having moderateacne at 15. But 4 years ago I stopped getting these pesky zits -- and I simply want to share with anyone who reads this post, my story and experiences. This could help you too, I hope, for those of you still struggling with this horrible skin issue.

It took me 4 years of wanting to come back to post, but I didnt, cuz uh, lazy. It's a bad excuse, but laziness really gets the better of me a lot of times.

What I think helps withacne issues (mind you, depending on your situation, this may or may not be applicable for you):

1. Try to get to understanding what the root cause of your acne is. Is it a hormonal issue, a diet issue, a poor digestion issue, a skincare regime issue, a side effect of medication issue, or a screwed-up skin barrier issue? Get tests done if you can (especially to rule out hormonal issues). Also, for the love of adorable kitties, please do not consume birth control pills if you can. I'm not sure why BC pills are such a norm in North American region, but yes, rid yourself of any weird synthetic hormones please. (p.s. If BC pills works for your acne issues, good for you. It's not personally advisable though.)

2. Try to fix your issues -- as with any experiment, keep everything constant and have only a variable at any time. This is so that you would be able to figure out what works/doesn't work, and/or what's the issue causing your acne.

~ If you think it's hormonal, get a hormone test done (go google on it on what kinda tests).

~ If you suspect it's diet, take one acne-causing food out at a time. Speaking of which, most foods really shouldn't cause acne -- except for a selected few. Even milk shouldn't really cause it -- that's why some people who drink lots of it hardly get acne -- *but* some people may be sensitive to it, and get acne from it. Anyway, test it out. (I've been eating everything for the past 4 years and tbh, no food causes my acne really. Don't even think about it no more. BUT yo, try to eat healthy, for the sake of your health. I eat junk food one too many times, bleh. No good.)

~ If it's digestion... uh try to fix it somehow. Eat at scheduled timings. Have easily digestible foods/meals. Be more intentional in fixing your tummy. Have some probiotics and/or bovine colostrum.

~ If it's skincare regime... lol. I work in marketing and I know the nonsense some marketers can churn out (I'm not doing marketing for skincare anyway - never will). Anything that's a commercial product, have your reservations. I'm more inclined after many years to only believe in organic/natural skincare products, since most have served me well. But yes....if you're sensitive, many ingredients in commercial products can break you out. Go on a google study and find out acne-causing ingredients in skincare. I personally don't use much skincare products nowadays, and the only ones I use are organic rose water (brands from iherb, with only organic rose water as ingredient), and an oil-free moisturizer from an organic brand. When I run out of this moisturizer, I simply use my trusty organic jojoba oil. *But* if something commercial works for your skin, go ahead and use it. I'm not dissing all of them, but I'm dissing most of them. And I'm also saying that whatever isn't broken, don't try to fix it.

~ Side-effect of meds issue -- yeah, I dont know how to advise this. If you can stop that med, I guess that's the only way around it.

~ Screwed-up skin barrier issue (likely my biggest issue -- I mean, i definitely have poor digestion issues as well..., but the barrier thing is prolly my primary) -- You gotta realize and understand something -- that our skin has a barrier. Basically, don't screw it up. Keep the barrier strong and your skin will be able to self-retain moisture and keep itself looking pretty. How to you maintain the barrier? Use a skin-loving pH (approximately 5.5) toner (like organic rose water) to keep your skin at a healthy pH. A proper pH factors into proper skin barriering (I forgot the exact science, go google). Also, MOISTURIZE. Jojoba oil is good, so are proper organic moisturizers (again, check for potential acne-causing ingredients in them -- just cuz it says organic doesn't mean it's perfect). OH AS WELL, beeswax is GREAT for maintain proper skin barrier. It basically leaves a tiny film on your skin after you water it off, and helps traps moisture. Moisture keeps your skin clear, supple, and pretty. Trust me on that. (More on beeswax below)

What I did to get rid of my acne:

To be honest, not much. I first discovered that epiduo really helped me in getting rid of most of my active acne -- damn man, check epiduo out. It's the bomb. And nowadays my skincare is just... basic. You really don't need to do much to keep your skin clear. Look at how some guys have clear skin with only using water on their faces. It's alot of times about the skin barrier. When you have strong defence, the likelihood of your skin being under attacked is slim. (These guys probably don't use much commercial skincare as well -- commercial products are often too harsh and dry out the skin, causing the skin barrier to weaken). Now you see the link with being lazy and having good skin. Yar.

For my "skincare", if I can even call it that, I only use cold cream to cleanse my face during shower everyday, and then towel dry, do my rose water toner thing, and then apply jojoba oil before bed. Just a heads up though, what happens during the cold cream process: You apply some of it onto your face, and spread it around massaging it, and then tissue/towel it off with damp water. Don't need to get all of it off, really. Water later on takes alot of it out for you. Also, you want a thin layer of beeswax film to remain on your face anyway.

That's about it. Sometimes I just use water on my face if I'm too tired from work.

Just remember, skin barrier is SUPERimportant. And keep your skincare regime as simple as possible. Your skin will thank you for it. I don't get much acne anymore, except for the small itsy bitsy few when my period's gonna be here, on the chin, Doesn't bother me, and I get compliments for my smooth skin. Don't even care about wearing makeup to work anymore. Yay to being able to sleep in longer. Yay to being able to be fuss-free.

Hope I can help anyone through this! Gosh I finally wrote a post here.