I had pretty good skin during puberty, all the way up to the age of 34. The only acne I would get was where my hair or glasses touched my skin (I have very oily asian skin).

At 34, Ive no idea what happened, but I started to get moderately bad acne. Some of it was cystic, painful, and would last MONTHS (Im an incredibly slow healer). It was a confidence killer. I started to try everything: spending $200for weekly facials, microdermabrasion, acid peels, vitamins because I thought it could be hormonal. I took pills that boast oil gland control.I started putting serums on my face when I read that even though I was so oily, that after I cleanse, the oil strips away and in response, my oil glands would over-produce oil. I cut out dairy. Sugar. Bread. I changed out my pillowcase daily. I changed the way I slept so I wasnt smooshing my face into the pillow. I changed my face towel after every use.Nothing worked!

One day, and thousands of dollars later, I bought a bottle of toner on impulse.I had never used toner before, had never read up on it, had no clue how vital it was to ones facial regimen.

Oh. My. God. My cystic acne is gone. No any kind of pimples. My pores still get clogged up a bit with tiny blackheads because I think Im so dang oily,but once I get them out myself, cleanse again, and use toner, they NEVER turn into pimples. Toner has changed my life.

My regimen: I use Makeup Eraser towels to wipe off my makeup. I wash each one after every use (I own 8 mini ones!). Then Icleanse (doesnthave to be some crazy expensive cleanser). Then I use toner, which is my favorite step, because the amount of dirt that still comes off onto the cotton pad is both shocking and satisfying. ThenI put on a serum withhyaluronic acid.

I know that everyones acne is different, but I wanted to write on here because I know how helpless I felt. I couldnt understand why Id get acne in my mid-thirties. It didnt seem fair hahaha. What was thatawkward puberty phasefor,then? Was it hormonal? Was it bacterial? My diet? And the fact that the answer was a $6 toner made me want to post here. Im not a forum kinda girl, but I hope this helps even one person. I want someone else to save the thousands of dollarsI wasted trying everything but toner!