Unveil Your Clear, Beautiful Skin. Coping with acne is difficult for people of either gender, but the psychological effects of acne on women (and teenage girls) can be especially damaging. I should know – I’ve been fighting acne for the past 14 years of my life … and I’m finally starting to win the battle. Now it’s time to share the secrets of my success in fighting acne.

Acne Treatment – Tip 1: Get Enough Sleep
Getting seven to eight hours of sleep can be a challenge at times, especially if you have a heavy work load, a family, or any other time-consuming obligations. However, sleep is very important to the health of your skin (and your overall health). Your body uses sleep to repair any damage it sustained during the day. This damage can include anything from a minor scratch to a virus trying to infect your body to acne bacteria attacking one of your pores. If your body doesn’t have enough time during the night to fight these battles, your skin will suffer and you’ll see more acne blemishes popping up.

Try to make time to sleep at least seven hours each night. If you’re not able to get that much sleep every night, take naps or sleep extra hours during the weekend. You’ll definitely see an improvement in your acne and your overall health and well-being.

Acne Treatment - Tip 2: Use a 3-Step Cleansing Method
There are several popular acne treatments available that have a three-step cleansing process. In my experience, it doesn’t matter which brand you choose as long as it contains a cleanser, a toner, and a medicated acne-fighting cream.

Using whichever acne-fighting treatment you’ve chosen, wash your face twice with the cleanser and warm water. Ideally, the cleanser should have small buffing beads inside it that you can feel when you wash your face. These beads help exfoliate your skin and remove any dead skin that could clog your pores and cause acne.

The toner is another important step in cleaning out your pores and stopping acne. Immediately after you’ve washed and dried your face, soak a cotton ball with the toner and apply it to your entire face and neck. If you take a look at the cotton ball when you’re done, you’ll see that it has picked up makeup and oil that the cleanser missed. If the cotton ball looks especially dirty when you’re done, repeat this step with a fresh cotton ball until the cotton ball is pretty clean after you wipe your face.

When the toner has completely dried, apply a heavy layer of medicated acne-fighting cream to your face. This cream should contain either Benzoyl Peroxide or Salicylic Acid, the two main acne treatments available without a prescription. The cream will remain on your face during the day or night and continue fighting your acne.

You should do these three steps two times a day: once in the morning and again before you go to bed. I’ve also found it helpful to wash my face when I get home from work with a regular acne-fighting cleanser, like Clean & Clear’s foaming facial cleanser. Again, the brand probably isn’t important as long your use a mildly-medicated facial cleanser.

Acne Treatment - Tip 3: Use Medicated Makeup
When fighting acne, an important tip to remember is that you need to keep up the fight 24 hours per day. A good way to do this is to use a light, medicated foundation that matches your skin tone. Not only will the foundation help clear your acne during the day, it will also help hide any acne you already have. The foundation I prefer to use is called Clear Complexion Liquid Makeup by Almay. It contains Salicylic Acid, which is great at clearing up acne, plus the aloe and chamomile in the foundation help keep your skin from getting dry from your new acne regimen. Apply the foundation with a clean makeup wedge after you’ve completed your face-cleansing process in the morning, and you’ll be good to go for the rest of the day!

Acne Treatment - Tip 4: Only Touch Your Face with Clean Things
Keeping dirty things away from your face is extremely important in fighting acne. Don’t touch your face with dirty fingers. Clean or replace your makeup tools regularly. Keep your hair (especially dirty hair or hair full of product) away from your face. Wash your pillowcases and towels regularly. All of these things have the potential to clog your pores and cause a case of acne, so keeping them (and your face) clean is an important factor in winning the clear skin war.

Acne Treatment - Tip 5: Birth Control is Your Face’s Best Friend
Taking birth control may be the single biggest factor in fighting acne, especially if you’re prone to outbreaks of cystic acne. Birth control helps regulate your hormones and reduces the amount of oil produced by your skin. If taken regularly, it can help create a clear, beautiful complexion.

In my experience, Ortho Tri-Cyclen is the most effective birth control in fighting acne. Neither Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo nor the generic brand of Ortho Tri-Cyclen was effective in helping to clear my acne, so I suggest sticking with the branded medication. It can get expensive, but there are various prescription medication discount programs that can help make the medication affordable. Don’t forget to take it regularly – stopping and starting again can really take a toll on your skin (and your entire body). The key to keeping your face clear of acne using this medication is to be as consistent with it as possible.

If you use the tips above consistently, you’ll begin seeing noticeable improvement in your skin in only two or three weeks, and your skin can be totally clear of acne within a month. Just be patient and stay on course, and I’m confident you’ll be acne-free in no time!