I have been facing the problem of pimples for a couple of years. Although I have tried a few of the products available in the market but they don’t seem to be as good as they can get. These things really give you a bad look and make you stand out in the crowd for no reason. Can anyone suggest me a good product to help me get better results?

I've always been a Neutrogena user, the face wash and on-the-spot cream. If you've tried this and it hasn't worked out, what about ProActive? They have those big vending machines in the malls now that sell the whole skin care system. I've never used it myself, but I've heard great reviews about it. Maybe give that a try, since it's the strongest thing over-the-counter.

I've noticed that my neighbour is receiving Proactiv boxes in the mail, and I can say that it must have really worked, because her face looked really smooth the last time I saw her.

I've had succes with The Body Shop Tea Tree face wash when I have an occasional pimple. Also, the latest product that I have tried that's worked really well for me is the M.D. Forte Glycare Perfecting Gel. I had a huge pimple a few weeks ago, and within a couple of days it had disappeared.

I hope you'll be able find something that'll work for you.

The best thing for me as far as acne was actually going on the birth control pill. A lot of acne issues are hormonal. Once I turned 21 or so and the teenage hormone problems went away acne wasn't a problem any more even when I wasn't taking the pill.

Other than that, Retin A (prescription only) worked well, though it does dry out the skin. Also, for random pimples, zinc oxide cream worked well for me (apply at night only since it's white).

I am not sure how bad yours is. It may be best to see a dermatologist if its persistent or all at the jawline. Normally OTC wont generally help you out there.

I agree with Anemone about the hormones. They could draw your blood and see if your hormone levels are out of sync. Benza-Clin is also a really good one (RX only)

With that being said, I have know some people who have had great sucess with Proactive. HTH

By the way, welcome to the board!!!

Mild/moderate acne can be treated w/ OTC stuff, but the severe cystic acne pretty much requires a visit to the dermatologist to be treated.

I've tried various OTC stuff over the years, including Clearasil, Noxzema, & various Clinique skincare products. Clearasil & Noxzema didn't work. Some Clinique products worked & others didn't. But after many years I think I've found a combo that works for me.

It's always important to read the ingredients of the products. Some cleansers out there contain salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is good when used as a spot treatment, but since it's meant to dry out moisture from pimples, it ends up drying out the skin when in cleansers. I use Clinique Acne Solutions Spot Healing Gel to deal w/ the occasional bad pimple.

I don't know about prescription acne treatments, but I'd advise caution about Accutane. If a woman ends up becoming pregnant while taking it, it causes birth defects for the baby.

When I was younger and had more pimples (not "acne" though), I would use a night-time salicylic acid gel on the more oily T-zone area, and then spot treat with Benzoyl Peroxide onto pimples.

Usually people face this kind of problems and are given various suggestions that really do not cover the basic problem that need to be tackled with. The skin really needs to tackled smoothly and you just cannot apply products to it and hope that you can be fine with that. I use (edited out spam) which has Vitamin B5 that helps to reduce sebum and make your skin free from acne. I really enjoyed discovering this product as it has made my skin better.

That's what you call setup spam. Juliana and Xamantha are the same person and both of your personalities have been banned.

WOW!!! Just when you think you've seen it all...

Thanks Cindy for being on the ball!

Thanks Cindy for catching that!!!

I am glad we all wasted our time trying to "help" her out. How frusturating

It definitely shows that the rest of us are nice and helpful.

good job Cindy!
one less potential problem on the board.