Acne Products for Sensitive Skin

Having sensitive skin and acne seems like an extremely unfair double whammy. Trust me, I know. My parents blessed me with some pretty great genes, but unfortunately, great skin was not one of them. I developed some pretty extreme acne as a younger teen. My dermatologist recommended some heavy-duty antibiotics and some common cleansing products.

Unfortunately, none of us knew how sensitive my skin really was. First I turned bright red for days. Then my skin tightened, itched, dried out and peeled. And still, the stubborn acne remained. It wasn't working and my skin was being terribly damaged. Not to mention the whole thing hurt! Even simple food facials, like egg whites and honey made my skin burn and blush.

Over the years, I've discovered some great facial care products from some main product lines that work to diminish my acne, without murdering my skin. Here are my top picks from three main lines:

Let me preface this section by saying that for a long time, I avoided Neutrogena acne products. My dermatologist first recommended the simple Neutrogena acne wash facial soap that came in an ear-wax colored bar. It was a scentless assassin that left me feeling like I couldn't open my mouth or blink without cracking my skin. However, it did happen to obliterate my acne, but at a heavy cost to my skin.

Since then, Neutrogena has introduced a wide variety of pleasant smelling, heavy duty, and yet gentle cleansers for the skin. The one I currently use is the Pink Grapefuit Liquid Facial Cleanser. I can't use every morning and night, or it dries my face out just a little too much, but overall, this is the best for my sensitive skin, and I have to say that I'm really in love with the scent and cheerful pink color.

Biore is a relatively small line, but they're dedicated to fighting acne, and I like that. Their products are heavy duty and feel heavy duty, without actually being heavy duty on my skin. Currently I use Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub, which is a white scrub with little blue beads. I only use this in the mornings, or it's too harsh on my skin, but I do love the feel of and it the scent. It really exfoliates my skin and cleans it.

Biore also has a line of pore strips that I use very rarely. I do feel like they work, but the glue is super harsh on my skin. It's like a very drying paper mache that rips off the top few layers of your skin along with your blackheads, oil and dirt. It leaves very dry skin it it's wake, so be sure to moisturize your nose or stripped area with a non acne-causing facial moisturizer like Cetaphil.

Clean and Clear is absolutely devoted to clear skin and offers many different kinds of options. By far my favorite is their Clean and Clear Foaming Facial Cleanser. It's oil-free and also happens to be a cheerful orange color that also vaguely reminds me of ear-wax. The parent company of Clean and Clear is Johnson and Johnson, which created tearless baby shampoo, so it's no surprise that their facial cleaners are geared towards those with sensitive skin.

I can use this cleaner morning and night, and it not only effectively reduces my acne, but it doesn't dry out my face or leave it tight and red. I've also used Clean and Clear's Morning Burst Fruit Infusions line and was somewhat disappointed. They smell good and tout their "real strawberry seeds", but unfortunately they aren't really designed to combat acne and don't do so effectively. Plus, each squirt produced about two or three strawberry seeds, which was also disappointing.

Finding the right moisturizers for sensitive skin that's afflicted by acne can also be hard. I was very much against the idea of rubbing greasy moisturizers into my skin. I felt like it would just encourage more acne. I was at a crossroads. Did I soothe and attempt to repair my angry skin, or did I forgo the moisturizer in an attempt to avoid more acne?

Eventually, I was able to eliminate acne AND help my battered skin. Cetaphil products are by far the best moisturizers for facial skin that I have ever found. I don't break out after using them, and my skin looks clearer, softer and smoother than if I went without. Be sure to keep your sensitive skin moisturized and well taken care of!