Best Drugstore Acne Products

Being an adult who has struggled on and off with acne since I was a teenager (actually, it started just about when I turned thirteen, so I have dealt with acne skin problems for years seeing as how I’m now 33 years old), I have probably tried just about every acne product that you can buy at a drugstore.

Some of the best acne products I’ve ever used are available online, like the  Zenmed Dermacleanse line (read review here) and also some of the worst ones, so I can tell you over the years what I’ve used that I feel works well, and what I’ve used that didn’t agree with my skin and did not improve my acne.

Of course, most people will tell you, the best acne products cannot be found at a drugstore, but you can definitely find some that will work on your skin type.  Over the years, and especially in my earlier years, I have found that acne products at stores have greatly evolved and improved.

Thankfully, there is less of a focus on making the skin drier to fight acne (which is totally a myth and may aggravate acne further), because we now know that drying excessively only further aggravates the acne skin condition by producing excess sebum, which further clogs the pores.

Some of the worst drugstore acne products I’ve experienced in the past were Stridex pads.  These were a staple when I was a teen, and I think just about every teen had them in their bathroom and used them every day and night to help unclog pores and give their skin that clean, ridiculously squeaky feeling.

Well, what they ended up doing in most cases was overdrying and irritating the skin, since their primary ingredient was alcohol and an ingredient that I don’t particularly care for benzoyl peroxide.  I prefer salicylic acid over benzoyl peroxide because I know personally, for my skin, salicylic acid is better at cleansing my face without overdrying, and simultaneously unclogging the pores.

For this reason, I really like the Neutrogena acne products that can be found at most drugstores, and even some Marcs discount stores.  They can always be found at major department stores like Wal-Mart and Target as well.

I like the Neutrogena Deep Clean acne products, because they deep cleanse the skin without overdrying it, which is key.  I’m not a huge fan of the creamy acne cleanser they make that comes in a tube though, because I don’t feel it does the same job cleansing, although I do have to say it is not drying.

A product that I have to say lately I’ve tried that I don’t care for is the antioxidant cleanser by Garnier.  I feel like maybe they should stick to hair care products instead.  This product really dried my skin out and I feel like it probably also brought a breakout on as well.

Back to Neutrogena though.  They also have a warming blackhead cleanser that is pretty good.  You have to use it for a few weeks to really see a difference, but it definitely does diminish blackheads.

I only use this on my nose, and nowhere else, because my nose and the area surrounding my nose is the only place where I get blackheads.  If you only use it on your problem areas, then you will find this little tube will last forever.

Also, the warming action that is caused by the rubbing feels really good, and you can almost feel it loosening up the embedded blackheads that are beneath the surface that are so stubborn.  Heat notoriously helps draw out blackheads, which is why when some dermatologists or aestheticians are extracting blackheads, they will use heat to help loosen the debris up in the skin.

Now onto Oxy.  I’m not a big fan of Oxy or of Seabreeze, both of whom make astringents and various other acne products that you can find in a drugstore.  They’re not the best at getting skin clear while also not overdrying it.

As a matter of fact they contain so much alcohol and are highly scented (not a good sign usually, this means they have a lot of alcohol in them usually and also a lot of chemicals to create a strong scent), that they may do more harm than good.

They never did agree with my skin, but they were cheap and could be found at any drugstore, so when I was young and broke, they fit into my budget.  There are also some great acne products that can be found online these days, and they are not so expensive they will break the bank, but they are certainly less expensive than going to a skin care specialist or dermatologist or getting professional treatments done often.