Clear skin, it is an elusive dream, and not many achieve it. Let’s be honest for a second here. A clear requires taking care of your health, eating a proper diet, and sacrificing a lot.

Between the hormones going nuts, pollution everywhere around us, fast food, and pore-clogging triggers waiting at every corner, it is hard to achieve clear and blemish-free skin. Fortunately for you, we have the means for how to get clear skin.

Acne isn’t just a problem for teens. According to studies, those pesky zits and pimples can pop up at any age. Whether it’s your diet, environment or stress that’s to blame, you don’t have to suffer helplessly. To get the skinny on acne, we talked to board-certified dermatologist Cynthia Bailey, M.D., president and CEO of Advanced Skin Care and Dermatology Physicians, Inc. and founder of Dr. Cynthia Bailey Skin Care. Here, she shares her best tips on how to choose the right acne cleanser for you, as well as how to use it to get the best results.

Look for Key Ingredients

According to Dr. Bailey, the best facial cleansers for acne should have at least one of these key ingredients: salicylic acid, glycolic acid or benzoyl peroxide. Cleansers with these ingredients can penetrate your pores and eliminate pore-clogging impurities—like dead skin cells, makeup, excess oil and bacteria—that irritate skin and make acne worse.

“Acne cleansers with these ingredients will gradually unclog pores, reduce the size of existing blackheads and slow or stop the formation of new ones,” she says. “Benzoyl peroxide is also the best ingredient for treating the acne-causing bacteria called p. acnes. In fact, study after study continues to show that benzoyl peroxide is more effective than prescription topical antibiotics at treating p. acnes.” Meanwhile, salicylic acid, which is derived from willow tree bark, wintergreen oil or sweet birch and occurs naturally in fruits like raspberries, cantaloupe and granny smith apples, works well for most skin types. Aside from being an exfoliant that sloughs away dead skin cells and other pore-clogging impurities, it has anti-inflammatory properties that help to address inflammation, which is thought to be the primary cause of acne.

Glycolic acid is another chemical exfoliant that dissolves the structural lipids that hold dead skin cells and bind them to the surface. But aside from this, studies have also shown that glycolic acid effectively encourages and stimulates the production of collagen and elastin, restoring damaged skin faster and reducing signs of environmental damage with continuous use.

How to Wash Acne-Prone Skin

According to Dr. Bailey, it’s not enough to have a facial cleanser designed for acne-prone skin. Half the battle is properly washing your face. Here’s what she recommends: “First, wet your face with warm water, then lather your cleanser over all of your facial skin. Depending on your skin type, you can use your fingers, exfoliating cloth or a sonic skin-cleansing brush system. Rinse well with warm water to remove the lather entirely. Some of the important acne cleanser ingredients will stay behind, but the cleanser’s foaming agents, as well as built-up oil, dead cells, products, and bacteria, will be rinsed off of your skin.”

For best results, Dr. Bailey also recommends washing your face twice, morning and evening, to thoroughly cleanse and deliver acne-fighting ingredients to your skin.

Best Face Cleansers for Acne-Prone Skin

Ready to choose your cleanser? Let us help! Here are top picks for the best face cleansers for acne-prone skin:

This hydrating, cleansing mask harnesses the natural benefits of clay, it helps remove impurities without drying, infusing moisture and nutrients into skin as it attracts dirt and oil from your pores. Pore cleansing clay mask

BUY NOW: $48.00

Seratopical – Exfoliating Polish

The Seratopical Exfoliating Polish will thoroughly clean your skin to remove any impurities including oil, dirt and dead skin cells which will also help to unclog pores.

BUY NOW: $29:95