Essential Skincare Products For Oily Skin & Clearing Acne

by Mia M.

Hello, my beautiful munchkins. Summer is here and we all want to be our most beautiful . . . meaning we need to control our skin. Acne, spots, blemishes? They can take a backseat. We want clear, glowing, beautiful faces – and today I’ll be teaching you how to get them.

My skin, to be blunt, is the Anti-Christ. Consistently, for years and years, it has decided to act like a bratty teenager and rebel against me.

Now, while this is incredibly bloody annoying, I like to look on the bright side of life. Silver linings and all, right? Well, the silver lining of having spot-prone, oily skin for the past 4-5 years is that I have gotten good at controlling it. I know what triggers my acne (and yes, some things are unavoidable like temperature changes, travel, late nights out with friends meaning missed sleep, hormones etc.) and, even better, I know to rock damage control.

This post is going to share two categories of goods with you:

Chemical products. By this, I mean typical skincare products that you use to control oily skin and acne-prone skin that can buy from drugstores (you know, not bleach, but things like Clearasil).
Natural products. A lot of people don’t like using chemicals on their face as it can be harsh on their face; my skin can deal with both (although I’d say that it slightly prefers natural products for a long-term routine and chemicals to clear up any breakouts or acne) so I’m sharing some of the absolute best natural remedies for acne.

So, without further ado, here are my absolute essential products for controlling acne and oily skin.

Drugstore Skincare Products For Getting Rid Of Acne & Controlling Oily Skin

**Heads up, kids, most of these links are affiliate links, which means I earn a lil advertising fee if you buy through them. This doesn’t change the price for you.**

Mario Badescu Acne Starter Kit

This is my go-to skincare kit and I love it. I’ve actually written an entire review post about the kit before, but if we’re talking about my essentials it has to take a top spot. If you have oily skin that is prone to acne . . . meet your new best friend.

Mario Badescu Acne Starter Kit – Beauty Bay – £28

Read my Mario Badescu review here

Mario Badescu Drying Cream

Although a part of the set, this product is such a stand-out genuine essential that it deserves it’s own spot. You put it on any oily or broken-out parts of your skin and literally overnight it’ll dry out and shrink any spots.

I touched on this in the review, but I had three spots that would not leave for like 3 weeks – I used this cream and overnight they’d shrunk, turned into whiteheads and the next night were gone. Visibly reduces acne.

Mario Badescu Drying Cream – £14

Witch Tea Tree Oil Blemish Stick

Witch Tea Tree Oil Blemish Stick – £1.79

Tea Tree Oil is an absolute essential – and one of my natural go-to products. However, this tea tree and witch-hazel blemish stick is absolutely amazing. It has a visible effect (none of that “better skin in three weeks!” nonsense; this works within hours) and is small and portable, so you can top of throughout the day. For cheap and effective products, it doesn’t get better than this.

Witch Overnight Clearing Serum

Oh, dear God, I am addicted to this. It’s a lightweight serum that you apply before moisturiser (or in the place of moisturiser) and it contains all of the goodness of Tea Tree Oil and Witch Hazel – both ingredients that are amazing when fighting acne.

Witch Overnight Clearing Serum – £3.99This is one of those products that has visible results – and quickly. However, it also makes your skin feel good. You can feel it working, but instead of a burning, itching sensation that a lot of effective products (read: harsh) have, it feels refreshing and calming.

Clearasil Exfoliating Pads

Now, I’m a half Clearasil fan. The problem that I have with Clearasil is the dependency issues; your skin starts to depend on it and as soon as you run out or switch it out it’ll completely die.

However, that’s an issue that I had when I was using exclusively Clearasil products. Once I started phasing them out and only using my favourites the dependency stopped becoming an issue. So I would strongly recommend Clearasil for clearing up acne, but I would pick a few products to introduce and use.

Clearasil Rapid Action Pads – £3.89

My favourite Clearasil products are these exfoliating pads. Oh, sweet Jesus, they’re amazing. You can see a visible difference, you can feel a difference and the packaging is incredibly convenient. However, these are intense. You’ll get immediate benefits, but they do feel harsh – and they are. They can leave your skin a bit red too. However, if your skin needs clearing . . . these are a true essential.

Clearasil Toner

Clearasil Toner – £3.59

Any skincare enthusiast knows how important toner is. Again, Clearasil products are harsh – very, very effective, but harsh – so I use this when I’m clearing my skin up or when it’s hot out (to keep my skin from getting too oily throughout the day).

This toner is amazing – it feels like it completely tightens up and dries up your face. Sometimes I like to use it after I’ve moisturised and used serums etc and apply it to my face during the day because it gives your skin an instant radiance boost.

Manuka Honey & Tea Tree Oil Anti-Septic Gel
Manuka Honey & Tea Tree Oil Anti-Septic Gel – £3.99 – SuperdrugThis one is an old but gold favourite of mine – and it’s bloody amazing. Manuka honey has such potent antibacterial properties that it’s actually used in medicine – and this gel, my dear friends, has all that goodness ready and waiting to heal your spots. Even better? It treats your spots without drying your skin out.LUSH Magnaminty

Lush Magnaminty – £12.50 – LUSH

If you haven’t heard of the LUSH Magnaminty mask yet, are you even trying to control your skin? This mask is the one; it is the holy grail of skincare. This mask will cure your depression, find you a rich husband. It’s amazing – and it leaves your skin feeling amazing. Plus, it’s packed with acne fighting ingredients. Even better, as it’s from Lush, they’re all natural!

IMPORTANT: While most of the products I’ve mentioned here are somewhat harsh on your skin, remember DO NOT DRY OUT YOUR SKIN. Being too harsh on your skin will cause it to over-produce oil and lead to more spots. Balance these products out with moisturisers, etc.

Natural Skincare Products For Controlling Acne & Getting Rid Of Spots

Apple cider vinegar (toner)

Amazon UK – Organic Apple Cider Vinegar – £6

This is a natural remedy that I love. Apple cider vinegar as toner is probably one of my favourite essentials to recommend. Some natural products feel very soothing . . . but not like they’re working. Apple cider vinegar is a strong product – and it gets the job done. Just make sure you’re diluting it before it touches your skin.

Tea tree oil

I’d sell my first born kid to the devil if he told me he was taking my tea tree oil away.

I’ve heard tea tree oil raved about everywhere – and it’s one of those products that 300% deserves all of its positive hype. Again, like apple cider vinegar, this is one of nature’s full-on harsh products. For a while, I shied away from using tea-tree oil because it stings something fierce – but its visible results are undeniable.

Tea tree oil dries out spots and eradicates them – which is what you feel it doing!

Honey

Honey is a much more gentle addition to this list than the first two – but it is great in controlling and soothing breakouts, as well as just calming down your skin. I personally don’t think the use of lemon on your face is a good idea (some people recommend lemon and honey) – but honey is great.

Aloe Vera Gel

Aloe Vera Gel is a great soothing moisturiser. Especially for people with oily and acne-prone skin, finding a moisturiser that keeps skin and hydrated without being oily (and thus the perfect conditions for spots to pop up) is an essential. This gel is an amazing example of this; it feels like it tightens and smooths out skin, but with it’s cooling effect it doesn’t make it wet or oily.

Okay, my friends, I am sorry about how long this post was, but I hope some of you found it helpful – or at the very least discovered some good new products to try! Summer is the time of glo-ups, so I want your skin to be glowing with you.

Do you suffer from acne-prone or oily skin? What are your go to remedies? Have you tried any of these products – or will you? Let me know your thoughts down below!

Peace,