The only thing that ever works for me are products with benzoyl peroxide. Careful though, it bleaches cloth. Burts Bee's is supposed to have a natural acne fighter, I haven't tried it yet though. Good luck to you, acne sucks.
Just thought I would add to this thread; be careful when drinking baking soda and water, like some have suggested. It can and will ruin your teeth enamel because of the acidity if you're not careful.
I've also been looking for ways to cure/prevent acne, as lately I've been getting some breakouts as well. I must agree that it does depend on your diet; I rarely ever eat any fast food, but last week I had some french fries from McDonalds on a rare occasion. A couple days afterword, I started to breakout worse than before.
I'm just now starting to recover from it, but it's still visible mostly on my forehead and it tends to lower my self-esteem quite a bit.
I rarely wear any makeup, except I often use a tiny bit of foundation to cover up blemishes when needed.
What I use is a facial wash (it's the Equate brand, the liquid soap stuff that is orange in the plastic bottle) once or twice a day, and then I put on a layer of skin moisturizer lotion immediately after I wash and dry my face, and then I put on a thin layer of Clearasil Ultra rapid action treatment cream (10% benzoyl peroxide) on problem areas. A lot of the times I will also use the foundation to dab onto blemishes for cover up.
I also often drink a cup of green tea every other day, and I sometimes use the leftover tea bag to apply to my skin after washing it because I read that green tea is suppose to help acne if it is applied topically and if you drink it, too.
But still, after all this, I still get breakouts. Some are worse than others, but at least a few times a month I have a really bad week. Then it heals and is not so bad, but it's still there and it always comes back.
I recently got a peel-away facial mask (with apricot extract and aloe vera) that I want to try. And I've read about making a facial mask by mixing baking soda and water to create a paste, then apply it to your face for 15-30 minutes before washing off with warm water and then washing with cooler water to close pores. It's suppose to dry out any blemishes and tighten/shrink pore size, though it can be very drying and I also read that someone used a homemade toner directly after using the baking soda facial mask, made from 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 water to replace the stuff that the baking soda strips from your skin when it is used.
Here is a great website with some helpful homemade acne remedies that you might want to try: http://www.susangaer.com/studentprojects/acne.htm
I might try some as well, and please let me know if any of them work for you!
I'm a teen. I use Proactive; have been for a few years. It works well, only if you use it as often as suggested. (3 times a day.) Any less and it doesn't work as well.
My Great Grandmother has been brushing her teeth with Baking Soda since the 1920s and has the best teeth the dentist has ever seen. She has no missing teeth or tooth pain either.
I have tried everything for my face. Proactiv is too expensive and all the chemicals got me thinking... All that stuff may make your face look better, but I'm sure it isn't great for your skin. I have since switched to Burt's Bees Garden Tomato soap and toner and my acne has cleared up totally. I still get the occasional break-out, but not bad or often. The Burt's Bees is almost 100% natural and makes my skin feel much better. It is a tad expensive for a bar of soap and a bottle of toner, but much cheaper than Proactiv.
Ohhh I HATE my face sometimes... STUPID ACNE ok try a good washing with just your everyday face wash nothin fancy just face wash. Use s soft wash cloth and cold water. Then rinse the cloth and turn aroung and use the most steamy hottest water you can handle without scalding your self. place the cloth over your face. This opens your pores. Then use luke warm water and lighty rub your face this removes junk. Use icey water to splash over your face this completey closes your pores. Dab tea tree oil in small amounts to Pimples. Use polysporn or neosporn or such on BAD BAD open scaby acne (if your acne is that bad i just get pimples) Pin back bangs if you have them do this every night and i almost swear It'll clear up