20 Best Acne Spot Treatments Rated by Beauty Experts
PUBLISHED: 07/05/2019 | LAST UPDATED: 01/16/2020
WRITTEN BY: TAMRYN BURGESS
Licensed Aesthetician
Licensed Aesthetician
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What do 40 million+ people in the United States have in common? Here’s a hint for you… it’s a condition that occurs when the pores become clogged with oil, bacteria, and dead skin cells. Of course, we’re talking about acne.
Whether you or someone you know suffers from acne, there are two ways to approach a sudden acne breakout: 1) reach for a “quick fix” over-the-counter acne spot treatments that simply mask the problem and can even cause major skin dryness and irritation or 2) try using a natural acne spot treatment which will treat your acne from the inside out.
What’s In Your Acne Spot Treatment?
Quick fix acne spot treatment solutions use cheap and overly potent ingredients like ultra-drying denatured alcohol and damaging synthetic acids to quickly “solve” the breakout. While denatured alcohol works wonders to remove excess oil and kill acne-causing bacteria, it can also damage your skin’s acid mantle, throw off your pH balance, and (as a result) cause further dryness and breakouts. What you get in short-term effectiveness, you give up in the long-term beauty of your skin.
Additionally, many acne spot treatments available today are packed with water, preservatives, and tons of cheap fillers that offer no real benefit to your skin. You have to ask yourself, what are you really paying for?
The solution? Try an acne spot treatment made from incredibly potent acne-fighting ingredients that are also nourishing for your skin! Forgoing harsh and drying alcohol-based acne treatments for an all natural acne spot treatment doesn’t mean that you have to make trade-offs for effectiveness. In our over eight month trial of testing natural acne spot treatments, we found several natural products that worked shockingly well at removing blemishes. You just have to know which acne spot treatments are using high-quality ingredients and which ones are just selling snake oil.
Best Acne Spot Treatment Ingredients
The best acne spot treatments on the market take advantage of naturally powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and antimicrobial plant oils, waxes, and acids. Some of the most effective natural acne spot treatment ingredients are:
- Black Cumin Seed
- Cajeput
- Tea Tree Oil
- Willow Bark/Salicylic Acid
- Honey
- Green Tea
- Neem
- Grapeseed, Jojoba, & Sunflower Oils
- Rose Oil
- Aloe Vera
- Turmeric
These ingredients offer a range of benefits as acne spot treatments. Ingredients like honey, tea tree oil, rose oil, and neem have potent antibacterial properties while also having skin-protecting abilities as well. Grapeseed oil, aloe, and turmeric work well at reducing the redness and inflammation that generally occurs along with breakouts. Grapeseed, jojoba, and sunflower oil are non-comedogenic, so they can hydrate the skin without clogging pores.
Note: Acne can be caused by a variety of issues ranging from lifestyle choices to environmental stressors. If you acne is caused by lifestyle choices (for example, poor diet), then there is little an acne spot treatment can do in the long-term to prevent future breakouts. Acne spot treatments are great for temporary flare-ups caused by hormones, clogged pores, and oily skin. Ultimately, if you want to prevent breakouts you should look to address the root cause of your acne. For more information, see our “Major Causes of Acne” section at the bottom of this article.
Finding The Best Acne Spot Treatment
To help you discover truly effective acne spot treatments that are bursting with natural ingredients, our team went out and tested over 100 different acne spot treatments to bring you this list of the very best. Each acne spot treatment on this list was thoroughly researched and vetted for effectiveness, ingredient quality, and brand reputation. Not only did our team try these spot treatments themselves, they also researched third party reviews and customer reviews online. In short, whether you have hormonal acne, cystic acne, or just the occasional blemish, there is an acne spot treatment for you on this list. There are even a few natural overnight acne spot treatments for those who need results fast. Enjoy!
Quick fix acne spot treatment solutions use cheap and overly potent ingredients like ultra-drying denatured alcohol and damaging synthetic acids to quickly “solve” the breakout. While denatured alcohol works wonders to remove excess oil and kill acne-causing bacteria, it can also damage your skin’s acid mantle, throw off your pH balance, and (as a result) cause further dryness and breakouts. What you get in short-term effectiveness, you give up in the long-term beauty of your skin.
The best acne spot treatments on the market take advantage of naturally powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and antimicrobial plant oils, waxes, and acids. Some of the most effective natural acne spot treatment ingredients are:
To help you discover truly effective acne spot treatments that are bursting with natural ingredients, our team went out and tested over 100 different acne spot treatments to bring you this list of the very best. Each acne spot treatment on this list was thoroughly researched and vetted for effectiveness, ingredient quality, and brand reputation. Not only did our team try these spot treatments themselves, they also researched third party reviews and customer reviews online. In short, whether you have hormonal acne, cystic acne, or just the occasional blemish, there is an acne spot treatment for you on this list. There are even a few natural overnight acne spot treatments for those who need results fast. Enjoy!
… fact is that whenever a stick is used, it keeps bacteria on it and needs to be cleaned regularly to not spread them. Not a huge fan.
Plant Apothecary is really the best so far