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Byrdie / Sabrina Jiang
I'll just say it: Acne is the worst. It doesn’t matter who you are—if there's one thing that unites us, it’s dealing with zits. Everyone has skin that shows off its clogged pores differently, but what’s the first step in dealing with acne, whether it's mild or severe? Washing your face.
"Acne-prone skin requires cleansing to prevent excess oil and bacteria from clogging pores, as well as some gentle exfoliation to slough off and prevent dead skin cells from accumulating on top of pores and compounding the problem of clogging,” explains dermatologist Dr. Milton D. Moore. For this reason, finding the right over-the-counter face wash—and more importantly, using it regularly—is a great place to start. (However, if you have severe acne and don’t know where to begin, consult a dermatologist.)
With all kinds of acne cleansers on the market, some lightweight and some thick and foamy, you should know what attributes to look for as well what active ingredients are said to be the most effective.
The sheer volume of acne-fighting products available can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Read on for the best acne face washes for every skin type.
Best Overall: La Roche-Posay Medicated Acne Face Wash
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Strong, effective formula
Moisturizes skin
Reasonably priced
Contains sulfates
Who else recommends it? Allure, NBC News, and Greatist all picked the La Roche-Posay Medicated Acne Face Wash.
What do buyers say? 89% of 11,000+ Amazon reviewers rated this product 4 stars and above.
So what makes this face wash the best of the best? The French pharmacy's favorite sensitive-skin friendly formula still packs a wallop using maximum strength salicylic acid—the true star of any acne regimen—as well as its gentle yet deeper penetrating cousin, lipo-hydroxy acid (LHA). Both of these mild exfoliators treat tough blackheads and whiteheads while being all wrapped up in hydrating glycerin. Which means that when acne goes, moisture doesn’t.
Active Ingredients: 2% salicylic acid, lipo-hydroxy acid | Skin Type: Oily, acne-prone | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, reduces excess oil | Size: 6.8 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: No
Best Budget: CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser
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Creamy, rich texture
Effective without over-drying skin
Fragrance-free
Can irritate sensitive skin
Another potent acne-fighting ingredient is benzoyl peroxide. By attacking the bacteria that causes acne, this is a perfect product for someone who suffers from a more inflamed type of skin issue, including pustules and cystic acne. Although anyone suffering from acne this severe should see a dermatologist for the right treatment, a benzoyl peroxide product is a good place to start. This budget-friendly formula includes niacinamide to help soothe, ceramides to help repair, and hyaluronic acid to help hydrate. Together, these ingredients promise to help offset the drying that's often associated with benzoyl peroxide.
Active Ingredients: 4% benzoyl peroxide, ceramides | Skin Type: Acne-prone | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, hydrates | Size: 5 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: Yes
Best Drugstore: Every Man Jack Skin Clearing Activated Charcoal Face Wash
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Balanced formula
Moisturizes skin
A little goes a long way
Scent may not be for some
The exfoliating power of maximum-strength salicylic acid joins forces with activated charcoal in this clean, green, vegan, and cruelty-free option that just so happens to be ultra-affordable. If you thought it was impossible to check *all* the boxes with an acne face wash, you can think again—Every Man Jack even promises to balance out the potential acne-fighting and oil-absorbing ingredients with vegetable glycerin and vitamin E.
Active Ingredients: 2% salicylic acid, activated charcoal | Skin Type: Oily, acne-prone | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, reduces excess oil, hydrates | Size: 5 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes
Best for Blackheads: Murad Acne Clarifying Cleanser
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Helps even out skin tone
Won't irritate sensitive skin
Feels cooling on skin
Contains fragrance
Here’s the deal: fighting blackheads is a marathon, not a sprint. Getting them out of your pores for good means you have to play the long game. Thankfully, this Murad cleanser is great at demolishing those little dark spots thanks to its 1.5 percent salicylic acid. This dose is rounded out by skin-friendly citrus oils and mattifying corn starch. All this means that skin will be left balanced, clear of dirt and dead skin cells, and hydrated.
Active Ingredients: 1.5% salicylic acid, green tea extract | Skin Type: Oily, acne-prone | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, balances and smooths skin | Size: 6.8 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: No
Best for Whiteheads: NeoGen Dermalogy A-Clear Aid Soothing Foam Cleanser
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Won't irritate sensitive skin
Feels refreshing on skin
Calms redness
Scent may not be for some
Salicylic acid is the gold standard for your run of the mill whitehead situation, as long as you don’t overdo it. This cleanser from NeoGen thoroughly cleans skin using hypoallergenic ingredients while salicylic acid gets that trapped oil and skin cells up and out of pores. Just like treating blackheads, whiteheads won’t just go away with a single use. It’s a process, and it takes time. So be patient, and use a product that does the job well. (And this product does the job really well.)
Active Ingredients: Salicylic acid, witch hazel, tea tree oil | Skin Type: Oily, acne-prone | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, reduces excess oil, exfoliates | Size: 3.4 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: No
Best for Normal Skin: Bevel Face Wash
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Balances dry and oily patches
Gentle on skin
Helps prevent ingrown hairs
Contains fragrance
If the occasional blemish, pimple, or zit is all you’re dealing with, then lucky you. If you’re looking to keep that track record of an impeccable complexion, then wash every day with a cleanser that balances out overactive T-zones and dehydrated dry patches. This gentle face wash from Bevel includes ingredients such as tea tree oil, witch hazel, and vitamin B3 meant to help keep shine and oil under control, plus aloe vera and coconut water meant to help hydrate the dry spots.
Active Ingredients: Aloe vera, witch hazel, tea tree oil | Skin Type: Balanced | Benefits: Hydrates, reduces excess oil and shine | Size: 4 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: No
Best for Oily Skin: Jack Black Deep Dive Glycolic Facial Cleanser
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Fragrance-free
Mattifies skin without over-drying
Exfoliates
Expensive
When oily skin becomes an all-out issue, you have to break out the big breakout guns. Consider those guns this Jack Black face wash. Glycolic acid is a powerhouse when it comes to helping slough off expired skin cells. Add to that the excellent oil absorption properties of volcanic ash and kaolin clay—yep, the same clay as in all those top-notch purifying masks—and you get a face wash that not only fights oil today but keeps oil at bay over time with regular use.
Active Ingredients: Kaolin, volcanic ash | Skin Type: Oily | Benefits: Reduces excess oil, exfoliates | Size: 5 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: Yes
Best for Combination Skin: Marie Veronique Shave Prep + Daily Wash
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Exfoliates
Smooths skin
Can be used on face and body
Expensive
Whether it’s dry patches, oil slicks, or somehow a hybrid of the two, combination skin is easier to keep balanced than a lot of people think. Using lactic acid, the most gentle of our face-approved acids, this tingly delight from Marie Veronique is perfect for daily use, whether you shave or not. Lactic acid has larger molecules than its buddy glycolic acid and it doesn’t penetrate quite as deep into the skin. That means it keeps dryness and irritation to a minimum while still providing excellent exfoliation of old, oil-ridden skin cells.
Active Ingredients: Green tea leaf infusion, willow bark extract | Skin Type: Combination | Benefits: Preps skin for shaving, reduces excess oil | Size: 4 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes
Best for Sensitive Skin: Perricone MD Gentle and Soothing Cleanser
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Fragrance-free
Simple formula
Feels light on the skin
Can be drying
All too often, those who suffer from sensitive skin don’t realize that throwing everything but the kitchen sink while standing at the bathroom sink isn’t the best plan of attack. In fact, it is likely making it worse. Perricone MD removes all the skin irritation that accompanies many daily acne face washes while keeping the hero ingredient—salicylic acid—at full strength. The fragrance-free, non-foaming formula is packed with ultra-fine sucrose, and squalane products help to maintain a hydrated and healthy surface skin microbiome.
Active Ingredients: 2% salicylic acid, glycerin | Skin Type: Sensitive | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, reduces excess oil | Size: 6 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: No
“A majority of the time, I recommend gentle facial cleansers that avoid over stripping the skin of oils to avoid excessive dryness and inflammation, particularly because most acne-fighting [products] will also be quite drying,” explains board-certified dermatologist Dr. Nikhil Dhingra of Spring Street Dermatology in New York. “I tend to lean towards gentle cleansers to give stronger acne-fighting, leave-on products a fighting chance of being more tolerable for my patients to use regularly.”
Best for Redness: Neutrogena Oil-Free Cleanser
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Inexpensive
Soothes skin and calms redness
Light gel texture
Contains dyes
Unless your redness is a result of a more serious issue such as rosacea, chances are a nice OTC product will help tame the fiery beast. Neutrogena is a dermatologist favorite for its gentle formulations and this oil-free cleanser is no exception. Loaded with two percent salicylic acid, this face wash counters any oncoming redness with soothing aloe and calming chamomile.
Active Ingredients: 2% salicylic acid, aloe leaf extract | Skin Type: Oily, acne-prone | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, calms redness | Size: 6 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: No
Best for Hyperpigmentation: NeoStrata Foaming Glycolic Wash
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Strong, effective formula
Helps even out skin tone
Helps control oil
Contains alcohol and parabens
As we mentioned, as far as acids go, glycolic is going to give you the most bang for your buck. That’s because it does an excellent job with cell turnover, while also doing an excellent job of not drying the bejesus out of your skin. It also targets hyperpigmentation, or dark spots exceptionally well. Packed with 18% glycolic acid, this is going to help fight dark spots, while amino acids and antioxidants give your skin more life than ever.
Active Ingredients: 18% glycolic acid, 2% lactobionic acid | Skin Type: Balanced | Benefits: Helps fade dark spots, exfoliates | Size: 4.2 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: No
Best for Inflammation: Dr. Jart+ Teatreement Cleansing Foam
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Tingling feel
Lightweight, foaming texture
Contains soothing ingredients
May be too strong for sensitive skin
Tea tree oil is one of those ingredients that we can’t figure out how we lived without before. Found at a powerful concentration of 41% in this Dr. Jart+ wash, it promises to work wonders on day-to-day inflammation while a gentle dose of salicylic acid works to keep pores clean and clear. You don’t need the tingle to know it’s working—the results are all the proof you need—but it sure is a nice, refreshing treat.
Active Ingredients: 41% tea tree oil, salicylic acid | Skin Type: Oily, acne-prone | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, calms redness | Size: 4 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: Yes
Best for Dry Skin: Urban Hydration Bright & Balanced Aloe Vera Leaf Face Wash
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Softens skin
Inexpensive
Gentle, soothing formula
Contains fragrance
Yes, even dry skin can fall victim to the occasional blemish or breakout, and when dry skin is attacked with ingredients that further drive out hydration, that can cause a problem. This aloe vera face wash from Urban Hydration gently cleanses skin and clears pores to fend off acne, while aloe, the key ingredient behind the magic, keeps skin naturally smooth, soft, and yes, hydrated.
Active Ingredients: Aloe leaf extract, vitamins E and A | Skin Type: Dry | Benefits: Helps treat and prevent acne, hydrates | Size: 6 fl. oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: No
What to Look For in Acne Face Washes for Men
Thick, Rich Texture
Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Corey L. Hartman says that, when it comes to acne washes, it’s best to find a formula that’s strong enough to fight through hair-bearing skin—especially if your facial hair is on the longer or coarser side. “The lather should be thick and rich and able to get through beards in order to thoroughly cleanse the skin,” he says.
Active Ingredients
As with any acne wash, Dr. Hartman stresses the importance of a formula that’s packed with key active ingredients. “Ingredients like benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid are both known to be vital components of an acne-fighting regimen,” he says.
Non-Drying Formula
Dr. Hartman also recommends avoiding any formulas that may be too drying. “It’s not necessary to strip all of the oil from the skin,” he says. “Some oil is essential, and causing the skin to be too dry can actually cause an overproduction of oil and an exacerbation of acne.”
Meet the Expert
Dr. Milton D. Moore is a Houston-based dermatologist and the founder of Moore Unique Skin Care, a shaving-focused line of face and body products.
Dr. Corey L. Hartman is a board-certified dermatologist and the founder of Skin Wellness Dermatology in Birmingham, AL.
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