8 Products That Make Life Easier For Grown-Ass Adults With Acne

For anyone else who missed the memo on getting acne as a grown adult.

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Hi, I'm Jen, and I struggle with adult acne. I'd never had acne as a teenager — so you can imagine my surprise when, after 23 years, Cinderella's fairy godmother basically walked into the room...

Disney / Via Giphy

...and instead of turning into a pumpkin, I became the acne-prone witch from Snow White.

It has since been a year of exploring skin-care products in an attempt to find the ones that are actually, truly effective at ridding my face of this post-pubescent nightmare. The following products are my ride-or-dies, with a few exciting new finds thrown in.

1. Clinique's Take The Day Off makeup remover, which melts away even the toughest of makeup without leaving any oily residue or unwanted fragrances behind.

Amazon / Via amazon.com

We've all fallen asleep with our makeup on at one point or another, but unfortunately, for the acne-prone, that often means a one-way ticket to Pimple City. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. If you're a person who wears makeup, removing every last bit of it at the end of the day is a vital step to help ensure your face won't break out, and for this I rely on Clinque's Take the Day Off.

This product is lightweight, so it won't feel as though you've dumped your face in a tub of Vaseline after you've applied it. In fact, it starts off as a thicker balm and shapeshifts into a smooth oil as it dissolves your makeup. Overall I love it because it's gentle on my sensitive skin, it's non-drying, and it has lasted me an entire year without running out!

If you start to look like this lady from Mulan, you're doing it right.

JenniferTonti / Via Instagram: @jennifertonti, Disney

Get it from Sephora for $29.50.

2. Skyn's Iceland Glacial Face Wash, made with white willow bark and the glacial waters of Iceland to detoxify and purify your skin without stripping it of moisture.

JenniferTonti / Via Instagram: @jennifertonti

I use this foaming cleanser in the morning because its cooling effect really wakes up my skin. It has white willow bark, which is a natural form of salicylic acid that helps prevent skin congestion and acne. The oat and cylindrica seed oils also do a fantastic job of removing all the excess oils my face has so generously produced overnight, without making my skin feel dried out.

It starts off creamy, and as you rub it into your skin with water, it becomes a foamy, milky gift from the skin-care gods. That transition makes me feel like it's activating some magical ingredient that will make my breakouts disappear. Even if it's not magic, whatever it's doing — it's working.

Promising Review: "This is the only face wash that really helped my skin. It completely transformed my inflammation and acne. I have never been satisfied enough with a skin product to write a review until I used Skyn Iceland. I finally have my confidence back, and best of all, I can still use natural products!"

—Michaela

Get it from Skyn Iceland for $30.

3. Sisley's Floral Toning Lotion, a soothing toner that removes excess dirt or makeup as well as preps your skin for any masks or spot treatments you might use afterward.

Paris Gallery / Via parisgallery.com

Maybe it's the rose scent or the witch hazel, but a sudden calm washes over me whenever I use this toner. It has honestly gotten to the point where I will make the effort to give this miracle elixir a whiff even if I'm not using it — it's a spa day in a bottle.

The key ingredients are rose, cornflower, and witch hazel extract, and the rose and cornflower extract do much more than relax you with their luxurious scent. They have natural antiseptic and anti-inflammatory components that soothe irritated skin, reduce redness, and cleanse pores. And witch hazel is a natural astringent, which minimizes pores, reduces bacteria growth, and controls excess oil on the skin.

This toner does have a higher price-point than most, but it is worth the investment. No, it won't clean your fridge or do your taxes, but it's the kind of product that greets you after a long day at work and whispers sweet nothings into your pores until all of your troubles fade away.

Get it from Amazon for $73.70, Jet for $71.78, or Nordstrom for $103.

4. Lush's Cup O' Coffee, a vegan, cruelty-free face mask made with bits of ground coffee that will exfoliate and energize your skin, leaving you awakened and glowing.

JenniferTonti / Via Instagram: @jennifertonti, Lush / Via lushusa.com

The smell of this mask alone is sure to wake you up. If that's not enough, it deeply exfoliates the skin with ground coffee, and kaolin, a mineral-rich clay, helps to thoroughly cleanse your pores. It feels unlike any mask I've ever tried thanks to the texture of ground coffee beans. After 10 to 15 minutes you wash it off and say goodbye too any oils and pollution that once took up residence in your pores. As a bonus, it's also vegan and cruelty-free. This is a recent find for me and I've used it every morning for the past week — it's a new fave!

Get it from Lush for $11.95.

5. Sunday Riley's U.F.O. Ultra Clarifying Face Oil, which is formulated with 1.5% salicylic acid, tea tree oil, and black cumin seed oil to clear acne breakouts and support pore health overall.

JenniferTonti / Via Instagram: @https://www.instagram.com/jennifertonti/?hl=en, JenniferTonti / Via Instagram: @jennifertonti

This is absolutely a ride-or-die for me. Yes, it's pricey, but trust me — it's worth the investment. It lasts a very long time as you really only need one to two drops a day when you're having a breakout. You might be skeptical about using an oil to treat acne, but let me assure you, it works — it's formulated with 1.5% salicylic acid, which helps to prevent breakouts and treat any pimple party currently happening on your face. For the best results, I use this after I cleanse my face and before I moisturize. That way the product has time to really soak into my pores and get things done. Every time I've used this oil I've actually seen a visible clarifying effect on my skin!

Get it from Amazon for $79.88 or Sephora for $80.

6. Eve Lom's Rescue Mask, which contains kaolin in its clay formula and works to get rid of excess oil and unclog pores.

JenniferTonti / Via Instagram: @jennifertonti, JoeyChong / Via joeychong.com

I'm thrilled to announce that good things can indeed happen after 3 a.m., and this mask is proof: It was a late-night purchase after a skin-care deep-dive on YouTube, and I couldn't be any happier with it. If you have oily skin and want a mask to absorb those oils and attack your trouble areas, I highly recommend Eve Lom's Rescue Mask, made with kaolin clay, which minimizes puffiness and strips excess oil; ground almonds, which work to gently exfoliate; and honey, to soothe your skin.

Two things to keep in mind about this mask:

1) The clay and liquid ingredients tend to separate in the tube. You can easily solve this by shaking the tube, but I'm exceptionally lazy, so the other solution is to simply buy the larger size, which comes in a jar.

2. When the mask dries (after about 15 to 20 minutes), it gets very crumbly and will crumble off your face. This is 100% intentional, and fine if you plan to wash your face after 15 minutes — but if you're looking for a treatment to sleep in overnight, I'd recommend the next product on this list.

Even given these two minor issues, for me this is still an essential product. (And a warning for anyone with a nut allergy that this contains almonds.)

BRB, gotta eat this pizza while my mask dries down.

Jennifer Tonti / BuzzFeed

Get the 1.6 oz. tube from Amazon for $52.98 or Sephora for $50. Get the 3.3. oz. jar from Sephora for $85.

7. Sisley's Deeply Purifying Mask, a creamy white clay formula with D-panthenol, which purifies the skin with results you can legit see the next day.

SisleyParis / Via sisley-paris.com

I found this gem while I was searching for a product I could use overnight. I wanted a mask that could work overtime to reduce redness and breakouts so I didn't have to. Boy did this mask come through! When applied, Sisley's Deeply Purifying Mask (made with rossemary, iris, plant glycerin, kaolin, zinc, myrrh, and benzoin) melts into your skin, leaving pores visibly reduced — and in the morning your breakouts should be less inflamed and hightailing their way out of your life.

This is my code-red product. If my hormones have gone rogue and it seems like nothing will do the trick, I lather this bad boy on every night before bed for a week — and I've always been impressed with the clarifying results.

Get it from Jet for $59.95 or Nordstrom for $122.

8. And finally, Cosrx's Acne Pimple Master Patch, a product that treats active pimples and pretty much has a cult following. I saw it, bought it, and actually fell in love with it!

Jet / Via bit.ly, Jennifer Tonti / BuzzFeed

"What do we want?!"

"Clear skin!"

"When do we want it?!"

"Yesterday!"

This pimple patch is the answer to our cries. It's perfect for treating breakouts overnight, and the clear applicator makes it almost impossible to spot if you're on the go. I'm actually wearing one in the photo above — try to find it! The patches are formulated to absorb pus and oil, and you basically just place one on a fresh breakout after you've cleansed and dried your face and wait for it to do its thing.

(Here's some more proof of its magic abilities.)

Get it from Amazon for $4.70 or Jet for $5.06.

Gone are the days of waking up like Kevin McCallister! What are your go-to products to treat acne? Let me know in the comments — I'm always looking to try new things!

20th Century Fox Television / Via Giphy