The Best Acne Treatment Products in South Africa

The Best Acne Treatment Products in South Africa

Many South Africans – young and old – suffer from acne. The good news is there are lots of acne products that work really well.

Acne treatment products can help alleviate and lessen the appearance of even the most stubborn pimples and blemishes.

The best acne treatments products in South Africa use active ingredients to penetrate and unplug pores, reduce swelling and shrink spots.

You can find these ingredients in many acne skin care products, including face washes, toners, moisturisers, masks and spot treatments.

You’ll find powerhouse ingredients like salicylic acid, glycolic acid and benzoyl peroxide in the best acne products.

Used regularly, our range of professional products for acne-prone skin will deeply cleanse and treat your skin, reducing the appearance of pimples and pustules.

Most acne can be treated, but you must work out which products for pimples and acne work for you.

To understand more about acne, see our Q&A below.

Our collection includes some of the best acne treatment products over the counter South Africa has to offer.

Overall best acne treatments

This potent treatment regimen contains the top 3 acne products in our collection. Together, they work to treat acne from within the skin, lessen its appearance and leave your complexion visibly clearer.

The kit includes three best-rated acne products – the Acne Treatment Cleanser, Acne Treatment Spot Treatment and the Acne Clear Medicated Moisturiser.

Each acne treatment product contains salicylic acid – the go-to active ingredient in the best acne treatments.

Salicylic acid can penetrate oil-laden pores to deeply clarify spots and blemishes. It reduces swelling to help pimples shrink and dry up. Use this three-step regimen morning and night to fight acne and pimples from within.

Best acne treatment toner

This rebalancing toner helps remove all traces of cleanser and impurities from oily and combination skins.

The witch hazel in it is another ingredient found in skin care products for acne and blemishes.

This powerful astringent helps reduce oiliness, refine pores and clarify the skin for a clearer, more balanced complexion.

Mallow and cucumber supply moisturise to dry areas of combination skin, leaving a softer, smoother complexion.

Best spot treatment

This targeted leave-on spot treatment is one of the best products for cystic acne and stubborn pimples.

The potent salicylic acid penetrates pores to help clear acne, reduce inflammation and redness, and prevent new spots and blemishes from forming.

Apply a thin layer three times a day after cleansing.

Best acne treatment face mask

There are three ingredients in this detoxifying gel mask that make it ideal for acne-prone skin.

Activated charcoal acts like a magnet for dirt and debris, so it cleans clogged and congested skin.

Bamboo is packed with antioxidants that repair and heal damaged, scarred skin.

Silver is an anti-fungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory ingredient that calms skin and prevents new blemishes from forming.

Acne is reduced, the formation of new sebum is significantly slowed, and the complexion is left matted and smoothed. Skin with a tendency to break out is lastingly soothed.

Best products for acne scars

This repairing oil contains two active ingredients that help reduce acne scars over time.

Rosa mosqueta oil is a powerful moisturising agent that’s rich in fatty acids. These boost cellular renewal to reduce the appearance of scars and smooth their texture.

Rose hip oil helps regenerate skin and reduce the redness of scars, making them less visible.

For the best results, apply the oil once or twice a day for at least a month.

Best products for fungal acne

Skintruth’s Equalising range targets oily and combination skin that’s prone to acne and breakouts.

The clarifying and refreshing toner helps balance, tone and equalise oil and moisture levels to clear the complexion.

It uses natural ingredients, including orange blossom, witch hazel and ginger extract, to target blemishes and balance the skin’s oil production. Skin is left clarified and refreshed.

This toner also contains benzoic acid,  an active ingredient with antiseptic properties that help prevent infection caused by bacteria and fungi.

Best tea tree products for acne

This 2-in-1 tea-tree lotion repairs and mattifies acne-prone, blemished skin.

Tea tree oil, which is known for its potent anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, effectively dries out blemishes and spots.

Absorbing corn starch blots up excess oil and sebum, leaving a matte finish on the skin.

A third ingredient, lactic acid, moisturises and helps renew skin cells to heal damage.

Apply a few drops directly on problem areas several times a day and overnight. The herbaceous aroma of tea tree oil fades within seconds.

Q&A

We answer your questions about the best acne treatments for adults and young people.

Acne is a very common skin condition that causes pimples, mainly on the face but also on the forehead, chest, back, shoulders and upper arms.

Anyone can get acne, including adults, but it’s most common in teenagers. Three in four teenagers experience pimples and blemishes.

This is because puberty is when the sebaceous glands activate. The sebaceous glands produce a naturally-occurring oil that moisturises and nourishes the skin.

The sebaceous glands are stimulated by androgens, hormones produced by the adrenal glands in males and females.

While a range of factors trigger acne, the main cause is thought to be a rise in androgen levels.

Rising androgen levels cause the oil glands under the skin to grow. This enlarged gland produces more sebum.

Excessive sebum can break down cellular walls in the pores, causing bacteria to grow.

After puberty, other factors can trigger acne breakouts, including genetics, greasy cosmetics, hormonal changes, anxiety, emotional stress, hot and cold climates, environmental factors, and menstruation.

A pimple forms when oil and dead skin cells combine to form a plug that blocks a pore.

Sometimes, a bacteria (Cutibacterium or Propionibacterium acnes) that resides naturally on the skin also gets trapped in the pore. It grows within the plugged follicle and becomes inflamed.

This is how papules, pustules and cystic lesions appear.

There are so many different ways to treat acne that it can be hard to find the best treatment for your skin.

The best way is regular use of the best acne treatment products containing active ingredients that have been proven to work.

These active ingredients in the best acne treatments have been proven to work. Always read the labels to see what’s in any product.

These are the most common ingredients that actively reduce acne, blemishes and pimples.

Salicylic acid is the go-to fix for pimple remedies and it’s the active ingredient in the majority of acne treatment products. It’s a naturally occurring beta hydroxy acid.

It works by breaking down blackheads, unclogging pores and reducing swelling to help pimples shrink and disappear.

Salicylic acid has anti-inflammatory properties to help reduce inflammation and swelling in cystic breakouts that occur when blockages deep in hair follicles rupture beneath the skin.

Salicylic acid in toners and leave-on spot treatments give the treatments more time to work.

Glycolic acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that gently exfoliates the skin, helping to remove the dead skin cells and sebum in clogged pores.

Benzoyl peroxide is an antibacterial ingredient that’s effective at killing the bacteria that cause breakouts. It accelerates the replacement of skin and slows the production of sebum.

Lactic acid is also an AHA, which means it works like a chemical exfoliant on the skin. Generally, it’s gentler than glycolic acid, so it’s a good active ingredient in an acne treatment for people with more sensitive skin.

It’s also a humectant, which means it draws water to itself and can be hydrating. Exfoliants containing lactic acid work well for people with dry, pimply skin.

Retinol is an active ingredient commonly found in anti-ageing products, but it’s also efficient at clearing up acne. Retinoids cause skin cells to turn over at a faster rate, decrease oil production and help skin exfoliate.

Retinoids are also anti-inflammatory, so they help reduce acne flare-ups. They’re beneficial not just for treating acne but for preventing it from forming as they prevent the follicle from getting clogged.

Benzoic acid is an active ingredient commonly found in skin care products. Its antiseptic properties help prevent infection caused by bacteria and fungi.

It reduces inflammation to make acne less visible, red and irritated. It helps the skin renew itself and reduces the formation of blackheads and pimples.

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