What is the best way to get rid of zits?

I had no success with any over-the-counter product. I do like ProActive, but it is a little hard to keep up with.

Now I rinse my face with Head & Shoulders shampoo (NOT the kind with conditioner in it) and it’s like a friggin miracle cure. Try it. Something about the zinc in the shampoo seems to help. Don’t leave it on your face for long, it will make your skin too dry. Just use it like soap. (Though I’ve heard of someone making it into a kind of paste and using it overnight as a mask for his back acne.)

Nothing cleared my skin until I went to a doctor. Acne is a bacteria; while some people may find topical over the counter remedies that work, nothing works like talking to a doctor and getting some medication.

My normal routine for clear skin is two oral medications, two topical creams, washing my face in the morning and before bed time with oil free non comedogenic fase wash (that means it doesn’t clog your pores), and LOTS of moisturizer twice a day. My skin has never looked so good.

Quite a bit also depends on how old you are—puberty hormones encourage acne. Sometimes time is the best remedy.

My daughter uses Pro-Active and various non-drying facial scrubs and to me her skin looks great. She doesn’t agree, however.

The best cure I ever found for my acne was time. Once I hit about age 20 it pretty much became a non-issue.

However, neither of us have particularly bad cases of acne. For the sort that can cause scarring for life, etc., you definitely need to go to a dermatologist.

Yeah, if you’re nearly 26 like me and you still have issues with acne, time to see a doc.

I don’t know! But I can tell you that I have tried topical creams, Accutane, birth control, and several other popular acne remedies. While some of them showed a small amount of improvement, when I finished the medication, the acne always came back. I’m taking @cwilbur‘s approach – I can wait a few more years to see if it will go away.

The “best” way is adjusting diet and facial products so they don’t happen.

@zaku: Seriously? I beg to differ…

Tea tree oil. I rarely get a zit, but I did a couple of months ago and it was gone the next day. A natural tea tree soap is a good long-term solution. I could show you a photo of a friend’s younger brother and you would be amazed at the difference. It also helps my 27 y/o husband who still breaks out a bit.

@Les – I mean from the standpoint that if it works, then you don’t have to deal with them. Past puberty, I pretty much only seem to get zits if/when I eat a lot of certain kinds of food, like too much oily sugary stuff. And I seem to have observed women having skin problems because they use so many skin products, while I generally use none and have little or no problems. So it seems “best” to me in the sense that it gets the problem before it starts. I realize it doesn’t answer the question if you have them already and want to get rid of them immediately, or if the cause is something else such as puberty or unfortunate chemistry or a medical condition.