I’m 36 And I Still Have Adult Acne: Here’s What *Really* Works For Now

As many an acne sufferer knows, one of the first things that nearly every article on the topic tells you to do is to change your diet so your skin will magically clear up. I have tried to do this, really, but at 36 years old, I fully understand that if I have to choose between perfect skin and problematic skin with a side of getting to eat cheese whenever I want, I am choosing the latter.

Once I came clean to myself about that, I was able to start looking at what habits I could change that might help keep my skin under control. It turns out there were plenty!

I've often read, and always assumed, that the best thing to do after a workout is to make sure that I wash my face completely with cleanser — and I do, but not always right away. My boyfriend and I take a giant walk nearly every morning, and for a long time I was washing my face … when I showered, sometimes an hour or two after we got home.

A few months into this experiment, my face started breaking out specifically in the areas where I'd sweat (upper lip) and/or that my mask was covering, and I was aghast. It took a few times for me to realize that I could potentially solve my dilemma by making sure I just splashed water on my face (pretty thoroughly, but without cleanser) as soon as I walked back in the door, and then washing my face in the shower when I got in there. The improvement was noticeable within days, and now it's my go-to habit.

I have also discovered that another piece of popular advice is true: For your serums and creams and skin-remedying products to work, you need to be super, super, super consistent with them. I started making sure my nighttime routine was unshakable and started seeing improvement within a few weeks. Right now, my deal is this: I shower and wash my face with cleanser. Once I get out, I gently wipe the excess water from my face with my hands. I apply moisturizer to my face (and neck and chest) while my skin is still slightly damp, and apply my acne treatment (details below!) once it's dry.

PS: I also make sure I wash my pillowcases at least once a week, sometimes twice.

Another popular tip that I've often read and been told is that I need to cut out sugar, especially soda, for my skin to clear up. I'm not the biggest soda drinker to begin with — in a month I might have one or two — but my boyfriend and I were in Paris this summer and we had cokes with just about every meal (with lemon because it's so cute!), and I started adding sugar to my latte and coffee for the first time in my adult life. The result? I was pretty hyper, but my skin didn't see a change. Since then, I've started having soda when I want it (so maybe four or five in a month).

In things that should have been obvious but in fact are not, it turns out that not wearing makeup very often makes a giant difference in whether or not I break out. While I always make sure I'm using very gentle concealer and foundation, my skin still overreacts to nearly everything I put on it. Once the health crisis hit, I stopped wearing both in a major way because there wasn't anywhere to go. As restrictions have lifted, I'm still not putting a lot on unless I know that I'll be out in public and I want to look a certain way — despite my skin challenges, I am significantly more comfortable sitting in a well-lit restaurant without anything on my face than I used to be.

Another great tip I learned via Kim Kardashian's makeup artist: Clean your own brushes! I rinse my brush, put a little bit of my cleanser in my palm, rub the brush in it, rinse it again, dry it by flattening it, and then let the brush rest on a dresser the rest of the day while it completely dries. Ta-da!

A lot of people, including doctors and medical professionals, will recommend going on birth control to help with your skin. I ended up on birth control for more practical reasons back in the summer of 2020, but I was hoping that a nice side effect might be that it would help clear my skin up. While my cystic acne definitely became a thing of the past, my stress levels also plummeted at the same time. It’s possible that my lowered stress helped to reduce the acne more than the birth control. I went off birth control a month ago because it was devastating my emotional state, and so far the cystic acne (and stress) have been kept at bay. (For the curious: I was on Larin Fe, which didn't cause too many emotional side effects, and then on Belara, which turned me completely inside out — 10/10 do not recommend.)

The verdict: If the only reason you're going on birth control is to treat your acne, maybe see if there are changes you can make to your life that will keep your vibe happy and your stress down first.

I started this journey in September, when the team at Banish sent me their Banish Starter Kit. I was cautiously excited to check it out — I had been nursing a curiosity about microneedling since Kourtney Kardashian started selling products for it on Poosh — so I jumped in. Here's what it contains, and how I felt about each product:

• The Banisher: OK! I was curious about microneedling because I have some hyperpigmentation on my cheeks and some scarring on my jawline and I thought it might help. I used it faithfully each week, making sure to clean it before and after, always making sure I rotated the right way. I was diligent. To be totally honest, I stopped after five weeks because (a) I wasn't seeing any result, (b) I knew it was only good for up to eight uses and didn't want to pay to get a new one because of (a), and (c) I decided to strip down my routine to only a few products. That doesn't mean it doesn't work, but it wasn't for me. If you are patient, try it — I found the experience of using it to be pretty fun!
• Banish Oil: Ditto the above. I stopped using the oil when I stopped using the Banisher for the same reasons. There just wasn't a big enough difference, and I was impatient.
• Vitamin C Creme: I love this! I use it every so often when I want a pick-me-up for my skin. It does brighten your face, and it also feels nice. If you can get only a few products, this is the second one I would get.
• Pumpkin Enzyme Mask: I love the scent, but I used this twice and both times I broke out after. That might just be because it's an exfoliant (my skin is delicate), but I didn't want to keep using it to find out if it would improve.
• Fighter Gel: I love love love love love the fighter gel. LOVE. This product does what it says it will! It helps with breakouts, it calms irritated skin, it improves the appearance of scarring. It is a dream. Of everything, the Fighter Gel is what I will buy again and again.

Right now, I'm using three things: Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser, Trader Joe's Nourish moisturizer (yes, really), and the Banish Fighter Gel (in that order).

Speaking of Kourtney Kardashian, I'm also into something else she's pushing: collagen! My preferred powder is the Garden of Life Grass Fed Collagen Powder. I put it in my mug before coffee or tea, mix it all together, and add my milk (and sugar!). The collagen dissolves, and you can't taste a thing. I can't promise that it's actually doing anything, but to me my skin has definitely improved.

The second thing? Getting a facial each month. Sure, it's expensive, but it works, and I enjoy the entire experience. I avoided facials in the past because of the price tag (and more specifically because I didn't think it was OK to spend that much on just me), but now I'm so happy I went for it.

And finally, I feel better than ever about my skin because I've been paying attention to acne influencers and activists on social media (like Lou), and I've been inspired. If you're feeling down about your skin, I definitely suggest checking her out — you'll be happier for it.