Cassandra Bankson's Top Picks and Skips for Acne-Prone Skin

"I love this so much that I used all the product. This is the Mandelic Acid Treatment from The Inky List. This is basically a spot treatment, but I use this as a serum on my skin. This is hydrating, it is effective, it is anti-pigmentary, it is anti-acne, and it's eleven dollars. It says that it's formulated for all skin, and I do feel like I can use it on my oily skin, or I can recommend it to people that are dry. This is the snack jar of skincare. This is the one I'm always looking for. I love this from The Inky List for the price, for what you get, for how tiny the little bottle is, but how it goes such a long way. This really cannot be beat, especially for the price and how it works. This is the top mandelic acid product that I've used on my skin or recommended to others, and I cannot rave about this enough. What's also fantastic about this formula is that it has jojoba oil, which mimics our skin's oils naturally. I love jojoba. My skin loves it. A lot of other people do too, because it really helps to strengthen a skin barrier. On top of that, this has rice bran, which is a beta glucan option that really helps to hydrate the skin. Although this isn't the same as Skincare by Hiram, it's a little bit thicker. I feel like this works so much better. You can use this day or night, although they recommend it at night."

"A dappling gel is a synthetic retinoid and this is actually more gentle than other retinoids but it seems to be just as effective if you have wrinkles, if you have acne and yes if you have dry skin. You could spot this on or you could just use this in a very small amount all over. You can put this on before or after your moisturizer. This is available over the counter, it's one of my favorite products, it's literally like seven bucks. This works so well and if you have sensitive skin and acne or dry skin and acne, this is phenomenal because it's that main ingredient that literally helps with all of the reasons that acne exists but it doesn't destroy dry skin even further."

"This is one of the most gentle acne products that I've ever used from a K beauty brand, the Chestnut BHA 2% Clear Liquid. And if you've ever used a BHA before, you know that salicylic acid has a tendency to almost like irritate the skin or it can dry it out because it's oil soluble. This is so nice. The chestnut is so soothing. This is like the K beauty version of Paula's Choice BHA exfoliant. It's like the more gentle K beauty version. I love this. It is soothing to the skin. It is wonderful, but it actually does the job. It just does it at a more gentle rate."

"One of my favorite products of all time from Three Ships is the Detox Mask and the soothe mask. Both of these are amazing from the eco-friendliness because it's literally a powder that you mix together with water, but this formula is so good, it is so non-irritating, it works so well, and it literally rivals some of the viral products out there. The detox one has green tea and antioxidants, which is a great choice."

"The Ordinary's retinol and squalene is fantastic. These retinol oils are best for a drier skin type or somebody who wants to glow. If you're normal and you want a glow or if you're oily and you want to glow this is for you. If you're dry and you find that your skin just lacks moisture, using a moisturizer underneath one of these retinol oils is going to be fantastic. Oils are for the people who want to lock that moisture in and tend to be a little bit more on the dry side. The percentages on their retinol oils are kind of a misnomer—it really doesn't matter which one you get, whether you're getting a half a percent or a two percent."

"I use this like every day. The bottle has the label rubbed off on it because I use it that much. It's a sunscreen with zinc and avobenzene, SPF 50, and it layers beautifully over my vitamin C serum."