No BS Beauty has reviewed more than 110 products for acne-prone skin and approves most of what she tests. This record carries an approval rate of 78%. She named a handful of products her category winners, among them Topicals Faded Brightening & Clearing Gel and Allies of Skin Mandelic Pigmentation Corrector Night Serum. Several others drew her back for a second, third, or even fourth purchase.
What does No BS Beauty recommend for acne-prone skin?
Her approved picks tend to be affordable and fragrance-free, and she mentions price alongside what a product does. Azelaic acid is an ingredient she rates very highly. She praises it for calming redness, clearing breakouts, and fading dark spots. When she approves a retinoid, she recommends sandwiching it between two layers of moisturizer. Those extra layers, she says, help acne-prone skin handle the dryness retinoids can cause.
In her words
"With a 10 being a perfect score this one a 10 I can't really think of any issues with it"
"This one's got snail mucin extract in there, which is great for soothing skin and calming it down. And I found I think snail mucin is really nice for hydrating as well as anti-aging. It's got hyaluronic acid in it. It's got centella and vitamin E, no fragrance, no scent. Really wonderful texture, sets to a really nice finish."
"It's one of the few ingredients I added into my routine where I knew a difference, I could tell a noticeable difference in my skin very quickly. It's great for redness, it's great for acne, it's great for hyperpigmentation, it's great for hydration, it's just a wonderful ingredient all around, and it's really great if you have suffered from blemishes, dark spots. My acne got a lot better when I started using this."
"I also love their Smooth Out liquid exfoliant. It's 32 bucks. It's got 12% AHA, which is comprised of glycolic and lactic acid. It's wonderful."
"I personally would recommend this as opposed to like alcohol wipes because that would be pretty drying. But either way, it's very important to sanitize it if you have any active breakouts or things like that, hold off or see an esthetician or dermatologist."
"This one is also a hybrid sunscreen and really nice, really light, great for acne prone skin, great for summer and winter. [...] This one also uses US-based chemical filters, so keep that in mind. Some people [...] prefer US filters only and some people prefer anything but US filters because they're so old and the US hasn't really updated anything they've done with sunscreens in the last 20, 30 years, so the US is really lagging behind in terms of all the technology in sunscreens out there."
How many products has No BS Beauty reviewed for acne-prone skin?
No BS Beauty has reviewed 114 products for acne-prone skin, for an approval rate of 74%. 84 approved, 13 mixed, and 17 skipped.
What has No BS Beauty skipped for acne-prone skin?
She tends to skip products that pack essential oils and drying alcohols into an exfoliating formula. She skipped the Medicube Zero Pore Pad for exactly this reason. She pointed to bergamot, rosemary, lavender, and citrus oils sitting alongside denatured alcohol and lactic acid. That combination, she said, is likely to cause far more damage than benefit on acne-prone skin.
"But the bigger issue is this brand had batches recently in the late summer that according to official government research and publications contained an ingredient called Sudan red. Hong Kong Customs tested this product that was going to be sold to customers and it found one point five milligrams of Sudan red inside of it and Sudan red apparently is an extremely carcinogenic carcinogen. Not good for your skin, not good for topical, not good for anything."
"Accutane, a prescription acne medication, has been the subject of numerous lawsuits. Plaintiffs claim the drug caused serious side effects including inflammatory bowel disease and birth defects. The manufacturer of Accutane faced multiple losses and eventually discontinued the product in some countries."
"I didn't end up loving this one. If you're going to spend the money on SkinCeuticals get the main one. But what I've heard lately is people have been ordering it from the SkinCeuticals website and it's arriving oxidized, and you're spending 180 dollars on something that arrives oxidized. I would be really irritated spending that much."
"They're a grapefruit cleanser, I mean for real, a grapefruit cleanser. A lot of their stuff is great. They've, in my opinion, recently been doing a lot better in terms of allergens and fragrance and things like that, but they still have a lot of stuff that they've made that has a ton of fragrance in it. So be on the lookout. Neutrogena is another brand that really markets to sensitive skin or to people that want a simple routine without a lot of added irritant and things like that."
What should you take from No BS Beauty's picks?
No BS Beauty leans clearly toward affordable, fragrance-free formulas for acne-prone skin. Her habit of coming back to the same products is one of the most direct signals in her record. She named a handful of outright winners across more than 110 reviews, and her reasons for skipping are often as detailed as her reasons for approving. Both sides of her record are worth reading closely.
Watch No BS Beauty say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment SPF 30Named a winnerWatch at 1:59
- Topicals Faded Brightening & Clearing GelNamed a winnerWatch at 5:09
- Allies of Skin Mandelic Pigmentation Corrector Night SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 12:17
- The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% MaskNamed a winnerWatch at 7:22
- Geek & Gorgeous A-Pad Azelaic Acid SerumNamed a winnerWatch at 5:19
- PSA Skin Follow the Light Multi-Acids and Vitamin C PeelNamed a winnerWatch at 6:30
- Medicube Zero Pore PadSkipped itWatch at 7:24
- AccutaneSkipped itWatch at 3:53
- SkinCeuticals Silymarin CFSkipped itWatch at 9:42
- Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit CleanserSkipped itWatch at 7:34
- Neutrogena Stubborn Acne AM Treatment 2.5% Benzoyl PeroxideSkipped itWatch at 2:37
- Glow Recipe Strawberry Smooth BHA and AHA Salicylic SerumSkipped itWatch at 10:05
- La Roche-Posay Effaclar Ultra Concentrated SerumSkipped itWatch at 2:07
- Sunday Riley A+ High-Dose Retinoid SerumSkipped itWatch at 3:25
- Sunday Riley B3 Nice 10% Niacinamide SerumSkipped itWatch at 3:49
- Glow Recipe Strawberry BHA Pore Smooth Blur DropsSkipped itWatch at 6:48
- Biossance Squalane + Zinc Sheer Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30Skipped itWatch at 1:52
- Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit CleanserSkipped itWatch at 5:20
- Equate Benzoyl Peroxide Spot TreatmentSkipped itWatch at 2:34
- The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning SolutionSkipped itWatch at 12:39
- Anua Heartleaf 77% Soothing TonerSkipped itWatch at 8:37
- Peach Slices Hypochlorous Acid SpraySkipped itWatch at 0:33
- The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%Skipped itWatch at 6:39
- Q+A Azelaic Acid Balancing SerumRated itWatch at 8:58
About this expert
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This guide reflects what No BS Beauty said across her videos about 114 products for acne-prone skin, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.