How am I supposed to care for my face?

I have combination skin, and I have acne on parts of my face.

I try to make it so that my acne doesn't get too severe and out of control by using acne cleansers/scrubs, and by drinking lots of water. But I still break out frequently - and I want to put an end to it.



The thing is, I'm terribly confused about how to cleanse my face. A friend of mine told me I should use a scrub every few days before using an acne cleanser, which I should use everyday. Another friend told me I should use a cleanser, then an astringent everyday.

Right now, I'm just using St. Ives Apricot Scrub. Should I follow one of my friends' advice, continue with what I'm doing or take a completely different course of action?



Help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

How am I supposed to care for my face?
You made a good choice with St. Ives Apricot Scrub - the best exfoliator around as far as my experience is concerned. The wisest approach to cleansing your face is to exfoliate your face every second day (everyday may be too harsh for your skin). This will remove the dead layer of skin cells at the surface of your skin so once you apply the acne cleanser it will be more effective, reaching the important skin cells to prevent break-outs. The cleanser should be applied every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, unless the product indicates otherwise. Use an astringent once in the afternoon as it may be too drying for your skin, especially in the morning. You should apply moisturiser to your skin twice a day after you cleanse but be careful not too apply to much in warm weather as this could cause breakouts - bacteria love warm and moist skin so don't create it for them! Continue to drink a lot of water and you will start to see results quickly!



Goodluck
Reply:St. Ive's Apricot Scrub isn't an ineffective skin cleanser,

but it's a far cry from the strongest; and it's not made for

stubborn complexions.

Antibacterial soaps, such as NEUTROGENA, are much

more effective; and they can be used for body acne as

well as facial. (Just make sure you rinse off the residue

as thoroughly as possible; do do that, it's a necessity to

use very warm water.)

Clean %26amp; Clear products are also good; they make a

few especially good astrigents.

Do some shopping around.



Good luck
Reply:Try using oil-free acne face washes. Use it 2 times a day. Once in the morning and then at night. This way you can get rid of the dirt that might have built overnight and also during the day.