This shelf is for blemish-prone skin: the congestion along the jaw and chin that returns on a cycle, the texture across the forehead, the marks that linger long after a spot has gone. The first thing we tell clients is that fewer products used consistently almost always looks better at eight weeks than a full arsenal used hard for ten days.

DermaQuest DermaClear BHA Cleanser is usually the starting point, two or three nights a week rather than nightly. iS Clinical Active Serum and Green Envee Mandelic Resurfacing Serum both address the look of texture and post-blemish marks, and they are alternatives to one another rather than partners. Keep a light moisturizer in the routine even when skin feels oily, and wear SPF daily, since post-blemish marks look more obvious on sun-exposed skin.