The 4-Step Routine That Calmed My Acne
A dermatologist-approved morning and night routine you can build in under five minutes — designed to clear without irritating.
Every great acne routine boils down to four steps: cleanse, treat, hydrate, protect. Skip any of them and you compromise the whole barrier.
## 1. Cleanse Use a gentle gel cleanser morning and night. Avoid foaming sulfates that strip your skin — they trigger more oil, not less.
## 2. Treat This is your active step: a niacinamide serum in the morning, salicylic acid or a spot treatment at night. Never both at full strength on the same evening.
## 3. Hydrate Dehydrated skin makes acne worse. A featherlight, non-comedogenic moisturizer locks in your treatments and stops the rebound oil cycle.
## 4. Protect Daily SPF is non-negotiable. Sun darkens post-acne marks and inflames active lesions. Mineral SPF 50 is your best friend.
Give any new routine 28 days. Your skin renews on a roughly 4-week cycle, so anything quicker is just hope.
