Teach then to ALWAYS wash their hands before touching their face.
Make a simple bland cleanser available to start washing their face in the pre-teen stage.
Wash towels and pillowcases regularly. Reduce processed foods and increase a variety of fresh foods. Do not cut out dairy, wheat or other foods unless advised by your doctor.
- Get Some Professional Guidance
It is often more productive and cost effective to get some professional treatment and home care assistance. rather than grabbing random products from the supermarket or pharmacy. If you add up the price of all those random products you have tried, with no success - it is way more than the price of one single effective product from your aesthetician. Not to mention the wasted time and frustration involved.
- Avoid Over Complicating Things
Start off with simple steps. Washing with a flannel/face washer and a bland cleanser followed by a simple moisturiser. Then as the weeks progress add an exfoliant and maybe a specialised treatment cleanser and serum - one at a time. A complex cleansing routine will only overwhelm your teenager. Then it moves to the "too hard" basket.
- Always follow cleansing with a moisturiser
The skin needs some oil to assist with its protective properties. If the skin is completely stripped of oil, it will continue to produce excess oil.
- Acne Treatment requires more than one approach
Simply cleansing the skin will not be sufficient to treat moderate to high grade acne. Diet, hygiene, facial treatments, home cleansing and medical intervention will all play a part.
A good cleansing routine may be combined with some over the counter products like retinol and benzoyl peroxide and a presciption anitbiotic. If the acne is persistant a dermatologist may prescribe a topical or oral retinoid.