My Top 3 Best Products for Spots and Blemishes

October 31, 2021

For almost all of us, spots and blemishes are a fact of life. Whether it’s the odd spot, a regular breakout after eating too much sugar, hormonal breakouts that appear like clockwork every month or all of the above (… me) the products you use before, during and after can make the world of difference to the lifespan of the blemishes that have (rudely!) imposed themselves on your face. So here are the three products that I use to tackle spots, no matter what the cause.

Spot Blemishes Skincare Recommendations

Dermalogica Clear Start Break Clearing Booster:
Everyone’s skin is different, but for me, having a good ‘prevention’ product makes a huge difference in the frequency of the spots that like to visit my face. I use the Dermalogica Clear Start Break Clearing Booster most days on my chin and sometimes around my nose, and it deserves a gold medal for limiting the blemishes I get in those areas. It contains Salicylic Acid which helps to break down congestion and clean out pores before they become full-blown spots, but it’s also formulated with Niacinamide to strengthen the skin barrier and Phytoplankton Extract to reduce the chance of over-drying the skin. I can confirm, even with my dehydrated combination skin, this cloudy, but thin and runny gel manages to limit spots without turning patches of my skin dry or flaky.

Another thing I use it for is reducing the surface texture on the lower halves of my cheeks. People who suffer from Keratosis Pilaris (those tiny bumps you often see on the tops of your arms and sometimes legs too) are prone to having increased bumpiness on the lower half of their cheeks too. By applying a thin layer of this gel a couple of times a week it makes an incredible difference to the texture in that area and keeps my lower cheeks almost entirely smooth. Game changer. Full review here.

Murad Rapid Relief Spot Treatment:
If the above product is the soft and gentle approach to prevention, then this is the hard and fast approach to a cure. When you need to ‘bring in the heavy artillery’ this is what you want. This is another Salicylic Acid product, but at 2%, it’s the maximum strength you’ll find outside of a professional clinic or without a prescription. A tiny amount of the Murad Rapid Relief Spot Treatment gel applied directly to an active spot will dry it out and either force it to come to a head (gross, but bear with me) or it will dry it up entirely and kill it off for you. Either way, it’s a fantastic product to have on your skincare shelf for when you need to nuke a deep and painful spot. It diffuses a spot in mere hours, but consistent use over a day or two is best. Full review here.

Dermalogica PowerBright Dark Spot Serum:
This is an absolute game-changer if you’re spot-prone (me…) but find that the mark left behind after a spot is gone actually takes ten times longer to disappear than the blemish itself (also me…). It was a Caroline Hirons recommendation a few months back and to say I pounced on it would be an understatement. A small amount of this opaque cream applied to healed-but-marked skin helps lift the Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH) like nothing I’ve ever tried. This serum can be used all over the face and doesn’t need to be applied in a specifically targeted way, but it’s a pricey product and at this stage of my life I don’t have general pigmentation all over my face so I typically use it just where I really need it.

The dark spots left behind by spots are different to the dark spots you get from hormones and sun exposure. I haven’t got any of those yet (touch wood) so I can’t vouch for its efficacy on those, but in terms of tackling specific PIH – it’s absolutely ace.

Spot Blemishes Skincare Recommendations

Full disclaimer, unless you’re genetically blessed a clear face takes a village, and these three products play in with a full skincare routine; including failing cleansing, toning and moisturising which are all vital for my skin to look and feel its best, and it would be silly of me to suggest that these 3 products alone will result in healthy skin. However, if you have a skincare routine that you’re happy with, and just need a product or two for combatting spots and blemishes then I can’t say enough good things about these three.

Comments (1)

  • Vourneen

    November 1, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    I must admit, somehow I’ve been blessed with good skin for the most part and only seldom get blemishes! I do love Dermalogica products but haven’t heard of Murad. Thanks for the tips!

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