Any suggestions on how to maintain and treat break outs on combination skin?

I just wrote a lovely long answer then accidently closed the tab. grr

Use an antibacterial, exfoliating facewash at night or everyother night and an antibacterial gentle cleanser in the morning. Everytime you wash your face moisturize using an oil-free moisturizer. I like to use a tinted one in the morning and a normal oil-free one at night. Try Nivea ones. If you are young they do a Nivea young range. The face washes don’t have to be expensive. I like the Johnson’s Face Care Daily Essentials Gentle Exfoliating Wash 150ml as an exfoliater but I am not sure if it will be found int he US. If you find you cant exfoliate at night either use your morning cleaner on days you dont exfoliate or get yourself a nice moisturizing face wash you will find some nice ones also in the Johnson’s range. And I use a clean and clear cleanser but they can be a bit harsh for some people so try get a moisturizing one if you can…
If you wear makeup try not to wear foundation. Instead try using a tinted moisturizer and powder. This will be lighter on your skin but also give you nice even, natural coverage but still stay nice and matte.
Drink about 2 litres of water a day. This may sound a lot and you will be going to the loo more than usual until your body gets used to it but it does help!
Also make sure you are getting enough rest.

Sorry for no links to products, the boots.com website is down… apparently everyone is trying to do their christmas shopping!

Use seaweed. Its products are particularly made for combination skin. The Body Shop offers a wide range of products made of seaweed. You have face wash, day cream, night cream, cleansing milk. I’ve used almost all of these products and they work beautifully.

Tea tree oil (Melaleuca) Is a more gentle and natural way to treat breakouts than the glycolic or alpha hydroxy treatments, but it takes a little longer.
Stay hydrated and avoid fatty foods and always use a good moisturizer to protect your pores from dust.

I also have combo skin and it really sucks.

I use St. Ives apricot scrub every other day to exfoliate. I also use a Mary Kay cleanser designed specifically for combo to oily skin. I follow that up with Mary Kay moisturizer also for combo to oily skin.

When putting on make-up, @bongo is spot on. Avoid foundation. I have never worn it and I’ve never had the skin problems that arise from excessive use. Wash your face every time you use make-up, even if you only have a little blush on your cheeks. It makes all the difference. Also, wash your face multiple times a day. I wash in the morning and right before I go to bed.

For spot treatment, I’ve started using Burt’s Bees targeted spot treatment and it’s great. It dries pimples out and they are usually gone within a few days. I apply this after I’ve washed and moisturized my face.

If you like using face masques, I suggest Queen Helene’s Mint Julep Masque. I use it about once a week and it’s great fro skin like ours.

Also, a nice side-effect I’ve noticed of drinking tomato juice is a reduction in the number of pimples I get. Drink tomato juice or eat tomato products. They really are great for your skin.

If you need any other help, just pm me. I used to have some bad acne in school but I’ve got it under control now. :)

@KatawaGrey , Before menopause when I broke out more often I LOVED the Mary Kay toner with salicylic acid. It kept my complexion really clear. I didn’t suggest it here because she said she was sensitive to the harsher methods. It stings at first but my skin acclimated really fast and I kind of attribute that toner to why, at 50 I still don’t have wrinkles.

Try EpiDuo. my doctor gave me a free sample and it works really well! I found out a bunch of my other friends use it too. It stung on my face like crazy for a week but now it’s fine and my skin seriously looks awesome. You will have to moisturize and you can skip a day anytime. If that’s not the direction you want to go, that’s fine; natural is better anyways!

My son had a period where he had really bad acne. I took him to our doctor and he was put on a round of anti-biotics and given a prescription strength benzoyl peroxide. The benzoyl peroxide did irritate his skin for the the first few days but then that irritation went away. The acne cleared up within a couple of weeks. The change was dramatic.

@everyone: Thank you for all your suggestions! I’ve actually tried some of them so far. I really appreciate your help. =)