A routine for skin with spots and pores: what to use, what to avoid and when it is acne

A routine for spots and pores does three things: it regulates sebum without drying, it exfoliates the follicle with salicylic acid and it regulates keratinisation with retinol, on different nights. What it does not do is treat acne: inflamed spots, cysts and the marks they leave behind are a disease, and this page says so before proposing anything. It is the routine our tool builds for that profile, with the shop’s products in two budgets.

And with one qualification about vitamin C that almost nobody gives: on acne-prone skin it is not always a good idea to add it. If it is added, there is one formulated for oily skin, and that is why the tool picks it.

This page is one of the eight outputs of the skincare routine tool, which builds it from your answers in your browser. It sits inside the dermocosmetics guide, where the legal framework of what a cream can do is set out, and the general rule of order — lightest to densest, sunscreen last — is in what order to apply your skincare.

How this routine was built

The routine on this page was not written by a copywriter: it was calculated by the same engine the skincare routine tool uses, and it has been reviewed product by product by the two plastic surgeons who sign it. It works in four layers, in order of authority:

1. What the signatories set for each product — for which skin, in which range, at which step — with their wording on record.
2. The safety rules, read off the ingredients list (INCI), never off the advertising: whether a product contains a retinoid or an exfoliating acid is decided by its composition.
3. Each manufacturer’s official literature — the AllSkin Med brochure, the ZO Skin Health portfolio, the SkinCeuticals and mesoestetic data sheets — which sets the skin type, the timing and the method of use, and the current scientific evidence: published trials and reviews that say what each active really does, how long it takes to show and who it was measured in. When a product’s advertising and the literature disagree, the literature governs.
4. A heuristic that only makes a suggestion where none of the above applies, and it is shown as a suggestion.

The two ranges are set by price within each step, mixing brands: a €52 cleanser is expensive and a €52 serum is cheap. Neither range is made to look cheaper by leaving a step empty: if a product is missing for your skin, one is taken from the other range and we say so.

The routine step by step: mid range and high end

For oily skin with spots and pores as the priority, not pregnant, no surgery planned and for someone starting out with actives. Each product links to its page in the shop.

The essentials — cleansing, moisturising and sun protection, plus the treatment if your priority calls for it — come to €325 in the mid range and €537 in the high end; with every optional item, €651 and €1,052. The optional ones genuinely are: the routine works without them.

The engine’s notes on this routine:

• First cleanse, high end: The first step of the double cleanse (at night): it removes SPF and make-up; then the cleanser.
• Exfoliation, mid range: The physical exfoliant goes in the morning, after the cleanser and before the toner or the pads: that is the brand’s own protocol, and there is no need to repeat it at night. If the skin gets irritated, the exfoliant is the first thing to space out. With your skin type, 7 days a week.
• Exfoliation, high end: The physical exfoliant goes in the morning, after the cleanser and before the toner or the pads: that is the brand’s own protocol, and there is no need to repeat it at night. If the skin gets irritated, the exfoliant is the first thing to space out. With your skin type, 7 days a week.
• Toner or pads, mid range: A toner is not an essential step: the routine works without it. It goes after cleansing and before the rest.
• Toner or pads, high end: A toner is not an essential step: the routine works without it. It goes after cleansing and before the rest.
• Antioxidant, mid range: It goes on before the moisturiser.
• Antioxidant, high end: Your moisturiser already contains antioxidants: this vitamin C is not essential, especially on oily skin. It goes on before the moisturiser.
• Morning extra, mid range: A morning extra for oily skin with very open pores, after the Daily Power Defense.
• Treatment, mid range: Also for reducing the pores and treating any other texture issue.
• The nights without retinol, mid range: For the nights the retinol rests: never the same night.
• The nights without retinol, high end: For the nights the retinol rests: never the same night.
• Sun protection, mid range: If you want it to even out your tone, Mineral Colour SPF50+ Beige (€48) gives coverage and more protection against visible light. There are two shades: Beige for a light skin tone and Bronze for darker skin.
• Sun protection, high end: If you want it to even out your tone, Smart Tone SPF 50 (€79) gives coverage and more protection against visible light.

What the tool flags for this profile:

• First retinoid: two nights a week for 2-4 weeks, then alternate nights. What decides the result is consistency, not concentration.
• Acne-prone skin: adding a vitamin C is not always a good idea. If you want one, Silymarin CF is formulated for oily skin.

According to your skin type

The priority sets the treatment; the skin type changes the base. This is how the mid range works out for each skin:

Each skin type also has its own routine page, with both ranges in full: dry, combination, oily and sensitive skin. And if your priority is a different one: wrinkles and texture, pigmentation and redness.

What you do not need (and why)

• “Deep” cleansers several times a day. A broken barrier, more sebum, more spots.
• Drying spots out with alcohol or toothpaste. It inflames and leaves a mark.
• Stacking three products with acid in them (cleanser, toner, serum): it is over-exfoliating without realising it.

When the routine is not enough

Blackheads, shine and the odd isolated spot respond to a consistent routine within weeks. Repeated inflammatory lesions, cysts and pitted scars do not: they are acne or its aftermath, and they need a diagnosis and treatment — prescription topical, oral or in-clinic. For the marks, the next step is in-clinic peels, linked below.

The next step in the clinic for this priority, which the tool also names: 40% glycolic peel package · 3 sessions, 3 Step Peel chemical peel package · 3 sessions. It is prescribed in the consulting room, with the skin in front of us.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know whether they are spots or acne?

By the inflammation and by what they leave behind. Blackheads, the occasional spot and shine are a routine problem. Red, painful spots, cysts, a lot of them at once or marks that stay are acne, and acne is diagnosed and treated in the consulting room.

Salicylic acid or retinol?

Both, on different nights, if the skin tolerates them. Salicylic acid works on the pore; retinol on texture and renewal. Acids and their legal cap are in exfoliating acids at home.

A moisturiser with oily, spot-prone skin?

Yes, a light one. It is the step this profile most often skips and the one that most improves it. Dehydrated oily skin produces more sebum.

Vitamin C?

Not always. On acne-prone skin some formulations irritate; if you want one, the tool picks one formulated for oily skin and tells you it is optional.

Which sunscreen will not bring me out in spots?

A fluid, non-comedogenic one with a light or matt finish. For your skin the tool prioritises one with niacinamide and offers the tinted alternative.

I am taking or have taken isotretinoin — can I have a peel?

The 2017 systematic review with consensus found no sufficient evidence for delaying superficial peels or fractional laser in anyone taking isotretinoin; caution remains for dermabrasion and fully ablative laser. It is decided in the consulting room, with your history in front of us.

Sources

• Bissett DL, Oblong JE, Berge CA. Niacinamide: A B vitamin that improves aging facial skin appearance. Dermatologic Surgery, 2005;31(7 Pt 2):860-865. PMID 16029679. — Half-face trials with 5% niacinamide for 12 weeks: a reduction in fine lines, hyperpigmented marks, uneven redness and yellowing. ⚠️ Industry-run studies, with a set population and photographic measures: it is cited in support of the active, not of a product.
• Spring LK, Krakowski AC, Alam M, et al. Isotretinoin and Timing of Procedural Interventions: A Systematic Review With Consensus Recommendations. JAMA Dermatology, 2017;153(8):802-809. PMID 28658462. — Systematic review with consensus: there is not sufficient evidence to delay superficial peels, skin surgery, laser hair removal or fractional laser in anyone taking or having taken isotretinoin; caution remains for mechanical dermabrasion and fully ablative laser.
• Kafi R, Kwak HS, Schumacher WE, et al. Improvement of naturally aged skin with vitamin A (retinol). Archives of Dermatology, 2007;143(5):606-612. PMID 17515510. — Randomised, double-blind, arm-against-arm trial with 0.4% retinol up to three times a week for 24 weeks in 36 people with a mean age of 87: significant improvement in fine wrinkles against the vehicle (−1.64 against −0.08). ⚠️ A very elderly population and arm skin, not facial: it is cited for what it demonstrates — that topical retinol induces measurable changes — and with its small print.
• Hughes MCB, Williams GM, Baker P, Green AC. Sunscreen and prevention of skin aging: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2013;158(11):781-790. PMID 23732711. — A 4.5-year randomised trial in 903 adults: skin ageing measured by microtopography was 24% lower in the daily sunscreen group than in the discretionary-use group. It is the only long-term randomised trial supporting a cosmetic against ageing, and that is why sun protection is the step no routine from this tool leaves out.
• Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on cosmetic products. Consolidated text on EUR-Lex. — Article 2.1(a): a cosmetic is for “cleaning, perfuming, changing the appearance, protecting, keeping in good condition or correcting body odours”. No therapeutic action: that is why, when what you describe is a disease, the tool says so and refers you to a doctor — with severe acne it also stays on the safe base. Article 19.1(g): the ingredients list runs in decreasing order of weight above 1%, which is what makes an INCI readable.
• Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013 laying down common criteria for the justification of claims used in relation to cosmetic products. EUR-Lex. — Six criteria: legal compliance, truthfulness, evidential support, honesty, fairness and informed decision-making. It is the yardstick this tool measures what it says about each product against: what the manufacturer declares, with its source, and nothing more.

Book your consultation

If your skin or your situation does not quite fit this page — you have surgery planned, a recent scar, more than one thing worrying you — the skincare routine tool builds the routine from your answers in a minute, in your browser, without asking you for any details. And if you have questions or want to fine-tune it, write to us: the medical team will go through it with you, free and with no obligation.

Clinical confirmation by the surgeon

Dr Enrique Salmerón González

Specialist in Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery
Registration no. 46/4624077

Dr Elena García Vilariño

Specialist in Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery
Registration no. 46/4624503