What is The Most Beneficial Skin Care Routine For Acne Prone Skin?

I have struggled with acne and oily skin since my very early teens, but in the last year or so I managed to improve my skin drastically. I still get some black-heads and spots, but not nearly as much as I used to. I’ll explain you my personal skincare routine, but remember that this works for me and may not work for you.

Mornings:

Tone my face with the Body Shop Tea Tree Toner. Tea tree disinfects the skin and reduces inflammation. The toner will also get rid of the dirt collected on my face overnight and contains mattifying particles to prevent me from getting oily throughout the day.
Hydrate with The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5. This hyaluronic acid has different molecule sizes, so it will penetrate different layers of the skin. Hyaluronic acid attracts water, so it hydrates in a non-greesy, non-pore clogging way. Dehydrated skin tends to over-produce oils to compensate for the lack of moisture, so hydration is key!
The Ordinary Niacinimide 10% + Zinc 1% and The Ordinary Abscorbyl Glucoside Solution 12%. I mix a couple of drops of these in my hand and than pat the mixture on my face. Niacinimide is a vitamin B derivative and works wonders against blemishes and large pores and vitamin C evens out skin tone, so goodbye acne scars!
Moisturize with the Garnier Skinactive Aloe Water Jelly. This is a gel-like moisturizer. It contains aloe vera and hyaluronic acid. (This might be hyaluronic acid overkill, but I like to be thorough. You can skip the hyaluronic acid serum, if you want.) I like this moisturizer, because it also doubles as primer for my makeup since it’s a bit sticky after application.

Evenings:

Cleanse using The Body Shop Tea Tree Facial Wash. This cleanser also contains tea tree oil and deep cleanses your skin, getting rid of all the dirt collected in your pores. The body shop also has a foaming tea tree cleaser, but in my experience, foaming cleanser tend to everly dehydrate the skin.
Tone using The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution. This is a chemical exfoliant. It gets rid of the last bit of the dirt the cleanser couldn’t and very gently exfoliates the skin. Chemical exfoliants can sound scary, but are, in fact, much gentler than physcial exfoliants such as sugar scrubs.
I reapply the hyaluronic acid serum and the niacinamide serum from The Ordinary that I used in the morning. I just love what they do for my skin and they’re very inexpensive, so I like to give my skin some more.
Moisturize. I haven’t found a night-moisturizer that I love yet. Most tend to be overly greesy and/or clog my pores, so most of the time I’ll just use the same one as I used in the morning or test out a new one.
Put some drops of The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold-pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil my hand and pat it on my face. (If you rub, it will get weird and clumpy because of the moisturizer and serums underneath.) Rose hip seed oil is an antioxidant for the skin, so it prevents black-heads, but it also signals to the skin that no excess oil production is needed, making my pores appear smaller and my skin less oily. For some people this oil can cause congestion, so beware!
Lastly, I spot-treat using tea tree oil. I just use some generic brand from my local pharmacy. I put a drop on my spots or congested areas and pat it in with my ring finger.
About 2–3 nights a week I like to use The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion. Retinoid is a vitamin A derivative and work as an anti-aging serum by boosting collagen production, but also prevents break-outs and acne scarring by increasing cell-turnover in your skin. However, retinoids can cause irritation and inflammation (that’s way I use it sparingly and slowly increase the frequency). On nights I use retinoids I’ll also use a different toner, since the glyconlic acid combined with the retinoid can be too much for my skin. When I need a gentle toner (when using retinoids or on days my skin feels dryer) I tend to go for Hydrating Rose Toner. This is a hydrating toner for sensitive skin.
By all means, do not go out, buy all these products and slather them on your face. When building a new skincare routine it’s important to do this overtime, so you know the effect of each individual product on your skin. I would suggest starting with finding a good cleanser, toner and moisturizer first and then slowly add some serums.