Over the past few months, something unpleasant has happened to me. You see, for as long as I can remember, I’ve had pretty great skin. Sure, I’d get the occasional teenage breakout, the random hormonal pimple, but by and large I had clear, even-toned skin. I could even get lazy and not wash my face for a few nights without many consequences. But since my last birthday, I’ve been battling breakouts that I’ve never had to contend with before. Tiny little bumps showed up on my forehead; blemishes and pimples dotted my cheeks and chin.

Naturally, being a beauty blogger and wanting my pretty skin back, I’ve been testing and trying every possible solution I can get my hands on: face washes, face masks, moisturizers, serums. And I am very happy to report that I have stumbled upon a skincare regimen that has eradicated the bumps and demolished the blemishes. I may no longer be able to skip a nightly cleansing, but at least I’ve got my face back.

The products:

Murad Energizing Pomegranate Cleanser: This foamy face wash cleanses and tones skin and is ideal for gals with combination skin, because it isn’t overly drying. Simply washing with this cleanser noticeably reduced my forehead bumps almost instantly. Tip: I find I get a better result when I use two pumps of the cleanser rather than just one.

Osmia Organics Spot Treatment: I credit this tiny little power player with the most drastic improvement in my skin. Made from eight different organic oils, including lavender, lemon and evening primrose, it erases blemishes and zaps zits basically overnight. I dab it on all my trouble spots before bed – I’ve used it nightly since it arrived at my house. After my second use the size and redness of my blemishes were both drastically reduced. After one week my skin was virtually blemish-free! I still use it nightly on any new little spots that pop up, and as a preventative measure on my forehead. So far, so good!

Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturizer: This is an old favorite that I’ve blogged about before. I returned to it recently when I realized that all of my nighttime moisturizers were too thick and heavy for my new, oiler complexion, especially now that summer has arrived. This is such a great summertime moisturizer – it provides nice light moisture, but it’s oil-free and contains salicylic acid which helps keep oil at bay and treat pimples. Another bonus: since switching to this my pores are basically invisible.