Best Cruelty Free Products for Acne

I know that trying new skincare products should be fun and a splurge, but when you have acne or sensitive skin, it's the worst. You never know what is going to break you out, and it's never fun wasting money on a product you use for 3 days and then are left with a face full of fresh acne. Believe me, I've been there too many times to count. So here's my two cent as someone who has 

If you saw my acne journey post you know I’ve been struggling with adult acne for the past 8 months or so. When I went to the dermatologist, I bought the Cetaphil she recommended, and I bought it a  couple times before making the decision that I needed to give another cruelty free brand a chance. When I started getting really bad breakouts I had just switched to Say Yes to Tomatoes face line. I don’t believe there is any correlation between using those products and me breaking out, because my brother had the same issues with his skin, so I'm assuming it's genetics. That being said, I was a little nervous to switch after my skin had gotten a little better. After doing a little research I decided to try Alba Botanica's Good and Clean Daily, it had good reviews and I liked their other products so I decided to give it a go. This face wash is a little bit drying for me (I think anything would be considering I use Retin-A and had dry skin before), but I love the way it makes my skin feel. I only use it once a day but make sure to follow with a good moisturizer but I will definitely be purchasing this again.

I rotate between this as well as using Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap. This kind of seems expensive, but a little goes an extremely long way and I use this as body soap. I had read a ton of reviews online and everyone talked about how this left their skin feeling squeaky clean, and I can attest to this. Same as the product mentioned before this does leave my skin a little dry, but at this point I think anything will so I follow up with the moisturizer listed below. The nice thing about this product is if you don't like using it on your skin, you can use it for cleaning! You can look up all the ways people use this stuff, it's really interesting

Face Lotion

As mentioned above and my acne post, I use a Retin-A cream, therefore a good moisturizer is a must in my daily life. I’ve tried a few different moisturizers and I would definitely recommend staying away from any face moisturizer that has coconut oil in it. A lot of the more natural products seem to use it and I read a few articles of people swearing by it, but I hate the feeling of it on my skin and it didn’t help the dryness. I have also read articles saying that it clogs your pores, which is not what you want to do when you’re trying to clear your acne, and it isn’t very hydrating. After giving up on the moisturizer I had about a month ago, I set out to the stores to find a cruelty free moisturizer with no coconut oil in it, unfortunately most had coconut oil and salicylic acid (again, my face is so dry and I don’t want to risk drying it out anymore). Since I loved Alba Botanica's other products so much, I decided to try their oil free face moisturizer. This is an absolute game changer if you have dry skin like me, it feels great going on your skin and sinks in nicely. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a cruelty free moisturizer that is oil-free, which is hard to come by in my opinion.Seriously, if you buy one thing from this list, this is what you need to buy. I've been out for 3 days and my skin is peeling and itchy, and I really want my amazon order to come in. *Update, it came in and I feel like my skin is glowing again, I'm absolutely in love with this product.


Alright guys, those are my favorite cruelty free products that I use for acne. I know how hard it is to switch over skin care products, because finding ones that work with your skin can be incredibly difficult. Let me know if you have any suggestions or if you've tried any of these products!