It never fails and it's the Murphy's law of acne. Anytime you have an important upcoming event - a much-anticipated date, a party, wedding or gathering in which you want to look your absolute best, you will suffer a wretched break out a day or two before, giving you little time to do anything other than try to cover the empire state building that's sitting on your face.

The best way to treat acne fast is to prevent acne in the first place. Luckily, many preventative acne treatments also greatly help diminish or treat acne you already have.

Exfoliation Both Prevents Acne And Treats Acne Fast: One of the easiest and cheapest ways to clear your skin and keep it clear is by exfoliating it on a regular basis. Regular exfoliation based on skin type is a great way to both prevent and treat acne. Exfoliation means getting rid of the dead, often dull-looking, built up outer layer of skin skills. Doing this will unveil a new, healthy layer of new skin. Unfortunately, the older we get, the slower our skin exfoliates itself on it's own. This can lead to clogging and build up (which leads to breakouts, whiteheads, and wrinkles), so we have to take the matter into our own hands and turn over the dead skin.

Also, some people are more genetically prone to a slower skin turnover which causes blocked pores and therefore hereditary acne. Folks in this category can GREATLY benefit from speeding up the exfoliating process, unblocking pores and forcing the skin to renew itself quickly.

There are micro fiber cloths that are made just for this purpose which exfoliate wonderfully with out any cleanser or irritants whatsoever. However, it's important to consider your skin type to determine the best exfoliation schedule for you.

Oily skin Exfoliation: Oily skin an be exfoliated the most often without irritation. However, most experts only recommend heavy exfoliating three times per week. Anymore could over reactive your sebaceous glands and cause even more oil. A good exfoliation for oily skin are clay masks or products that contain salicylic acid. See a link for these items at the end of this article.

Sensitive Skin Exfoliation: If you have sensitive skin, you should only exfoliate once per week with a very gentle, natural exfolliant like oatmeal. Sensitive skin will often react negatively to chemicals. Oatmeal naturally softens skin, exfoliates it, and relieves any inflammation.

Dry Skin Exfoliation: Believe it or not, dry skin is the skin type that is most in need of exfoliation because dry skin is lacking in oil production and regular exfoliation will encourage oil production. Dry skin types can exfoliate with stronger ingredients like glycolic acid and scrubs with polyurethane and silicon beads. Enzymes are also good to treat dry patches. For a link to such products, see the end of this article.

Acne Prone Skin: If you have acne prone skin, you may need to pull out all of the exfoliation stops -- combining several exfoliates like salicylic acid, clay masks or even gentle peels. Keep a journal and take note of how your skin feels and acts after each exfoliation - so you can come up with an effective regimen that best controls oil and acne.

For more information about effective exfoliation and corresponding products, click here.

Source: www.articlealley.com