A teenager's skin needs less than the bathroom shelf suggests. Three steps are enough: a gentle cleanser morning and evening, a light moisturiser, and sunscreen every morning. If skin is prone to the odd blemish, a few gentler, targeted choices can sit inside the same routine without making it longer. Below we explain each step, for the teenager who will use it and the parent who may be helping to choose, with the cleansers, moisturisers and sunscreens we would pick for young, oily or combination skin.
Why Keep It Simple?
The teenage years often bring more oil, especially across the forehead, nose and chin, and with it shine and the occasional blemish. The instinct is to answer with stronger products, and more of them. Usually the opposite helps. Skin that is scrubbed, stripped and layered with several active formulas at once tends to feel tight and uncomfortable, and it becomes hard to tell what is working.
A short routine is also one that gets done. Two minutes in the morning and two in the evening is realistic on a school day. If you are a parent, the most useful thing may be to agree the three steps together, let your teenager choose the textures they like, and leave the rest to them.
Step One: A Gentle Cleanser
Cleansing lifts away the day's oil, sweat and sunscreen without taking everything else with it. Use lukewarm water, a small amount of cleanser, and fingertips rather than a cloth or brush. Massage for about thirty seconds, rinse well and pat dry with a clean towel. Morning and evening is plenty; washing more often rarely makes skin less oily, and can leave it feeling tight.
Isdin's Acniben Purifying Cleanser Foam is made for teen skin and for use morning and evening, with zincamide and lactic acid in a light foam from a pump bottle. Cerave's Foaming Cleanser is a gel for normal to oily skin with three ceramides, niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, created with dermatologists. La Roche-Posay's Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel is a pH 5.5 foaming gel for oily, sensitive skin. Clinique's Liquid Facial Soap Oily Skin Formula is designed for combination to oily skin, and its pump bottle makes the amount easy to judge.
- Acniben Purifying Cleanser Foam
- Foaming Cleanser
- Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel Facial Cleanser
- Liquid Facial Soap Oily Skin Formula Facial Cleanser
Step Two: A Light Moisturiser
Oily skin still needs moisture. Without it, skin can feel tight after cleansing; a light moisturiser keeps it comfortable through the day. For young skin, the answer is texture: a gel, a gel cream or a fluid rather than a rich cream. Smooth a small amount over the face after cleansing, morning and evening, and give it a minute to absorb before sunscreen.
Clarins' Hydra-Essentiel [HA²] Mattifying Thirst-Quenching Gel is a light gel for normal to combination skin, with a matte finish that sits easily under sunscreen. Avène's Cleanance Matifying Aqua-Gel is a featherlight gel cream that helps reduce shine while keeping skin comfortably hydrated. Sensilis' Hydra Essence Sorbet Gel is made for combination skin, with hyaluronic acid in a sorbet-like gel, and is dermatologically tested on sensitive skin. Estée Lauder's DayWear Matte Oil-Control Anti-Oxidant Moisture Gel Creme is a gel creme for oily skin with a fresh, matte finish.
- Hydra-Essentiel [HA²] Mattifying Thirst-Quenching Gel
- Cleanance Matifying Aqua-Gel Face Moisturiser
- Hydra Essence Sorbet Gel Face Moisturiser
- DayWear Matte Oil-Control Anti-Oxidant Moisture Gel Creme
Step Three: Sunscreen Every Morning
Sunscreen is the step most worth making a habit early. It belongs on the face every morning, cloudy days included, as the last step after moisturiser. Use a generous amount, roughly two finger lengths for the face and neck, and reapply through the day when outdoors, and after sport, swimming or towelling. Teenagers who dislike sunscreen usually dislike the feel, so a light, dry-touch or matte formula often settles the question.
Vichy's Capital Soleil SPF 50+ Mattifying 3-in-1 Daily Shine Control Care pairs very high protection with green clay and a dry-touch matte finish. A-derma's Rhealba SPF 50+ Mattifying Fluid is a light fluid with very high UVB and UVA protection and a dry-touch texture. Eucerin's Oil Control Dry Touch Sun Gel-Cream offers SPF 50+ for oily skin with imperfections, in an ultra-light gel-cream that wears comfortably under make-up. Cetaphil's Pro Oil Control Moisturising SPF 30 is designed for acne-prone, sensitive skin, with soothing zinc technology in a pump bottle.
- Capital Soleil SPF 50+ Mattifying 3-in-1 Daily Shine Control Care Sunscreen
- Rhealba SPF 50+ Mattifying Fluid Sunscreen
- Sun Protection 50+ Oil Control Advanced Spectral Technology Dry Touch Sun Gel-Cream
- Pro Oil Control Moisturising SPF 30 Sunscreen
A Gentle Option for Blemish-Prone Skin
If blemishes come and go, the routine stays the same; one or two of its products can simply be chosen with that skin in mind. Swap in a cleanser, a moisturiser or a sunscreen made for blemish-prone skin, make one change at a time, and give each a few weeks before judging it. Formulas with acids, such as lactic or salicylic acid, are best introduced slowly: patch test first, start once a day, and keep up the sunscreen.
Isdin's Acniben gel cream, from its Teen Skin range, is a lightweight gel cream with zincamide and lactic acid, made for oily, blemish-prone teen skin and applied to clean, dry skin. Payot's Teens Dream Morning Mask is a single-use fabric mask for teen skin with tea tree extract, an occasional step rather than a daily one. Avène's Cleanance Cleansing Gel is a light daily cleanser for oily, blemish-prone skin that helps purify and mattify. Svr Laboratoire Dermatologique's Sebiaclear SPF50+ Mattifying Sunscreen combines very high protection with 4% niacinamide, for oily skin prone to blemishes.
- Acniben Shine & Pimples Control Gel Cream
- Teens Dream Morning Mask Purifying And Anti-Spot Face Mask
- Cleanance Cleansing Gel
- Sebiaclear SPF50+ Mattifying Anti-Blemish Sunscreen
For more on the ingredients named here, our guides to niacinamide and to AHA and BHA exfoliating acids explain what each one does and how to use it.
A Few Habits That Help
- Leave blemishes alone. Picking and squeezing tend to leave marks that last longer than the blemish.
- Wash pillowcases and face towels often, and keep one towel just for the face.
- Cleanse after sport, rather than leaving sweat and sunscreen on the skin.
- Wipe phone screens now and then; they rest against the cheek for hours.
- Introduce one new product at a time, so you can see how skin responds.
- Keep hair products away from the forehead and hairline where you can.
The Routine at a Glance
- Morning: gentle cleanser, light moisturiser, sunscreen.
- Evening: gentle cleanser, light moisturiser.
- If skin is blemish-prone: choose one step made for it, and add any acid formula slowly.
- Now and then: a purifying mask, if it suits.
When to Ask for Advice
Most teenage skin settles with a calm routine and a little patience. For persistent breakouts, ask a pharmacist or doctor. The same applies if skin is sore or very red, or does not settle after a change of product. There is nothing embarrassing about asking, and it is often the quickest way back to skin that feels comfortable.
If you begin with only one thing, make it sunscreen every morning: it is the habit that will serve skin for years to come.
