From puberty to the fully developed frontal lobe years, I’ve struggled with acne-prone skin. Mandelic acid solved what years of trial and error of AHAs, BHAs, spot treatments, and facials seemingly couldn’t—consistently clearer skin. Celebrity aesthetician Sofie Pavitt (a.k.a, the acne whisperer) has long sung the praises of this gentle yet effective ingredient for clearing breakouts, even launching her own serum—which I love above all others. The thing about mandelic acid is that you get the same zit zapping, congestion clearing, exfoliating results without any of the irritation—which is particularly why she developed her very own serum.

“Mandelic acid is my holy grail ingredient for acne. A lot of acne brands steer towards salicylic because it’s an acne monographed ingredient by the FDA

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