When I was 13 the pimples started kicking in for me and I handled the situation extremely poorly. It had drastic effects on my social life. That was 10 years ago, and with the exception of a few months here and there, I've had acne since then. It's taken me a long time to accept this situation. When I was young I of course tried Proactive, and was immensely disappointed. I became disdainful of burning, drying acne medications, which, in my experience didn't work. I'm not surprised to hear the recommendation to only wash your face twice a day; since my early teenage years I've developed the habit of washing my face five times a day, absolute minimum. I've also tried apple vinegar, and still prefer it to soap, but it doesn't seem to have much of an effect on my acne. The word on the internet is that acne is strongly tied to diet; indeed, you seldom see people in third world countries having acne like I did. So this is kind of the only thing I haven't tried yet, not consistently for a sustained period of time; and although it requires a pretty significant lifestyle overhaul, I've got to get busy and try it. I'm so tired of having acne.
I change my pillowcases every 2 days. They aren't that hard to wash, so it doesn't really add much to my laundry. It worked for me. Also reducing oil in their diet has worked for some people I know. But I haven't personally tried it so I can't vouch for it.
