When Justin Bieber was snapped in Los Angeles in November, his face dotted with Starface's Tik-Tokfamous hydrocolloid zit stickers, it proved two things. One: how far pimple positivity has come. Two: that these days we're bamboozled for choice when it comes to acne treatments. Benzoyl peroxide may be the OG, but now you can add paints, patches, chemical peels, topical retinoids, oral medications, blue-light devices and derma rollers to the DIY list.
The acne medication market (which includes what you're buying over the counter and prescriptions from doctors) was valued at more than $15 billion in 2021 and that's expected to increase to more than $21 billion by 2030.
What's driving growth is demand. Where once acne was a condition you left behind in your late teens, experts now believe adult-onset acne (of the stress and hormonal variety) is also common. “Derms are saying they're seeing more [cases],
