It's an equal opportunity problem: It happens to men and women, teenaged or mature, not just on the face but neck, back, even arms and legs. It's largely genetic, but can be aggravated by stress, hormones and habits.

It happens like this: Sebum, the natural oil produced by your body, travels along hair follicles to the skin's surface, picking up skin cells along the way. The sebum and cells clog pores helping bacteria grow -- leading to whiteheads and blackheads. Larger bumps and pimples can be the result of your body trying to clear the blocked pores, inflaming the surrounding areas.

It's solved like this: Stop it before it starts. An acne-conscious skin regimen - combined with a healthy life style - is the simplest way to healthy looking skin.

4 steps to clearer skin in 4 weeks

Our daily regimen treats the blemishes you have now-and helps stop new breakouts in their tracks. The four plant-infused formulas-with tamanu, amla, boswellia and saw palmetto-are blemish-tough but skin-gentle, and eliminate obstacles to healthy looking skin.

Dirty skin won't give you acne, but over aggressive cleansing can aggravate it. Wash with a gentle cleanser, just twice a day-avoid harsh exfoliators like apricot pits or walnut shells, which can irritate skin.

Picking makes it worse. So does squeezing and even rubbing. It can force bacteria deeper into the skin, and it increases the risk that your acne will leave scars.

Spot treatments alone only treat the symptom, not the problem. One blemish can take 8 weeks to run its course; spot treatments are targeting only the most obvious stage. Remember: just because your blemish is gone doesn't mean your acne is. To tackle the real problem, catch it before it starts, with a preventative skin care system.

Diet and stress don't cause acne. Well, yes and no. There's no scientific link between specific foods and acne. Nor does stress, in and of itself, make it happen; it's how you handle stress. But it's commonly believed that excess stress and unhealthy food affects the skin, so find the balance that's right for you.

Getting a lot of sun won't help your acne. It may seem that it can, since blemishes may look less obvious when you have a tan. But in fact, you're probably adding to the problem: after excess sun, you shed skin, which clogs pores; acne scars and discolorations actually get darker in the sun; and, of course, you always run the risk of skin damage. Wear SPF 15 sun protection (UVA & UVB)-period.