I live thousands of miles away from my family, so I’ve come to lean on Amazon Prime as a simple way to bridge the distance between us. Thanks to Amazon’s 2-day shipping powers, it’s easier than ever to send a gift that says, “Hey! I’m thinking of you,” without having to run to the post office. A few months ago, I sent my mom a jar of CeraVe Psoriasis Moisturizing Cream, just because.

My fiance has a pretty big crop of blackheads on his nose. One day I bought him a pack of Biore blackhead strips as a joke, but he actually ended up liking them. It feels detoxifying to peel off the strip and see a bunch of black stuff on the strip, meaning that it’s no longer hanging out in your pores. During our last vacation in Japan, we bought the Japanese version of the Biore blackhead strips, just to compare them with the ones we usually get.

If you have acne, you’ve probably heard about the Stridex pads I’m writing about today. These pads are easy to use, pretty cheap, and they claim to be “easy on skin, tough on acne.” This last point is easier said than done. Although acne is a serious problem, acne treatments can sometimes do more harm than good. The FDA has received a number of complaints from consumers who experienced allergic reactions and/or irritation in response to acne products that included benzoyl…