Salicylic acid is great for sudden, short-term acne break outs, but will actually cause more acne if used long-term because its a chemical exfoliant that eats away at your skin barrier over time, letting in MORE acne-causing bacteria, dust, and dirt. Reach for salicylic acid if you have occasional break outs due to stress or sudden environmental changes, but not if you have chronic acne that needs long-term treatment.
Witch hazel is great for long-term acne treatment on your body for non-sensitive skin, but not on your face. Only use witch hazel on your face if you are only going to do it short-term. And do not use witch hazel if your skin is sensitive or you have a skin condition. It's a very astringent ingredient, so its normal to feel slight discomfort when you first start using it. If its painful though, wash off and discontinue use.
If you want an ingredient with a similar strength to witch hazel that you can use regularly on your face, look at tea tree oil cleansers. These are also good if you have facial hair to get rid of the oil build up that facial hair can fester
Benzoyl peroxide is a fantastic spot treatment and if you have bacterial acne, a godsend. Benzoyl peroxide is what I recommended the most for acne when I worked in skincare. Good for all skin types, and effective against every type of acne except cystic and fungal. When in doubt, always choose benzoyl peroxide-senpai <3
If you have fungal acne, it will be stubbornly resistant to basically every OTC acne treatment because almost EVERY OTC acne treatment is for bacterial or hormonal acne. To tell this type apart, it can look a lot like cystic acne, with chronic break outs that last for years and never seem to subside or move from where they are. But fungal acne isn't painful like cystic acne is: it's itchy and it likes to break open and bleed without you even noticing it until you take off your white shirt and theres blood spots on it. But luckily you are not without hope if you can't get a dermatologist: you need to pick up a bar of sulfur soap to wash the area with instead of regular bar soap, and a tube of athlete's foot cream. Sulfur kills most fungi species and the cream will act as an anti-fungal moisturizer. Fungal acne is the one of the most stubborn and long-term types of acne (ask me how I know!!) so you HAVE to keep at it, consistently, every day. But you will see improvement over time, even if its a lot longer than other types of acne
Cystic acne often means you need a doctor. I know that's easier said than done for a lot of people, but OTC skincare can do very little to quell cystic acne long-term. Medication is the most effective treatment for cystic acne, and I am not qualified to give medical advice.
With all types of chronic acne, especially if it's body acne, you can help treatment along if you wear clean clothes made of breathable fabrics like 100% cotton, you shower daily especially if you're outside sweating in the summer heat or you work a job with lots of physical activity, and you clean and change your bedsheets on a regular basis. Shower and change after your main activity of the day so that you sleep with a clean body in clean clothes too, because nothing is worse for chronic acne than having sweat and dirt build up, and then going to sleep with it still on your skin. You'll feel better about yourself as well if you look after your personal hygiene and wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and clean, and you need and deserve that feeling when chronic acne can make you feel self-conscious.