Hello. Thank you for writing to us You seem to have developed irritation to products that you were prescribed. The face wash you were using contains salicylic acid. Though it is useful for acne but it may cause dryness as well as irritation. The cream too contains ingredients like hydroquinone, tretinoin which are irritants. It must have been given for dark spots of acne. It is not meant for active acne. I suggest you to discontinue with these products for the time being and let irritation subside. You may use a gentle cleanser for face wash e.g cetaphil cleansing lotion Or just plain water. I would also suggest you to apply an OTC topical steroid e.g cortisone cream, twice daily for the next 3-5 days. Topical steroids are anti-inflammatory and would take care of the redness and irritation. Once your skin returns back to normal you may restart the cream meant for dark spots. Use it once daily at night, only for dark spots, not on active acne. Use it for just 2 hours once daily and wash it off with cetaphil. You may gradually increase the time it is kept on skin, as tolerance develops. For acne I would suggest you to use topical clindamycin gel twice daily along with Oral doxycycline, which may be continued for inflammatory acne. You may use a gentle cleanser for face wash e.g cetaphil cleansing lotion. Visit your dermatologist for a follow up. Regards