Pre-teens Basic Skin Care

Cetaphil (regular if he has normal skin, gel if he has oily skin), decent sunscreen if you can get him to use it and maybe a Paula's Choice exfolian,t such as the regular strength Clear, at some point to help ward off acne. I wouldn't do a whole lot at this age unless he is having problems with breakouts. If he is then I would look into the Paula's Choice Clear line or the revamped Proactiv+.

Do you recommend moisturizer after the cleanser?

Does he have acne? If not I would just use a good cleanser such as the Cetaphil the other poster recommended. I don't think anything else is needed at this age. If he has acne I would take him to a dermatologist.

On 7/22/2014 balogna said:

Do you recommend moisturizer after the cleanser?

I think that depends on his skin type. For example, my son who is 16 years old has had an eruption of acne over the last several months. He uses a cleanser, toner/treatment and a RX cream. Usually he does not need a moisturizer but occasionally he gets a bit flaky and needs a mild, oil free moisturizer in areas. For your son, if he is having no specific problems and you just want to get hims started taking care of his skin, I think basically washing his face twice a day with a mild cleanser and using a sunscreen would be his best bet until problems arise as they tend to do so often in teens. If he never has any acne issues then he will be doing well! BTW, Paula's Choice has a "men's" line that has a sunscreen and I am going to try and get my son to use it. The packaging looks "cooler" and because it says it is for men he will probably be more likely to use it than something that says Neutrogena or whatever, lol.

My kids are now 27 and 19, but they had breakouts at your son's age. I dutifully took them to a dermatologist-against my better judgement. They had common acne vulgaris-and it wasn't even that bad for crying out loud-and I knew their cases were not bad enough to warrant prescriptions....but their attitude was that if I did not take them to a dermatologist -like their friends-i was being neglectful. SO off we went and in both cases, I walked out of the dermatologist with Cetaphil and OTC benzoyl peroxide.....kids, kids, kids....excuse me while I go to apply Retin A to the wrinkles they helped me to acquire.....

Poodlepet

I purchase Cetaphil for my nephew.

I liked the Neutrogena line when I was a teenager, then the Clinique line.

Fourteen isn't a pre-teen, fourteen is an actual teenager.

There is another thread running currently on the boards that suggest maybe the original blue Dawn dish liquid might be helpful. Just fyi--maybe worth trying.