I' d start by looking at your diet and boosting levels of fresh fruit, vegetables and wholegrains (brown rice, rye bread and wholemeal pasta, for instance). Eat oily fish (such as organically farmed or wild salmon, sardines, mackerel and occasionally fresh but not tinned tuna), as the omega-3 fats they contain, far from exacerbating oily skin, keep the skin smooth and your hormones in balance. Cut back on refined or processed foods and sugar, fizzy drinks and alcohol, coffee and fried or fatty foods, and drink 1.5 to 2 litres of pure water each day.

Take regular exercise and think about ways of managing your stress if you feel overburdened: yoga and other calming exercise, meditation or simply chilling out are all useful. Also, supplement your diet with a good multivitamin and mineral and take a course of probiotics that help to restore a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut. Topically, tea tree oil, an extract from the Australian plant Melaleuca alternifolia, has remarkable antibacterial properties, so try dabbing this on any spots.