Hello Screepy
Beyond chemical peel (which I haven't tried and don't intend to), I find aspirin facemasks really good for improving skintone - dry/dead skin (as well as looking dull, this causes blockages and comedones) as well as getting rid of the redness that often accompanies acne scars.
Aspirin contains salicyclic acid. You can buy a creams containing salicyclic acid to do the same job, but these cost rather a lot of money! If you buy aspirin in Poundland, Lidl or Superdrug you get the same for less - and I actually find Aspirin powder better than the expensive creams as well.
So you just crush up a sheet of aspirin pills as finely as possible, then mix the powder with a tiny (TINY) bit of water, then apply it to your face and let it dry, then rinse off (you can leave it as long as you like, but it does start flaking off on its own!). Top tip: Avoid putting it around your nostrils or on directly beneath your nose - otherwise as it dries, it makes you sneeze!
To make it:
I put about 8 aspirin pills onto a sheet of A4 paper, fold the paper over - so the pills are covered by it.
Roll a rolling pin (or a bottle) over the pills quite a few times, pressing down hard to crush and powder the pills.
Finally put the powder in a pestle and mortar and keep swilling and crushing until the powder is as fine as it'll go. (if you don't have a pestle and mortar, you can use the back of a teaspoon to press down all over the powder.
Put the powder in a small dish and add a few drops of hot water (I use a teaspoon with a few drops of water on, so I can't accidentally add too much) - you want just enough water to get the powder wet enough to stay on your face, but not so much water that it's runny. Once it's applied, it takes about 5-10 mins to dry. I like to do this in the bath and tend to leave it on about 20 mins.
You can do it a few times a week. When I started doing it, I got a lot of unsolicited comments from friends and family on how good my skin looked. It's also great for blackheads but hopefully you don't suffer from these.
If you search it, you'll see this is a popular mask! However, some people mix the aspirin with yoghurt (for the added benefit of lactic acid) - I tried that and it gave me cystic acne! So if you give it a go, please do avoid any advice to use yoghurt just in case you are similarly affected.
In case anyone still suffering from acne might be reading; I wish I had known about this mask when I was young - then I wouldn't have any scars! Aspirin mask removes the dead skin and surface blockages that trap sebum beneath the skin to cause spots in the first place. It's way better than biactol - and without the drying and harshness.