Are skincare products just a gimmick?

I'm 19, male, and a college student who is beginning to believe that skincare products and acne treatments are just modern day versions of snake oil. I have had a case of acne that has remained incredibly persistent over the course of my adolescence. Like many people in my situation, I have used many remedies over the years ranging form drug store creams and washes to prescriptions form a dermatologist.

My question is, are these products simply doing more harm than good? I know the theories and science behind them are most likely sound, but I suspect that when synthesized into a marketable and stable product and used in the real world, they do not work as designed. I know many people, mostly men who have clear skin and don't have a medicine cabinet full of crap like i do. What are your experiences, what do you suggest, o' friendly stranger of the internet?