Objective To investigate the clinical effect and safety of Chinese medicinal liniment pourmask and smearing in the treatment of acne. Methods Two-hundred and nine cases of acne were divided into two groups: treatment group (106 cases) was treated with Chinese medicinal liniment pourmask and smearing for 1 to 4 weeks, and control group was treated with gypsum fibrosum pourmask combining chloramphenicol and salicyic acid tincture for 1 to 4 weeks. Results At 8th week the cure rate, effective rate and improved rate in the treatment group and control group were 70.75 %, 29.25 %, 0 % and 34.95 %, 42.72 %, and 22.33 % respectively. Side effects were not found in the treatment group. Ten cases (9.71 %) in control group had contact dermatitis. Conclusion Chinese medicinal liniment pourmask and smearing have a good efficacy and safety in the treatment of acne.