oh here i have a major question here.. In 47 days (or about 7 weeks) i am going to costa rica for 2 and a half weeks and differin says your face will get really sensitive to sunlight.. well im not to worried about that im just worried about if i get a sunburn on my face even if i load the sunscreen on i wont be able to use differin.. my question is will i be screwed if i didnt use it the whole time im gone due to sunburns? Will my acne get worse again if i dont use it the the whole time im gone? im thinking my acne will pretty much be cleared up by the time i leave tho so if my face is clear i would still want to use differin to prevent it from coming back! HELP what should i do.

Ok, I'm new here, just found the website back in october and I just made this account now. I have had acne sinse I was 14, it gradually got worse and worse and I have tried quite a few over-the-counter and prescription medications. I'm now 19 (male). In October '04 I bought Proactiv, and it kind of worked but I think it did more harm than anything. Sinse 14 I had always had kind of oily skin, but it wasn't too horrible. My dad has somewhat oily skin so I thin thats where I get it from, but his isn't NEARLY as bad as mine. Even back to before I started using Proactiv, my skin wasn't this oily. I also am a victom of sensitive skin. Here's what I have been using:
-Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash (I just switched to this, I had been using the Basis Sensitive Skin Bar because the bar had been leaving my skin overdry and left sort of a white residue in my pores??)
-Neutrogena On-the-Spot Acne Treatment
-Neutrogena Moisture Oil Free Formula, Combination Skin (I had been using the SPF15 one, but it was making my skin EVEN more greasy)

And thats it, I just wash in the morning and night, follow with 1.5 finger lengths of the BP, then moisturize with 2 pumps. Same for both time of the day.

My skin is pretty clear from actual red pimples (postules), but its everything else thats bugging me. I have quite a few whiteheads and blackheads. The pores on my skin seem to be getting bigger and bigger. First it was just the skin on my upper cheeks, now its on my forehead and the rest of my cheeks too (the big pores).

For maybe an hour my skin will look decent, even though its shiny. But then it will start to get oily, very very oily. It doesnt even matter it I blot it or not, cause it comes right back within minutes! I thought that maybe that combo skin lotion would help, but nope. Not really any difference at all.

I have been trying to read up the last few nights on these boards to try and find something that might help me out. I've spent hours and hours and its like everything contradicts each other. I don't know what to use or try. I bought some Alpha Hydrox enriched lotion cause I read that helped one person. But then I will have to stop using the BP, which i also read helps with oily skin, but then I read it does the opposite?? And then my pimples will come back too right? I want my skin to look healthy, and right now it IS NOT. I also read about a Jobobo (sp?) oil or EVOO? And what about using I think it was Vitamin B5? And what about just stopping everything and washing with water so my body can heal naturally? I'm so confiused on what to actually use. I want my skin to look, and BE healthy (and acne free ). I don't want to regret anything 10 years down the road.

As far as my habits- they aren't the best. I don't drink enough water, not nearly enough actually. Especially for living in Arizona and working on new construction. On average I only get about 4-5 hours of sleep every night. I eat fast food quite a bit and I drink a decent amount of milk but nothing crazy, maybe one or two glasses a day. But I thought those things related only to acne-which I guess I'm ok with. I just REALLY don;t want this horribly oily but looks horribly dry/unhealthy skin. WHAT CAN I DO?!!?

Thanks for reading the whole thing if you got this far, and THANK GOD if you can help me. It even took me some balls to post this topic, i'm horribly self-conscious. I can post a pic if it would help.

I started a regimen as follows due to MILD acne

Shower at night using spectrogel (after washing hair)
get out right after
pat dry
use oil of olay (oilfree) moisterizer all over face
then sleep

thats it.. I used to use nothing at all and would be pretty clear


then I started to break out a bit more so I went to a drugstore and asked the beautician or whatever and she said Spectro was good but use a diff moisturizer.. im like ok, anything else? and shes like.. Hey you should try these Vichy products, they are a bit expensive but work very well. And she gives me the facewash and moisturizer.. she said id love it so much id come back for the toner, exfoliant and whatnot.. Well they sure make my face feel and SMELL good but im breaking out MORE with fat whiteheads and whatnot and I havent done that since highschool! (im 24). one thing im dreading is these zits on my CHEEKS which I never got before! those scar like a b*tch. and my face just feels bumpy and I see red spots everywhere.. Also its very greasy during the day.. I really don't know what to do, my acne isnt BAD but I feel as its going to get bad and I really don't have the mental stability to deal with it again. sorry for the run on

can i use a clean needle and poke a lil at the cyst to relieve those crap outa it? or not advisable to poke a cyst?

Okay have any of you guys have ever noticed lessions on your face that look like little red blisters imbedded in your skin(sometimes appear as purple)?..and they can weep sometimes..if bad. Yeah, thats what I have on my right cheek, and I was wondering is that acne?, or is it some other problem like an allergy??

I had mild acne in the past which led a little worse after leaving it untreated for a few months then I went on Accutane. Accutane did me well, cleared me up for many years and my oil was under control for a long while. Right now I have an increase, VERY big increase in oil production because of a topical I used. I never suffered from visible clogged pores or blackheads which leads me to think that my inflammatory problem is of a cause of physical aberration like rubbing or overirritating burning topicals. Is it really the rubbing causing my pimples or is it the oil? Right now, I do have some very small miniscule, almost not there bumps since my oil began coming back ten fold. At this point, I was stupidly running my hands or scarf or any cloth accross my face to wipe off the excess oil in public. I don't know if it was the rubbing that caused these bumps or the excess oil clogging the pores.

The bumps are described as this: Flat round top, no white head or center tip, only slight slight pinkish redness.

I would think that if you get a center tip, this is most likely due to trapped bacteria because of a clogged pore, but if it has no tip or center, then it would indicate more of an inflammatory irritation to the skin

...??

Some people aren't affected by the excess oil and I'd like to know if I am one of those?

I have a huge pimple right in the middle of my cheek. It is about 1cm wide! It looks like it has a small blackhead in the middle with a very small ring of "whitehead fluid" (i think its called sebum?) around it. That part is very small in the middle and all the rest is raised and very red. I can feel it underneath my skin also, like roots under a tree! It's awful! I can't tell if it's a papule, pustule, infected blackhead, or what. Last night and this morning I have taken a hot-water soaked washcloth and held it on it; I heard this can help bring the oil up to the surface. It has raised a little, but overall I see practically no difference. I would really like to know what this is and how to help it.

If anyone has any help or advice I would be very grateful. Thanks.

http://www.acne-advice.com/products/beautyskin/

check that shit out, im not sure whether it will work or not, but the rest of the site has lots of interesting facts and advice on acne, i for one am going to start excercising and sweating to try and help my skin.

A month ago i stopped with my Accutane. Now 4 weeks later, the whiteheads are coming all over my face. My skin is not really oily this time (last time, it was extremly oily when i stopped with accutane). I got Deferim from my derm, but i dont see that it helps very much. What is the best thing i can do right now? I really want to stay of the Accutane, because after i stopped i noticed that my hair was getting in better state, i was not depressed anymore etc. I was thinking about facial steam (with salt water). Does anyone else have any advice for me? I dont have cysts or anything, only whiteheads at the nose/chin and cheek area.

ps, sorry for my bad english

I'm a 36 year old female (mother of 3) w/ moderate acne. It's come and gone since I was a teen but lately is worse. I've used proactiv for a couple years now, but still have monthly breakouts mostly on my chin. Seems like by they time it heals, it's time again (for my period) and it starts all over. Any suggestions for me? I'm trying hard not at pick, but right now have a nasty scab on my chin that looks terrible. I swear I'm leaving the house all weekend. I am making at promise to myself not to pick (or pop) anymore, but how can I get the mess I have now to heal quickly?

THANKS!

My skin on my deck is flawless. Its a completly diffretn colour and texture then my face, its sooooo smooth and clear.. why is my face so ridiculous any suggestiosn? Is it just hormones my body chaning im 17

Alright here's the deal. I used to have pretty moderate acne, but I have been using bpgel for more than 2 years and have pretty much been very clear when I am strick to my modified regimen. Anyhow, about three or four times a year I get one (something) under the skin right above my eye on my forehead. It is usually in the same general area, and it feels and Looks(yes you can see it bulge out) like some kind of oil build-up is stuck in a sac under my skin. It doesn't get very red or anything, and after about a week it finally recedes back to the normal flat skin surface. I was thinking it might be a cyst, but im not sure. I am considering sanitizing a very fine needle and penetrating below the skin surface to perhaps releive it. Please help me? And remember i have very mild acne right now(thanks to regimen), and these things come up very rarely. Thanks. -Andrew

I have a lot of brown/red scars from the bad habit of popping. I used to just rub a wet towel over my face until it ripped the whitehead off, and now i regret it. I have a whitehead popping tool it kinda surrounds the pimple and makes it pop. The derm said it shouldnt scar if i use that, but i have a huge scar when i used ti once. If you take away my scars, my acne isnt that bad.

I was wondering if anyone knew of any techniques to pop a whitehead to prevent scarring, and if anyone knows of any cream/gel or anything to help fade scars faster.

Thanks i appreciate it

Thank you old man winter for making my skin shit! It's so dry right now I can't stand it! I'm using gentle products that "promise" not to dry out the skin and I use a lotion in the morning. I don't know what to do anymore! And before anyone tells me BP this or SA that....I can't use them...I used to have large painful whiteheads because of those chemicals! (I can use BP as a spot treatment though, just not all over my face) So this is my problem....I don't have "large" pimples....not like before...while using acne products...I've just moved onto a bunch, and I stress, a bunch of super small pimples. I use a scrub at night to get the dry skin off, but I still have all these small pimples! Is this last stage of acne before I finally clear up? I doubt it! Someone help me, what in the heck am I doing wrong?

this is what the right side of my face looks like... can anybody recomend anything? i also have this white patch that i have no idea what it is. its been around for months. also, what is my condition called? is it red marks? my skin is very smooth except for when i get zits, which is not ofen at all thanks to the CSR gel.

Hello, I just noticed that I have a clear bump near my nose, but I have no idea what it is. I've recently began using AHA with differin and my face hasn't had any pimples since I started but I have this clear bump. Its hard to see from far, but when I'm within talking distance or something, it's visible. I was wondering what this is and if theres anything to be done about it?

I was prescribed retin-a in late Novemeber and didn't use it cuz I didn't wanted to go off the regimen. I just really wanted the antibiotics. They have been working well for the lower part of my face. However, I never used to get acne on my forehead until just now, so I will give the retin a try on my forehead, but I will stay on with the reg for the rest of my face.

Its red and I squeezed a little puss out(yeah i Know but I dont scar easily) theres still a lot in there and I dont wanna push it.. How do I get the rest out quickly so the swelling goes down and i can heal it.. THX

I hear that alot what is it

Ok I believe I have mild acne...

I get pimples and they go away and leave redmarks,,,,I get whiteheads from redmarks.....

I have redness on my cheeks and on my chin...not too many just there

so do u think if I get treamtnets and I get clear thta my acne will get worse again?

liek If i wash my face and not aggarvate it......

cause I had redness beofre so i weent taning and it ehlped my face looked good cause I was tanned...but I would go to the gym then go tanning and not wash my face until that night so I bascially screwed myself....

so do u think If I get treatments and my acne clears up or the redness..that it will come back...

and I was thining on buying the limiport pen for new pimples?

help

I found this on a website

"If you have lots of gas with no odor really, you're not just lucky, you're probably having problems digesting carbohydrates. For that, lactic acid is the best response. Lactic acid is found in fermented cabbage (cortido, kim chee, sauerkraut), or you can actually buy lactic acid tabs. Digestive enzymes are also good, as are organic salts which can be found in Bieler Broth, or zucchini and celery."


If soda makes you break out its probably because your system has a hard time digesting carbs. Each soda conatins a decent amount of carbs. I started taking digestive enzymes and drinking ACV and soda no longer breaks me out. I dont have to really work about my diet as much as before also.

I have like a bunch of little bumbs on my forehead, most aren't colored and the have no head. it looks like they are going down a little. I never really had them before.

i want to use the soap that dan uses but i dont know what kind it is. anybody know, or have recomendations..i have mild acne...just little bumps and what not.thanks

who knows what that bar of soap Dan uses to clean his fave is?? i bought the liquid kind in the white bottle...neutrogena or wte and its messin up my nose with the proactive bp...need somethin else so if ya know what hes usin hook it up please.thanks

I might be wrong about papules turning into pustules but that's the only way I can describe the type of pimple I have. It started off as a papule (soft red bump with no head) and it eventually hardened in a few days while I iced it several times a day along with BP (10% works best for me). But when the outer layer finally shed, lo and behold, it was still a soft red bump... but this time it was a pustule (I think) with a white head in the middle!! And then I eventually have to pop it (about to now.. it's bulging and ripe) and etc. Is there no way to defeat this fiend?

god wat am i supposed to do about em! they suck massively

[b] K for some reason I have problems with whiteheads. Thats all I get, i'll wake up in the morning, and I might have let's say 1 or 2 whiteheads. By the end of the night i'll have like 6 or 7. For no reason! It's driving me crazy! Does anyone know what the problem cud be? I stopped using moisturizer about 2 months ago and no big change in my skin really. Still it's kinda oily, but not really. Any help wud be great, thanks!