Clear for the last 2 days ... all of the chin scabs were pretty much gone in time for the Saturday night party!

No red spots, no scars -- everything healed very fast and cleanly.

Actually, my face and neck are looking really good right now. I'm just feeling a little frustrated because my pores are still congested, especially toward the end of my nose and on my chin. I'm already looking ahead to the Green Cream level 9, because I think I may need it to stop the congestion. I want to look in that magnifying mirror and see pure, smooth skin!

I know I just posted last night, but I had to get on here again ... because when I looked in the mirror this morning, pure smooth skin is EXACTLY what I saw. YEAH!

So ... in addition to breakouts, I'm going to start tracking when my pores get congested. They weren't bad during my PMS week, but during the week of my period, they were just as clogged up as could be. Now they look great.

Also, I am resolved to take it easy on the cleansing. So often, my skin looks wonderful when I wake up, and then after cleansing, it looks tired and dehydrated. So I'm going to try exfoliating and cleansing only at night, and just moisturize a little during the day.

Trying out a few new product samples: emu oil for moisturizing, copper peptides for skin firming. Also, I fell in love with the Nicholas Perricone Nutritive Cleanser I've been trying, and ordered a full bottle. That's going into my regimen for sure (but only at night).

3/11 UPDATE: This product turned out to be expensive garbage. Full of detergents, incredibly dehydrating. Nutritive, my ass!

I am sticking this in here for future reference, since my cycle so clearly affects my skin. This is another quote from LabGirl, goddess of the Acne Research board ... it is so great to have someone out there who knows what she's talking about!

All acne lesions start with a microcomedo, a tiny plug of dead skin cells that forms in a sebaceous duct or at the pore's opening.

It takes about 8-12 weeks for a microcomedo become a pimple. Once your pores become blocked , it depends on the sebum production and bacterial proliferation inside the blocked pore to determine if and when a comedo, will become a pimple, and what type of pimple it will become. Sebum production is heavily influenced by hormones, and skin microflora proliferation also seems to coinside with the hormonal cycle.

Assuming you have a 28-day cycle and aren't on the pill.....

Surface lipid (sebum) secretion peaks twice during your cycle, on days 12-15 and again on days 20-25 of your cycle and coincides with estrogen levels in the blood. The highest microbial count is found typically between days 16-22 (usually progesterone peakes between day 22) of your cycle, this coincides directly with sebum production (it is the food for the bacteria, so this makes sense). Estrogen drops off around day 22 and keeps dropping until day 30. You get your period on day 1 of the next cycle and during this week the estrogen stays low. It takes about a week for a lesion to become inflammatory, so this is why you break out during or right before your period.

Some other things that fluctuate through your cycle....
Skin sensitivity is highest between days 4-14 (before ovulation)
Sensitivity to UV light is highest between days 20-28 (the week before your period )
Skin barrier function is weakest between days 20-27 (the week before your period....hmmmm....I'm seeing a pattern here)
Skin is dryest during your period (days 1-7)

Perfectly clear this morning, but I squeezed my cheek too hard trying to get a couple of microscopic blackheads out last night ... so now I have a totally unnecessary and stupid mark right next to my lip. I am an idiot. I have GOT to keep my hands off my face. I was trying to be really careful and use tissues to squeeze ... but I seem to have bruised the spot or something. And of course, these two blackheads were only visible in my incredibly powerful hi-tech overpriced Sharper Image magnifying mirror. If I'd just left them alone, my face would look so much better right now.

I could never be an aesthetician and do facials. I would spend the whole hour extracting and people would leave looking as though I'd beaten them with a hammer.

The thing is, sometimes squeezing the gunk out helps and sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes it leaves marks and sometimes it doesn't, and gosh, I just never know until I try.

I read on another post about a website that is focused on destructive face picking ... I'm going to try to find that right now.

I need help!





Here it is:

self injurious skin picking site

Queen you make me laugh Well I ordered th Green Cream 6, just the sample for now, so I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. I'll let you knw how it goes. I haven't ordered the vitamin A oil as I'm still not sure about it. I'm going to give the G.C. a try for a while and see how it goes.
I am going to check out that website myself. I'm a picker too. I just can't help it. I get such satisfaction from picking at everything I can find. What would we spend our time doing if we had clear skin? Yeah and why is it some look fine the next day after picking and some turn into monstrosities?

I hope it works out for you, girlfriend! Keep me posted ...

I read about 30 pages from that website today (needless to say, I got nothing else done). Oh. My. God. I have got to stop picking my face!!!!

I didn't touch it this morning. I looked in the magnifying mirror after showering, and I could see stuff under the skin in some places. Normally I would have just pushed it right out ... but today I didn't touch it. That's my resolve for this evening as well: cleanse, treat, DON'T TOUCH.

I have no idea how long it would take a pimple to actually dry up and leave my face. I have never in my entire life given one the chance to do that. So this will be an experiment! Tonight after cleansing I am going to log in all of the stuff I saw but DIDN'T PICK ... and I'm going to keep track of it for as long as I can.

I am going to break this damn habit. My skin is the best it's been in 30 years, and I am not going to fuck it up for myself. I will take out all of my many neuroses, control issues, and self-criticisms on something else. Like the Nordic Track.

Go me.

OK, then. After cleansing and jessfoliating, here is tonight's assessment:

Standing in front of regular mirror, in regular lighting: Skin looks FLAWLESS aside from last night's self-inflicted scabbing.

Magnifying mirror on highest, brightest setting reveals:

-- 3 microzits on tip of nose (each looks like one pore bulging a bit)
-- 2 microzits on left side of chin
-- Old marks on chin, nearly gone now

Fingertips reveal the invisible demons:

-- Liquid matter under the skin right next to my nose, both sides (this is a recurring pimple area)
-- Small hard flesh-colored bump on right side of forehead, just above eyebrow

Now, ordinarily I would take my needle-nosed tweezers and pop the microzits, then use my fingers to squeeze out the stuff on either side of my nose, and maybe take a sterile needle to the forehead bump. Then I would re-cleanse my face and apply the treatments. But tonight I skipped the self-mutilation and went straight for the treatments. It is impossible to pick one's face after applying Vitamin A ... your fingers just slide right off. So I am safe from myself for the next 12 hours or so.

New resolve: Do not pick my face tomorrow morning.

I am not picking my face this morning!

Regular mirror: Flawless skin aside from scabs (which are looking much better)

Magnifying mirror: 2 microzits on my nose and one on my chin; the bump on my forehead is still small, but visible

Fingertip check: Still have liquid matter under the skin just to the right of my nose. Left side feels fine now.

So ... more or less the same as last night. Maybe slightly improved.

I'm going to work out, shower, put my moisturizer on, and not stare into the magnifying mirror again until tonight.

Yay! I'm doing the 48-hour no-pick challenge! Today is day one! Though I started last night...will i make it? I think I might!

Join us!

Oh, this is hard. My face is starting to purge again, and I have vowed not to help it along its merry way.

But I WANT to help ...

Status tonight, after showering, cleansing, jessfoliating:

Regular mirror -- Excellent overall; some red marks where the scabs were, but they're pretty faint. No bright red marks at all. There's a new medium-sized bump on my throat, left side, and it's pinkish, as is the bump above my right eyebrow. I can also see some faint redness around the microzits on my nose, probably because I just jessfoliated, and I spent a lot of time on my nose.

I am mad at my nose.

Magnifying mirror -- 5 microzits on nose. A few tiny flesh-colored bumps right next to my right earlobe. Deep frown lines between my eyes, due to furious glaring at nose zits.

Fingertips -- Still have that stuff under my skin by my nose, right side. Also, when I was massaging my cleanser around on my face, I could feel some little hard bits of stuff coming loose; I believe these to be dried-up comedos that have pushed above the surface on my cheeks and jaw. More of those on my neck, chest, and shoulders.

I did not DELIBERATELY pick anything. But picking is a very deeply ingrained habit with me, and as soon as I got out of the shower and dried my face, I went over to check it in the magnifying mirror. (Because of the topicals I'm using, I often have flakes of loose skin coming off, and I like to get them off with needlenose tweezers. I'm careful, and only grab them if they are REALLY loose).

Well, there was a small but fully ripe pustule right beside my nose, and without even thinking about it, I whipped its little head off with the tweezers.

No big deal, really, because it was so ripe, the jessfoliation probably would have taken care of it anyway. But it just goes to show how easy it is to fall back into old habits when I'm not paying attention.

Moment of truth -- after 48 hours of not picking my face -- THIS WORKS.

Regular mirror -- Excellent overall; some faint pink marks on nose & chin where microzits died; bumps on throat and forehead are also faintly pink.

Magnifying mirror -- All microzits have either DIED or retreated; there might still be one lurking just under the skin on my nose, but if I can't be sure at 10x magnification + fluorescent lighting, the world need never know. Old scab by my lip is now only visible in this mirror; there's a big flake of skin waiting to come off there, but if I yank it now, it'll still be red underneath ... so I'm not touching it.

Fingertips -- Bump on forehead has flattened way out. Can hardly feel anything around my nose; don't know where that big wad of goo went, but it isn't there now.

If I had "taken care of" all this stuff in my usual way -- I'd have bright red spots all over my nose and chin right now, plus a couple of big sore oozy bumps on throat and forehead. I'd have squished out the stuff next to my nose and probably set off an infection there for the next week.

Because I let it all heal and used my topicals -- not my fingernails -- to fight the acne: I've got GREAT SKIN today.

Now, I have to confess, I've gone back to jessfoliating the last couple of mornings to help kill the microzits. It works REALLY well -- they just kinda disappear -- but my skin does look a little tired. And it doesn't help that I ran out of my EFA capsules a couple days ago -- I really rely on those to keep my skin plumped-up and fresh-looking. So I have to get over to TJs today and stock up -- and, just as soon as my skin stops purging, I'm going to back off on the jessfoliation.

I got my G.C. yesterday. I haven't experienced a reaction as of yet. No sensitivity no redness no dry skin, or should I say no more than I have been experiencing. Truthfully it is quite a bit better today on the latter. I got a sample of the oatmeal cleanser and the lotion for dry skin and used both so maybe that's the reason for less flakiness. I should clarify I have super oily skin normally, but am going through a nasty dry period.
Sooooo Queen, I know it says to only use once a week initially and I know I'm only on day one but what's your opinion on usage? I was thinking maybe every two days for starters, do you think I'm asking for trouble?
I started reading the picking website. Kind of opens your eyes a little bit hu? I did really well the first night, but last night I had some ripe whiteheads begging to be popped. I just can't stand the thought of walking around with big pusey spots on my face. It has made me think twice about picking unnecessarily.

How funny. I was just this minute over on YOUR log posting to see how you were doing.

Yes, I definitely think you can start by using the Green Cream every other night. But remember -- a PEA-sized amount means exactly that!! Peas are not very big! I have advanced to using more of a small-lima-bean-sized amount, but I'm nearly 2 months in. When you are first starting out, less is more. And if your face starts turning red or feeling sore, take a night off. Hell, take 2 nights off. Green Cream is a long-term solution and if you try to make it happen overnight, you are just going to wreck your face.

I'm totally with you on the picking stuff ... it just makes me shudder to see big pus-filled spots on my own face (or anyone else's). The general consensus does seem to be that it's OK to open those ripe ones with a sterile needle and let the nasty stuff out. The trick for a chronic picker like me will be to leave it at that! What gets me in trouble is when I start going after the blackheads and other buried stuff. I can turn a perfectly normal-looking face into a disaster area in about 10 minutes.

But I ain't gonna do it anymore.

Full-on purging today.

I was super-busy all day, which kept me away from mirrors (probably a good thing), so when I started my cleansing ritual tonight, I was (unpleasantly) surprised to see how much nasty stuff had surfaced since this morning! About 4 small ripe pustules on my nose, another 4 on my chin, a couple of slightly-inflamed looking smallish bumps on one cheek, plus a few other scattered bumps, and the return of the Gunk Beneath the Skin on either side of my nose.

Everything looked and felt really superficial, though, so I did a thorough cleansing and jessfoliation, plus a 5-minute biogommage -- and by the time I was done, most of the stuff was pretty much gone. All the pustules opened and emptied, as did the two cheek bumps. I didn't mess with any of the closed bumps, but I did gently squeeze the opened ones just to make sure they weren't harboring terrorists. I used tissues, and only squeezed each spot once, and they were already open ... so I've decided that doesn't count as picking. (I'm a superb rationalizer.)

Anyway, I don't have any red marks at all, so I don't think I'm gonna have any in the morning either. The two bumps on my cheek had me a little worried, but they are barely visible now. God, I LOVE jessfoliation ... even if it does dehydrate my skin. I mixed a couple drops of emu oil with the topical A tonight for extra moisture, and I moisturized several times today with the Calmin Environmental Protection Cream. Good stuff, for sure! I thought it looked a little too shiny when it first went on, but my skin just drank it up and looked fine within about 15 minutes. I think I'm going to start using it instead of the Clarins -- it has SPF, which the Clarins doesn't, and I think it is a lot more moisturizing. Besides, since my skin isn't oily anymore, I don't really need a matte moisturizer.

3/11 UPDATE: As I said before ... both of these products are now banished from my regimen and I am not recommending them.

I am thinking this purge may be hormonal ... am spotting a bit today. I'm going to take a look at the calendar and the cycle info I got from LabGirl and see if I can figure out what's going on.

My skin looks really pretty this morning. I do have two small scabs on my cheek where the bumps were, plus one on my throat, but they are not very noticeable, especially after a dab of cover stick.

I just walked by what I used to call my "evil mirror" (it gets bright, full sunlight) and was AMAZED at how good the texture of my skin has become. Smooth, even, glowing ... I sound like an infomercial, I know. But I am just so blown away every time I look at it. I have never had skin like this, not even after Retin A got me clear. Not only is my acne nearly gone, but many traces of sun damage are gone as well.

I think my product whore days are over ... I'm ready to go steady.

I'm still not picking (3.5 days now). And I think the purge is ending ... only 2 new microzits on my nose tonight. Everything else has either dried up or dissipated. So maybe I can go back to less-frequent jessfoliation.

Added a couple new supplements to my regimen: alpha lipoic acid and B complex vitamins.

Once a product whore, always a product whore ...

Still not picking!

But the purge continues ... a few more little bumps coming up around my mouth. The old ones are practically gone, though, even the ones that scabbed; I don't think they'll be visible in the morning.

I poked around on the Green Cream community board today and it was really encouraging. Purging is totally normal -- mine is actually very mild. And there are people who have been using GC for a year, and they say their skin just keeps getting better!

Some other interesting stuff from the GC board:

-- Apparently retinol is stable in sunlight after all; people do use GC twice a day. I tried it today, and it made my skin really shiny, so I probably won't be doing that very often. Not if I'm planning to leave the house, anyway.

-- There was something I didn't read closely about retinol hydrating skin from the inside out. My skin is looking WAY more filled-out and hydrated, and I didn't realize that was due to the retinol. But I was seriously thinking a few months ago about getting Restylane injections in my lower face for the nasolabial lines and upper lip creases ... and now I don't feel like I need those anymore. WOOHOO!

-- Lots of people are experiencing a reduction in oil just from using Green Cream. Hmmm ... maybe I can ditch the Vitamin A. I might take a week or two off from it and see if I see any differences in my skin.

-- Other people are using copper peptides and emu oil as well as GC. Apparently the trick is to put the GC on at night, wait 45 minutes, then apply the copper peptides ... I'd been wondering how to use 'em together. And, like GC, the copper peptides are a long-term treatment. You only use a tiny bit at a time, and you do it consistently.

I am so excited about this product ... I suspect everyone on the board is really sick of hearing me talk about it.

Still making me laugh Queen and I'm not sick of hearing you talk about GC .

Thanks, girlfriend! I'm coming by later to see how the GC is treating you so far.

Today is my 2 month anniversary of using Green Cream! Not much to report, though; a little more purging, everything still healing fast, scabs disappearing in a day or two, hardly anything in the way of visible marks. Didn't use the Vitamin A last night; am going to leave it out of my routine for awhile.

Working hard at not picking ... I may have crossed the line today, because I did squeeze a couple of pores. I was gentle and used tissues, and didn't leave any marks. I have to watch it, though.

Technical breakthrough! Finally took a few minutes and figured out how to post to the gallery. So now there's a silly pic up of me at poker night a couple weeks back. Um, that's my Texas Hold 'em getup, I don't usually dress that way. But I am not wearing any foundation or other cover-up makeup in that picture, just a little eyeliner.

3/11 UPDATE: I took the photo out of the gallery. I'm just not comfortable with the whole "comments" thing.

Oh, I thought of one last thing ... my face seems to be perpetually tan since I started with the Green Cream. I think it's because it makes my skin so sun-sensitive, and I tan so easily anyway. I'm getting brown even though it's winter and I wear my SPF 15 every day.

Queen,

Your post about Green Cream has intriqued me enough that I have to try it out. I'm currently on the CSR with Proactiv BP (almost 4 months) and my face has cleared up for the most part. Lately, I have had a couple of small breakouts and I have a few clogged pores that BP is not clearing up (but only I could notice them and makeup covers completely) Overall, my skin is looking really good compared to what I had a few months ago.

Anyway, I am 36 and I have some photo damage from earlier years of sun worshipping. I especially have it on my chest and upper arms from a severe sunburn I got accidently in 2000 (from taking Dong kaui herb and not knowing the side effects). My face was spared (from the brunt of the damage, but still was affected) by using mounds of AHA moisturizer to nurse my sunburn, little did I know at the time that it really helped my skin. The skin on my chest and arms got discolored and I read that GC can also be used on the body to reverse sun damage. My nose has alot of spider veins which I just hate. I tried Perricones spider vein face stuff, but it makes me breakout and my nose look really greasy.

My question to you, can I continue using BP while starting a Green cream reg? I do not have oily skin either. I would eventually like to try to ween myself off of BP and just spot treat when needed. I ordered a #3 sample. I used to get cysts, but I haven't gotten one since November. I just get small pustules now that go away rather quickly and I get them very infrequently at this point. I do not have a black head problem either since starting this reg w/ jessfoliation. The cyst were from stopping the BCP in Nov 04 so it possible that my body has adjusted and I am hoping that the cyst days are over for me.

Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

Thanks