Thinking about not washing my face

I just went through a very trying month in terms of acne.

I don't get cysts often right now (maybe 5/yr) due to my 5% BP wash and diet changes. My bacne and chest acne are gone. My puberty is definitely done I think. My periods are regular, and I stopped having premenstrual symptoms most of the time. However, my face is oily and itchy all the time, with small red bumps all over. There have been times when I thought my face is ugly while I had the cysts, but now I look barely human.

I'm going to make a gamble and hope that most of the improvement in cysts is due to the diet changes and hormonal changes....because I'm thinking about trying the cavewoman regimen. I read wapak's posts and I found them very inspiring

. My mother's side of the family never gets acne going back several generations. Most of them never got a single pimple in their lives (I know because I mercilessly grilled all of them about it). The only person in my dad's side of the family who got acne (also in several generations) is my uncle. He's the pampered baby of the family. NEVER eats any veggies (maybe a carrot once every months) and he picked all his pimples (which aren't more than the average person) and got a faceful of scars. I just don't believe that my acne is really due to genetics. I've been destroying my face with harsh soaps, cleansers and topicals for nearly 10 years. I started out washing with handsoap 3/4 times a day. Then I washed with a 10% BP wash, followed by a harsh SA scrub. AND on top of this, I used Benzaclin.

I've really had enough. I just want to be normal. I'm willing to stick to my strict diet (raw veggies, nothing I'm sensitive to, sweet potatoes, probiotic yogurt, salmon and green tea). But I'm seriously done with the harsh chemicals.

Please help! At wit's end

Hi everyone!

Let me explain my situation a little. I'm 20 yo, suffering from acne since I was 12. I don't even remember what it's like to have normal skin anymore. I've tried everything except for accutane. Last yr, I said to myself: "screw it, I'm going to try the holistic method and see what happens." I changed my diet, sleeping habits, regimen....everything. I still used a BP wash that's never given me any irritation or dryness what-so-ever. For a glorious 5 months, I was clear. Aside from an occasional non-cystic pimple before my period, I was CLEAR. My red marks were fading nicely too.

THEN, I decided to try Spectro cleanser for a week since I've been told that it's more gentle. BAD IDEA. I broke out in patches of small red (or colorless) bumps that itched like crazy. I waited a few days. Then I thought: "no problem. so my skin hates Spectro. I'll change back to my tried-and-true cleanser, and everything will be fine." EXCEPT those bumps stayed!!!!

They're generally the worst after my shower (face looks like it belongs to Frankenstein), and best when I first wake up (barely visible). Right side of my face is the worst, but there are these bumps everywhere on my face. I'm not sure if they're acne, but some of them did have white heads on them. What's happening to me??!! I seriously feel like a monster. My derm is useless. He keeps trying to get me to use Benzaclin again even though it's never worked before.

Pictures (real life is actually much worse) attached.

What's happening?

I'm 18 years old, and I've had acne ever since I was about 12 (right after my 1st period actually).

Now my friends who have acne have all grown out of it, and I still have a face full of crap.

However, my acne pattern has changed somewhat, and I'm just trying to understand what's happening.

Before, while my acne would be worse right before and during my period, I always had acne at all times. I also had all sorta nasty stuff (cysts, pustules, papules and blackheads) that leave red marks all over my face.

However, ever since about 2 months ago, I would be completely clear for 2-3 weeks of the month, then before and during my period, I'd have a massive breakout, and virtually every part of my face would have 2-5 bumps. But now, I only get papules and pustules that go away after about 2 days and leave very faint marks afterwards (that also fade fast).

I haven't had any dramatic changes to my diet & sleep, work and other patterns.

Could it be that I'm finally growing out of my acne? Could it be the Saw Palmetto? FYI, a lot of my friends who have grown out of their acne told me that theirs just disappeared seemingly overnight. One day, they just woke up with clear skin and stopped getting new pimples. Maybe the outgrowing phase is different for everyone?

Moisturizer for hyperpigmentation

I have a lot of dark spots on my skin from my acne. It's making my skin tone completely disgusting.

I heard Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Treatment works really well, but I can't seem to find it in drug stores and not a lot of websites ship to Canada. Does anyone know where to get it?

Besides this one, is there anything else that might help? I have oily skin with occasional breakouts.

Thanks.

Lily's journey to clear skin (hopefully)

So I've had acne ever since I was 11. Now I'm 18. I've tried everything under the sun, just like everybody else. I've finallly decided last month to turn to the diet/holistic approach after everything else failed. My derm. was actually VERY eager about prescribing me Accutane, but the horror stories totally freaked me out.

Some history: I've always had the worst dietary habits possible: Pizza, Frozen dinners, greasy instant noodles, deep-fried chicken. I HATED vegetables and fruits. Before last month, I don't think I've ever willingly eaten a piece of carrot EVER. My parents always try to tell me that maybe my acne is caused by my diet (everyone else in my family eats healthy stuff and has great skin). But I've always been mislead by the "Acne is not caused by diet" phrase.

My skin was actually sort of on its way to becoming clear after my dramatic diet change: Total of six pimples in a whole month. All of them are pustules that went away in 3 days max.

THEN, I decided to start using Dan's regimen. And all hell broke loose. I realize that it might be great for some people, but my skin's totally rejecting it. I'm having the worst break out ever, and I'm using the right amount of BP. I can feel bumps forming as I type. So I figured that maybe I should just stop and go back to my holistic regimen and see how it goes. Even if my acne doesn't clear up, at least I'll be healthy =)


My regimen:

Diet:
Low in sugar, preservatives, carbohydrates, greasy/fatty food.
Lots of carrots, spinach, cucumber + other vegetables
Grapes, baby carrots, apples and oranges as snacks.
Low in chicken
Fish, turkey and beef as sources of protein
Lots of water + a cup of green tea daily


Supplements
2 tablespoons of Cod Liver Oil
1600mg of Saw Palmetto
2 tablets of Omega-3
50mg of Minocycline.

And you might think this is completely weird, but some girls I know have been eating SCORPIONS or drinking scorpion soup. Now, this is the "edible" kind, not the poisonous freaky kind. And apparently, the results are absolutely AMAZING. I'm going to get some scorpions myself (am totally terrified to be honest) and I'll keep you guys updated on how that works out.