Trying something new

So, I have been on Dan's Regimen for 11 months now, and have had great success. You can see my before and after pictures in my gallery. I have almost zero inflamed acne (I get one or two pimples a month, rather than 5-6 a week), but a LOT of clogged pores. I also have a lot of red marks and shallow scarring.

After doing some research, I decided that I wanted to try tretinoin in combination with Dan's BP, to see if it would help with my clogged pores and red marks.

I'm using Retin-A 0.05%, and my current plan is to basically replace my evening application of BP with the Retin-A.

Last night was my second night using the Retin-A, and today I had my first peeling, just around my nose. I think I will give my skin a break and take tonight off (I was told that I may want to use it every other night for the first couple of weeks, anyway). I had a couple of microzits yesterday, but they're gone today, and one large zit on my temple, which came to a head and popped itself this morning. It's hard for me to tell whether these were caused by the Retin-A (it seems very soon for an initial breakout!) or if it was just a coincidence.

What I've discovered so far: yesterday I was really red, but I think this was less from the Retin-A than from applying too much BP. I've decided that I will use half my normal amount of BP (which is already half of what is recommended by the Regimen) in the mornings.

My regimen as it stands right now:

Morning:
Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Wait 10 minutes
1/4 finger CSR gel
Wait 10 minutes
Dove Deep Moisture with SPF 15

Night:
Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Wait 10 minutes
Pea-sized amount of Retin-A 0.05%
Wait 30 minutes
Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion

I'll be updating this log with my progress.

My success with the Regimen (pictures included)

Hi guys. I've been seeing a lot of people posting their success stories about the Regimen recently, so I thought I'd chime in with my own. I know from experience how disheartening it can be when first starting the Regimen, and how much it helps to hear other people's success stories.

I've had acne since I was about 12. It got progressively worse throughout middle school and high school, and I now have a lot irreversible damage (scarring) from not treating it sooner. Like a lot of teenagers, I thought (and everyone told me) that I would grow out of it. Well, at 19, I finally got fed up with dealing with it, and started surfing the internet for solutions. I found Acne.org in April of last year, and the Regimen seemed so simple and cheap that I thought it was worth a try.

I didn't see much in the way of results early on, but I stubbornly stuck with it. It took about 3 months for me to see noticeable results, and by then I'd made the Regimen part of my daily habits, and it was easy to stick with it. Now I'm almost completely clear (I sometimes go for several weeks without a single zit), and have turned my attention to the clogged pores on my nose and cheeks, and am trying to tailor the Regimen to deal with them, too.

These pictures were taken roughly 10 months apart - pre-Regimen and post-Regimen:





Edit: I forgot to add that, in my case, the amount of BP Dan recommends is too irritating. I use less than half a finger of BP twice a day, and that's plenty for me. I don't think it has been a detriment to my results. This is really the only tweaking I did to the Regimen during the first 6 months or so ...otherwise, I used all the recommended products, etc.

"Bumps" on the collarbone caused by Regimen?

So, I have been on the regimen for about 10 months now, and it's working great. My face is clearer than I can remember it ever being in the 8 years that I've had acne, and I'm ecstatic.

However ...since I first started the regimen, I've had a small but persistent problem with "bumps" on my collarbone/shoulders. This never happened prior to starting the regimen, so I think it is related, but I'm not certain what to do about it. The "bumps" are relatively flat, red, and painful, and about the size of an eraser head. I usually get 1 or 2 a month, almost always around my collarbone. They are not particularly disfiguring, just annoying. Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone have any ideas what they might be caused by, or suggestions about what to do?

New 2.5% BP cream

For those of you who live in the U.S. ...

I stopped by my local CVS Pharmacy today to pick up some more Neutrogena On-the-Spot. On the shelf right next to the On-the-Spot was this CVS-brand "Acne Medication," which boasted that it was "maximum strength" (like all that 10% Clearasil stuff), but when I looked closer it said that it was 2.5% BP. It's only $4.50, rather than the $5.00-$5.50 that I generally see for the On-the-Spot, so I bought a tube. Has anyone tried this? It looks like it's almost identical to the On-the-Spot, but I haven't tried it yet.

I was pretty stoked about the find, though. BP Gel isn't an option for me because I lack a shipping address, so finding a cheaper 2.5% alternative is pretty exciting. Anyway, just thought I'd share.