Hi, so I'm new to the site but I check here all the time so I thought I might as well add something.

I have been using duac for more than a year now, with pretty good success. The problem is it does nothing for my blackheads which are horrible, deep and everywhere. So even though duac keeps my face mostly clear of pimples I have to do something new. I just started using Differin last night and have decided to alternate between the Duac and the differin each night.



So this is my routine

Morning
wash with spectro jel
apply moisturizer, or not if I feel its not too flaky (really oily skin)

Night
wash with spectro jel
wait 30 mins... apply Differin 0.1% cream or Duac. (the first one night then the other the next)
*should I moisturize?

* I am not sure if I should be using moisturizer after differin? And if anyone else with really oily skin reads this, how do I get around the fact that putting moisterizer on in the morning makes me even more oily all day? (I use complex 10 non greasy, non comedogenic)

* Also does anyone know whats good to use on the sensitive skin of the chest? I have been using bp but it irritates and bleaches everything...

I have now done one night of differin, followed by one night of duac (last night). I have these wierd clear bumbs, almost like bubbles and my skin already seems annoyed wtf? Am I doing something wrong already?

I am going to give my skin a rest tonight, then differin the next day followed by duac the next. I'll keep doing that for a while since my skin is obviously pretty sensitive.

Day 3 - tonight using Duac. I used the differin last night, decided not to give my skin a break after all lol. I am starting to peel a bit but no more bubbles, I think the Duac took care of that

Now that I am on DIfferin I cant use my toner anymore since it has glycolic acid. I used to use the proactive toner to make me less irritated, hydrate and take away any peeling. Does anyone know a good hydrating toner? Is there a point to using toner if it doesnt have glycolic acid to take away dead skin?

Also anyone know a good matifying moisturizer?

I also have very oily skin, I moisturize with a 5% glycolic acid cream. I'm like you, any moisturizer makes my skin much shinier. I find the glycolic cream is doing two things for me. giving my skin some miosture, but also I believe it helps maintine my clear skin. About the blackheads, they won't come out even if you use an extractor?

Ive never actually used an extractor, thought it would just irritate my skin and en up coming back anyway since I wasnt fighting the underlying problem. But Im going to start now that Im using the differin.

Are you on differin or retin a? I read that you cant use anything with glycolic acid when you use them. I wish I could, I really loved my old toner.

Day 5:

I skipped a day last night because my skin was getting pretty red so tonight is DIfferin night.
VERY flaky, even when I put on lots of moisturizer and use exfoliating gloves in the shower.

I bought dans jojoba oil, hopefully that will help moisturize and maybe even cut down on my oilyness. Anyone had good results with jojoba oil?

Day 7

So my face is starting to get red bumps under the surface Ill see what happens in the next couple of days. If anything my blackheads seem to be getting worse, I heard that acne can get worse at the start but blackheads?

Tonight is differin. Hopefully its ok in the morning, I might spot treat with duac over the differin...

Day 9

Flakes like nuts, peeling all over the place lol. I wish I could use my glycolic acid toner to get them off, but the differin website says its a big no-no.

Also making my skin a lot more oily in the morning.

I have a few bumps coming up, Im going to give my skin a break tonight and see if that helps.

Day 14

its been a while. I had a two day break in there, and messed up my whole schedule.

going down to2 day duac, then one day differin schedule for week then I will up it to alternating days since I have started to get the IB. Freaking cystic acne when there wasnt any before. Oie

Trying B5 to see if it will help with oilyness, and jojoba oil coming in mail in about a week. Will see. Dont know if I can afford 10grams a day of B5 though (how can anyone?) so I will see what 1.5-2 grams a day does.

I was prescribed Duac, Differin, BenzaClin by my derm a few years back... they were alright, but Dan's stuff works much better for me. Hopefully you have more success on this set-up than I did! Good luck!

thanks! I hope it works out. A little discouraged but I will keep trying...

Dans jojoba oil came in the mail today, holy fast shipping, fingers crossed it helps with oil.

Day 17:

Ok so I almost quit last night. I decided I just couldnt deal with getting huge cysts on my face again, and, more importantly, couldnt deal with the fact that differin is making my skin produce a ridiculous amount of oil. Its never been great but this is just ridiculous, its really embarrassing how gross it is, to the point where I dont want my boyfriend to kiss my cheek

But I decided to make the Apple Cider Vinegar toner that everyones been suggesting instead and see if adding that will help. I also decided to buy the OC eight mattifying gel that BlondeWithAcne recommended (thanks!).

I have only used the ACV for a day but it definitely make one cyst shrink a bit and might? have made my face look more glowy... but still oily Dont really know what Im doing wrong, is it because I didnt use organic Apple cider vinnegar?

I'll let you know if either of these works when Ive tried them longer...

For now fingers crossed.

I just went to use my apple cider vinegar solution and there was this wierd dark grey-blue liquid on the rim on the cap and outside groves of the jar. This had happened before so I made this batch about one hour ago and even boiled the jar and lid for about 10 minutes...

Anyone have any ideas? Could it be doing something to the metal? Has anyone else has this happen?

Oie so other than that I am skipping tonight. I think its a mixture of having used the differin last night and the avc toner today twice, but my face is red red and not in any shape for the bp in duac...

Day 19

Ok so tonight is differin night. Definitely havent seen an improvement but havent gotten anymore cystic IB action, which is good. Keep getting little pimples and my blackheads are more pronounced. Heres to hoping that goes away.

The jojoba oil, while not regulating my sebum, is doing wonders for my skin. It is getting way less irritated now and far less flaky. Adding it to everything lol. Just bought the OC 8 matifying gel, Ill let you know how that goes.

Also going to buy the organic apple cider vinegar and an all glass jar to put it in and make the toner again.

New routine

Morning
wash with spectrojel
apply proactive toner with jojoba oil added (only until I make a new batch of acv)

Night
massage with jojoba oil
wash with spectrojel
apply either duac or differin (one night differin, two nights duac)
moisturize with complex 15 with jojoba oil added

Day 20
Duac tonight

I havent had any new breakouts, there are some wonderful scars though lol. The cyst is now level.

Made the acv toner (added aloe vera, tea tree oil and lavender oil) put it in a plastic bottle because I decided screw it if its going to react to any metal I cant put it in a glass container!

Will see what happens next...

Day 23

See small decrease in depth of scars!!

little pimples have come up, nothing huge though. Face still peeling like nuts. JUST started using it every second day and Im still not sure if my face will be ok with it. Might be because the BP every second night is irritating it... but Im scared to remove it in case I start breaking out again. Oie.

So tonight is differin...

Why is Oc eight not working for me?

Day 27:

Alternating differin and duac nightly now. Will keep this up for a week then do 2 nights differin and 1 night duac. Dont know if Ill ever want to stop the duac since its kept my face clear for so long...

So a few new pimples but nothing horrible, found that blasting them with tea tree oil really helps. Still trying to perfect my toner to make my face less shiny. The stupid differin is making my face produce more oil though which sucks. I think its helping so I guess its a tradeoff... WIsh I could find a better mattifying lotion

Found that my acv toner with tea tree oil is ridiculously good for body acne though! It doesnt dye anything like bp and my skins cleared up. So happy about that.

Hey...I've been on Duac and Solodyn for the past six months and recently my derm decided to give me a break from solodyn so he has me on Duac in the morning and Differin at night. I've only been at it for 4 days and so far I haven't been peeling or breaking out or anything (so weird O.o). How long did it take for you to have that initial break out?

Also, Im a huge fan of jojoba oil I mix it with my moisturizer only right now im afraid the jojoba oil might not mix well with Differin. How are you applying your moisturizer? Before or after? and how long do you wait before you apply moisturizer before applying Differin?


Have you tried pore strips? When I first started Duac and Solodyn, I bought a box and and I put a pore strip on my nose for an hour and yanked it off then applied Duac immediately and they never came back. I still have a full box of strips...

Wow first off what kind of pore strips because I am going to try that out. I am a little afraid because of the differin, do you think it will be a problem like waxing is for people?

I add the jojoba oil to my moisterizer and apply it 15 - 30 mins after the duac or differin. Have you been applying it before? I thought putting it on before might decrease the absorption of topicals, but I dont know if thats true. The jojoba oil might be why you haven't seen any peeling, I haven't had as much peeling since I started using it. I am such a fan of jojoba oil too, jesus its done a lot for my skin.

I think my initial break out was between day 10-17, but it was definitely mild. I think because of the duac and tea tree oil I put in my toner after the second week. I would definitely suggest tea tree oil, its amazing as a spot treatment and overall.

Let me know how your treatment goes, I hope you dont have a crazy IB

Well I used Biore deep cleansing pore strips. Pore strips are definitely more mild than waxing. I know because I wax a lot (now i can't ) Butyeah, you might have a problem...if you do try it, be really careful and let me know how it goes.

Since I started Differin I haven't been putting on jojoba oil but ill start doing it just in case...normally I put it on at night after Duac because its too greasy to put on in the morning, my skin absorbs it but it doesn't absorb it all.