13 replies to this topic

[Mr Harmonica]

i've had one or two spots for years but they tended to clear up quickly enough and not bother me but started uni last year and suddenly started breaking out really badly but generally ignored it until i got sick of it and found CSR about six weeks ago. I started on clearasil daily treatment wash, oxy on the spot and nivea for men oil control moisturiser. Two weeks in i realised the wash had salicylic acid in so switched to cetaphil and started using Eucerin in the morning and l'oreal anti regreasing moisturiser because the CSR seemed to be making my skin really greasy. So in precise:

Regimen: morning: cetaphil non irritating cleanser
oxy on the spot 2.5% BP
l'oreal men expert anti-regreasing moisturising gel

night: cetaphil non irritating cleanser
oxy on the spot
Eucerin dry skin relief face cream

i count my first day as my first day using this regimen not the clearasil putting me on week 4.5 but am yet to see any improvement in my skin (i now have breakouts on my forehead where i didn't before). For the last couple of days i've been using a little more BP causing redness which i hadn't been getting previously, i'm taking that as a good sign. i go back to uni next week so i was hoping for improvement by now but that's not going to happen so i'll just have to hope something does happen at some point.

I'll try and update this every few days but don't know how much time i'm going to have.
Cheers
Harmonica

[Brandy]

Hi Harmonica,
Are you using the full amount of BP? I think Oxy squirts out in a thin line similar to Neutrogena on-the-spot, so you would use two squiggly lined fingers worth for your entire face.

I'm not familar with that Loreal moisturizer, be sure it is oil-free and non-comedogenic.

[Mr Harmonica]

there is a thread somewhere about the anti-regreasing which says it's not particularly moisturising, which i'd noticed and is why i am also using Eucerin but other than that it was just about fine. The ingredients are:

Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Cyclohexasiloxane, Alcohol Denat., Silica, Cyclopentasiloxane, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, PEG/PPG 18/18 Dimethicone, Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Tocopheryl Acetate, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint leaf extract), C12-13 Pareth-23, C-12-13 Pareth-3, Methylparaben, Chlorphenesin, Diazolidinyl Urea, Phenoxyethanol, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, CI 42090 (Blue 1), CI 19140 (Yellow 5), Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxyisohexyl 3 Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde

as for the doseage i do use two fingers but theres still some pretty big room for variation in that, i was previously being pretty frugal with my 'squiggles' for the sake of my wallet but have stepped it up a bit now

[Malcolm Cringe]

I think that the peppermint leaf extract is particularly irritating. Personally, anything with peppermint-type ingredients makes my skin really irritated. I might check out the moisturizers on the Finding Supplies page.

Cam >B)

there is a thread somewhere about the anti-regreasing which says it's not particularly moisturising, which i'd noticed and is why i am also using Eucerin but other than that it was just about fine. The ingredients are:

Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Cyclohexasiloxane, Alcohol Denat., Silica, Cyclopentasiloxane, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, PEG/PPG 18/18 Dimethicone, Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Tocopheryl Acetate, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint leaf extract), C12-13 Pareth-23, C-12-13 Pareth-3, Methylparaben, Chlorphenesin, Diazolidinyl Urea, Phenoxyethanol, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, CI 42090 (Blue 1), CI 19140 (Yellow 5), Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxyisohexyl 3 Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde

as for the doseage i do use two fingers but theres still some pretty big room for variation in that, i was previously being pretty frugal with my 'squiggles' for the sake of my wallet but have stepped it up a bit now

[Mr Harmonica]

cheers Cambo, i'll start looking for anotheroil control moisturiser, i'm also gonna look into an alternative for the cetaphil as my skin seemed to get oily when i started using that, never had a problem before.

meanwhile: week 4 day 6

one new white head on my lip that'll teach me not to bite my nails.
don't think any red marks have faded (which is predominantly what i have with a couple of spots interspersed) i think the lumps on my cheeks have gone down slightly over the last couple of days, hope i'm right. No really noticeable improvement though.

In other news i failed my driving test this morning (Americans don't know how good they have it driving automatics and not having round abouts.) but i'm not really shocked or dissapointed although the examiner was a little harsh he failed me on something i know friends have gotten away with.

[Brandy]

sorry you failed your driver's test. Maybe next time......

and I got a little laugh at your "frugal squiggles"

Try not to be frugal with your squiggles, you need lots of BP to get clear!

[Mr Harmonica]

okay week 5 day 1 before doing the regimen my right side seemed to have cleared alot but i'm less sure after applying the regimen lol, new white head just above my lip again but one threatening to erupt between my eyebrows seems to have subsided. about a dozen of the tinyest little whiteheads you ever did see have appeared on the sides of my nose.

I came off tetracycline 3 days ago as i didn't think it was doing anything at all so i'm putting the breakout on my nose down to coming of that, they came up yesterday but haven't grown so i can only assume the BP is doing it's job. the skin around my chin dried up pretty badly over night and my right cheek was flaking when i applied the BP so i used Eucerin instead of the l'oreal as it is more moisturising and it's all healed up fine.

tune in for more next week same bat time same bat channel

p.s. i'm halfway through setting up paypal to get some of dan's BP because the website doesn't take meastro cards for some reason.

[Mr Harmonica]

i've been reading up on bio oil which i was using as a moisturiser to start off with but decided it wouldn't do me too much good but looks like it's doing red marks alot of good on other people so i was wondering what sort of effect it would have on active acne and also if i would be okay using it as a moisturiser as i seem to remember my skin not being greasy using the bio oil

ladies and gentlemen of the internet i thankyou in advance

Harmonica

[Mr Harmonica]

time to report in (i go back to uni tomorrow so my posts will get less regular, honest)

week 5 day 2

i got up this morning and thought wow definite improvement on the right then got ou of the shower and decided there was in fact no change then looked again this afternoon and thought improvement but now upon inspection my skin is 100% definitely worse 3 new white heads, one between the eyebrows where i have this red mark and rad spots keep rising from it now and again, and two on the right cheek i thought there was improvement in this morning. Aren't new whiteheads meant to have stopped forming by now?
I will say though a smaller group of red lumps which sat for months haven't shrunk (they may even dissapear soon). starting to feel like though. Party tomorrow night and probably some heavy drinking and a club in the wee small hours, do you think i should do the regimen just before going out?

[Brandy]

i've been reading up on bio oil which i was using as a moisturiser to start off with but decided it wouldn't do me too much good but looks like it's doing red marks alot of good on other people so i was wondering what sort of effect it would have on active acne and also if i would be okay using it as a moisturiser as i seem to remember my skin not being greasy using the bio oil

ladies and gentlemen of the internet i thankyou in advance

Harmonica

nah, I wouldn't add in bio oil, at least not this soon on the CSR. Wait until you are clear of active acne before adding in other variables. I you start experimenting this early on, you might not be able to tell what is hurting or what is helping.

time to report in (i go back to uni tomorrow so my posts will get less regular, honest)

week 5 day 2

i got up this morning and thought wow definite improvement on the right then got ou of the shower and decided there was in fact no change then looked again this afternoon and thought improvement but now upon inspection my skin is 100% definitely worse 3 new white heads, one between the eyebrows where i have this red mark and rad spots keep rising from it now and again, and two on the right cheek i thought there was improvement in this morning. Aren't new whiteheads meant to have stopped forming by now?
I will say though a smaller group of red lumps which sat for months haven't shrunk (they may even dissapear soon). starting to feel like though. Party tomorrow night and probably some heavy drinking and a club in the wee small hours, do you think i should do the regimen just before going out?

If you think there's a chance you won't do the Regimen when you get home, then yea, I think doing it right before you go out would be a good idea!
Have fun!

[losingthebattle]

If your looking for an oil control moiturizer there is one made by Garnier its called Garnier Pure and its green and it seriously keeps your face dry. I used it briefly during the frist few weeks of accutane , now my skin is really dry. It has zinc in it and i gave it to my little cousin who is seriously oily and she loves it because it keeps her face really matte.

[Mr Harmonica]

helloo,
so i got to uni and found my houses internet in a state of dis-repair and only just got it on today. Meanwhile in skin world my BP ran out on monday meaning i spent the week BP-less, it didn't have the effect i was expecting. my skin on the cheeks hasn't changed at all, in fact today i'm thinking my left cheek is fading a little, my forehead though is a whole different franchise it erupted during the week and is pretty damn bad i'd bet quite happy today if my forehead wasn't such a mess. I think it's the CSR that caused it as i never had a problem there before the CSR so my dilemma now is do i get back on CSR noing it has made zero difference so far other than to spread the problem?

[Mr Harmonica]

sup my furry friends,

got the internet in my house now so i can update to my hearts content, had a two hour train ride today and as my only reading was The Sociological Imagination which no matter how much you like the subject gets pretty damn dry after about page 4 got to do alot of thinking and staring into space. During which time i assessed the reading i have done on acne etc. I came to the conclusion that my left chhek is in fact acne free (with the exception of a white head that popped up this morning but thats because i didn't take my cetaphil home with me) and i was infact plagued by the dreaded red marks well known the patrons of this site. On the right cheek though i still do have a couple of spots and also a hell of alotta red marks. My forehead i have decided is my own doing as i applied csr to an area that really didn't need look at.

I decided CSR has helped, it has reduced my spots to alot of red marks
I also came up with a plan: i will continue with CSR clearing my right cheek and also on my forehead for the foresealable future, i've already started supplementing my diet with zinc and multivitamins and have about doubled my water intake (i've spent more time with water leaving my body than those peeing angel water fountains). After my right cheek is healed i'm going to simply rinse my cheeks in cetaphil twice daily as i have for the past week or so. And then i wait, i'm not sure how long, possibly till xmas if there is i continue to leave, if i start to break out i jump back on the CSR horse, if neither of these happen i'm going to try a four step program suggested to me, looks alot like CSR except the cleanser seems to have special ingredients and they use a second coating of BP, it's got a 2 month money back guarantee so not much risk to it says 4 months for red marks to heal though so not sure what good it'll do me.

I'd like to finish by saying if it's completely flat and red it's definately not a spot, isn't it?
Good Night and Good Luck

[Mr Harmonica]

bless me board for I have sinned, it's been 10 days since my last post:

so since my last update my cheeks have seen little change, a white head comes and goes but other than that nothing, my forehead meanwhile is alot like Iraq, more inflamed every time i look at it. I have one quite big white head on my forehead with a few red lumps starting to appear and the area between my eyebrows has/had three white heads threatening to go global over night.

I realise i don't seem too loyal to anyone method but today i started using the dip method that everyones been raving about, can't say i'm convinced the testimonials don't seem to go beyond 2 weeks but it's worth a try since i'm BPless until paypal processes the money it took so i'll give it a try. It did seem that the whiteheads between my eyebrows dissapeared or atleast got really tiny immediately after doing it but common sense would suggest that i just imagined it so we'll see how that goes until i'm BP'd up again

so that's it, i'm off to bed and not before my time it's 2am and I have a 9 am lecture, be good and if you can't be good, be safe