118 replies to this topic

[Athletic]

I'm curious about the sunscreen because I need to find a good one since I work outdoors year-round.

I think that paulas sunscreen is very good.I read some reviews and i only heard good things about it.So i will order it soon and maybe it would be good for you too.

[BeautifulDay]

Just wanted to add quickly about the PC essential non-greasy sunscreen:

I just tried it again in a different way and I am liking it much more. Before I put it on after using the BHA lotion but today for the first time I tried it over the BHA gel. It made a lot of difference, no more residue and it absorbed much better. I guess it was just too much lotion for my skin using both lotions. I think I will be using the BHA gel in the am and the BHA lotion in the pm from now on.

[Cthulugrrl]

Hey! Congrats to you BeautifulDay as you must be a proud university graduate by now! In must less exciting news, I am now on my 14th day of BHA. My time line seems to be progressing a little bit slower than yours. The first week, I experienced an initial brightening of my skin, and more even skin tone, just as you reported. In week 2 I did not notice much change at all and began to wonder if the product was having an effect. Then, towards the end of week 2, I started to notice my pores looked larger. I assumed it was because the impurities were coming to the surface. Now, just within the last 2 days, day 13 and 14, my chin has started breaking out like crazy. I have 4 very obvious papules (I guess?? They're actually like big old giant white heads w/ black heads at the center). And lots of smaller ones not far behind There's also a giant bump now forming just under the surface of my chin which looks like it's going to be a huuuuge zit, ugh. I'm pretty sure this is the big purge...but it's really, really discouraging and I'm getting nervous that maybe it's just a regular breakout and the PC isn't working at all But that can't be it....right? LOL, I just signed on here to re-read your blog and get strength from it! hehe. I see that you said your purge lasted about two whole weeks, so I probably have some significant bad face days ahead of me. I just hope it will be worth it! I'm always afraid that something won't work for me even though it's worked for countless others, but hopefully that's just paranoia. Anyway, I haven't broken out like this in years and I'm just wondering, was your purge as bad as this???

Also, a big shout out to the end of exams and the beginning of summerrrrr

[JakeD]

Hey! Congrats to you BeautifulDay as you must be a proud university graduate by now! In must less exciting news, I am now on my 14th day of BHA. My time line seems to be progressing a little bit slower than yours. The first week, I experienced an initial brightening of my skin, and more even skin tone, just as you reported. In week 2 I did not notice much change at all and began to wonder if the product was having an effect. Then, towards the end of week 2, I started to notice my pores looked larger. I assumed it was because the impurities were coming to the surface. Now, just within the last 2 days, day 13 and 14, my chin has started breaking out like crazy. I have 4 very obvious papules (I guess?? They're actually like big old giant white heads w/ black heads at the center). And lots of smaller ones not far behind There's also a giant bump now forming just under the surface of my chin which looks like it's going to be a huuuuge zit, ugh. I'm pretty sure this is the big purge...but it's really, really discouraging and I'm getting nervous that maybe it's just a regular breakout and the PC isn't working at all But that can't be it....right? LOL, I just signed on here to re-read your blog and get strength from it! hehe. I see that you said your purge lasted about two whole weeks, so I probably have some significant bad face days ahead of me. I just hope it will be worth it! I'm always afraid that something won't work for me even though it's worked for countless others, but hopefully that's just paranoia. Anyway, I haven't broken out like this in years and I'm just wondering, was your purge as bad as this???

Also, a big shout out to the end of exams and the beginning of summerrrrr

Cthulugrrl- You think EXACTLY the same way I do. I don't bother posting it because I assume people will be lame about it. It's refreshing to read.

For the record, you are a pretty girl.

[BeautifulDay]

Hey! Congrats to you BeautifulDay as you must be a proud university graduate by now! In must less exciting news, I am now on my 14th day of BHA. My time line seems to be progressing a little bit slower than yours. The first week, I experienced an initial brightening of my skin, and more even skin tone, just as you reported. In week 2 I did not notice much change at all and began to wonder if the product was having an effect. Then, towards the end of week 2, I started to notice my pores looked larger. I assumed it was because the impurities were coming to the surface. Now, just within the last 2 days, day 13 and 14, my chin has started breaking out like crazy. I have 4 very obvious papules (I guess?? They're actually like big old giant white heads w/ black heads at the center). And lots of smaller ones not far behind There's also a giant bump now forming just under the surface of my chin which looks like it's going to be a huuuuge zit, ugh. I'm pretty sure this is the big purge...but it's really, really discouraging and I'm getting nervous that maybe it's just a regular breakout and the PC isn't working at all But that can't be it....right? LOL, I just signed on here to re-read your blog and get strength from it! hehe. I see that you said your purge lasted about two whole weeks, so I probably have some significant bad face days ahead of me. I just hope it will be worth it! I'm always afraid that something won't work for me even though it's worked for countless others, but hopefully that's just paranoia. Anyway, I haven't broken out like this in years and I'm just wondering, was your purge as bad as this???

Also, a big shout out to the end of exams and the beginning of summerrrrr

You know what? When I broke out or purged or whatever you want to call it at the beginning of using BHA I was soooo discouraged. I got maybe 5 HUGE papules on my chin and I didn't know what to do. Here I had waited 3 weeks for this stuff to arrive and then was still waiting to see results and then experienced the crushing setback of the intial breakout. I know how you feel but please hang in there! We seem to have very similar skin and acne so I am sure that it will work out for you in the end. Soon enough you won't be able to recognize your skin because it will look absolutlely smooth and clear. In the mean time, while you wait patiently for your skin to clear up I would suggest just keeping at your routine and don't do anything different to treat these papules. Well you know about Paula's beauty bible so I'm sure you wouldn't do anything detrimental, but I found that it is easier than usual to irritate my skin because it is sensitive from the BHA.

And yes, I am done school! Soooooooooo happy, I just presented my thesis on wednesday and it went well! Real world here I come!

[outdoorgirl]

I think I am finally going through an IB with PC BHA. I had a monstrous papule on my chin this week and a few smaller ones nearby. I've also been getting a few smaller regular zits on my cheeks where I usually don't break out. I've been on PC for 3 weeks I think now so I guess it could be a purging still. I just hope this is it and it doesn't get any worse. I just started using my full sized bottle yesterday so I'm not giving up on it yet. I love the way it feels on my skin and I do hope it is working too!

[BeautifulDay]

I think I am finally going through an IB with PC BHA. I had a monstrous papule on my chin this week and a few smaller ones nearby. I've also been getting a few smaller regular zits on my cheeks where I usually don't break out. I've been on PC for 3 weeks I think now so I guess it could be a purging still. I just hope this is it and it doesn't get any worse. I just started using my full sized bottle yesterday so I'm not giving up on it yet. I love the way it feels on my skin and I do hope it is working too!

It will get better soon! Keep at it!

[christopherBAMBAM]

i just ordered mine... i live in oregon so hopefully it will get here soon since its shipping out of seattle WA. Im excited! haha

[silentsound]

Hello, i had a question for you BeautifulDay, i recently purchased the cleasner, toner, bha lotion, and the sunscreen. While the Cleanser and Toner are really great, it seems that im getting residue and that the lotion is asorbing fast enough and is leaving somewhat of a residue applying it after the toner. I was just wondering if you get this as well? Im thinking about ordering the Gel to replace the lotion.

Also did you / anyone buy any of the moisturizers from PC?

Thanks!

[BeautifulDay]

Hello, i had a question for you BeautifulDay, i recently purchased the cleasner, toner, bha lotion, and the sunscreen. While the Cleanser and Toner are really great, it seems that im getting residue and that the lotion is asorbing fast enough and is leaving somewhat of a residue applying it after the toner. I was just wondering if you get this as well? Im thinking about ordering the Gel to replace the lotion.

Also did you / anyone buy any of the moisturizers from PC?

Thanks!

I understand what you are talking about, I kind of found the same thing; things weren't absorbing well, leaving residue at times. I think it all comes down to using the products lightly (only a dime sized amt for the BHA) and giving a few minutes in between each to let them absorb. I also found that using the BHA lotion followed by the sunscreen was not giving me very good results, although that is because I do not have dry skin. So if you too do not have dry skin, the BHA gel may work better for you underneath the sunscreen in the mornings.

I haven't tried any of the moisturizers, but I do find the non-greasy sunscreen moisturizing.

[Cthulugrrl]

[/quote]


Cthulugrrl- You think EXACTLY the same way I do. I don't bother posting it because I assume people will be lame about it. It's refreshing to read.

For the record, you are a pretty girl.
[/quote]


Jake, thanks soo much for the compliment Nice to hear esp. when I feel so yucky! I'm so glad to know someone else out there is as paranoid as I am. I'm betting that we all are, but most people don't freak out about it on the message boards, haha. It is definitely therapeutic, though, I have to say.

On the bright side, my breakout has cleared really quickly! I mean, of course it will take days or weeks for the red marks to go away, but all the zits have already dried and are on their way out. So it seems like, although the BHA may make you break out as part of the unclogging process, the papules don't last very long. BeautifulDay I think you totally called it as far as leaving the routine alone and not adding extra products to get rid of the blemishes. In fact, I may have initiated the breakout by using biore strips and wood glue (ugh, yes, i read about it on here and couldn't help myself...) to try to "see" if the BHA was loosening the blackheads. I suck, lol. But again thanks for your log and your words of encouragement. You're the best, and there is NO doubt in my mind I would have given up by now if it wasn't for your log.

[JakeD]

Jake, thanks soo much for the compliment Nice to hear esp. when I feel so yucky! I'm so glad to know someone else out there is as paranoid as I am. I'm betting that we all are, but most people don't freak out about it on the message boards, haha. It is definitely therapeutic, though, I have to say.

On the bright side, my breakout has cleared really quickly! I mean, of course it will take days or weeks for the red marks to go away, but all the zits have already dried and are on their way out. So it seems like, although the BHA may make you break out as part of the unclogging process, the papules don't last very long. BeautifulDay I think you totally called it as far as leaving the routine alone and not adding extra products to get rid of the blemishes. In fact, I may have initiated the breakout by using biore strips and wood glue (ugh, yes, i read about it on here and couldn't help myself...) to try to "see" if the BHA was loosening the blackheads. I suck, lol. But again thanks for your log and your words of encouragement. You're the best, and there is NO doubt in my mind I would have given up by now if it wasn't for your log.

Yeah, I've found the irritation caused by wood glue does more harm than good. I mean, it doesn't irritate, just caused pimples for whatever reason. I never get inflammatory acne of any kind and the day after I used wood glue I got 3 nasty ones. They just finished healing, but I won't be making that mistake again.

[Siouxsie]

Has anyone used the PC BHA lotion/gel in conjunction with BP? I have mostly inflammatory acne, but I have some blackheads & what seems to be whiteheads maybe (tiny, tiny skin colored bumps underneath the skin, just on my chin????) that I never noticed until my huge red zits cleared (thanks to DKR).
I'm afraid to reduce my BP to only once a day, as I really need it twice a day to prevent large pustules/papules. Before doing DKR, I had for a time used a harsh 2% SA astringent (I think it had alcohol in it - yikes!) & it while it helped with blackheads on my nose, my inflammatory acne ran rampant still.
I would like to hear anyone else's experience in using a BHA with BP to treat inflammatory acne with some comedal acne.

Edited to add:
Does anyone know of a BHA treatment I could do like once or twice a week in addition to DKR to treat the minor comedal acne I have? I wonder if that would be enough so I could just continue DKR for my inflammatory acne....

[BeautifulDay]

I have done the DKR regimen but just not combined with the BHA, however I can offer the following thoughts...

You say that you have minor comedonal acne; I bet that the PC BHA 2% would work great for you, just because the rest of us use it everyday does not mean that you have to! I, personally, use it twice a day because I had quite a big problem with comedones, but I plan on cutting down to once a day or less when I feel that I have reached the 'maintenance' level rather than 'treatment'. Even the PC site says that how often you use it is up to you based on your skin.

If your skin is already used to the DKR then you probably wouldn't get much irritation at all from adding BHA twice a week for example. I have read a lot of people's remarks (me included) as to how the BHA did not irritate them at all (unlike the irritation from BP).

If you haven't tried it yet, you may want to order some samples of the 3 formulas from PC, and let us know your experience! There are not really many alternatives to Paula's Choice when it comes to a worth while BHA treatment so if you have tried a drugstore salycilic acid product in the past and were dissapointed you will be pleasantly surprised with this!

Has anyone used the PC BHA lotion/gel in conjunction with BP? I have mostly inflammatory acne, but I have some blackheads & what seems to be whiteheads maybe (tiny, tiny skin colored bumps underneath the skin, just on my chin????) that I never noticed until my huge red zits cleared (thanks to DKR).
I'm afraid to reduce my BP to only once a day, as I really need it twice a day to prevent large pustules/papules. Before doing DKR, I had for a time used a harsh 2% SA astringent (I think it had alcohol in it - yikes!) & it while it helped with blackheads on my nose, my inflammatory acne ran rampant still.
I would like to hear anyone else's experience in using a BHA with BP to treat inflammatory acne with some comedal acne.

Edited to add:
Does anyone know of a BHA treatment I could do like once or twice a week in addition to DKR to treat the minor comedal acne I have? I wonder if that would be enough so I could just continue DKR for my inflammatory acne....

[christopherBAMBAM]

Mine came today!! :excited: haha I'm gonna try it in addition to some BP maybe one in the morning the other at night... Starting with the 1% sample (lotion) then moving to the 2% bottle... BeautifulDay how long did your 4oz bottle last?

[BeautifulDay]

Mine came today!! :excited: haha I'm gonna try it in addition to some BP maybe one in the morning the other at night... Starting with the 1% sample (lotion) then moving to the 2% bottle... BeautifulDay how long did your 4oz bottle last?

Yay! Let us know how it goes for you! That is exactly what I did with the different % and it did help to ease into it. My full sized bottle is just finshing up now, and I have been using it for more than 2 months twice a day. You only need a dime sized amount!

[ILoveMyPuppy]

Do u have any pics of what u look like now. Im just using the lotion and it helped for a bit but now i dont know. i think the BP i use as a wash and as a spot treatment isnt coinciding together. and it seems like my skin is getting oiler since it is usually stiff dry. But i would jus like to see how the cleanser and toner are workin bc im think on switching out all my bp products but jus scared. let me know what u think

[christopherBAMBAM]

i think ive been using more then a dime size I started a log though in the log section

[silentsound]

So ive been using PC for little over a week now, about 11 days to be exact. In the shower ive been noticing that im starting to get these tiny bumps on my face, mostly on my lower cheek along the jaw line. Theyre not visible, unless you look at them close up in direct sunlight. Im also getting little tiny white heads that only last about a day or two as well.

I was wondering if anyone else got these during there first month of PC usuage, is this what i should be expecting during the "purging period"? or should i replace the lotion with the PC BHA Gel? Also has anyone used any of the moisturizers from PC?

Heres what im currently using

1. One Step Cleanser
2. Skin Balacning Toner
3. 2% BHA Lotion
4. Essential Non-Greasy Sunscreen SPF 15 (only during day time)

Now, what im planning on doing once if i do order the BHA Gel is to use the Gel during the day time along with the SPF 15, and at night use the Lotion instead of gel, How does this sound to everyone?

Thanks in advance everyone.

[Siouxsie]

Even the PC site says that how often you use it is up to you based on your skin.

If your skin is already used to the DKR then you probably wouldn't get much irritation at all from adding BHA twice a week for example.

If you haven't tried it yet, you may want to order some samples of the 3 formulas from PC, and let us know your experience!

I ordered some samples! I had come to that conclusion as well, to use it every 2 days or so. I have used SA in a more gentle formula before actually (Dr. Brandts Pore Effect, suuuuper expensive, not sure the % of SA in it either) & it was great for the bumps on my arms, but did zip for my face. Of course at that time I wasn't using BP at all.
I'm thinking a more refined SA would be okay to add in, and I also ordered a BHA lotion for my body cuz now that it's warmer I have those arm bumps again...