26 replies to this topic

[californialovin]

So I wanted to start a log just so in the future, when my skin is (hopefully) cleared up a bit, I can look back and see what I went through haha
A little backround on my skin, I've almost never dealt with actual pimples or cysts, but I have extremely oily skin. Tons of blackheads, whiteheads and just bumps. I have a problem with picking my skin, and I love messing with my blackheads as gross as that sounds haha. My main problem areas are my T-Zone. Whiteheads looooove to form on my forehead right between my eyes, it looks gross! I have tons of blackheads on my nose and I have very large cheek pores.
I dread going out in the sun because everyone can see all the gross bumps in my skin. On Saturday, Oct 31, 2009 my mom saw my skin and literally gasped because she'd never seen it right under light and she was able to see all the bumps...she let me order it on Sunday and I recieved the three steps on Tuesday!

Day 1-2

I started at night, because I recieved my products in the afternoon and I was just so excited to start! No redness at all, no drying.

Day 3

Ahhh my face was burning on this day. My cheeks were hot to the touch all day as well. I almost considered already stopping the regimen because of how much my face burned. Redness beginning to form. The stinging, caused my the moisturizer, was really bothering me on this day.

Day 4

I realized that the burning was from me not putting the BP and moisturizer gentle enough. I applied everything very gentley, and only experienced minor burning. My face was BRIGHT PINK the whole day, even after foundation and concealer! I was so embarassed and self-concious I wanted to cry. My neck is beige and my face was bright pink, bumpy, and cakey looking since I applied concealer over my now-flaking skin. I just looked awful and felt awful. I noticed right before bed, I was beginning to flake a lot more, the outsides of my mouth were flaking off, and my forehead felt very tight.

Day 5 (today)

My skin felt great when I woke up, no tightness, no burning, very nice....then I realized I needed to do the regimen all over again and I got sad lol... My face feels so tight and stiff right now. For breakfast I ate a large peice of bread and when I opened my mouth to bite it, my skin felt like it was ripping apart. Sooo dry. Outside of my mouth is starting to peel like crazy, looks pretty nasty. I am so glad I didn't have school today, I don't know how I would go like this flaking to school... My mom saw how self-concious I was about my skin yesterday and asked my if I was going to quit the regimen. Definitely not! My skin doesn't seem as red as yesterday thankfully! All of the blackheads on my nose and forehead seem very erect, and it's so hard for me not to pick at them! No new blemishes, and my forehead actually looks a bit clear, except for all the blackheads. Mom mentioned that my skin looked "Stiff" today, which I can definitely agree with. It's like I got botox and I can't move my face lol

That's it for now, I'll update again tomorrow! I took before pictures but I'm kinda embarassed to post them right now, I'll definitely post them when I see a bit more improvement. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask! Thanks for reading!

Edited by californialovin, 12 November 2009 - 06:34 PM.

[californialovin]

Day 5 still, nighttime. I can feel a large sore underground pimple forming on my chin. I only get 2-3 of those a year, so I think/hope this is just part of the purging process. I'm planning on getting some jojoba oil tomorrow and trying to exfoliate, also going to pick up some new foundation, hopefully one that covers up the redness really well.

[californialovin]

Day 6

I feel and look horrible. I am not experiencing burning anymore, but the redness just doesn't want to go away. I apply too much moisturizer and my face turns bright red for hours, I don't put enough moisturizer and my face is a constant dry, flakey mess. I just feel so dry and stiff, it's like I can't even move my face. Even my lips are really dry. I am about to go out to buy the jojoba oil and I piled on some powder to counteract all the redness and my skin looks so dry, bumpy and flaky. I'm so humiliated and I have school tomorrow so i don't know what to do.

[californialovin]

Day 7!
So finally a week into the regimen. It's been really tough for me. I've always been very self concious of my skin but what I'm experiencing now is so much worse. I tried to jojoba oil flake scrub type thing last night and it worked great for my cheeks! No more cracking/flaking there. Didn't do much for the rest of my face though and I'm still peeling. The redness hasn't calmed down at all which is really embarrasing because the skin around my eyes is beige and then my face is bright pink. I think I'm only going to start putting BP on my T-zone where I usually breakout. Currently my jawline is peeling the most and it looks gross. I'm going to do the jojoba thing again later.
The bad thing is that I actually have noticed a big improvment in my spots but everything else just oveshadows it. Ahh

[californialovin]

Day 8

phew I made it through a week. It's been tough for me! Last night I was really tired of the dryness so I put on a really thick layer of moisturizer. It only resulted in bright pink burning cheeks. I didn't do the regimen this morning because I was tired of the constant redness and I wanted to go to school without feeling selfconcious about it but it stayed red anyway. I noticed right now that I've sprouted a few new whiteheads and blemishes, so I'm not sure if this is my purging process starting or if it's because I skipped this morning. My skin actually looks very clear of bumps, my friend told me that she remembered last week that I had pimples on my forehead and this week I didn't anymore LOL. People keep asking me if I self tanned my face because is so much darker than my neck. I pile on makeup which makes the pink in my face look orange. I also am trying not to get too close to people because I know they can see the flakes... I've noticed I've started walking with my head down now with my hair covering my face because I'm so embarrased but I really can't help it. The redness and flakes are bringing me down! I'm not even considering adding more BP atthis time even though I know I should. I'd like to see some of the redness subside first. Anyway that's all for now!

[californialovin]

UPDATE 11-12-09

So today my skin is actually clear....my flakiness had subsided except for the skin around my temples still being a patchy mess, but everywhere else is fine! For the last 2 days I've only put BP on my problem areas, my forehead, cheeks and chin. My redness is going down a lot more as well. Right now I'm only using about 1/3rd a finger of BP and I don't think I'm going to be ever going to a full finger. My friend actually looked at me and said "wow your skin is so clear now, didn't you barely start like last week?" LOL Thankfully I only had a very moderate case so I'm glad to see results so soon....I'm hoping that it'll be smooth sailing from here! As you can see from the picture my skin is still very VERY Dry which makes my foundation cakey but hopefully that will tone down as well!

Before, Nov 1, 2009





Now, Nov 12, 2009

Edited by californialovin, 12 November 2009 - 06:30 PM.

[californialovin]

Oh and since I'm posting pics, I thought I'd add....a few days ago I put on a REALLY thick layer of moisturizer on. It completely burned my face and turned me red, look.



It was pretty ridiculous, but I learned! I can only put on a thin layer or else I turn into a tomato.

[Rudie James]

I'm 17 too, you're before-after pictures are amazing, i'm really on the brink of trying this regimen

lemme know if it was a makup/lighting thing to some degree tho

Edited by Rudie James, 19 November 2009 - 12:20 PM.

[californialovin]

So right now I think I'm almost three weeks in
My skin is not perfect, I haven't been following the regimen as closely as I probably should. I've gotten lazy and skipped sometimes in the morning. I haven't gotten any new whiteheads or pimples though so that's good! I've noticed that my skin is a lot more sensitive now. I've been picking at my blackheads for the past few days (bad I know, it's hard for me to control myself ) and I notice that my skin stays a lot more red and irrated after, and it lasts a long time. Even doing things like plucking in between my eyebrows leaves my skin irritated for a bit. The blackheads and pores on my nose haven't decreased in size or color at all, but it's generally pretty easy to cover with makeup. My forehead especially is still smooth so that's all that matters to me. My chin has been struggling a bit lately, you might be able to see that I still have a few blackheads and bumps, but they don't bother me. As long as my skin can stay like this, I'm ok! Right now I'm using anywhere from 1/3rd to 1/2 a finger of BP.

Here are pictures I took right now, no makeup at all. It was raining so the natural light isn't very good, but here it is! I was picking a lot last night so my skin is kinda red.

Nov. 1 v Nov. 22

[californialovin]

I'm 17 too, you're before-after pictures are amazing, i'm really on the brink of trying this regimen

lemme know if it was a makup/lighting thing to some degree tho

Sorry for the late reply, but you should definitely try the regimen! The first few days/weeks might be awful but it is truly worth it in the end! I was so close to quitting within the first few days but I'm glad I stuck with it!

I posted a new picture above with absolutely no makeup on at all, I promise haha

[sushikam]

You're skin looks amazing after such a short period of time!

Trust me, you're lucky to have such mild acne...it's so much easier to get under control than moderate to severe (like I have). Your skin tone looks amazing though, and I wouldn't even have noticed the blackheads had you not pointed them out. Looking good!

Continued good luck to you!

[californialovin]

Thank you so much! After reading other peoples logs it's really made me realize how lucky I am to have a milder case. Nonetheless, it bothered me a ton so I am very happy I am able to get it somewhat under control. It's amazing to know that it's greatly affected my self confidence for so long, yet I was able to tone it down within a matter of days thanks to the
regimen! If anyone is contemplating doing it, I definitely recommend at least trying! I realize I had, I think, pretty fast results but please don't be discouraged if your experience is different! The regimen is amazing!

[californialovin]

So I believe it's day 23! It's been doing a great job of keeping me externally clear, but lately I have noticed that I seem to have a lot more underground blackheads near my jawline. They aren't bumpy, but discolored and when I pop them, they stay swollen for quite a bit. I really need to stop picking... Blackheads drive me crazy though haha..anyway no new whiteheads or pimples but definitely a few blackheads. Also as I said before, my skin seems a lot more sensitive, plucking my hairs on my face leaves my face red for a while.

[californialovin]

Day 30 (31?)

One month in! The underground blackheads turned into raised red bumps, but those have gone away now. I'm flaking a bit on my eyebrows for some reason, but nowhere else. I don't experience redness or tightness anymore either. I haven't had the need to use the jojoba. As I said before, I'm not completely strict on the regimen, I skip sometimes and only do it 1x a day...but it's keeping me clear so that's good! I'm still using 1/2 a finger of BP. I love this regimen!

[californialovin]

Wow what a change from a few days ago! My skin has completely broken out. I have whiteheads everywhere. They're very painful. It is almost that time of the month for me so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Is it possible to be purging now even though I've been clear for almost three weeks? I hope things improve.

[californialovin]

Yikes I have no idea what's going on but my face is turning red and burning after the regimen again. My skin feels tight and uncomfortable. I haven't changed the amount of BP so I'm confused and disappointed. I hope I'm not the type of person who only sees short term effects and then have it stop working. I can feel an underground pimple on my forehead and it doesn't seem to be reducing in size, I hope it doesn't come out. I still have spots and whiteheads on my chin, jawline and lower cheek, they're driving me crazy! I can't believe I went from being amazed with clear skin to going right back to where I started.

[jarrit]

You're missing the exfoliation factor.

I think AHA might be pretty integral to keeping people healed.

So far, it's working great for me. My cysts don't even surface when I use AHA generously.

[californialovin]

Is AHA a neccessary part of the regimen? I bought jojoba oil and only ended up using it a couple times, I would hate to order AHA and not use it.

[californialovin]

Day 40-something


All the whiteheads I had turned into spots/scar type things, but they're fading a bit. I have one new small whitehead on my forehead that I'm not happy about. I never know whether I should pop them or not because if I pop them they turn red and scabby, but I hate having a nasty whitehead popping out. I'm not going to be able to buy the AHA until my next acne.org order, which probabaly won't be until a month or so. I'm still not sure if this is part of the purging process, I doubt it but I don't know why it stopped working. I'll post a picture of my current bad skin.

[californialovin]

Ah, I've been slacking on pictures and updates, I'm sorry! I'm almost two months in to the regimen now.
I mentioned that I had tons of new whiteheads and zits in my last update. The whiteheads have gone, but they left scars, which never happened before the regimen. I never had acne scars, no matter how much I poked or squeezed. Now my forehead has 5-6 red scars They're easy to cover with makeup, but my skin looks bad without any.
Other than the scars, I don't have any active pimples or anything anymore, so that's good!
One thing I have to say is that my forehead is really patchy and flakey, no matter how much I moisturize. I really just want to get a scrub and scrub it all off, but I know it'll create more bad than good. I still have about half products left, but I will be placing another acne.org order soon, and I will be buying AHA. I feel like I have a lot of surface dead skin, that I really do not like.

That's all for now. I'm sorry I haven't posted pictures yet, I have them on my camera, just haven't gotten around to uploading them yet.