19 replies to this topic

[StephieB]

Hello reader.

If you're reading this you're just like me. You've probably suffered with acne for years, and want to see how others are getting on with the regimen out of curiosity or need for reassurance.

I'm going to do it slightly differently. I can't be dealing with red or flakey skin. So I'm going to do the regimen, but let my skin adjust veeeery slowly. It's probably going to take double the time but in my opinion red, scaly skin is just as as bad and embarrassing as acne. I've lived with acne for ages. Red, flakey skin will make me feel 10x worse.

So. I have light to moderate acne, focused on my chin. I'd say I usually have about 6 or 7 active spots on my chin, and a few scars, at any time. I get the occasional small spot on my upper lip or forehead. I have very pale skin so redness of spots REALLY stands out. I'm 20, female, and surprisingly confident for someone with a skin disorder (if you can call acne that).

So. Let's get to it. Today is day 4.

Day 1
morning: clean and moisturize
evening. clean, small amount of BP on chin and moisturize.
Extra: Ibuprofen for nasty swelled spot on my chin.

Day 2
morning: clean and moisturize
evening: cleanse, small amount of BP over whole face (recommended amount by Dan for starting), moisturize.

Day 3
Skin is looking a little better. Spots are less red. My cheeks look a little pink and feel warm, I'm guessing from the BP. Only lasts until early aftenoon, when my skin is back to normal.
Morning: Cleanse, moisturize.
Evening, cleanse, BP just on chin, moisturize.

[StephieB]

Day 4
Face was fine today, managing to control flakes and spots aren't too bad.
Morning: Cleanse and moisturize
Eve: Cleanse, BP all over face, moisturize.

Day 5
Cheeks were a little pink today. If anything they are quite oily. Sides of my chin are a bit itchy. Spots are about the same, improved from day 1 but not great.
Morning: Cleanse, moisturize
Eve: Cleanse, BP on chin only, moisturize.

[StephieB]

So I'm a week down, and not a huge amount of change.

Moving up to using BP on my chin twice a day and on my whole face in the evenings. I imagine I will get more flakey/red skin but at least I've prepared my skin a little.

Might also try the egg white mask to calm skin.

Will keep you updated.

[Arcade]

Hi! Well, good luck with everything, I think the idea of taking things really slowly should pay off. There have been times when I've just gone for it and had to suffer the consequences of horrible dry skin.

Feel free to read my log:
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Arcade-s-Log-t252442.html

Good luck with everything, ever tried Jojoba Oil? That will really help to keep the flakiness at bay, and seeing as you live in the UK you can get it from H&B:

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/pro...amp;prodid=1528

You'll hear about Jojoba Oil a lot on this forum. Holland and Barrett is the only place I know in the UK that stocks it - that is of course if you can't find it anywhere else online.

Good luck, see you around!

[StephieB]

Hello Arcade!

Thanks for the tip about Jojoba oil...I will give it a go! And I live close to you...I'm from about 30 mins North of Brighton.

Just read your log and I can see it's a struggle but you're within centimetres of perfection! Keep going, it's inspiring.

Just about to do another update, it's only been 2 weeks but I'm still very positive and hopefully things will get better asap!

S x

[StephieB]

Day 14

Wooop a whole two weeks through! I know this is nothing compared to some of the people here but I'm proud that I've managed to stick and I'm already seeing the benefits.

Right. So. Active acne is decreased, but still one or two nasty little bumps on my chin. I'm extremely lucky in the sense that my skin doesn't scar, just leaves red marks which will hopefully fade.

I might do a few egg white masks soon, I used to love them. I'd steam my face and then put the mask on and let it dry. It used to really smooth my skin out! But I want to play it safe for another couple of weeks.


I've also decided to ONLY use BP on my chin cos this is the only area I get spots. Chin-skin doesn't seem to dry out as much as cheeks or forehead, so I'm doing ok with flakiness.

Just can't wait to beat acne. I head back to Uni in 2 weeks, hoping for some serious improvement before then.

[StephieB]

Urgh today is day 15, and I felt really rubbish today. Got a couple of nasty cysts on my chin that are really starting to get to me. Hoping BP will sort them out soon.

Frustrating.

[Arcade]

Hello Arcade!

Thanks for the tip about Jojoba oil...I will give it a go! And I live close to you...I'm from about 30 mins North of Brighton.

Just read your log and I can see it's a struggle but you're within centimetres of perfection! Keep going, it's inspiring.

Just about to do another update, it's only been 2 weeks but I'm still very positive and hopefully things will get better asap!

S x

Cool, 30 minutes north of Brighton? Well I'm about 30 minutes north too, ever heard of a place called Haywards Heath?

Anyway, keep it up I guess those cysts must be horrible, I have a few spots like that in that area and I just want them to go away!

[StephieB]

Yeah I know where Haywards heath is

Day 21

So I'm three weeks in, and have definitely seen some improvement since I last wrote here. Only one cyst left, which came to a small head and wept a little once I removed some of the gunk. It improves every day a little.

Other than that I'm just fighting of a couple more smaller pustules. My skin is starting to flake a bit, so moisturizing a lot with Eucerin.

But yes. General improvement, not near perfect yet.

Here comes week 4!

Edited by StephieB, 10 April 2010 - 02:34 PM.

[StephieB]

eek a tonne of crap just came out of that cyst without much persuasion.....here's hoping it'll heal a lot in the week before uni!

better out than in...

[StephieB]

Day 28

So. end of week four. And things are actually ok!

Still experienced pretty much no redness or excessive drying, which is very positive. The cyst has gone down a lot and the number of other active pimples I have is dwindling. Obviously it's not perfect by any means, but progress is well under way. Hopefully in another 4 weeks I will have made more progress and be well under way to being clear!

The last 4 weeks have been a blur. I've had a few days where I really didn't want to go outside, but I've also had days where I felt much better about my skin.

Using some vaseline has really helped with dryness and softening any scabbing over my cyst.


Anyway, we are coming up to University exam period which will be a little stressful but hopefully will keep things under control! And less alcohol should give my skin a break from dehydration.

Onwards and upwards! Stay positive!

Much love xxxx

[StephieB]

End of Week 5

So. End of week 5. This wee hasn't seen a lot of change, however if I look back to where I was when I started, things have come a long way.

Active Acne is definitely clearing up. But slowly. I'm getting less zits coming through and the ones I do have are causing me less trouble.
Red marks are difficult. They are quite defined which is annoying but as the zits are going down they are fading too.

My skin is quite dry, but adding Jojoba oil is helping to keep flakes at bay.

Give it a couple of weeks more and I might try adding some AHA in to my regimen. Will keep posting my progress.

[StephieB]

OK so I'm changing tactics.

Instead of applying twice daily to chin, I'm keeping up high dosage to chin and adding in low dosage to the rest of my face.

Just want this to all be over and have nice skin. Oh what I'd give....

[Bigphil205]

I think im going to take your tactic to slower adjustment to BP. Last night my skin was light red and i figured i go 1/3 finger length of bp from my normal light dab here and there. 2 friends came over and asked what was wrong it was that bad, if i had school or work i wouldnt have gone out in public. i was rudolph the red faced reindeer. i used a ton of jojoba and moisturizer before bed, three applications, and when i woke up to go to the gym my skin was soft, but still a tad red. i think im going to use bp on my nose and chin and very lightly everywhere else that turns red and see what happens. im just starting week 2 with mixed results, less whiteheads which is great, 2 new pimples that are going away already, but my skin is overly sensitive to BP. i never knew i was such a sensitive guy...haha.

i wonder how long it takes for your skin to really adjust to high dosages of bp if you have sensitivity to it. a fingers length seems like and olympic feat for my face. i thought after years of proactive and whatnot my face would have some stamina for it, but i was wrong.

[StephieB]

I think im going to take your tactic to slower adjustment to BP. Last night my skin was light red and i figured i go 1/3 finger length of bp from my normal light dab here and there. 2 friends came over and asked what was wrong it was that bad, if i had school or work i wouldnt have gone out in public. i was rudolph the red faced reindeer. i used a ton of jojoba and moisturizer before bed, three applications, and when i woke up to go to the gym my skin was soft, but still a tad red. i think im going to use bp on my nose and chin and very lightly everywhere else that turns red and see what happens. im just starting week 2 with mixed results, less whiteheads which is great, 2 new pimples that are going away already, but my skin is overly sensitive to BP. i never knew i was such a sensitive guy...haha.

i wonder how long it takes for your skin to really adjust to high dosages of bp if you have sensitivity to it. a fingers length seems like and olympic feat for my face. i thought after years of proactive and whatnot my face would have some stamina for it, but i was wrong.

I know what you mean.

I guess the worst areas for BP are your cheeks and forehead...skin seems to be thinner there and more likely to go red. I've been lucky in the sense that my chin has hardly reacted to high dosages of BP, although I've been experiencing loads more flakiness on my upper lip/cheeks. AHA is sorting that out.

I also really recommend Eucerin, it's calming to my skin.

Maybe try only once a day for the areas that go red for another week or two? Then go to twice a day.

[StephieB]

End of Week 8

Wow! 8 whole weeks!

I'm really happy with improvement so far. Active Acne has decreased loads and red marks are fading nicely. I feel SO MUCH better about my skin in general and can't wait for red marks to completely fade!

4 weeks left until my brother's graduation from Cambridge and his ball....hopefully skin will be in an even better condition than now!
I'm so excited!

Still having a couple of issues with flakiness, but I'm using AHA in the evenings to moisturize/exfoliate. I'm also still using Jojoba as it's supposed to do wonders for red marks.

So onwards and upwards dear friends!

[StephieB]

So today is July 27th, and I started on March 23rd.

That's 18 weeks, or just over 4 months.


My progress is incredible. I'm writing to you while I wait my 15 mins for BP to sink in, before I use my AHA+ as a moisturizer. My skin is soooooo much better than it was. Seriously. But it took about 3 months for differences to be really significant.

I haven't been hugely strict, but I do my best to stick to the regimen as much as possible. At the moment I have 0 active acne, and a few faint red scars that are fading, and so easy to cover up with concealer. New acne fades FAST. I use vaseline on zits in the evening and it really softens them up. I hardly get any dryness any more, my skin is really used to the BP.

My confidence has SKYROCKETED. I LOVE the fact I spend minimal time on my makeup, and no time at all worrying that my makeup will have deteriorated during the day.

I still long for the day I can go outside with no face makeup on at all, but I think that days is a few weeks off yet.

So, if you're reading this and you've jsut started the regimen, or you don't know whether or not to do it, JUST DO IT. and stick to it. it has pretty much saved me.

Go! start now! and keep going until you're as happy as I am!

[StephieB]

And so I'm just past a year in


Well well well. How things have changed. I now have no zits. NONE! I've also managed to massively tone down the amount of BP i use, to a pea sized amount once daily.

I am so ridiculously happy that I started and stuck with the regimen. I am a completely changed person. I've even had the confidence to keep a boyfriend for 6 months.

Love love love the regimen!!

[squares]

It was great to read this Congratulations on your healthy and clear skin!

[happyfeet731]

Hi! I just read your log and I am really happy to hear your acne has cleared up!

I have been using the regimen for three weeks now, and only putting it on areas where I am likely to break out (because the amount Dan suggests to use is just not going to happen for my sensitive skin). I still have some pretty bad dryness around my mouth (super annoying). You can take a look at my log for there are pictures there.

Any advice from you, a veteran, would be very much appreciated!!!