38 replies to this topic

[kittycatsaysmeow]

I recently ordered the acne.org "big kit" regimen, hoping to finally be able to clear my acne & keep it under control. I have been browsing the forums for different treatments & remedies as a "guest" for quite a while now. And I've noticed how helpful & understanding everyone on here seems to be. So here I am just trying to get clear skin

I'm not going to use my name or a real picture of me until I feel a little more comfortable with posting on a message board. I'm pretty self conscious & I suffer from social anxiety... So for now enjoy the adorable kitty cat!

Here is just a little bit of my skin background:
I started getting very light acne around 14.
Turned into mild acne a little after I reached 15.
Progressively turned moderate & stayed that way up until a few months after I turned 16.
After that it turned more mild & less frequent for about 7 months.
Then it started coming back in the summer, & my face has been more prone to PIH.
Now it's 8 months after the summer. I'm 17 now & the actual acne has slowed down a bit, but it's still mild/moderate. & I'm mostly suffering with PIH.
I am aware that BP will slow down the PIH healing, but if I don't try to do something to control my acne now, the PIH will keep on happening

I decided to start this thread for me to track my own progress. But most importantly I started it so people can help me out through the journey. Having people to give tips, advice or answering a question I might have would be really really great. I will also answer any questions that you might have for me while I'm doing this.

The only products I will be using are the treatment, the moisturizer & the cleanser. All from this site. I also take 2000IU of vitamin D3 daily because I don't get much sun.

I will be starting the regimen on Monday April 4th to make it easier to track my weekly progress. That means I will be posting a new set of pictures every Monday. I will try to log in once a day during the regimen to check for any questions or maybe to ask a question myself

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[kittycatsaysmeow]

^In those pictures I only have 3 small active bumps. The rest of my skin is smooth just a lot of PIH. My forehead also has a lot of small red marks from getting rid of some blackheads earlier. that redness usually dies down after a day or two.

And yes I am planning to keep my hands off my face and stop picking during the regimen.

Edited by kittycatsaysmeow, 01 April 2011 - 05:16 AM.

[squares]

Good luck !

[accushame!]

Hey Kittycat (i feel weird calling you that since you are a guy haha), no doubt in my mind you will have awesome results! your acne seems mild and once you're clear you can start using AHA for the PIH! can't wait to see your progress, just make sure you stick to the regimen twice/day and you will be soo thankful

ps the moisturizer sucks, isn't very hydrating and leaves your skin yellow if you have dry skin so i recommend finding a new non-comedogenic moisturizer such as Complex 15, Dove, Olay or Neutrogena. unless you like Dan's

good luck fellow cat lover

[kittycatsaysmeow]

Thanks Accushame & Squares!

But yeah I hear the moisturizer isn't all that great but I'm still going to give it a shot & see if it works alright for my skin. If not I will defiantly give one of your recommendations a try.

Have you used the jojoba oil? I have that as well & thought about adding a few drops to the moisturizer. I already started using it on my lips since they get chapped during the winter. I'm just a little hesitant to trying it on my face since I've never used an oil product like this before.

[kittycatsaysmeow]

START OF THE REGIMEN - DAY 1

Before I start I want to give a heads up. The pictures in my first post were taken in lower light with the front facing camera of my phone. From now on I will be using the main camera on my phone for a better picture, as well as taking them in the brightest bathroom of my house.

My phone camera can take pictures with HDR ON or HDR OFF. In the same bathroom light having HDR ON makes my skin look like how I see it in the mirror. But with HDR OFF my skin looks a lot more red. So all of the pictures I take will be in HDR OFF for the sake of being able to show you the progress better

I will be taking my shower & starting the regimen after I post this. For this first week I'm only going to be using just enough BP to cover my face with a very thin layer, using 2-3 pumps of moisturizer (possibly adding a few drops of jojoba oil) & for this week only I'm doing the regimen once a day to let my skin adjust.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a good week. I'll probably do a couple small updates w/o pictures during the week. But I will post a bigger update with pictures around this same time every Monday.

Well here are some pictures I took a few hours ago. Like I said the HDR OFF makes my skin look a bit worse & more red than it actually is. I'm not oily, just a lot of jojoba on. I've been trying it out with the moisturizer all weekend. It's really softened my skin & got it ready for me to start the regimen

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[accushame!]

how was your first application?

ps: "location: the couch armrest" lol made me laugh

[kittycatsaysmeow]

how was your first application?

ps: "location: the couch armrest" lol made me laugh

Haha, I'm glad you like the cat humor.

I guess it went pretty well. Half a pump of BP defiantly wasn't enough so I had to start with 1 pump. I think it should be alright though since I'm starting off only using it once a day. No burning/itching yet, but I don't expect it to start for a few more days. Not looking forward to that

My only complaint so far is how uncomfortable I feel trying to fall asleep. My face doesn't feel the same against the pillow so I'm trying to sleep on my back instead. Do you feel the same way when your trying to sleep or am I just crazy?

EDIT:
Have a few very small spots close together on the side of my face. I can feel what might be a cyst coming up on my chin too. So I took my shower & now I'm typing this letting the BP do its job. My skin was dryer after todays shower & the BP has a very slight sting. Looks like I might have a rough few weeks ahead of me

OHHH & accushame! Did you start the regimen using dans moisturizer? I just put it on over the BP & it stung. I think I might need a better one. which one of those ones you listed is the most hydrating?

Edited by kittycatsaysmeow, 05 April 2011 - 05:48 AM.

[accushame!]

hey! wow 1 pump of BP already.. im almost 4 months in and i can't even handle 1 pump yet lol. (i guess my skin isn't very tough) what did you mean by 1/2 pump definitely wasn't enough? like you couldn't cover your whole face w/ it?

the stinging/burning sensation when you apply your moisturizer is NORMAL! so don't worry about that, it should subside within a few weeks. if it doesn't, let us know ok? this happens to me every time i try to use more BP.

i didn't start off with dan's moisturizer. i actually have only used it a couple of times (hate it).. and now im stuck with a huge bottle of it! i started off with the Olay moisturizer that dan recommends.. it worked okay, until i started getting crazy flakes. then i moved on to Dove Deep Moisture Day Moisturizer SPF 15 for dry to extremely skin - by far my FAVORITE moisturizer.. i think it is discontinued in Canada though but i don't know about where you are.. check it out for sure. i am now using cetaphil moisturizer for dry skin at night and random ones during the day (i have bought so many over the past few months to try out, so i just use whichever one i see first lol.. i use Dove, Olay, Complex 15, Neutrogena)

hope this helps! oh and the pillow question.. i remember at first i would sleep on my back too, but you'll get used to the feeling of your skin. i remember applying the regimen and feeling as though there was so much stuff on my face and it felt weird. now it feels weird when i DONT have bp on my face!

[kittycatsaysmeow]

Yeah a half pump just wouldn't cover everything or glide on as easy. I'm still only doing it once a day for now, so I don't think I have to worry about one pump causing too many problems for me.

The burning I felt after I put on the moisturizer went away after about 15 minutes. Glad to hear it's normal though because it kind of freaked me out a little bit.

Your name thing says Ontario & I'm at the edge of Ohio right by lake erie so thats not that far. I still wouldn't know if they sell it here or not, But if I can't find it here I'm sure I can find it online.


Anyway a quick update:
I can't see/feel the small spots that I noticed yesterday.
The cyst on my chin has gotten smaller & doesn't hurt.
So I think I caught it just in time.

Globbed zapzyt only on the cyst a few hours before I showered. Also added a little extra of dans BP on the cyst & the small spots after my shower. Seems to have helped a lot.

[kittycatsaysmeow]

I was wrong.. Mr. Chin Cyst didn't go away!

Woke up to it in the morning. Red, big, irritated & leaking clear sebum... so gross.

It wouldn't bother me as much if it didn't show up the first day I started the regimen.. Or if it wasn't the only red spot I can see in the mirror. Anyway no more spot treating it, I'm just going to continue on with the regimen & hope it goes away soon.

I also don't think using dans bp as a spot treatment is ok for my skin. It kind of looks like it burnt off a little bit of skin. If I absolutely need to spot treat, I'll stick with zapzyt.

Edited by kittycatsaysmeow, 06 April 2011 - 11:28 PM.

[kittycatsaysmeow]

So the cyst on my chin seems to be scabbing up. I'm just going to be as gentle to that spot as possible so it can fully scab and come off.

Two spots on my forehead. One is in the upper right side by my hairline and the other one is right below it. Both red and the one hurts a tad but they aren't bothering me too much.

Didn't find the dove deep moisture.. And I didn't know what else to get so I'm sticking with dan's for the next day or two until I can figure out what other moisturizers to look for. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great.

[accushame!]

maybe try the cetaphil moisturizer, or olay.

[kittycatsaysmeow]

I'll see about olay. I tried cetaphil way back, I had a bad reaction to it.

Alright so its been almost a week. The cyst on my chin is gone, just a dry spot and a mark.
Haven't had any other problems below my eyebrows..

Unfortunately my forehead broke out a little bit & then I ended up picking at some small whiteheads. A little discouraging and it was really stupid of me to pick. I'm honestly starting to think that the picking is anxiety/ocd related. I'm going to try hard not to pick and let my forehead get back to normal over this next week. Then I might schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist to see if i can get prescribed something that might help.

Its like this.
I hate the red marks and scabs.
I stop picking until it all goes away and I feel comfortable with that area.
It stays clear for however many days and I'm happy.
Then I do it again out of nowhere and I don't regret it until it's over.

It has to be psychological...

Edited by kittycatsaysmeow, 10 April 2011 - 05:11 AM.

[accushame!]

i'm the same way but at least you can recognize what you're doing and are aware of it, therefore next time you start hacking away at your face just think of this post, look yourself in the eyes and say ENOUGH! .. turn the light off and walk out of the bathroom

[kittycatsaysmeow]

Ahh yeahh:( I know what I'm doing but during the moment my brain just doesn't seem to care until AFTER. At least it's just my forehead and should be about 80% back to normal by next week. Just makes me feel so stupid because I think back and I'm like "You know? If I didn't do this a couple days ago, this part of my face would be fine. But I f***ed up and now it wont be better until whenever it heals"

At least it will heal and I know I'll get another chance to really try not to pick.

It's the days when my skin isn't at all how I want it to look that I actually feel like going out and doing fun things. I hate feeling so restricted because of some stupid skin problem.

[squares]

It's the days when my skin isn't at all how I want it to look that I actually feel like going out and doing fun things. I hate feeling so restricted because of some stupid skin problem.

Wow. You said it perfectly. I think we can all relate to that. Especially with the weather getting better. To an extent it is pyschological, but we can't help it. It would be great just to throw clothes on and go out without worrying about our skin and just enjoying the day. My skin is heaps better than two months ago but I am still critical, I wonder when my skin is 100% clear whether I will still be this way?!

Good luck to great skin and enjoying it in beautiful weather this Summer!!! Believe me time will fly!

[accushame!]

alright.. let me be very honest with you kittycat ! if your face looks like it does in your pictures (it probably looks calmer/smoother now because you've been on the DKR for a week), i highly doubt that anybody would look at you and think "ew". it sucks for me to say this, because i am a girl, but a guy who has acne is more "accpetable" to the public then a girl.. i'm sure you know what i mean. and honestly, if you were to walk by me, i don't think i would look twice ACNE-WISE. pleeease don't let the few pimples and your marks stop you from doing what you want, getting out there having fun with your friends, meeting girls, getting a job, enjoying life! you see it worse then it actually is because it's on your face, i'm the exact same way, but most people won't even notice it. you seem to be a great guy and it's a shame that this is restricting you from what could be.

and as dr.seuss once said.. "those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

ps:

I'm not going to use my name or a real picture of me until I feel a little more comfortable with posting on a message board.

are you comfortable enough yet?

Edited by accushame!, 11 April 2011 - 08:48 AM.

[kittycatsaysmeow]

Well first off I love Dr. Seuss. I've had one of the cat in the hat songs stuck in my head all weekend.
Cat.. Hat.. In French, chat chapeau. In Spanish, el gato in a sombrero!

What I actually want to do is be a writer so my skin doesn't really affect that too much. I do understand what you mean though. The thing is, I mainly see the acne as a reason to seclude myself. Wanting to be secluded is the problem but having some acne gives me even more of a reason to be this way. Which is why I could probably benefit from seeing a psychiatrist a few times.

When I do actually feel like going out, I always want to do it alone. Which puts me in a tough spot because I can't get my license until I turn 18 in a few months. I don't hate my friends but hanging out with them doesn't appeal to me at all. I'm the type of person that wants to go to museums, art shows, small places with live music (preferably one that gets a lot of blues artists) and just the city in general. My friends like to just sit around... I can sit around at home and have more fun by myself.

As far as the picture goes, taking pictures makes me think even more about my skin. And the more I don't think about this small problem on my forehead the faster it will just go away. After about a week when it doesn't bother me anymore I'll take a picture.

By the way thanks for the comment about how I seem to be a nice guy, I appreciate it

[kittycatsaysmeow]

1 Week

Alright so I'm one week into the regimen. I got really dry on my forehead and around my mouth so I skipped BP last night and just moisturized instead.

Here are the pictures:
Note: That big red scab on my forehead.. Isn't even one of the ones I picked at. It looks so gross though and you can see the big mark on my chin that the cyst left me with in the first picture.

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