6 replies to this topic

[One Summer's Day]

Hello everyone!

So I suppose I should introduce myself first; my name is Rachel and I'm 17 years old. I'm not quite sure when I started getting acne, but I must have been 10/11 when I started seeing a couple of spots here and there? In comparison to a lot of people using the regimen, my skin isn't that bad at all, which makes me incredibly grateful, but I still loathe my skin and it's enough to make me feel very low and sad about myself somedays. I have the sort of acne which has become lots of tiny, gritty spots, which are more like clogged pores than spots? And then the odd whitehead, with a couple of red marks/brown scarring from picking at them. I have very very pale, fair skin, so any redness is really obvious and takes a long time to go away. It's not all over my face, but mainly at the top of my cheeks, on my chin and a little on my forehead. I also have a lot of blackheads on my nose, chin and cheeks. I mean, it's far from perfect, and I know it never will be, but I am getting quite desperate now. I've tried everything in the past, from exfoliators to cleansers to toners to spot treatments, duac...some things temporarily helped, but overall, the condition on my skin is more-or-less the same. And recently my skin has been worse, I think due to stress from exams, and out of desperation, I did a lot of research, found the regimen, ordered Dan's starter set. So I'm on Day 5 of the Regimen now, and figured that making this log would be helpful for me to keep track of my progress, as well as hopefully getting me into the community and learning from others. Acne is a dreadful thing, but the sense of community and encourgement I've seen on here from others is inspiring, and gives me hope for my skin

Day 1

So on the first day, I followed the instructions as carefully as I could. Morning and night, I firstly cleansed (3 pumps) for ten seconds, waited five mins for my face to dry, applied the BP gel (I find the whole 'pump' concept confusing, sounds stupid I know, because I don't really know how much pressure you put down for a 'whole' pump; so basically I filled the end 'segment' of my finger, like in the pictures in Dan's instructions) Then I waited 15 minutes for the BP to dry and applied 3 pumps of the moisturiser. Initial thoughts; the cleanser is nice, the BP tingled a little, the moisturiser tingled a little too. No noticable change to my skin, as expected.

Day 2

Skin feels quite tight, spots have dried out a little? Wishful thinking I believe!
ill horribly
Day 3

This is where the pain started coming in. So my forehead is fine, the sides of my face are fine, my nose is fine, but my chin/mouth area/inner cheeks are reddy orange in colour, dry as anything, and BURNING like anything. I had an exam on this day, and had to foundation, which I think probably made it worse, but overall I think my skin is just like 'Oh hell, that's BP, I hate that stuff!' Started using Jojoba oil to try and help the pain.

Day 4

The pain is wearing off a bit, but it's still REALLY orange looking, like I've had a bad fake tan or something?! Like I said, it's around my mouth and up the side of my cheeks - basically, where the spots are. I reduced the amount of BP I used on those areas, is that the right thing to do? I think it's just too much for them at the moment. I still used just as much on the sides and my forehead as I did the beginning, but they're not being negatively effected in the same way.

Day 5 (Today)

It's not hurting anymore like it was yesterday, just a little itchy, but it's still BRIGHT bright orange. I am applying jojoba all over my face before the BP and with the moisturiser to try and help it, but it looks disgusting I'm meant to be going out to a birthday party but don't think I can as I'm scared to put makeup on it just incase it makes it worse. The flakiness has started, too. I know that this was to be expected, but can anyone recommend to me what action I should take? Am I doing the right thing? How long is it going to take for the orangeness to go away? I really am not seeing a huge difference in my skin yet. The one big spot I had has reduced a lot, which is good, but overall, I just have this nasty, blotchy, orange complexion. I've used BP cream before and this exact same thing happened, many years ago...the doctor said it COULD improve if I gave it more time, but it looked so horrible that I gave up. Please can someone give me advice as to what to do with the orange patches? As I said I'm REALLY pale, so it's so so obvious! I'm on study leave and don't have to go back to school until June 9th, but I don't really want to have to go to my job/exams in this condition, or be a social recluse! I guess my skin is just getting used to BP? I know I've got to believe it'll work, but I'm scared.

Thank you everyone for any help you may give me

Rachel

[One Summer's Day]

Update:

I just noticed that I've broken out in a couple of places on my chin. Is this the whole 'purging' stage people talk about? What does it mean, exactly? Maybe it's just because I'm at 'that time' of the month...

[accushame!]

hey rachel! my advice (i sooo know what you mean by the orange complexion, i'm really pale too) is you NEED to lower your dose of BP! how much are you using atm, just one pump? i think you're breaking out because you've irritated your skin by starting too fast. if i were you (and if i had to start the regimen again) i would start suuuper slowly, like i'm talking 1/4 pump or whatever is JUST ENOUGH to cover your face, day and night. wait until your skin is perfectly fine with that amount, and then increase the BP a TINY bit, like 1/3 of a pump day and night. if you do that, your face will go back to a regular-ish color (i found the BP always made my skin tone a bit weird) and the breakouts should slow down. also, you won't have really flaky skin. let me know how it works out for you!

ps, i was on the regimen for 5 months and stayed clear with 1 pump morning and 1/2 pump at night. different people different skin, but just know that you don't might not need sooo much BP to stay clear. test it out, start with a tiny bit, let your skin adjust, if you still have breakouts and use a bit more, etc etc. when you stay clear, there's no need to increase your amount of BP!

[One Summer's Day]

Hey, thank you so so much for the advice, it has been super-helpful! I am dosing right down now to a pea-sized dollup, and already the irritation is easing off. I'm still using BP night and day, but already the redness is fading/orangeness lightening - still flaking but I think that'll wear off soon. I think this is also due to my skin adapting to the BP, as when applied it only burns temporarily, notfor a good hour straight! And on the huge plus side, I am finally seeing results! The pores on my nose are definitely getting smaller, the active acne is drying out, red marks on my cheeks dafing...much improved overall I believe! It's giving me the motivation to keep going, I am much happier now Thanks again!

[accushame!]

your welcome

[One Summer's Day]

Day 9

And I'm already seeing incredible results - thank you so much Dan Kern! My breakouts have dried up really well and no new ones appear to be on the way. I've finally mastered the amount of BP that works for me without overdrying/oranging my skin, but it still keeps the spots at bay. The red marks are really starting to fade now...it's still got a way to go but I've never felt this good about my skin before! It's helped my confidence tremendously! I'll upload progress pictures soon

[Zero33]

Day 9 and incredible results!? Dang, I'm jealous. At day 9 for me I think I was regretting ever starting the regimen cause I didn't think it was working.

But definitely stick with it. I'm glad I did.