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BTW, I'm a female in my late 20s and since Jr. High, I've always just gotten occasional cysts around that time. I didn't like it, but some make up would hide it and in retrospect, it wasn't that bad from my old pictures! Apparently having kids changed that, because now I have some serious hormonal acne going on along my jawline chin and cheeks, with a few bonus whiteheads on my forehead. I've never had black heads and I have no clue why. Everyone's skin is soooo different!
Here's what I've tried:
Proactive for the better part of 7 years. This usually works for about six months and then it kind of stops and goes back to occasional cyst, except when I quit using it, it gets worse than it was to begin with. So yay, it wrecked the way my skin functions. So, last summer 2010 I tried Murad. Yeah, it doesn't have BP...bad idea. The lotion was nice. The IB was not so nice....worst breakout of my life. Ever since, I have had the same breakout all over my cheeks and jawline for off and on for a year. Ugh.
So that led me to The Dermatologist...I got Tetracycline, Benzaclin (generic), and Differin 0.1
This left my queezy and red and itchy...back to Proactive...better than nothing. Except, after about 5 months it stopped working again and I started getting those deep cysts. OUCH! (no white heads though, weird right?)
So I read that Differin works deep in the skin which sounds good for deep cysts.
April 23-Week one- Differin 0.1 cream and Dan's Regimin AM. Nothing kind of oily. Not better or worse. I have used it every night without fail since this day! I also used Almay clear complexion foundation and spot concealer.
Week two-Ouch. Peeling and red, but I just started waiting an hour and moisturizing with Dan's lotion at night. Which helped alot. I used Dessert Essence Jojoba oil too, to help many mornings.
Week 3- I was really starting to rethink this. I started breaking out a little more and still pretty red. I kept doing same thing, which kept the redness under control, not the zits.
Week 4- This week my left cheek got nearly clear. Yay
My face didn't feel so bad either.Week 5- More new zits kind of here and there, like my nose, forehead, jawline, and temple. Bummer. Still used the same stuff. Whiteheads all over my jawline on the right.
Week 6- Ooops! Apparently salicylic acid does the opposite thing that differin does, so time for new make up. Swiched to Almay line smoothing liquid & concealer. Also getting more used to the differin and less redness. Using Olay complete sensitive in the daytime after Dans.
Week 7- Well my left cheek looks awesome! Just one tiny blemish. AND my right cheek and jawline blew up! All those white heads turned into zits! Wow, I didn't know this was possible, it's like the murad breakout all over again. These scars are going to suck. Forehead looks better though, lol.
Week 8- Okay so the differin doesn't seem to be irritating me at all and these zits have got to go.
So I have bumped up the BP and am seeing if I can tolerate oxy 10 for awhile until this cheek clears up!
am
Cetaphil (for oiliness)
Oxy BP wash
Wait 5 min
Old Poractive toner (for the glycolic fading properties) I've ordered some new from Alpha Hydrox
Oxy 10 spot treatment all over, it's pretty thin
Wait as long as I can before I leave. at least 10
Olay complete sensitive
Almay Line smoothing Liquid and concealer
pm
Step 1-take the make up off as soon as I know I don't need to go anywhere
I tried OCM, but I just really think it made things worse, so
I 've used Garnier wipes
and now I'm trying Olay age defying wipes, neither seem to cause any
Step 2-cleanse, Cetaphil and then OXY 10 Wash ( I don't think it cleans that deep, which is why I use the cetaphil first. I use to oxy to kill any bacteria, because I'm trying to only put on the differin at night so I can know that it's not interacting with anything.
let skin dry for at least 30 min, they say this helps with irritation
Step 3
Smooth Differin 0.1 cream all over, avoiding eyes
for fading marks and deep cleaning:
I wish I had a schedule for this, but I just try to do something every couple of days.
I'm going to try to do a glycolic peel once a week. I have some from proactiv that are 10% (their wipes), and have ordered new from Alpha hydrox. It burns and tingles, but not too bad and just makes my face kind of pink. I only use cetaphil before this usually in the afternoon, then differin pm. I think it helps the marks a little and deep cleans.
I also try to use a Kaolin mask every few days. I alternate between proactive sulfur mask and neutrogena cleanser/mask 3.5% BP. I leave it on for about 10 min.
I just bought the cheep Queen Helene mint julep mask at walmart the other day, but I'm not sure I want to try anything else yet. So I will wait awhile until I am feeling braver.
This seems to be helping and I was only a little red over the weekend. The swollen zits on my cheek are going down and I am hopeful that it will look like the left side soon!
I am busy and forgetful, but I will try to update soon...I don't want to be one of those people that gets clear and forgets to tell anyone what worked!
