Progression from big and inflamed acne to small acne...

Hi Everyone,

I am starting week 6 of the regimen and have noticed I'm getting small red bumps on my upper cheeks and forehead. They're not big and inflamed with a whitehead just begging to be popped, nor do they hurt. But still, they're red and kinda annoying.

My question is, does using the dkr regimen typically cause this to happen...from big and inflamed acne to small and red...to hopefully none at all?

Also worth mentioning is that I started using AHA+ for the first time this past weekend..on friday night (so it's been a few days since then). I started getting the smaller red bumps a few days before, though, so I don't want to blame it on the AHA, not to mention that I have yet to put the AHA on my forehead and I had a red bump above my eyebrow this morning, so I'm not too sure they're related.

So what do you guys think? Have those of you on the regimen seen the size of your acne decrease? I'm still breaking out just as often, it's just not as big and painful. I hope this isn't some sort of reaction I'm having.

Thanks!

Jojoba and purging??

Hi All,

Last friday (5 days ago) I developed 2 cysts on my right cheek...one on the cheekbone, the other closer to my chin. I had just started using a new powder - Physicians Formula talc-free mineral wear - four days previous. I was in week 3 of the DKR regimen and was already combating a bit of breakout and this just made things that much worse. Everyone always talked about bumps getting smaller as the weeks progressed, and this was the opposite, so of course I started scouring the internet for possible causes, as well as ranting in a post in this very forum.

What I found was that a) Some mineral makeup, namely Physicans Formula, can cause cystic breakouts, and b) Some people have had issues with Dan's moisturizer, possibly because it contains jojoba oil, and this can also lead to breakouts, sometimes cystic ones.

I of course chunked the powder the first chance I got and never looked back. I actually haven't had a new bump appear since the 2 cysts appeared, so I may have solved the problem. But then I started thinking that the night before I broke out I did a jojoba oil scrub to help remove some of my flakies and the next morning - bam - 2 cysts.

I hate to over-think this but I just want to know the true cause of my breakout. Does jojoba oil typically have a purging period where it helps the gunk from the nether regions of our face come to the surface? And if so, will this stop after a few weeks? I've been using jojoba with my moisturizer since the beginning, btw, so it's had time to do it's damage. Like I said, I've had no new breakouts since (thank god) but if, say, this friday I have another breakout of cysts, I might have to lay off the moisturizer/jojoba oil and find something new.

What do you guys think? Does anyone think jojoba may have caused them to purge?

Someone please tell me I'm going to be okay...

Hello...this is my first time posting although I've been coming on here regularly since I started the regimen and even for a bit before that. First off, I'm a 25 yr. old female and I use all three of Dan's products, as well as the Jojoba oil for flakes. For the first week on the regimen I experienced a nice amount of clearing. I probably had 4 active bumps at the time, two of which I caused because I picked. I had just gotten off proactiv, reason being that it made me have large painful bumps, a kind I used to only get every once in a while, but with that last week on proactiv I was getting them every day. I used proactiv for 5 years and it kept me pretty clear until this fall, and then it kind of stopped working so I quit using it and tried something with salicylic acid in it which just made me break out even worse. So alas, i went back on proactiv and that's when i started getting the monster painful zits. That was a little over three weeks ago, so I began using Dan's products in hopes that it would clear everything up. It seemed obvious to me that I need benzoyl peroxide as a treatment because that's what's worked in the past.

As I said I cleared up nicely for the first few days, no new breakouts and just healing of the old stuff. Then at the end of week two and ever since I've had a new bump everyday...not the wicked inflamed and painful kind like i experienced with proactiv (i'm assuming these were papules/pustules?), but instead these are raised red patches appearing on both my cheeks that have no head, not even painful really. My forehead is clear, and my chin looks okay (there are some under the skin bumps that aren't red but are troublesome nonetheless). It's just my cheeks now that are breaking out in these weird red patches...and I never used to break out here before. I've read MANY people's blogs and the what to expect page so I know I was expected to get a breakout at around this time, but I thought it would be a couple of the norms in my trouble areas, not something entirely different all over my cheeks.

I feel like I had such a hard time with proactiv that final week because my skin was excessively dry and irritated, but right now, even with all the bp i put on my face twice a day, i keep it fairly hydrated with moisterizer and jojoba and it doesn't seem that dry...so I don't know what's causing the irritation. I do wear make-up...I have to, can't help it. Are these bumps normal? If this is a purge, is it supposed to last for this long? I was king of hoping to have a week's rest from new bumps so that these others could clear up (that's how it's always been for me) but these are relentless, and showing up everyday. I'm at the point where I feel like it's not working for me and I'm on the fence about stopping the regimen, just so I'll stop breaking out on my cheeks. I need someone to tell me it will get better with time and that this is just normal. Sigh.