I have had acne for years, and the worst part is my back/shoulder area. It has kept me from wearing anything strapless. I am supposed to be in a wedding in two months as a bridesmaid- and guess what? Shoulders and back must be exposed. I am terrified.

I have gone through periods where I get really serious about my acne and want to get rid of it for good, and then get discouraged and stop trying as hard. Finding this site has inspired me to try again. I have to admit however that I have recently been going to a tanning bed. Yes, this is terrible for your skin and body. This is the first time in my life I have gone consistently, and it has been for one month. I plan to stop at the end of this month since I am finally all one color (goodbye farmer's tan!).

And this is what I have been doing about my acne for the past week.

AM:
Clean and Clear Acne Control Cleanser (it has Benzoyl Peroxide in it) on face and back.
Apply Murad Clarifying Body Spray to back. (0.5% SA) <-- I got this before finding this site and reading more about acne; once the bottle is done I may not get more, it's ridiculously expensive!
Apply Clean and Clear Acne Control Moisturizer to face (0.5% SA)
Apply Olay moisturizer for sensitive skin to particularly dry areas of face.

PM:
Clean and Clear Acne Control Cleanser on face and back.
Apply Noxzema Anti-Blemish Pads to back (2% SA)
Apply Clean and Clear Acne Control Moisturizer to face (0.5%SA) in higher quantity than before.

*If* I get home early enough in the day, I will go ahead and reapply SA using the Noxzema Anti-Blemish pads to my back/shoulders.

*If* I have a particularly nasty one looking like it might be starting to come in, I will zap it with a 10% BP cream, which seems to work fairly well.

I am using SA because I have ruined WAY too many clothes with BP and it's bleaching havoc it wreaks with them.

I used a trial kit from Philosophy last weekend to 'peel' my face and treat it. Lo and behold, I broke out with 3 or 4 horrible zits in two days time. I don't know if I'll ever try that again. But for the most part since starting this regimen, the small bumps on my face have cleared.

As for my back, I took a picture near the first day of treatment. I am continuing to take a picture every two days to see if there is improvement. I have also ordered, after reading reviews, Dan's AHA+ and Jojoba oil to try. I hate how when I moisturize, I still flake- it seems the oil is the answer. And I hope the AHA+ can help with some of the old red places on my back. I have also ordered his SA+ and will definitely provide feedback on it. Will update as I change my regimen and if things seem to be clearing for me.

Future plans also include going back onto birth control, Ortho Tri Cyclen specifically. I am not convinced about Spironolactone, though... maybe one step at a time for the long term hormonal control.

That's an awful lot of SA! Since Monday I have used Dan's SA morning and night after using a 2% SA wash (acnisal). It's absolutely amazing, I have seen about a 50% improvement in about 5 days. And I will fly to the US and murder Dan if he doesn't make SA permanent I think that AHA & SA will work wonders on your back! Honest! Have faith in the mighty

Maybe I am overdoing it! But I really want it gone. Thanks for letting me know how Dan's SA worked for you. I'd take any amount of improvement at this point.. I can't wait to try it out!

Hows it going for you? I cheated and ate milk, I regretted it the next day!

It seems to be going okay so far. I haven't gotten the new products from acne.org yet but should receive them soon. I haven't gotten any of the larger whiteheads since one appeared about 3 days ago. I have had a few smaller bumps here and there and it seems some of the older bumps are beginning to fade. I was gone for several days this weekend so I have not taken any new pictures of my back to evaluate its progress, but I will take one before I start Dan's SA and AHA treatment.

Cheated and ate milk? Is milk a bad thing for acne? Sorry to sound naive..

So I actually received the AHA+, Jojoba oil, and SA+ yesterday evening and began treatment last night. I applied the SA first and then the AHA+ after washing, same as this morning. I think I am so used to a 2% SA drying my skin completely out that I'm not quite sure what to think of Dan's formulation. I wonder if I should even be using the AHA+ on top of the SA+?

I did not experience much if any of any of the redness with the SA that I have heard others talk about.. probably because I have been using SA for a while now; just a different source. The skin on my back is not particularly sensitive to most things so going ahead with the AHA application didn't seem to bother it at all. In fact, I'm wondering if this stuff actually will work? I'm guess I am just used to feeling the tingliness or having a slightly different sensation on my skin with most new products. I didn't get that with either of these products.

I think I *do* love the Jojoba oil. I usually have a few chronically dry spots on my face and only a couple of drops of the oil took care of it very easily.

I took a picture today of my back. It looks worse than it did when I took the last picture (5 days ago), but only because I have picked a few spots and they are not very pretty looking now. The good news is there doesn't seem to be any new large zits coming in.

I'm allergic! As well as making me throw up it also makes me break out!

Yeah milk also makes me sick. I do not throw up but I get terrible diarrhea. It also breaks me out in cystic pimples which I dont usually get

Just a quick update as I am in the middle of finals. Only two more left to go!

I have been continuing the same treatment for the most part. Sometimes at night I switch and use the Noxzema anti-blemish pads (they are 2% SA) on my back instead of Dan's 2% SA. When I do this I do not cleanse with BP. The reason for this is because I have been in the middle of finals- surely some of you know where I am coming from! It's hard to do every step when you can barely hold your eyes open and you need every minute of sleep you can get.

I've been taking pictures every so often since April 20th when I decided it was now or never. It seems possible that my skin is a bit clearer since then. I still have several nasty spots where I have picked. I took a picture on April 28th, when I started Dan's regimen. Of course that's only been a week.. I think there may be some improvement in some of the scarring that I have but not necessarily in the whitish places (I'm not sure what term is correct to use).

Tonight, I wondered if you could use Nox and Dan's in conjunction. So even though it is perhaps not the smartest thing I've ever done, I used the Nox pads and then applied Dan's SA over it. I don't seem to be having any problems with it. This will not be a regular thing for me to do and I would NOT suggest it if your skin is particularly sensitive to SA (I personally don't seem to have a problem with SA whatsoever).

Using Dan's SA and AHA morning and night seems to have cleared up my jawline/hairline very very well in just the short time I've had it. I did however get two large bumps in the past few days, but I attribute this to massive stress from school. One is on my lower left cheek, another on the right side of my nose; both uncommon places for me to get zits in the first place. I've also had a couple come up on my shoulders. I'm trying not to pick at them.

I'm pretty sure BP neutralizes SA...might wanna get a cleanser with SA as well..or just stick to BP in the morning.

Even if only used as a cleanser and not as an actual ointment? I basically rub the cleanser into my skin and then rinse it off. Thanks in advance.

http://www.drugs.com/mtm/benzoyl-peroxide-...id-topical.html

It is safe to assume that they don't not react together. I can't find anything that says that they do react. It's awfully lonely in here isn't it

I know it's been a long while since I posted, but I have continued to use Dan's SA+ off and on this summer. As I have dropped off recently and have not been following my own regimen, I can really tell a difference. It's come back almost full blast, though not as bad as before. I will be ordering more SA+ if it's still for sale... I also still occasionally use the Murad Daily Clarifying Body Spray on my back when I am in a bit of a hurry and don't have time to rub in the SA+... it seems to help maintain a bit.

I am not sure about the AHA+ - it seems to work okay, but rarely can I put it on following SA+ because the two form a gooey mess..

As for the Jojoba oil- I am in love. It really helps with the dry places on my face, without having to make my face look greasy.

If you have any questions, let me know.. sorry so short.