hating on the BP smell

I don't know about anyone else, but something about the smell of bp really disagrees with me. It reminds me almost of chlorine, but just slightly, and kind of like really sweet saliva *shudders*. It's the same smell that I remember from when I used to use a prescrption bp acne medication back in high school (forget which brand it was though). The brand of bp I'm using right now is Oxy, and I'm wondering whether the smell might vary from brand to brand. What does Dan's bp smell like? Does anyone else really hate the smell of bp?

Kat's clear skin quest

Hey all,

I'm new to the regimen -- in fact I haven't yet started, I'll be going to pick up supplies at the pharmacy today.

About me and my skin: I'm 22 years old, and have suffered from some form of acne or another since puberty. My face used to be moderate to severe: all through junior high and high school I would get cystic and nodular acne on my chin, nose and forehead especially. Have been going to dermatologists since I was fifteen, used pretty much every topical available, and most of the orals except for Accutane. The topicals were generally pretty useless, and some of the orals were helpful but had side effects (I found out that I'm allergic to sulfa drugs, antibiotics make me severely sick to my stomach and hormonal birth control kills my libido and makes me have craazy mood swings). I might be interested in trying Accutane, but right now I have no health insurance and really can't afford it.

Since my teenage years, my facial acne has improved considerably. I credit time more than any product I used during those years. It's now what I would call relatively mild, but even though it's much much much better than it was before, I still feel self-conscious about it. It's not a big deal really, but having really clear skin would help me feel a bit more confident about myself, especially in a professional setting.

The other thing that has changed since I was younger is that I now have acne allll over my back, from shoulders down to the butt. It's mostly mild to moderate but it is widespread and I get the occassional painful cyst. Where there aren't active pimples, there is definitely a ton of scarring that looks pretty bad. I'm tired of feeling self-conscious in tank tops and bathing suits, not to mention intimate situations.

For the past six or eight months I've basically been using nothing on my skin -- just washing with spectro gel and sometimes half-heartedly applying a little proactiv, which really does nothing. I have used benzyl peroxide products before, but not in this particular fashion, so I thought I'd at least give it a try. Feeling cautiously optimistic after seeing some of the results on this site! Wish me luck