180 replies to this topic

[SpeciousHope]

So I've come to the conclusion that I have been exfoliating my face too harshly. I use the clarisonic to exfoiliate, then the toner, then the Retin-a exfoliates my skin by it self. Not only that I've been using the Neutrogena Scrub as my cleanser and the the salicylic acid (GM collins acne complex) in the morning. My regimen has been very complex lately but this is has been a very experimental month for me.

My goal is to look for an antibacterial face wash that is super gentle and that can remove make up. Currently i have the Dermalogica Anti-bac face wash, Neutrogena One Step Complete make up remover cleanser, and the Neutrogena scrub. But I don't use the anti-bac face wash often since it's too drying and harsh on my skin. I usually break out when I use it.

[fletch1978]

With all that exfoliation, you should stay looking as young and fresh as a 15 year old forever but in the short term, i think its great that youve decided (i think) to cut back on exfoliating products. i'm currently on retin-a too, and use a salicylic acid exfoliant in the morning, and i dont find any irritation to speak of. if you want some GREAT info, check out www.cosmeticscop.com , and look up the info on exfoliating. i think that the site even differentiates between the exfoliating that retin-a does and what a BHA or AHA exfoliant do. If you feel up to it, check it out...i use all of the info on the site to come up with my regimen. Good luck!

[SpeciousHope]

Thanks for the info! =)

Definitely sick now. I think I have a cold. Yuck.

Breakfast
Green Tea with two drops of echinacea
two slices of toasted wheat bread
Ginger Tea
vitamin c 500 mg

Morning
Neutrogena Daily face wash
'' Alcohol free toner
GM Collins Acne complex
Cetaphil moisturizer
Olay SPF 15
Everyday minerals

Afternoon
Ginger tea with two drops of echinacea
ramen
Neutrogena One step complete make up remover w/cotton pad
shower
cetaphil facewash
Neutrogena Alcohol Free toner
Cetaphil moistuirzer
Everyday minerals

Dinner
mixed vegetables with chicken meat
Tazo green tea w/2 drops echinacea
500 mg Vitamin C

Night
Neutrgoena One step cleanser (make up remover) w/cotton pad
Cetaphil face wash w/clarisonic on forehead and chin
Alcohol free toner
Cetaphil Moistuirzer
Pretika light on pimple on temple (experimenting)
Retin-a Micro

My skin is definitely been more sensitive now with all the exfoliation. I'm going to lay off the neutrogena scrub and find another cleanser to u.se with my clarisonic. I used the pretika for a minute on my left temple.

[SpeciousHope]

I put a tea bag on the pimple on my chin that was humongous last night. This morning it became like a white head. So I used the pretika light on it this morning for two minutes. I came home and another zit broke to the surface and became red. I'm still sick. =(

Morning
Neutrogena scrub
'' Alcohol Free toner
GM collins Acne Complex
olay SPF 15
everyday minerals

Breakfast
Bread
Bare naked smoothies with two drops of echinacea
vitamin c 500 mg


Afternoon
I took a 3 hour nap with my makeup still on =(

Lunch
four slices of whole wheat bread
Mixed berries w/ papaya in a blender
black currant tea with two drops of echinacea
green tea


Neutrognea onet step make up remover cleanser
Shower
Cetaphil cleanser
Neutrogena alcohol free toner
Cetaphil moisturizer
Clinque perfectly real foundation
stila blush

Dinner
chicken
potatoes
mixed vegetables
ginger tea w/two drops of echinacea
vitamin c 500 mg
walphed nasal decongestant
fruit punch


Night \
Neutrogena one step make up remover cleanser w/cotton pad
Cetaphil cleanser with clarisonic
Alcohol free toner
Cetaphil moisturizer
Retin-a

[SpeciousHope]

Eh.. can't really rememember my morning slash afternoon regimen. atleast i've refrained myself from drinking since i've been sick lately.

Morning
cetaphil cleanser
alcohol free toner
gm collins acne complex
olay spf 15 moisturizer
everyday minerals

afternoon
one step make up remover w/pad
cetaphil cleanser with clarisonic
neutrogena alcohol free toner
cetaphil moisturizer

nap

shower
cetaphil moisturizer

cetaphil cleanser w/clarsonic
alcohol free toner
cetaphil moisturizer
clinique perfectly real foundation


Dinner
calamari at carrabba's..it was good but bad choice because I haven't had greasy fried food in months.

Night
Neutgrogena one step w/pad
Cetaphil cleanser with clarisonic
neutrogena alcohol free toner
retin-a micro

i'm breaking out in my chin again

[SpeciousHope]

Breakfast
two slices of towast with tuna
soy milk

Morning
Neutrogena Scrub
'' Alcohol Free toner
Cetaphil Moisturizer
Retin-a micro

Evening
Shower
'Neutrogena Scrub
'' Alcohol Free toner
Cetaphil Moisturizer

clinque

Neutrogena one step make up remove w/pad
cetaphil cleanser with clarisonic
alcohol free toner
cetaphil moisturizer
skipped retina since i used last night and in the morning. my skin was too drying.

meals
white rice
pork ribs
ice cream cake
smirnoff

ah...three days four parties. atelast tomorrow is sunday.

[SpeciousHope]

Haven't really been taken pictures lately...oops. I woke up didn't wash my face until I took a shower in the evening. since i did my night regimen at like 4 a.m. yesterday

night
Cetaphil w/clarisonic
pretika light on left cheek and chin
neutrogena alcohol free toner
cetaphil moisturizer
retin-a micro

[SpeciousHope]

So...yeah the pretika broke me out again. I concentrated on my chin and this morning I woke up with a white head. I felt the white head forming last night while I was rolling around in bed trying to sleep. I used it on my left cheek and it didn't break me out but I usually don't break out there. Maybe the red light purges my skin to break out. But I don't want it to purge!

Morning
Cetaphil cleanser
Neutrogena alochol free toner
GM collins Acne Complex
Olay SPF 15
Everyday minerals


Night
Shower
Cetaphil cleanser w/clarisonic
Neutrogena alcohol free toner
Cetaphil Moisturizer
Retin-a Micro.

So my broken out area is pretty my chin. I think my clarisonic is shrinking my pores or something since my blackheads are diminishing.

[SpeciousHope]

Haaven't really updated in awhile. Been busy with halloween and parties and college and life stuff. Fun. Ugh. I broke out. I have like a cystic zit on my left and right cheek and three on my chin today. =(
It was right after my make up for halloween too. But I didn't really put anything new on my face other than the clinique foundation.

I bought a new cleanser the neutrogena fresh foaming cleanser which is suppose to remove makeup and cleanse too but I don't like it. I think I used it before. I went to the walmart near me and they didn't have any more cetaphil liquid cleanser so I purchased the fresh foaming one. sucky.

Let's retrace to see what could have possibly broken me out in the past five days that I haven't recorded.

Saturday night I went out to a restaurant and had egg plant, rice with sesamee seeds, cole slaw, oily string beans, and a crab cake.

Maybe I ate something that broke me out? Oh well...at least I broke out after halloween instead of before or on. That would've have sucked more.

Morning
Dermalogica antibac wash w/clarisonic
neutro. alcohol free toner
cetaphil moisturizer
retin-a micro

afternoon
shower
cetaphil w/clarisonic
neutro. alcohol free toner
cetaphil moisturizer
concealer stick
clinqiue foundation

night
neutrogena fresh foaming cleanser with pad (left side)
nuetrogena one step complete make up remover with pad (on rt side) I was experimenting which takes off makeup better on a dry cotton pad. the one step did
cetaphil w/clarisonic
alcohool free toner
retin-a micro
cetaphil


I can't seem to get my camera to focus on my skin clearly. Thus I haven't been taking pictures. The settings changed somewhere..so I should just reset it.

[SpeciousHope]

The zit on my right cheek has flattened so now there is just a scar. The one on my left cheek is still there and the one on my chin is diminishing slightly. I was reading about mederma and scarzone to see if it will work on my scars.

Morning
cetaphil gentle cleanser
alcohol free toner
olay spf 15
gm collins acne complex
everyday minerals

Night
cetaphil daily cleanser w/clarisonic
neutrogena alochol free toner
cetaphil daily moisturizer
retin-a micro

spring valley vitamin b6

so I went grocery shopping after class today. I bought the wrong cetaphil cleanser...instead of Gentle i purchased Daily. ughh and i'm too lazy to go back to return it. I also purchased a deformed bottle of vitamin b6 as well. when I came home and went to go open te bottle, i took off the plastic, and discovered the metallic safety foil was already opened. I dismissed and was like wahtever and proceeded to swallow a pill. I'm dumb. oh well. if i die then it's recorded on here and i have the recepit in the kitchen drawer =P

[SpeciousHope]

I'm alive! eh my skin has been clearing again. I hope I don't keep breaking out. I have three zits along my ear lobe. I tried using red light on it but no luck. I'm going to fore go the red light until christmas break. I don't want to keep purging my skin. The zit on my left cheek has flattened as well and zits on my chin popped on it's own. I've been using the my clarisonic. Last night I went to a party and my poor skin has been exfoliated so much with my clarisonic. I used the smashbox silicon to smooth out my skin before I put the clinique on. I realized what made me break out last time. I used this concealer which always breaks me out. I should trash it instead of leavin it in my makeup bag and wondering why I don't use it. I've been losing soo much hair lately and my hair texture has changed dramatically. My hair is dying. I need to start eating again..or eating more. Sometimes I am just too lazy to eat or make something to eat. My regimen has been pretty stable.

Morning
Cetaphil daily normal
neutrogena alcohol free toner
GM collins acne complex
Olay SPF 15
Everday minerals

Night
Neutrogena daily foam make up remover lceanser w/pad
Cetaphil daily normal cleanser w/clarisonic
neutrogenal alochol free toner
Cetaphil moisturizer
Retin-a micro
moisturizer

vitamin b 6

[SpeciousHope]

My forehead is stlill bumpy. I don't know how to smooth it..since it's always been bumpy but not with acne. Just small underground bumps. My face is just scarring now, recovering from my break out. It's super dry. Left cheek has a red scar from that huge zit. I wished my camera would take better pictures.

Regimen same as always

[Irin99]

...But I would recommend maybe cutting back on alternating so many different products at such a rapid pace, resist buying anything new, and cutting back to just what you NEED (the basics, cetaphil, moisturizer, retin-a and sunblock.) Again, its only a suggestion, and a humble one at that ...

Completely agree!! I stick to the basics too.

So I've come to the conclusion that I have been exfoliating my face too harshly. I use the clarisonic to exfoiliate, then the toner, then the Retin-a exfoliates my skin by it self. Not only that I've been using the Neutrogena Scrub as my cleanser and the the salicylic acid (GM collins acne complex) in the morning. My regimen has been very complex lately but this is has been a very experimental month for me.

My goal is to look for an antibacterial face wash that is super gentle and that can remove make up. Currently i have the Dermalogica Anti-bac face wash, Neutrogena One Step Complete make up remover cleanser, and the Neutrogena scrub. But I don't use the anti-bac face wash often since it's too drying and harsh on my skin. I usually break out when I use it.

That is the first thing I thought of when I read what you use on a daily basis. Your skin has no natural oils left on it therefore it is still overproducing to compensate for the loss. Recommended exfoliation is once per week.

Good luck! I've been on RAM for 10 long months and still working my way out of breakouts. And I'm 27!!

[SpeciousHope]

Thanks for the suggestions! Yep. I have definitely cut back. My current regimen is

Morning
Cetaphil Daily Wash
Neutrogena Alcohol free toner
GM Collins Acne complex w/salicylic acid
Olay SPF 15
Everyday Minerals or Clinique Perfect foundation

Night
Cetaphil Daily Wash w/Clarisonic
Neutrogena Alcohol Free toner
Cetaphil Moisturizer
Wait 30 mins
Retin-a Micro

I had two cystic acne on my right cheek along my nose and below the bags of my eye.

Today I went to get a facial today w/acne vac at my dermatologist office. The price went up to $60 from $50 =(. Oh well still cheaper then my former esthetician which was like $95. My face is red and stuff as usual. My esthetician told me I had some cystic acne on my chin and cheeks. Ugh I haven't broken out in cystic acne in forever...but for some reason it keeps reoccurring. I think it was cover girl foundation powder that causes my cystic acne or maybe it was was the concealer I used during halloween... *sigh* okay I need to continue keeping a detailed record of what I use everyday to pinpoint my breakouts. It's hard NOT to use make up to cover up. It's thanksgiving break now so I'll be make up free for a couple of days and use my red light to clear up. After I came home from the facial I used my red light to reduce the redness..I don't know if it worked or not since I was just watching my lectures while mindlessly holding the red light to my face lol.

So I'll describe what happened during my facial. She washed my face and then used the clarisonic on it. (What I do every night) Then she put some honey mask on my face and used the steam thing to open up my pores. The steam thing and honey facial was burning my face like crazy. =X Then the acne vac to suck up wahtever zit/blackhead. Then she started the extractions. Followed by a calming mask, cleansed my face, and did whatever and it was over.

I didn't use Retin-a last night since I knew I was going to get a facial today. I'm home now! So I can recover from my lurking sickness that I've had for the past week.

Today's regimen
Morning
Cetaphil Daily Wash
Neutrogena Alcohol Free toner
Cetaphil Moisturizer

Afternoon
Facial
Then came home and used the red light

Night
Cetaphil Daily Wash
Cetaphil Moisturizer


Since my skin is really raw and fresh from today's facial. After thanksgiving, I shall go to the gym. It's finals after thanksgiving...ughh.

[SpeciousHope]

Ahhh my facial has made my skin really red and raw. I used the pretika red light last night. I think I got sunburnt from it on my left forehead....or maybe it's bruised from the acne vac from the facial? I don't know.

Morning
Cetaphil Gentle w/clarisonic
Pretika red light 10 mins
GM collins Acne Complex
Cetaphil MOisturizer

I'm going to start using pretika every day for 15 mins until new years. I'll see how it works. =)

[SpeciousHope]

I used retin-a last night. The skin around the pimples that were extracted during my facial on Wednesday was peeling. It's was only minor and slight peeling which the Neutrogena toner took care of. I haven't used make up (mineral make up or foundation) on my face for four days now! Tomorrow will be day five. My skin will be free of make up for six days! Nov. 24 to Nov. 30 =)
Dec. 1st I will be wearing make up since I'm going back to classes...and I have to do presentations lol

I'm leaving home and driving back to school to beat thanksgiving traffic tomorrow morning lol. The drive will not require me to wear make up! I'm driving back to school early since I have to study for finals and I HATE sitting in traffic. I'll miss home cooking. I've been eating super healthy at home fish and lots of vegetables.


Morning
clarisonic w/cetaphil gentle cleanser
Neutrogena alcohol free toner
GM collins acne complex
cetaphil moisturizer
Pretika red light for 15 minutes

Night
cetaphil gentle cleanser w/clarisonic
Neutrogena Alcohol free toner
Pretika red light
Nuetrogena Alcohol free toner
Cetaphil moisturizer
wait 30 mins
retin-a

My regimen has been stable for the past three weeks. I've been using the Neutrogena Alcohol free toner for a year and half now? Ever since I started using retin-a micro in July '07. I've been using cetaphil moisturizer at night for a year too...ever since i started retin-a lol. Recently I've incorporated the cetaphil face wash and clarisonic into my routine. So I will stick to these four staples to achieve clear skin. I'm going to try to just use clarisonic at night and NOT before I put my foundation on. But it's difficult since the clarisonic smooths out my skin and makes it easier to apply foundation...

Ahhh I just want clear skin! I had clear skin but then I started using that clinique liquid foundation and started getting cystic acne. I was looking through all the pictures I took the last month and realized how my skin got progressively worse and yet I STILL kepting using that clinique foundation. Why am I dumb? Obviously it was breaking me out but I still kept using it for cover up. *smacks head* My skin was zit free before I just had scars and blackheads. Why did I have to experiment with foundation to achieve perfect skin? =( Now I'm still looking for a new foundation and concealer to wear. I use everyday minerals still though.

That's my goal for New Years. Wear less make up (SOO HARD) and achieve clear skin. I will be loyal in recording my results...but I do have finals next week so we'll see =X But after finals I was just stay at home and not wear make up =D

[SpeciousHope]

Woke up, had some white heads on my chin. I wonder if it is because my skin isn't hydrated enough?
Same routine as usual

morning
cetaphil wash w/clarisonic
neutrogena alcohol free toner
pretika light
GM collins acne complex
Olay SPF 15

I went to get my eyebrows waxed today

Night
cetaphil cleanser w/clarsionic
pretika light 20 mins while meditating
neutrogena alcohol free toner
Cetaphil moisturizer
one hour
retin-a micro

for dinner i had green beans an dcelery w/white rice and detox tea. vitamin c and vitamin b6
After I drank the tea I used the tea bag in the inflammations. Will probably go to bed early so tired now.

[SpeciousHope]

Woke up later than usual today so I rushed through my morning routine so I could get to class on time. skipped the GM Collins acne complex

Cetaphil cleanser w/clarisonic
nuetrogena alcohol free toner
Cetaphil MOisturizer
Everyday minerals

Night
Cetaphil cleanser w/clarisonic
nuetrogena alcohol free toner
Cetaphil MOisturizer
Retin-a micro

[SpeciousHope]

Finals over. My skin has been clearing up. But last night I went clubbing and I used the clinique foundation...let's see how this plays out. I haven't had time to go buy another foundation yet. =(

[SpeciousHope]

Regimen has been stable. Going to the dermatologist tomorrow for a check up and getting a facial afterwards. My left cheeks has been breaking out.

Morning
Cetaphil with clarisonic
Neutrogena alcohol free toner
GM collins acne complex
olay spf 15

Night
Dermalogica antibac w/clarisonic
neutrogena alcohol free toner
cetaphil moisturizer

going to skip the retin-a tonite since I have a facial tomorrow.

Lately I've using the dermalogica at night sometimes depending on how much makeup I use during the day. =)