2 replies to this topic

[mattmitchell]

Hi there! First Post - Woo!
I'm currently on Day 3

Basically this is my BASIC routine:

Morning:
-Take 50g Minocycline Tablet (This brand i have is called Akamin) -after eating food-
-Wash face with Dove Beauty Cream Bar
-Apply Duac to affected areas (Face and a little bit of the chest)

Same for the night.

I was just wandering what i could do to maybe improve it a little? One of the problems i am mostly worried about is acne scarring, dark spots/marks left behind from the pimples and just general marks and discolouration caused by the pimples and possibly the sun.

I might buy the cetaphil cleanser for gentle skin or the one for oily skin (not quite sure which one)
I've been researching different high end products like Kiehls, Dermalogica, MD Formulations and ASAP for products that will help with the scarring/spot problems.

Here is a picture of me on Day 3:


I LOOK DEPRESSED...LOL! Well just so you know i'm not haha.

[asburypark101]

Well you are on a good regimen so far and since it is only day 3 its hard to say what else you can do. It usually takes 2-3 months to start to see real noticeable benefits of antibiotics and topical medications, of course this varies from person to person. I say stick with what you are doing for the next couple months and then decide if you need to change anything. Using too many products at once could irritate your face and make things worse, which is why I would not recommend adding anythign at this time. But in 2-3 months if you are not satisfied with your progress, there are a lot of things you can do like add a retinoid, increase the dosage of the minocycline, use a sulfur soap, and sooo much more. But right now be patient with what you are doing and see what happens in the next couple months. The dark spots are usually not permanent and using a good moisteruizer will help, I recommend cetaphil's moisteruizer. If you are concerned with the sun, then use a good sunscreen as well. The moisteruizer and the sunscreen can be put on your skin after the duac has dried (I would say around 10-15 minutes after you apply the duac in the morning). Regarding the cetaphil gentle cleanser, I see know reason not to use that cleanser at night 20-30 minutes before you put on the duac. The cleanser is very gentle on your skin and I hear good things about it from people who have been using it for a long time (I just started using it a couple of weeks ago and I like it so far). Good luck and let us know how the progress is going

[mattmitchell]

wow! Wasn't expecting that much detail! haha! THANKS! In terms of pimples this has already started to work and the pimples are much smaller in size and the redness is reducing. i will post a picture later or tomorrow of my current progress! I have also added an all natural toner called Witch Hazel to the regimen. I heard good things from this and considering it's all natural i thought why not? I am also probably going to swap the soap for one of the cleansers by cetaphil or a oil free face wash from neutrogena. So instead of using soap i use the cleanser/face wash, apply witch hazel, then apply duac (if i go out in the sun apply sunscreen afterwards/spf 15-30+ moisterizer)

Edited by mattmitchell, 01 January 2012 - 12:49 AM.