5 replies to this topic

[kissmypineapple]

So I've been messing with my regimen for a while (http://www.acne.org/...ongtime-lurker/), and I'm going to really try to document my progress so I can figure out what works for me, instead of guessing. I'll be 30 in June, so I'm seriously over breaking out.

 

Right now my regimen will be:

 

AM

 

Cleanse - Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser (though I may need to switch to the one for dry skin)

Tone - 1:1 ACV & water toner

Moisturize - Cerave AM Facial Moisturizer

Makeup

 

PM

 

Cleanse - Pond's cold cream

Tone - 1:1 ACV & water toner

Treate - Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid

Moisturize - Cerave PM Facial Moisturizer

 

Taking Fish Oil supplement.

 

I was using BHA morning and night, but I purged so badly, and my skin felt super dry. When I was just using Pond's & ACV morning and night, my skin felt really soft and healthy, but I still get pimples on my chin, so I felt like I needed to add a "treatment," hence the BHA. I'm also considering switching my moisturizer to just vegetable glycerine and water, to keep things extra simple, but we'll see.

 

Any suggestions?

 

For reference, here's my skin's starting point (forgive the dark under eye circles, etc., haven't showered, brushed my hair...):

 

Edited by kissmypineapple, 02 March 2013 - 12:38 PM.

[Sasch83]

The fact that a large amount of your acne is on your chin makes me think there may be a hormonal component.  What are you doing to address your insides?  Diet?  Supplements?  Hormonal Treatments?

 

Regimen sounds simple enough

Keep us posted

[kissmypineapple]

The fact that a large amount of your acne is on your chin makes me think there may be a hormonal component.  What are you doing to address your insides?  Diet?  Supplements?  Hormonal Treatments?

 

Regimen sounds simple enough

Keep us posted

 

Almost all of it is on my chin. In fact, even on my cheeks, the only active acne is a large spot on the right, next to my nose. The rest of it are red marks. I just started taking fish oil, because I heard that Omega-3's can help regulate hormones, but I haven't been taking it long enough to notice. I bought spearmint tea as well, but I don't want to throw too much in at once, because then I'm still left not knowing what was useless and what was helpful. 

 

I try to drink water, but sometimes find I'm a little dehydrated, because I drink 2-3 cups of coffee daily. I was a vegetarian for 10 years, but for complex reasons, started incorporating chicken and turkey back into my diet. I cook a lot, and generally from scratch, eating lots of veggies and fruits. I recently (about 6 months ago) took up running, and I'm training for the mini in May. I have a copper IUD, and haven't taken hormonal birth control since I was 25, which is when my skin started to break out again. (I had been on Accutane, which made my skin pretty much flawless, but then started w/ HBC shortly after, and when I stopped, it was all cystic all the time, and EVERYWHERE.) So my skin isn't even as bad as it's been in the past, pretty easily covered with makeup, but the pimples I do get are big and painful.

[Sasch83]

You're smart for trying only 1 thing at a time.  Birth Control sucks and i had my own nightmare with it so never again.  Have you thought about Spiro or paleo (supposedly diet can help to regulate hormones)?  I feel you about the chin acne as before my acne spread, it was mostly on my chin and mouth area.

[kissmypineapple]

You're smart for trying only 1 thing at a time.  Birth Control sucks and i had my own nightmare with it so never again.  Have you thought about Spiro or paleo (supposedly diet can help to regulate hormones)?  I feel you about the chin acne as before my acne spread, it was mostly on my chin and mouth area.

 

 

I've been thinking about Spiro a bit recently, but I still just get so nervous. I'm not anti-medicine, at all, but because the BC is what seems like threw my hormones off in the first place, I'm wary about tinkering with them. If my skin isn't feeling better in a few months, I'll probably need to seriously consider Spiro though. I'm also (I sound like such a whiner) wary about making huge changes in my diet. Mainly, because I don't have lots of time to plan out meals according to something as strict as Paleo, and also, because I cook for more than just me. I can't be making separate meals for myself, though I have nothing but respect for people who are so disciplined! I didn't realize Paleo is supposed to help with hormones though, so I need to do some more reading. My biggest diet issues are my raging sweet tooth and caffeine addictions. Probably less sugar would help me in lots of areas of my life. 

 

I also have a pretty stressful job (I'm a domestic violence and sexual assault victim counselor), which means for me that I reach for that candy bowl throughout the day. Between the added sugar and the stress, I'm sure my hormones are a little wacky from that without my regular monthly fluctuations on top. Thanks for reminding me about my diet! Now that I'm really thinking about it, I need to make a concerted effort to cut out the sugar. Sometimes when I get home from work, my husband will even ask if I ate "real" food, or just gummi bears.

 

This morning, one of the cysts on my chin had come to a head and drained overnight, so it's much, much smaller. The other two feel like they're coming to a head/shrinking, but they're super itchy, so I made a rice sock to use gentle heat to help manage the discomfort (b/c otherwise I mess with pimples...bad habit.) They feel much better, so I'll probably do warm compresses two-three times a day until they aren't so itchy/painful.

[kissmypineapple]

Before I started my log, I had tried epsom salts on my skin, and about a week into that was when I started getting the big cystic pimples. I had also added a little tea tree oil to my ACV toner, and a month ago started using Paula's Choice 2% BHA liquid. When I started the BHA liquid, my skin started to break out, but I thought I was purging. After a month of the purging never stopping, I took that out. I stopped with the epsom salts, and the tea tree oil made my skin feel even more sensitive than usual, so I stopped that as well. In the meantime, though I thought I washed out the bottle I was using for the ACV toner, it still smelled a little of tea tree, and my skin still felt irritated, so I have stopped toning.

 

I also got really, really depressed about my chin, so I dug out some old tubes of Finacea and Retin-A micro. I had a bad IB a year or so ago with the Retin-A, so I'm phasing it in really slowly, and made an appt with a derm. I'm sort of disappointed, because when I first started simplifying my regimen, my skin felt so good. Soft and healthy and glowing. I added so many things, and my skin is still recovering. It's super dry, and adding the medications doesn't help.

 

Right now, I am washing AM & PM w/ a mixture of cetaphil & ponds, b/c even a washcloth to get the ponds off felt too harsh. I will switch back to cetaphil in the morning and ponds w/o cetaphil at night, when my chin is a little more calm and a washcloth isn't going to irritate it. After that, I am not toning, but then putting on the CeraVe moisturizer. At night, I wait 20 minutes after patting my skin dry, and then put a teensy amount of the Retin-A on. I am on a three day cycle of Retin-A, then the next night Finacea, and then a night off. My skin is DRY, but it is healing. Slowly, but healing.

 

I'm hoping in a week or so, my skin will be calm enough to re-introduce the ACV toner, but maybe at a 1:3 ACV to water ratio, instead of 1:1, since I already have an exfoliant at night. It just made my skin so ridiculously soft, and I felt like my moisturizer worked better when I was using it.

 

I'm going to try to update once a week, and do photos once a month to track my progress.