I've battled acne for about 7 years, and in that time have gone through pretty much every treatment imaginable including over-the-counter products, prescription ointments, washes, light treatments, Clarisonic brush (don't waste your money!), etc. I've taken different oral antibiotics and eventually did a round of Accutane - which cleared my skin for about 2 yrs.
When I started breaking out again, my dermatologist gave me a prescription for Spironolactone which I never took because the side-effects just sound scary and I'm tired of popping pills into my mouth and wondering what they're doing to my body in the long run.
I feel like I've hit the end of the road with dermatologists .. so I tried tackling it on my own by bombarding the blemishes with benzoyl peroxide. After reading these boards .. I bought Clean & Clear's Continuous Control cleanser and their PersaGel 10 spot treatment and used it for the past two months. I think the cleanser was too harsh/drying for me because the acne didn't improve at all...if anything, it got worse.
So, after doing more research .. I decided to try the Purpose Gentle Cleansing Bar (along with the PersaGel for active spots).
It's only been about 5 days, so I was reluctant to even post anything out of fear of jinxing myself .. but so far, my skin is already improving somewhat.
Maybe just this simple cleansing bar (in conjunction with a hard hitting spot treatment) is what I've needed all along .. I don't know. If that's true, it makes me want to scream over the amount of money we've spent on prescriptions and stuff.
Hoping and praying for continued clearing.