Hello everyone, thanks for taking a look in here.
I'm 26, I've had acne since I was 16, it's been up and down throughout the years. A year ago I made a serious change diet and skincare wise. I've been eating completely paleo since then. I stopped all antibiotics then, but went back on them for a couple months back in February because my acne was just not getting better.
Fast forward to today. I haven't taken an antibiotic in probably 4 months. I eat massive amounts of organic veggies, fruit, quinoa, and lean meats. I've been using Target's Up and Up 3 step cleanser for a couple months. It's your typical 2.5 BP wash, witch hazel based toner, and 2.5BP lotion but doesn't seem to harsh. Currently, my skin is the best it has been in years. It keeps getting better every couple weeks.
My question is, should I start ramping down the chemical cleansing regimen? I'm a HUGE believer in natural, organic everything and truly believe acne is internal, not external. BUT, I don't want to start going back in the other direction and I'm not quite sure what direction or "routine" to follow going forward.
I've read a ton on this forum and other places online about all sorts of natural skin care treatments. I do not want something high maintenance or somewhat ridiculous. Again, if acne is internal, you shouldn't need to lather your face with four steps of oil/products twice a day. Right now I'm thinking about diluting Dr. Bonner's Tea Tree Castle soap 30/70 and using that as a face wash once or twice a day.
Any suggestions? Face washes to try? Routines?
Sorry for any rambling, just trying to give as much background as possible. If anyone has any questions about paleo/caveman eating, feel free to ask.
Thanks!
Here's what a typical day looks like, some redness, old scars, and maybe one or two recent ones varying in size.
VW02, I think it's great that you're trying to go all organic and low maintenance.
Diet can make an impact on acne for certain people, so your system may still be getting used to the better food you're putting into it. As for your 3 step routine, my advice is to decide whether it has truly made an impact on your skin or not in the past 2/3 months.
Products usually take about 5/6 months to reap the full benefits from them. If your skin is getting better every 2 weeks, then I would suggest sticking with your routine for another 2/3 months. That way, you may achieve clear skin and you will know whether or not the 3 step is something you should try and continue for the future.
If you're uncomfortable sticking with chemical face washes, there are plenty of forums that talk about natural and organic ways to clean your face. Tea tree oil products often are compared to bp, just a more natural version. I've used both and after a while bp made my skin sensitive and stopped working. I've never personally used tea tree oil over an extended period of time, just periodically, but it is much gentler on the skin.
I recently stopped using chemicals and have cleaned up my diet a lot I've probably seen a 80% positive change in my skin. My skin never reacted well to BP or other chemicals in the first place though. Your skin's looking good! I struggle with redness too, but again this has improved a lot since I ditched the BP.
I thought I'd give you an example of my routine... I'm in Australia though so I'm not sure if you'll be able to get the same products as me.
I'm not sure if you're looking to take supplements too, but I've found that taking these everyday has helped clear me up a bit too:
thanks for the replies!
I've gone through a lot of supplementation stuff a while ago with little to no change. Any change probably had more to do with the diet change more than anything. I also used to eat a ton a coconut oil with no noticeable difference.
Currently I take the garden of life multi-vitamin, raw protein mix (has a lot of good stuff in it, and hemp protein with shakes. I do eat a ton of vegetables so idk if additional supplementation will help. I already spend all my money on good meat 
sorbet, those look like really good products by just glancing over the ingredients. $13 shipping to the US isn't too bad
I think I may give the current routine another few weeks or so and then see where I'm at
You should at least get to a point where you don't get a new zit...ever...before you stop using BP. I say this even though I have NEVER liked BP and think it is a horrible thing to slather on your face. But if you are still getting new zits, with the BP and the massive diet changes, then you still haven't reached a point where you can stop BP unless you replace it with something else just as strong. Sounds like you either need to find a topical replacement (tea tree oil might do the trick), or you need to make some more internal changes before you quit.
Don't know. Those products never did anything for me anyway. I don't know when or how I quit. And every one is different.
And, yeah, people love to complicate up things that aren't complicated. For a couple of years now, I myself have only used water to cleanse with except for using oil to remove makeup & occasional whole face or black head area oil cleansing. And I buy quality food grade safflower oil in the food department at whole foods. No paying more money for smaller bottles of inferior quality products.
I'm just worried that continued use of my current regimen is just making things worse. The concept that its over drying or over cleaning my skin, causing excess oil production and that's why I still have zits.
As far as diet, there really isn't much more I can do. I literally don't eat any dairy, gluten, or sugar. My diet consists of quinoa, brown rice, meat, veggies, and fruits. A bit of oats and nuts in there too. I've kept this up for the past year. I've eliminated eggs, tried eliminating coffee but didn't do anything. I have maybe two beers a week. If I have 6 in a night, no negative effect.
I also get pretty large cysts on my upper neck/hairline, sometimes back, and little stuff on my chest. I feel like being on this diet for this long should have helped this by now.