Gday,
A little background about me.
I had pretty bad acne from about 2005-2011 when I was 14-20 and decided to go on accutane which cleared me up fully. I didn't get any bad breakouts except for the occasional one here and there until a few months ago, and my skin now looks almost as bad as when I started accutane. I have bad acne scars and every pimple I get now seems to leave a pitted scar no matter what I do.
I've recently started a cocktail of vitamins to try and get rid of my acne (which was just hundreds of blackheads and some whiteheads). However I have started breaking out ridiculously into massive sore red pimples, include some cysts on my jawline/neck. Is this normal? I have also had 1 lactic acid peel aswell as 2 AHA/BHA peels in the past month.
I am currently taking daily:
Vitamin A (Retinyl Palmitate): between 10,000 and 20,000 IU
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol): 2,000 IU
Vitamin E (Natural): 500 IU
Chelated Zinc: 50mg
And I sometimes take 500-1000mg of Vitamin C.
Also my regimen at the moment is:
Cleanse with Alpha-H Triple Action Cleanser morning and night
Moisturise with ASAP Moisturing Daily Defence SPF 30+ in the morning
Moisturise with Dermalogica Active Moist at night
I have been skipping using any toner as advised by my esthetician as I am getting peels every 10 days to try and help.
Please tell me that this is the purge and it will soon pass, I'm too scared to go outside I look terrible!
I have also had 1 lactic acid peel aswell as 2 AHA/BHA peels in the past month.
What strength were these peels? I know lactic is quite mild, but if you aren't used to peels, even three very mild ones can be negatively overstimulating and cause a breakout.
If you're allergic to the vitamin, the gelatin of the shell, or a filler in the vitamin (research the integrity of the composition in the brands you're taking,) the breakout would have started 24-48 hours after taking it/them but none of those vitamins cause a flush. So to answer your question, I can say with almost certainty that you are not purging- from the vitamins, that is. It's very possible you're purging from the peels.
Vitamin C from citrus bioflavinoids can irritate breakouts in some people. A doctor can do a food allergy test, but my money is on the peels.
I have also had 1 lactic acid peel aswell as 2 AHA/BHA peels in the past month.
What strength were these peels? I know lactic is quite mild, but if you aren't used to peels, even three very mild ones can be negatively overstimulating and cause a breakout.
If you're allergic to the vitamin, the gelatin of the shell, or a filler in the vitamin (research the integrity of the composition in the brands you're taking,) the breakout would have started 24-48 hours after taking it/them but none of those vitamins cause a flush. So to answer your question, I can say with almost certainty that you are not purging- from the vitamins, that is. It's very possible you're purging from the peels.
Vitamin C from citrus bioflavinoids can irritate breakouts in some people. A doctor can do a food allergy test, but my money is on the peels.
Thanks for the reply,
The lactic acid peel was very mild and the AHA/BHA ones were 10%AHA and 10%BHA each I think. My beautician didn't tell me. I also had a very big weekend on the drink because it was end of football celebrations so I'm guessing that didn't help!
I am using Natures Own Vitamin A 5000IU, Pure Vitamins D3 1000IU (which I have used for over a year now and never had a problem), Blackmores Natural Vitamin E 500IU, and the Zinc came from iHerb.com and is from 21st century. I will keep noting my progress to see if vitamins are credible.