Hi there!
I'm 26, have dealt with acne for most of my teen/adult life, and only recently discovered this website.
My acne has been mild-moderate for the most part. I thought it was bad during my teens and early 20s, but it really only got "bad" in my mid-20s (around age 22).
Anyway, I'm getting married in May and would really like to have clear skin for the big day. My skin has been such crap over the past few months (despite going gluten free and getting my thyroid hormones in check), so I'm looking at new options --> specifically, the regimen.
I'm a little reticent to try it though, mainly because I have sensitive skin (developed that way over the past 2 years) and have experienced contact dermatitis/eczema around the eyes while using harsh acne products like BP and salycylic acid (SA has always been easier on my skin than BP though). I managed to heal this and other dry patches on my face by using gentler cleansers (including honey, my new favourite) and moisturizing with argan oil. Sooo...whlie my skin is currently "healed", I'm still dealing with breakouts (definitely hormonally linked for me - happens like clockwork every month). And, I'm still nervous about trying BP products because it took so long for things to normalize.
Any thoughts/recommendations on how I can make this work? I was thinking of trying just a teeny tiny bit of BP once a day (before bed) but doing the other steps 2x/day. Of course, I will avoid the eye area completely. Moreover, WILL it work? I still have a hard time believing anything could clear my skin!
Thanks so much!!
Hi Hopeful, first of all congratulations on your upcoming marriage.
Starting any new skin regimen before an important event will always carry an element of risk. From personal experience, and what many others experience through following the regimen is that for the first few months your skin will become worse before it starts to clear. And from worse, it could mean worse breakouts, severely dry flaky skin, overall redness and or severely red/dry patches.
Through my own experience, the first 5 weeks were awful. Painfully dry and burning skin, with severe breakouts and flakiness over which makeup looked awful. From 5 weeks onwards though my skin started improving quickly as it became accustomed to the BP and also after I started to incorporate AHA+. I was completely clear within 3 months, but others have continued to struggle for 6 months or longer.
I encourage most people to give the regimen a go, but in your case only you are going to be able to work out if the risk (because of timeframe) is worth the potential benefit.
Good luck with whatever you decide! 
A lot of Regimen users rightly warn new users about the lengthy timeframe necessary for the Regimen to accomplish its goal. The main page for the Regimen is very deliberate about this; the treatment may take months and months to work its magic. That said, I do not think that is the case for everyone, or even for most people. Dan claims that most mild-moderate acne is cleared within 8 weeks on the Regimen, and most moderate-severe acne is cleared within 3 months.
I personally had (that's such a nice word to use in this context: had. Jamais vous?) what I would describe as moderate acne. I may be the exception, but I was clear in about five weeks. Of course, there are still other things to figure out at that point, such as redness, dryness, and flakiness. Still, I feel that my skin adapted quite quickly to the treatment. Factor that into your risk-reward model for taking the Regimen. As AyeAye said, you are the only one that can make this decision.
But if you want my opinion, I would tell you to do it asap. It will require more attention than one might expect, but if you feel the way that I felt about my acne (again, love that past tense usage. Feels good) it will be worth it for you.
And congratulations!
Thanks so much to both of you for your thoughtful comments. Luminareo, I love your use of the past tense (I hope that can be me someday!)
I think you're both very right about weighing the risks. And, I think I'm going to go for it
I know my skin well enough at this point to know what it takes to get it back into balance after a reactive episode, so should that happen, I think I have more than enough time to normalize things again.
That being said, I am going to stay positive and keep a close eye on my reactions and adjust my regimen accordingly.
Fingers crossed for a speedy clearing I'm hoping since my acne isn't too bad that it won't take too long. Thanks again!