Hello hello!

I would like to start off saying welcome to the forums! and congrats on starting your regimen journey! (:

When I began using BP I was much the same.. my skin super sensitive, and such.. In fact, I never thought I was ever even going to be able to use it.. but here I am 3 months later with 99% clear skin.. and just some redness to deal with (: So there is plenty of hope!

As for how much BP to use I personally would go by how your face reacts.. after week 1 try using a little more than a pea size if you can handle it.. then after a couple more days try incorporating it morning and night.. when you adjust to that slowly use more and more until you find the right amount for you! or Dan's recommended 2 pumps!

I don't believe rose hip oil to be as softening on the skin as jojoba oil.. and some people report coconut oil to break them out.. if you can manage to afford it then I think you should get the jojoba oil at your local grocery or health food store.. I used to use "Desert essence".

You might experience an initial breakout with the regimen in the first 4-6 weeks, and you will of course have some side effects from the regimen (peeling, flaking, redness, burning) but this is the tough part to get through! this is really where you have to push yourself~ cause once you get past this part and optimize your regimen the side effects get less and less, and you will see clearer skin!

For some people make up clogs their pores.. so its best to try and be without a ton of it.. but personally I think you will be able to get away with using some ;p I mean most girls on the regimen don't go completely make up free.. because of preference~ at least that I'm aware of! So I don't think you should be to concerned about that.

I don't have to many stories where people mentioned my acne to me.. but believe me I know some people seen it, but worst off was how it made me feel seeing it myself.. Everyone is their own worst critic! ahaha

You can always go to http://www.acne.org/regimen and read that entire page.. and it will tell you what to expect and EVERYTHING you need to know about your regimen journey!

Good luck, and if you have any questions at all feel free to message me. I'm happy to help (:

Hey!

Thanks so much for your warm welcome and the great advice! Especially about how much Benzoyl Peroxide to take!I was a little confused about how much to take after the first week because I thought if I would start using it in the morning it might be to quick and harsh on the skin so I shall follow your advice and maybe use little more bp at night and just take it slow ! Plus I guess I won't know till it's week 2 and I will see how my skin is going! It's reassuring knowing that everyone here is going through or has been through the same thing so I feel like theres support here if I need it which is cool!I've heard great things about jojoba oil so I'll have a look around and find some! Thanks for the support and I think I'm going to make a post after week 2 to share how my skin has been and I might need some of your handy advice again if i need it! By the way I think it's awesome that your skin has cleared I hope it's made a difference in your life I hope it will make a difference in my life too!

No problem at all! (:

and you should make a regimen log! It's nice to see how people are progressing with the regimen, and it's a great way to get support from the community!

Can't wait to hear about your improvements!~ (:

Hey, so excited you're starting the Regimen! I'm about 5 weeks in, and it's been quite the roller coaster, but it's totally worth it. This is the best my skin has responded to any treatment thus far, and I've tried a lot of things.

I agree with Garrettrichard about the BP, just take it easy and let your skin adjust, especially if it's sensitive. I increased the amount weekly until at about 3.5 weeks, when I started using the full amount. I also started by using it once nightly for the first week.

You can wear makeup, but be careful. Do you already have a product your skin reacts well to? My problem is that most foundations break me out, or don't give me the look I want. Also, just a heads up, your skin is going to be extremely dry, so be careful what kind of makeup you buy. I've been trying out a liquid that makes my flakes stand out so badly that I look like a dragon. Lol.

Although, this is a great opportunity to try to be comfortable without makeup! I didn't expect this at all, but since starting the Regimen I've been a lot more comfortable with my skin. I used to wear makeup every day beforehand, and never really had to look at the condition of my skin until bed, when I was too tired to care anyway. I only wear makeup now on weekends when I have to perform, and it's a huge relief. At first it can be pretty sobering, like, "WOAH here's my acne-prone skin. ALL THE TIME." But, my confidence has gone way up without makeup, and once the Regimen starts to clear you, you feel like an epic force of natural beauty. Even when you're red or dry from the BP, most people won't care or notice, and you can just let your awesome self shine through. It's a great way of learning how to understand and accept your skin and what it's going through.

Sorry for the cheese, but I think many people would agree the Regimen without makeup is pretty beneficial physically (for the treatment part) and mentally! However, I do understand that appearances and retail jobs are tough. The choice is up to you, many people wear makeup on the Regimen with great success.

Best of luck.

Hey There!

Thanks heaps for your helpful advice and response! Its nearly the end of Week 1 for me and although my acne is still pretty bad I can see that my skin is responding well to the treatment like it feels cleaner and my pimples are a whole lot smaller from when I started! I'm just starting to get the redness a little bit of dryness under my mouth and a little bit on my cheeks but it's going well so far! I'm preparing myself for the worse stages!.

I also know what you mean about finding a foundation that won't break you out! I've been through so many foundations and makeup definitely hasn't helped my skin its probably what has caused my acne in the first place!I usually wear a liquid foundation myself but it never looks right!I think you're right about not wearing makeup while on the treatment I think in the long run it will help improve my skin and if i have to wear makeup ill just have to find something i heard powder is the best while on the regimen but i thought wouldnt that make your skin even more drier?! I just would love to have clear skin and be make up free that would be so great that's my long term goal if this treatment works! Anyway I think I'll just have to wait and see!

I hope your getting great results from the regimen it sounds like you are! I've been reading heaps of peoples stories and they are all so different some people have gotten clear within a month some within 3 months and some have had to do it for a year to get clear skin I guess it depends on your skin and who you are I'm definitely going to stick with this even if it takes me a year it's my last hope!!!.

Thanks again for replying to my post! And you weren't being cheesy at all if anything I learnt something from your response I need to prioritise and not worry about what people think of me because they probably don't notice or care anyway!

It's good that you're prepared! But seriously, it's worth everything you'll go through. My skin is already so much better and I'm only 1/3 of the way done! The difference is amazing.

I also have suspicions that makeup caused my acne. I used to use Bare Minerals, which actually has bismuth oxychloride in it (causes cystic acne in those with sensitive skin). Couldn't believe it. We have to be so careful! And honestly, powder vs. liquid depends on the person. I think more people go with powder on the Regimen because it's more mattifying, but I've tried on both and I prefer liquid because it blends everything together better. A lot of people on here like Revlon ColorStay and Kat Von D Tattoo Foundation. I use Maracuja Miracle foundation by Tarte when I have to. I also want clear, makeup-free skin!

Glad I could help a bit! Definitely stick with it, pretty much everyone who stays with the Regimen and does it correctly gets great results. Good luck!

Welcome to the boards and the regimen! Sounds like you've already received some pretty good advice.

I was a bit like you when I first started the regimen. I'm in a client facing role and I was really concerned about not wearing makeup to work. In the first week I was fine and the regimen was working nicely, but the second week was awful. I had a severe breakout and my skin started to burn and become red and flaky. It was almost impossible to wear makeup and for it to look ok.

But I got some advice from another member at the time, and that was to still apply all the other makeup apart from foundation. So I continued to wear mascara and lip gloss etc, but just left out the foundation. And if I avoided looking in the mirror all day at work I felt fine. And do you know what? Not one of my work colleagues batted an eyelid with me having no foundation on. We really are our worst critics.

Oh, and just on foundations....when I did end up applying foundation if I was going out in the evening, I found wearing my normal foundation (which at the time was a seideido liquid foundation) mixed in with dan's moisturiser (half & half) it sat reasonable well on my face. I also found that The Body Shop's tinted moisturiser was ok and had decent coverage if used with concealer.

I now wear Almay liquid foundation which is a really light coverage but sits really nicely on my skin.

Good luck with following the regimen. Go nice and slowly and be mentally prepared for a few backward steps along the way.

Hey!

Thanks for the advice! I think your right the only person who is concerned about it is me and I know no one at work would say anything and I think doing eye make up can draw attention away from the face so I could still do that! It's just so hard though I have really red inflamed acne, uneven skintone and really dark undereyes and even when I put concealer underneath them it looks kind of weird because the rest of my skin is really horrible!lol I'm just going to have to suck it up and let my skin breathe for a while!.

I'm now at the beginning of week 2 and I think I'm going to add a little more BP because my skin hasn't reacted to badly to the treatment I've only had a little bit of redness, dry skin under my mouth and a little bit of ichiness so I'm thinking of adding a tiny amount in the morning aswel as the same amount at night! I'm surprised my skin hasn't reacted badly to it because my skin is usually quite sensitive and has reacted badly to BP in the past! But I shouldn't say things like that just yet because the worse is yet to come!I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst.

Thanks again for your advice! It puts my mind at ease knowing people have been through this so they know what to do it makes it easier to ask questions!

=D

Yes please feel free to post on this topic if you ever have any questions or updates! Seriously, if your skin is adjusting well, the more BP the better, and the faster results you'll have. I also have really sensitive skin and was super slow and careful about increasing BP, but after a few weeks just decided to start using the full amount and got dramatic results. Listen to your skin and stay patient. I'm almost half-way through and I have to keep telling myself that haha.