Acne.org Products
I started The Regimen early June using all Acne.org products, so about six months ago. It cleared me up a lot, but I still have mild acne. Anyway, last week I stopped using the BPO and just washed and moisturized my face, and I was very impressed with how little I broke out. For a while, I had been getting two-three medium sized pimples on my cheeks at any given time, but that one week, I didn't get any medium sized pimples whatsoever. I did get a few tiny pimples, maybe four, but I'll take a couple of small pimples that disappear in two days over three medium pimples that take a week to surface and disappear. Anyway, just to see if this was some kind of fluke, I did my Regimen normally yesterday, and this morning, I woke up a new, medium sized pimple, just like the ones I was getting before.
I'm not sure why this is. I moisturize very well, but it might have to do with my combination skin (oily T-zone, normal cheeks). It's important to note that my T-zone is oiliest, but I break out very rarely there. I can't imagine this is just a coincidence, so I'm going to stop using BPO on my cheeks for good and just in my T-zone, but before that, I wanted to see what you guys thought it could be.
Thank you very much!
Not using BPO is most likely the reason behind your new outbreaks.
Do you really think so? The overall impact that BPO has had on my skin plateaued a while ago, like I said. Maybe two months ago, it got to the point where it wasn't actually improving anymore, but I stuck with it, and the only time it seemed to change at all (much less for the better) was when I cut out the BPO, and it went right back to my previous condition when I started using again yesterday. It seems to me that if the only variable is the BPO, the absence of which improved my acne and the reintroduction of which triggered the same breakouts I was experiencing before, the BPO is doing something to make my breakout. However, it's not making me breakout in my T-zone, so maybe it has to do with drying out my cheeks. I moisturize properly, but maybe I'm doing something wrong with that.
Well the thing is.. that it's almost virtually impossible to know exactly what caused you to break out because so many factors can come into play. Your diet, how much you touch your face, your environment, your stress levels can all cause you to break out. My best suggestion to you is to play it on the safe side, do the regimen without skipping steps, eat heathy foods only, drink water only. Cut out all of the unnecessary factors that can contribute to acne including sodas, cookies, fast food, processed foods, avoid foods with HFCS. Wash your pillows... Etc... I can go on and on. 
Well the thing is.. that it's almost virtually impossible to know exactly what caused you to break out because so many factors can come into play. Your diet, how much you touch your face, your environment, your stress levels can all cause you to break out. My best suggestion to you is to play it on the safe side, do the regimen without skipping steps, eat heathy foods only, drink water only. Cut out all of the unnecessary factors that can contribute to acne including sodas, cookies, fast food, processed foods, avoid foods with HFCS. Wash your pillows... Etc... I can go on and on.
You're absolutely right. I do currently wrap my pillow every night with a clean towel, drink almost exclusively water, no fast food, soda, although I do have a bit of a sweet tooth, which I could work on 
. I am very curious, though, that the size of my pimples reduced twofold during my BPO break. Just for experimental purposes, I think I'll wash and moisturize my face only for about two weeks, and see where my skin stabilizes. With the BPO, it seemed to stabilize at two-three medium pimples at any given time. If I can maintain only a few small pimples without the BPO, I might want to make that switch and continue investigating and experimenting further with my current regimen/lifestyle to see what is helping, what is hurting, and what I think is helping but is actually hurting. I haven't found anyone else on any acne forum with a story like this, so I'm by myself here, but thanks for your advice. 
I'll give you props on your diet. I know how hard it is to cut all of these foods out because I'm basically doing what you're doing. My acne flare ups are usually severe in size, so I have no room for trail and error.
I'm honestly not even sure how much these diet and lifestyle chances are improving my acne. I've been towel-wrapping my pillow for over a year now. Even when I sleep at hotels or other people's houses, I wrap it in a towel. I have to assume it reduces my breakouts, or at least prevents it from causing new ones, but I haven't experimented with using a normal pillow in a while. The thing is, most people's acne is so sensitive that the towel could be causing irritation and therefore acne rather than "helping" by preventing the amount of sebum and bacteria with which the face comes into contact. Maybe the BPO dries out my cheeks too much, which are already the driest part of my face, which would explain why I only breakout there and not the actual oily parts of my face. There are just so many variables that it's hard to isolate just one and then accurately determine whether the change in acne (if there is any) was caused by the introduction or removal of the variable or just a coincidence, or some underlying factor you aren't even aware of. It's incredibly complicated.
I know what you mean. It's frustrating to find out your prognoses are wrong time and time again. I've heard of other members on here that've switched the steps to help combat the dryness and had great results. So instead of applying the BPO first, try moisturizing and then the BPO. Another thing that might help you, I've incorporated hemp oil into the regimen and it's fantastic! I mix it in with the moisturizer. Hemp oil has countless benefits for your skin, and best of all it doesn't clog pores. Look it up!
Acne doesn't happen overnight. It takes at least two weeks for acne to show up. The acne that you are seeing now is the finale. It began brewing under the skin at least two weeks ago and if you stop using the bp that is most likely what caused it. I think dans moisturizer might be breaking you out. I can't use it. It's very oily and doesn't sink in for me. I also get tiny bumps when I use it. I use the Olay complete for sensitive skin instead and it never breaks me out. I add few drops of jojoba oil if I need more moisture. Try switching moisturizer and see if that helps. Dans bp gel is great and light weight. Bp is the heart of this regimen by skipping it , it's not gonna do help with acne. Washing and moisturizing is for people blessed with normal skin that doesn't breakout. For us, we need to treat acne before it happens and bp is great at doing that.
Acne doesn't happen overnight. It takes at least two weeks for acne to show up. The acne that you are seeing now is the finale. It began brewing under the skin at least two weeks ago and if you stop using the bp that is most likely what caused it. I think dans moisturizer might be breaking you out. I can't use it. It's very oily and doesn't sink in for me. I also get tiny bumps when I use it. I use the Olay complete for sensitive skin instead and it never breaks me out. I add few drops of jojoba oil if I need more moisture. Try switching moisturizer and see if that helps. Dans bp gel is great and light weight. Bp is the heart of this regimen by skipping it , it's not gonna do help with acne. Washing and moisturizing is for people blessed with normal skin that doesn't breakout. For us, we need to treat acne before it happens and bp is great at doing that.
That's very educational. Thank you! But I'm still not sure why the effects of BP seemed to have stagnated. I've been consistently on my Regimen for six months, like I said, and I experienced some clear up, but for the past two-three months, nothing.