Acne.org Products
So I started using the regimen about 6 months ago and pretty early on started to see significant clearing of my acne (which was moderate). Unfortunately, I have continually had problems with burning, red, irritated skin. It comes and goes and is better some days than others, but sometimes I feel like using the benzoyl twice a day and the amount I'm using (one finger's length) is causing my skin to dry out somewhat, making it flake and burn and turn red.
My acne is also now starting to come back slowly, mostly on my cheeks. It often is slightly dry in the morning and very flaky, then gets oily in the afternoon, while burning a little throughout the day. I would like to up my benzoyl peroxide to fight the acne, but I'm worried that this will only irritate my skin further and actually cause more acne.
My current routine is washing with the acne.org cleanser, using a finger's length of benzoyl peroxide (acne.org), then mixing about 4 drops of jojoba oil with the acne.org moisturizer.
Side note: I'm a full time college student who works and does extracurriculars. I usually leave my apartment around 7:30 in the morning and return between 5 and 8 pm depending on the day. I have a relatively high stress level and don't get good sleep. I sometimes eat fast food or whatever's easiest to make quickly. I also don't always get a chance to wash my face every 12 hours; it's usually more like 11-12 pm, then 7 am. I can't really change these factors right now, even though they may be contributing to my acne.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I think about reducing the amount of benzoyl or only using it once a day? I've heard about AHA, but had the impression that it has been known to irritate skin so should be used only once your skin is used to the regimen. That doesn't seem like a good option for me if that is true.
Thanks!
Yeah I definitely wouldn't recommend building in AHA+ at this point. Sounds like you have very sensitive skin...mine was also very sensitive and the early weeks were brutal...but after 6 months of BP use, your skin should have gotten used to the treatment. The redness and burning should have subsided long ago. Any swelling?? I assume it can't be too terribly bad, more of an annoyance, if you've been using the treatment all this time, and successfully by the sounds of it until recently anyway. But if it's very uncomfortable and there's swelling, it could be you've been mildly allergic all this time, in which case it would make sense to stop as the above poster suggested.
Winter elements can also add to dryness and irritation. So before giving up (since it's been working), maybe try increasing your moisturizer to 3 pumps, add a few more drops of jojoba oil to it. My son's skin has been more noticeably dry...this is his first winter on the treatment...and additional moisturizing has really helped. You could also try only using the cleanser once a day, use warm water for the other cleansing. I personally have found Dan's cleanser to be a little drying. My son only uses it once a day now, and this has also helped.
Hope I've given you some things to try at least...let us know how you do! 