Hello guys!
I am fairly new to the regimen; I started at the very beginning of June -- not using Dan's exact products, but using products that I had carefully vetted. I am trying very hard to stick to his instructions about application. I just got some of his products in the mail, so I'm excited to start using them! Truly, I just want to be able to wear makeup because I WANT to, and not because I'm too ashamed to go out without it. That's when I'll know I'm satisfied.
I have a few questions.
- When did you actually stop seeing breakouts? When did you stop waking up and being able to spot new bumps that weren't there the day before?
- Re: Hairline Zits! I have sensitive scalp skin (lovely, right?), and I know that certain shampoos break my scalp out. Just before starting the regimen, I used a shampoo that just destroyed my scalp and caused painful bumps in many places around my scalp, and I switched to a different one that doesn't seem to really bother me. However, I'm still getting pimples (or possibly some type of allergic response) on my hairline around my face. Specifically, every couple of days I'll get a new inflamed, swollen, irritated, and PAINFUL red bump just inside my hairline. Sometimes these bumps come to a head, sometimes they don't. With no idea how to really deal with these, I've been putting some BP on them. However, now that the rest of my scalp is fine with the new shampoo, I'm wondering if these bumps are unrelated to shampoo, and actually some kind of reaction to the BP. Do you think this could be the BP? There's nothing else irritating that's going near my hairline, I don't use any products but shampoo. Is it possible that the skin of my scalp could actually react to the BP and form "pimples" of some sort?
- Has anyone had a particularly good or bad experience with Queen Helene's Mint Julep Mask? I've heard great things about it, so I bought it and have tried it a couple times, but I figured I'd see how people tend to react to it.
I'll type up my personal skin info below, for those who are curious/think its relevant/are in the same boat (I know that I search these boards for people with skin like mine to try and see how they've progressed) -- but at this point in time, I'm really just mainly curious about people's experiences with the above issues.
Here's my basic history with acne --
- I'm a 24 year old woman, who has had acne since I was 11 or 12. In my adolescence, my acne was never severe, always mild to moderate, but was very persistent. It was ALWAYS present. Nothing really cleared me up successfully, until I was in college, and I had probably a year and half to two years of pretty decent skin -- still breaking out, but not constantly. I think that at that time, the OTC products I was using and hormonal birth control happened to agree with my body. However, that didn't last, and when my acne flared up again, it flared up with cysts, for the first time in my life. That was extremely difficult. I was getting them very often. Probably a couple a week. Thankfully I didn't really scar from them, though I am prone to red hyperpigmentation afterward.
- I have rather sensitive skin; some products will make me red/dry/hivey.
- I eat fairly well, though I certainly enjoy unhealthy treats (whether fried or sugary) a few times a week. I eat very little dairy; I do have a theory that dairy does affect my skin a bit. I exercise often, and am physically quite healthy.
- I'm currently on a hormonal birth control that seems to work for my reproductive health needs, though I'm not sure it's doing great things for my skin.
- For about a year prior to starting the regimen, I was frustrated with my skin and wanted to try a more natural approach -- I stopped using the 10% BP that I'd been using for years cold turkey (I had no idea cold turkey was such an issue with BP). Needless to say, that did not work well for me. I tried various different OTC products (mostly salicylic acid and natural based), always giving them weeks/months to work before giving up and starting something new. Certain products (some of the more natural ones, in fact) did work successfully for certain issues -- but I think that, because I have a variety of types of acne, what worked for one kind wouldn't work for the other, and it ended up being a frustrating experience. After many months of that, my skin was PISSED and not doing well. It was the worst I think it had ever looked. Little bumps all over, big bumps appearing constantly, cysts hanging around. I was miserable. My skin has depressed me for years, and I was just so upset...it seems like most people are done with skin issues by the time they're my age.
- I do have a problem with picking. At lots of things. I'm working on it, I know my skin is generally better when I don't pick...but when I can tell something can be popper, I have a very hard time resisting -- which is exacerbated by the fact that in my experience, with my skin, popping generally speeds up the disappearance of the bump.
- Now I'm on week seven of the regimen, and I am noticing distinct differences. I'm a young adult who's admittedly not great at sticking to the regimen every night...I do like to go out at night, and sometimes the proper regimen just doesn't happen. My progress is this -- the small bumps that were all over my forehead and jawline and cheeks have largely cleared, though I have some stubborn ones lingering in the jaw/cheek/mouth area. I'm tempted to get a facial and get them cleared out, so that I feel like I'm starting fresh. I'm dealing with these weird, painful hairline pimples. My forehead is almost perfectly clear, and doesn't seem to be harboring future bumps. My nose has some blackheads, but that's really it. My cheeks and jaw are still causing difficulty with big, inflamed bumps, and they are still appearing regularly -- this is definitely the biggest source of frustration for me. I would say that I'm still on average noticing two new bumps a day, though probably half are extremely minor, and everything is disappearing faster than ever before, even when it is formed. My skin seems to be fine with the regimen, though it is kind of flaky in places, like the bridge of my nose and mouth area. Just got Dan's Jojoba Oil, though, so I'm hoping that will knock that right out! Also just got Dan's BP and AHA, so I'm excited to use those. I'd been using a drugstore AHA, which does a lot for my hyperpigmentation, but I'm sure Dan's is a better choice in this case, so I'm immediately going to cease using it on my face.
- I hope, hope, hope that someday that my skin will be naturally clear and I'll be able to have a simple skin routine, but in the meantime, I'm committed to the regimen, because I am so done with having bad skin. It's the biggest killer to my self-confidence, and it genuinely affects my life and day-to-day choices, which may seem silly from an outside perspective, but it's had that impact on me for a decade now, and things like that are hard to change.
Current Regimen (since early June -- I am entering my seventh week of the regimen.
Morning:
Cleanse with Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Wait
Treat with Neutrogena On-The-Spot 2.5% BP (just got Dan's, will be switching to that tonight)
Wait
Moisturize with a healthy amount of Cerave Moisturizing Lotion for Normal to Dry Skin
Wait
Apply makeup (the makeup I have been using since starting the regimen is recommended to acne sufferers by Paula Begoun on Paula's Choice)
Occasionally, I take Zinc but I haven't really made it a routine
Night:
Sometimes remove makeup with Simple Micellar Water
Cleanse with Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
Wait
Treat with Neutrogena On-The-Spot 2.5% BP (just got Dan's, will be switching to that tonight)
Wait
Moisturize with a healthy amount of Cerave Moisturizing Lotion for Normal to Dry Skin
Since week 4, I have been mixing moisturizer with Studio 35 AHA a few nights a week. I just got Dan's in the mail, though, so now I'll be using that.
Hormonal Birth Control
Other:
If I have a cyst, sometimes I will spot treat with a sulfur mask, ice, PRID's drawing salve, or polysporin -- depending on how it's doing
I'm going to try occasionally introducing Queen Helene's Mint Julep Mask.
Well, that's me!
Hope to hear what you guys have to say.
Belle