This happened to me after a year of treatment- not to that extreme. My skin is now worse off than before I started. Give your skin time to calm down. Wash and moisturize. Then go to a derm. There are alternate products that don't require BP. Also, now may be the time for lifestyle changes.

Good luck Hun!

Thanks for the support Leelowe1! Since I haven't gotten much response to this post, and I haven't been able to find others with similar issues searching the forum, I have begun experimenting on my own. I thought I would track my experience here in case this happens to others in the future.

Day 1 - post crazy allergic reaction to bp

1. cool compresses to face

2. took Claritin allergy medicine

3. calamine mask for 30 minutes in the morning and night

4. moisturized with organic unrefined shea butter

5. sunscreen (i had to be outside a bit) badger organic zinc baby

Results - my face, though swollen red and horribly itchy, was surprisingly clear, maybe bcz everything was swollen the bumps seemed to disappear. My extreme swelling went down a few hours after taking the claritin and doing the calamine mask, but I was still red & itchy & sort of deformed looking. Blisters also appeared on my chin & crustiness. By the end of the day swelling was almost gone, redness was fading, itchiness was still intense and blisters burst & oozed (gross).

Day 2

Woke up looking much better! Skin still pretty clear with just a few small flesh colored pimples reemerging on my forehead, nose & jawline. Still itchy & slightly red.

1. gently washed with warmed water & Dr. Bronners lavender soap

2. calamine mask 30 min morning and night

3. applied thin layer of Grease Lightning from Lush all over morning and night

(- I was thinking this might be my bp replacement since I read so much about 5% tea tree being as effective as 5% BP in one study without all the irritation. I don't know what the concentration in Grease Lightening is but I used it before and it seemed gentle enough to start. It's in a mix with aloe, thyme, rosemary, witch hazel and grape juice(?) Might have to up the tea tree concentration to get the effects of the study, but could not find a 5% tea tree gel)

ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE ON HOW BEST TO USE TEA TREE TO GET A CONSISTENT EFFECTIVE CONCENTRATION????????

4. moisturized with shea butter mostly just excessively dry and crusty areas & light coverage everywhere else

5. sunscreen badgers organic baby zinc

6. tried gentle oil cleansing method at night after calamine mask using evening primrose oil

Day 3

Acne definitely starting to come back. Breaking out in dozens of small bumps on forehead, nose, clustered on right jawline and sprinkled throughout rest of face. They are really small under the surface mostly with a few turning into small white heads. Trying so hard not to touch, stress or pick & hoping its just a response to the intense irritation of the allergic reaction & will soon pass. Being excessively gentle with my skin...

1. Skipped morning calamine today as redness & itchiness was mostly gone.

2. oil cleanse with epo and a few drops of tea tree (love the way oil cleansing makes my skin look and feel on the non broken out parts...)

3. Grease Lightening (this stuff really seems to reduce inflammation and redness and shrink down my pimples after I put it on, which is great, but it doesn't seem to last all day...

3. moisturize - just a touch of shea butter - I have been using this for awhile now & don't think it breaks me out, but then I was on bp, so I don't know for sure... for now I am going to stick with it since it is a single ingredient and supposedly non-comodegenic

Day 4

The immediate symptoms of the allergic reaction seem to be all gone except a tiny lingering itchiness in spots and slowly healing blister/crustiness (i put a touch of neosporin on this). My breakout gets worse & is happening in places I didn't ever breakout before, but it remains pretty small flesh colored bumps mostly except for 2 large inflamed pimples that started to come up 1 on my right cheek and 1 by my right jawline.

1. went back to calamine mask in the am today bcz I read it can also prevent acne

2. oil cleansed with epo & a few drops of tea tree

3. grease lightening (6 pumps)

4. moisturized with shea butter, neosporin on blister spots

5. Forgot to mention I have been wearing some make-up. I know this isn't ideal, but its probably the only way to keep me from obsessing and picking all day. I just do a light all over coverage with Lush's dark yellow colour supplement & some concealing with bare minerals & Lush's emotional brilliance powder (with zinc oxide) to set it & make me more matte

6. wash with dr. bronner's soap, apply calamine mask, remove with epo oil cleanse with a few drops of tea tree, grease lightening & shea butter

I also started drinking apple cider vinegar water. I know there isn't much but anecdotal evidence to support that it helps but, I figure it can't hurt and I actually like the taste. I want to try focusing on a low glycemic load diet as well, but I am traveling right now so its tough. I don't think my normal diet is bad or even that far off from a low gi diet, so I might as well try.

ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR HOW TO MAKE LOW GI EATING A HABIT????

Day 5 - Today

Don't know what to make of my skin... some clearing ...some things getting bigger. My cheek & jawline pimples are bigger and itchy. There are several new small flesh colored bumps around my face, on my chin & cheeks- I don't know what to make of. Overall my forehead and nose look less congested but there are a few slightly bigger bumps there now. Some peeling happening in dry spots on my smile lines and below jaw line & in blister spots on chin. I am really wanting to add in AHA because the congestion on my forehead looks like it would benefit from exfoliation but I am nervous it might irritate me or give me an allergic reaction too. Maybe I will spot test on my arm.

I did the same regimen as yesterday - calamine mask, oil cleanse, grease lightening, badger sunscreen (day) shea butter (night)

I will probably stick with this awhile, along with the apple cider vinegar drink & see what happens. Soon I will move to a new place and be able to find a derm. In the meantime anyone who has had success with oil cleansing, tea tree or diet please let me know.

I won't keep a log of everyday, but I will try to update changes for anyone else who is trying to find another way to get clear without bp.

Update

1 week after allergic reaction to bp.

Well my skin has broken out worse than ever in my life. From what I have read it sounds similar to other people who have suddenly stopped the Regimen after extended use. I have tiny bumps & whiteheads all over my face. & a few bigger pimples on my cheek and jawline which are more like the pimples I got before the Regimen. Maybe it's just from stopping bp or maybe its from all the inflammation and irritation of the allergic reaction. Hard to say, but I would give anything to have my pre-regimen skin back right now. Reintroducing aha tonight, fingers crossed...

New Regimen

oil cleanse evening primrose oil & tea tree (am/pm)

wipe with salicylic pad gentle strength (am)

alpha hydrox gel (pm)

slather Lush Grease Lightening/tea tree (am/pm)

moisturize with epo or shea butter or badger sunscreen

pray to babaluaye seriously I need a miracle

Please consider trying this out..

I have dealt with SEVERE acne all throughout highshool and college. I've tried every product under the sun including loadsss of BP (which destroyed my skin and didnt do anything for the acne). I made a forum like yours years ago in plea to find a cure to help my acne go under control, and a guy reccomended the "cave-man method". HE WAS A GODSEND LOL. seriously, my skin is virtually clear now , and i havent got an acne breakout since my early college years(4 years ago). I've had everything you are dealing with, allergic reactions, rashes, acne, everything. Leaving your skin to heal and rebalance itself is one of the smartest and most effective things you can do to possibly clear ur acne. (i've literally came on here and made an account to try and spread the word about this amazing method).

AND disclaimer, i know this method won't work for EVERYONE because everyone is different, but it is def. something you should try out if nothing else is working!!!

Thanks Lunabear. I will look into it. I have been reading AcneEinstein's book and it is making good sense to me. I am changing my diet, adding a few specific supplements (zinc, antioxidents & berberine for balancing hormones) treating my skin gently with aha/bha and tea tree and moisturizing with antioxident rich lotion. I think simpler is better in the long term, but I am trying to get over the immediate break out from the reaction and then maybe I will start reducing products 1 at a time. I am almost at 2 weeks now from the reaction and I am noticing some improvement. My forehead and nose are definitely starting to clear. The texture is improved and healthier looking whiteheads are going away. I have just 2 big pimples now one on my cheek and one on my jawline and I have some new bumps that are small and red near my temples and in my eyebrows (super weird) But it's def. an improvement. I know it will take some time.

Update - having a def. bad skin day. Woke up with like 6 new blemishes in new places, but the itchy small bumps have mostly gone away. Yesterday I didn't oil cleanse bcz I was tired & I also had some wine and I wonder if somehow that caused these to flare up. I know I have pimples still under the surface, do these have to come up to go away? Or can they just fade away? I also read Ovasitol was good for hormonal acne so I am replacing berberine supplement with that. I just started. The berberine was so bitter in in the capsule.

New Regimen

Supplements Anti-oxident blend + Ovasitol 2X a day

Diet - no sugar, or processed foods, low carb, nutrient dense whole foods, matcha green tea

AM

Oil Cleanse with Evening Primrose Oil & Tea Tree

Salicylic Pad for sensitive skin .5%

Lush Grease Lightening T-tree treatment all over

Green Tea moisturizer

PM

Oil Cleanse with Evening Primrose Oil & Tea Tree

AHA/BHA lotion with antioxidents

Spot treat with tea tree oil

shea butter

I know it seems I am changing around a lot, but I have been doing a lot of research. I think I will stick with this for awhile, except I might change the shea butter. I really like it, but maybe it would be better to have the green tea moisturizer 2x a day...

It's been almost 2 years since I wrote my last post. My skin is clear now. I came back because I remember when my skin was at its worst I would read through all these posts that just cut off and I never knew what happened.

I have been clear since January. In the six months before that I just had occasional flare ups. I don't know exactly what to credit, I tried so many things in the year after I developed my allergy to bp, but I largely followed advice on thelovevitamin.com

What I have stuck with is
- taking estroblock pro 2x per day
- eliminating dairy (except homemade yogurt)
- washing my face with zinc soap at night only
- vitamin c serum, msm lotion, homemade toner with water and niacinamide
- everyday minerals make-up

That's it. I think the biggest thing has been time and not treating my skin with anything too harsh. I wish there had been a faster way, but I am glad to no longer be dependent on bp. No more stained clothes or pillow cases. If I pass out without doing my routine it's no biggie. I have some scars on my cheeks, so I have begin to try derma rolling once month. I think it helps a little, but it does hurt like hell.

Anyway if you are suffering, there is hope. Breath. Everything ends.