I have had acne twice in my lifetime now and managed to clear it with the regimen. However the second time I had it was a little less worse than my first one from years ago. I will talk a little about the first time I had acne.
I started getting 2-3 pimples when I was around 15 or so the amount of pimples slowly progressed to like, 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ...etc basically what was now considered acne by the time I hit 19 ( late 2017 ) and a little after that. Of course just like every other girl with acne, I was self-conscious and wore a lot of make up like heavy contouring and stuff so I would feel less miserable about myself but had to push through it anyway even if it was obvious that I was suffering from acne. This was around the time I was a senior in high school and a few months later, my skin decided to calm down and what I had left was red acne scars however no pock marks was made. I still used as much make-up because the redness was all I had left from having acne and I knew at the time my skin will continue to clear and with the help of AHA from acne.org, my skin became super clear and it didn't seem like I had acne a few more months later. I didn't pay much attention of the redness of my skin as I did when I had active acne because I had again a lot of make-up on to stray me away from worrying about it a lot. With time the redness kept getting lighter and lighter and so did the amount of make-up I was using. Here are a few images of the first time I had acne. First three images was before, and the last three was after. I was a bit chunky there lol bt dubs
It was a good year or so without all of the skin/acne worries and was less diligent(timing specifically) with my regimen routine. I wore less to no foundation and again it felt super great. I switched from regimen cleanser and moisturizer to Cetaphil products for just a bit and kept the regimen BP in the middle for a short while. January 2019 was then I decided to get birth control, specifically Nexplanon. Nexplanon is a type of birth control that is guaranteed to a safe sex and it is just a tiny rod that is located inside your arm after a minute surgery. Creepy when you touch it tho but anyway, that was when my second time of acne was just getting started and had to switch my skin care routine back to the regimen. From month one (January) I would get a pimple every other week or so and each month it would slowly progress to 2-3 everytime. by the time August 2019 hit, that is when I knew something was off with my skin and even if I started using the regimen again, it barely did any healing to my skin and I felt the need to do something about it.
August 2019, I had a start with like 4 pimples and I had friends telling me that birth control I was on might be the problem. Sophomore year of college was when my second acne journey started. I went to the health center to get the BC removed from my arm and they suggested me to take the the BC pills (Drospirenone & Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets USP from Lupin) instead to slow down my pimple problem. Unfortunately after a week and a half using it my skin got worse and I felt like the whole world just fell on me the second time but worse because I loved my time with clear skin. Even if the BC pills had a very good chance of helping me getting rid of my acne, I never liked the idea of taking pills just to resolve my skin problem and I could've stuck with it but I decided not to. I lacked purpose on myself, my self-esteem got so low, strayed away from my friends and family, consistently calling out of work... a lot of things. Had to wear heavy foundation and I ended up failing two of my classes. I wished I could had taken a semester break at the time as soon as my skin became a problem. I was still using the regimen at the time and but had to use it diligently again in hopes of a better result. More BP, extending the time limit between cleanser, BP and moisturizer, again with the stinging sensation and again with the redness and flakiness. Between Sept and Oct 2019 was basically the start of my second acne journey and my skin is fully cleared by mid February 2020. This also involves my red acne scars because it is now also gone. First three is when again I had to suffer from acne. The rest is.. well you guessed it, clear once again. Both make-up and without make-up.
No, no pock marks from my second acne journey.I don't know if I might be the first person who's posted both their first and second acne journey but I am doing this because I want others to have faith with the regimen and faith into clearing their skin the second time. I am grateful for both of my journey. My acne journey not only helped me open up about my skin,it has helped me grow as a human being mentally. I've gained a lot of self-love, a lot of confidence and along with it, Ibecame more humble and more considerate. I want to help other people who also wants help to achieve a perfectly good skin.
And to prevent biases, I am not saying that the regimen is the only thing that will solve your acne problems. While the product helps mostpeople clear their skin, there are others who couldn't successfully clear their skin while using the regimen. Usually 4-5 months is the time you need to determine whether the product works for you. I know it worked for me twice now and I know there are other skin care products that can be a better use for other people.
Keep in mind that everybody's skin is different and all it takes is time to determine if it is for you. Also, while clearing your skin, do not lose hope and try the best you can to distract yourself with other things that is beneficial to you and your future. Take it from me, I could've done better as a student and could've passed two of my failed classesif I didn't let my worries revolve around acne and self-esteem. It is what it is, and all I could do from that point on is to move forward and to learn from it.