Hm, I have a pretty similar regimen of my own. Figure I might as well explain it...
- Wash with Dove soap
- Wash with L'Oreal Pure Zone SA Foaming Gel Wash
- Pat dry (really well!)
- Apply a small amount of Hydrogen Peroxide and then a toner (cotton ball method)
- Apply BP
- Use a 6% SA oil-free moisturizer (Pure Zone, again)
There you go. The mixture of SA and BP in the past few days has left me with a remarkable difference. My skin is very absorbant as well. I can't believe I was using SA this whole time and wondering why it wasn't working as well as I hoped!
i can't remember when my acne nightmare started.. but i remember one summer in college (i was probably around 19 or 20) when my back went from visibly problematic acne to something so awful that denial was the only way to cope with it.. this was about 10 years ago and the internet wasn't much of a resource.. i saw a dermatologist who agreed that accutane would be an appropriate treatment..
i was supposed to be on the drug for 4-6 months, and i did notice that my body was producing less oil. the acne did recede somewhat but it was still there.. after about 3.5 months, my doctor took me off the drug. she said with the advent of summer and because of the inherent dangers of the drug, 3.5 months was enough.. the acne was still there, albeit about 15% less..
i don't really remember trying different things after that.. i really wasn't looking for a solution that would require me doing a bunch of steps every morning.. with contact lenses, brushing my teeth, doing my hair, etc. i was already looking at long times to get ready for a guy, and i wasn't interested in adding more to that schedule..
i did see one or two more dermatologists over the next few years, and they recommended bleaches, makeup, and various peroxides i could use while in the shower.. i tried them all (except for the cover makeup, which was just a ridiculous suggestion for my back), but nothing killed my acne..
i had just decided to live with it, figuring it was still something left over from my adolescence.
in my late 20's, a friend decided to throw a big pool bash at his parents' house.. i hadn't been swimming or at the beach for about 6 years (because of my back). i don't know what it was, but something in me made me angry that i was about to pass up on yet another shirts-off event because of my acne. it was then may, and the party was scheduled for july.
for the first time ever, i decided to use the internet to read about acne and other people's solutions. yea, i ran into a lot of the web site versions of those late-night infomercials and wasn't interested.. like i said, i wasn't interested in any creams or lotions.. i didn't buy into those ideas as a solution.. so i read and read and read.. what really caught my attention was talk about how soap can cause acne..
i thought about my past experiences.. how if i didn't shower for a couple of days my acne got better.. whenever i went camping, my acne had always improved when i got back, and i had always thought it was the clean air up in the mountains.. but i never had an explanation for why when i didn't shower over an entire weekend, my acne was somehow better on monday when i did my daily routine of looking at my back with two mirrors before hopping in the shower..
so then i started doing searches on the internet for "acne soap", and i was excited.. if it was the soap all these years, i could just replace it and not have to change anything in my daily routine..i look around and find something called kavi soap.
the first day i tried it, i only used it on my back, having no idea if it would dry or mess up the rest of the skin on my body which didn't have acne. anyway, this soap stung on my back.. it was stinging and almost felt like it was bubbling.. i kinda freaked out.. i didn't see much of an improvement, but it was only one day.. i was used to disappointment anyway.. the next day rolled around, and i was kinda worried about using it again, but i told myself what the heck.. the second day it didn't sting as much.. in fact, it almost didn't sting at all.. i didn't really know what to make of that, but whatever, i went to work and went on with my day. day 3. get up, walk into the bathroom, and do my same daily demoralizing activity.. pick up the hand mirror and stand against the sink mirror and look..
i really don't know how to describe it.. it was like looking at a lottery ticket and realizing you'd hit all 6 numbers.. my acne actually looked better.. now mind you, we're talking about 10% better.. but that was a lot for only using a different soap for two days.. i hopped in the shower and used the soap.. scrubbing away..
day after day after day, i looked in the mirror before my shower and saw improvement.. after the first week, i started taking a shower in the evenings too.. the july pool party was rapidly approaching and i was counting improvement everyday.. it was like watching a stock you bought rising every day..very exciting 
)
by the time of the pool party, much of my acne was gone, and i braved that day and walked around without my shirt..
in retrospect, my back still looked horribly disfigured from all the scarring still left behind that july, and i think everyone noticed, but to me it looked a lot better..
it's been about three years now.. i don't have acne anymore, and i've been using glycolic acid (conveniently from the same place) to heal the scars.. the scars haven't totally healed yet, and i'm thinking it'll be another year before they're completely gone.. i still do my ritual every morning, and never forget how lucky i was to have found a fix..
as an afternote, i should mention that even though the kavi soap was working great, i got ambitious after the first few months and thought i'd try other soaps to see if they were even better.. kavi was the first soap i'd tried.. maybe there was something better.. i tried a german soap called sebamed i think.. tried it for about a week.. got only a few new zits, but i freaked and went back to kavi.. i didn't want to lose any more time out of my life with this back acne problem.. i also tried another soap from stiefel.. i bought it at the local pharmacist.. it stunk so bad when i took it out of the box that i never even used it.. still in my medicine cabinet..lol.
ok, i've been writing for about an hour.. if you have acne you can't get rid of, try kavi soap. best of luck..
sam
Well I was getting cystic acne. I cannot tell if the two C&C cleansers help with that because I have been on Yasmin for 2 months now, but the C&C has kept my skin clear of even small pimples and it is so soft. I don't feel oily even after 5 hours at work, which I usually felt after a few hours before using the two cleansers together. I will never stop using these cleansers. I just use them together in the morning and at night i use the C&C Sensitive Skin Cleanser. The only time I see any drying is when I use my Mandelic Acid for my scars. And then I just tape a little of the dry skin off before my C&C moisturizer........works excellent! So maybe its a combination of the cleansers and the BC pill, but no cysts anymore. Cysts cause scars on me, so I cannot get another one. So far so good! [Edited image out]
What is this Mandelic acid you use? I have scars from acne cysts as well (the only kind of acne I get) and though I only get it every once in a while in isolated spots, it has caused scaring. I have only been on the Clean&Clear for two days now, but feel really good that no new ones have yet formed and old ones are healing. My skin feels so soft as well. Kudos to this treatment!
I got the recommendation of the "SCARS" section in this forum. A lot of people are using it, and I got it from SKINCARERX.com. You can read about it in that section. It is a less irratible exfoliating serum than gycolic acid and it basically exfoliates I guess so that the scars don't look so deep. I am happy with it, it seems to be helping although I don't use it everyday like most people were posting. I use it about 3 times a week. It was like $30 I think. I am just trying to fade two scars that I have from cysts and numerous cortisone injections in the same pimple. My cysts are very stubborn!
Hi everyone! Two things:
1. The acne.org F.A.Q. says not to mix SA and BP. It seems mainly because this causes a lot of irritation in some people. I've noticed my skin can irritate/burn with BP (a lot, like Dan recommends), but I would consider it minor.
What the original poster said also makes sense though. So basically, is it safe to use SA and BP together? The only possible side effect is drying/burning, right?
2. Jenn, if you don't mind me asking, what type of acne did you have? I would classify mine as mild I guess. I mainly get tiny blackheads and whiteheads on my forehead and along the side of my face/eye region. They're not bad by themselves but when they get a bunch of friends then it can be bad.
I'm asking you just so I can know what I may expect. It seems to me though that different regimens work good for different people. The acne.org regimen works pretty good for me, and all I used was the BP cream. No special soap bar or moisterizer (spell check!).
Well I am not exactly using the two together, first I wash with the SA Cleansing Scrub and then I rinse it off and then I wash with the BP wash and rinse. So the only time I use 2.5% BP is on a pimple at night or something. Maybe that's why I don't feel any irritation, in fact I love doing it! I actually had "what I thought was mild cycstic acne" but my doctor seemed to think it was pretty bad and recommended accutane...these derms are all being pushed by the drug companies though, so what do I expect. But I told him I haven't had a cyst in 2 months, which I think is mostly thanks to the Yasmin BC pill, but he insists that it takes like 3-4 months to kick in.....duh, my acne is gone? Maybe its the cleansers but even before I started with these two cleansers together, my cycsts had gone away. And by mild I mean I got like 3 cysts on my face and 2 were very close to eachother and had to get at least 4 shots in them over a period of 3 weeks, it took THAT long for the bump to go down. It (in my opinion) is VERY STUBBORN cystic acne. If it were just a few pimples, please, I could just hide that with makeup, but this was gross and they left scars, two of which I now have to deal with. I am 34 for God sakes, what is this crap! But hopefully I beat it.
Hey Botchla, where u from? After reading your post i went out today to try and find the clean and clear continous control cleanser with 10% BP, and all i could find was this clean and clear continuos control acne wash, but it was a clear liquid in a purple pump bottle and had SA in it, no BP. There where a few other c&c clensers, but nothing with BP. Maybe you can't get it in Australia? Does anyone know? If not wheres d cheapest place to get it online??
i'm from the united states.. i think there was a post a week or so ago that there were people from australia trying to find this product there. i think they came to the consensus that it wasn't available there. you may want to search from that thread and see what they said.
...
i found the thread for you, here it is:
You know what ppl? I think the best treatments for acne are always the simplest ones.
Since I am washing using Neutrogena Acne Wash and tomorrow,starting to put Benzacyln on my acne, I'll report back in a week to see if that irritates me.
The dermatologist said it's TOTALLY OK to use SA and BP together because they all do dif things! So I'm not sure if all those "don't use SA and BP together" really appplies to everyone.
Ok I've been using the BP and SA combo for about 5 days now and I honestly do think my skin is improving. Not 100% clear, but the results are encouraging. My face is starting to dry out though, so I use Vita-K as a moisturizer only at night. Main thing that's left is those damn red spots, which I'm hoping time + Vita K will do the trick. Or I might try that vinegar/tape treatment as described in the scar section of this board.
-Snake
wow, thanks botchla! Ive been using this almost a week now, and the texture of my skin has improved 100%. There are NO new zits whatsoever on my face! Im not sure if it is because of this or maybe the tetracycline my doc put me on, but i think it is your regimen because ive only been on tetracycline a few days and its supposed to be weeks or months before you see results on it. The only thing stopping me now is about 10-12 old zits that arent bumps anymore, but are red marks that are still healing. If they heal up quickly, in a few days my skin could be 100% clear, no scars or anything! My skin tone is also less red, which is great because i had a really goofy look going on...(white body since i refus to take off my shirt in public, tanned arms and neck from t-shirts, and a red face.) Thanks again man, i owe you! And i also recommend this to anyone who hasnt had much success with Dan's or the Acne Cure. I tried both and neither worked completely.
Well, it's been a week for me since trying the C&C regimen and so far have found improvement. ALl of the existing acne I had started to come to the surface and then dry up. Now my face needs to start healing. I haven't seen any new ones pop up either so I am very pleased with the results thus far. I'm going to stick with it and see if my face starts to dry out though, if so then I will need to incorporate a mositurizer into the regimen or use the BP only once a day rather than twice.
Thanks again Botchla for the great advice. I'm still excited to see where this takes me in the next few weeks. I'll let you know.
wow! i am sooo happy my advice seems to be helping so many people out! it makes me feel great knowing that others are having success. very encouraging. keep with it!
one last word of advice: be gentle! i notice if i scrub hard it seems to irritate my skin. when i wash, i just barely rub my skin. especially when i apply the BP cream, i am just barely touching my skin, rubbing it around. it seems as though the less you scrub, the better it works.