I had about 95% clear skin while using my current regimen and then ran out of my Retin-A cream and replaced it with Paula's choice 1% BHA gel. My skin became about 100% clear after about 4 days of use. I am currently starting to breakout again and I have been using the BHA for about a week now. Is this an initial breakout or is the BHA gel not working for me? Should I stick to it in hopes its just an initial breakout?
I had about 95% clear skin while using my current regimen and then ran out of my Retin-A cream and replaced it with Paula's choice 1% BHA gel. My skin became about 100% clear after about 4 days of use. I am currently starting to breakout again and I have been using the BHA for about a week now. Is this an initial breakout or is the BHA gel not working for me? Should I stick to it in hopes its just an initial breakout?
Blargh. Seriously? That sucks 
I really thought you wouldn't get one, since Retin-A had already "purged" the comedones deeper in the skin. How bad is the breakout? If the BHA worked for you initially, then I think you should stick it out for a while. BHA initial breakouts are not extremely common, but they do happen in some people.
I had about 95% clear skin while using my current regimen and then ran out of my Retin-A cream and replaced it with Paula's choice 1% BHA gel. My skin became about 100% clear after about 4 days of use. I am currently starting to breakout again and I have been using the BHA for about a week now. Is this an initial breakout or is the BHA gel not working for me? Should I stick to it in hopes its just an initial breakout?
Blargh. Seriously? That sucks
I really thought you wouldn't get one, since Retin-A had already "purged" the comedones deeper in the skin. How bad is the breakout? If the BHA worked for you initially, then I think you should stick it out for a while. BHA initial breakouts are not extremely common, but they do happen in some people.
Its not extremely bad, and they are not red or swollen breakouts. It is mostly small raised bumps on my forehead and then a couple around my chin. I go to the derm on Thursday so I am going to get more Retin-A and switch back to that if this breakout lasts. I will explain to my derm my situation and see what he recommends. But I am thinking I will use the Retin-A everyday until the breakout subsides and when I am completely clear again I may go to an every other day regimen where I use the BHA one day and the retin-A the next.
Is it possible it could be that the 1% gel isn't "powerful" enough. Do you think I could have better results with the 2% BHA product? Also I hear that some solutions are better than others for people, for instance the gel isn't as effective as the liquid for people. Have you used anything besides the liquid?
I had about 95% clear skin while using my current regimen and then ran out of my Retin-A cream and replaced it with Paula's choice 1% BHA gel. My skin became about 100% clear after about 4 days of use. I am currently starting to breakout again and I have been using the BHA for about a week now. Is this an initial breakout or is the BHA gel not working for me? Should I stick to it in hopes its just an initial breakout?
Blargh. Seriously? That sucks
I really thought you wouldn't get one, since Retin-A had already "purged" the comedones deeper in the skin. How bad is the breakout? If the BHA worked for you initially, then I think you should stick it out for a while. BHA initial breakouts are not extremely common, but they do happen in some people.
Its not extremely bad, and they are not red or swollen breakouts. It is mostly small raised bumps on my forehead and then a couple around my chin. I go to the derm on Thursday so I am going to get more Retin-A and switch back to that if this breakout lasts. I will explain to my derm my situation and see what he recommends. But I am thinking I will use the Retin-A everyday until the breakout subsides and when I am completely clear again I may go to an every other day regimen where I use the BHA one day and the retin-A the next.
Is it possible it could be that the 1% gel isn't "powerful" enough. Do you think I could have better results with the 2% BHA product? Also I hear that some solutions are better than others for people, for instance the gel isn't as effective as the liquid for people. Have you used anything besides the liquid?
I don't know if 2% will work better for you, it depends on if what you're currently experiencing is irritation/negative reaction, or a true initial breakout.
I have used the gel, and it was good too. The ingredients in the liquid are meant to penetrate deeper, so that there are varying strengths depending on how oily your skin is. The lotion is meant for dryer skin, the gel for normal, the liquid for very oily skin.
I had about 95% clear skin while using my current regimen and then ran out of my Retin-A cream and replaced it with Paula's choice 1% BHA gel. My skin became about 100% clear after about 4 days of use. I am currently starting to breakout again and I have been using the BHA for about a week now. Is this an initial breakout or is the BHA gel not working for me? Should I stick to it in hopes its just an initial breakout?
Blargh. Seriously? That sucks
I really thought you wouldn't get one, since Retin-A had already "purged" the comedones deeper in the skin. How bad is the breakout? If the BHA worked for you initially, then I think you should stick it out for a while. BHA initial breakouts are not extremely common, but they do happen in some people.
Its not extremely bad, and they are not red or swollen breakouts. It is mostly small raised bumps on my forehead and then a couple around my chin. I go to the derm on Thursday so I am going to get more Retin-A and switch back to that if this breakout lasts. I will explain to my derm my situation and see what he recommends. But I am thinking I will use the Retin-A everyday until the breakout subsides and when I am completely clear again I may go to an every other day regimen where I use the BHA one day and the retin-A the next.
Is it possible it could be that the 1% gel isn't "powerful" enough. Do you think I could have better results with the 2% BHA product? Also I hear that some solutions are better than others for people, for instance the gel isn't as effective as the liquid for people. Have you used anything besides the liquid?
I don't know if 2% will work better for you, it depends on if what you're currently experiencing is irritation/negative reaction, or a true initial breakout.
I have used the gel, and it was good too. The ingredients in the liquid are meant to penetrate deeper, so that there are varying strengths depending on how oily your skin is. The lotion is meant for dryer skin, the gel for normal, the liquid for very oily skin.
I had been using clindamycin before using the BHA gel, could that negate any of the effects of the BHA? I tried just washing and then applying BHA tonight in hopes that my skin could better absorb the BHA without using clindamycin. I could be completely off but I figured I would give it a try. It is very frustrating because my face was clear with the tretinoin and then even clearer and had a better tone for the first couple uses of BHA. I think I may just need to go back to my regimen and use the retinoin instead of BHA.
Also could it be possible that applying Emu Oil after the BHA could be effecting the BHA? When I was using Retin-A I was using it in the morning followed by an Emu Oil based lotion and at night was applying the Pure Emu Oil after BP. I may need to starting using the BHA in the morning and applying the lotion rather than pure emu oil as I was doing with the Retin-A. I will see what my derm says on Thursday.
I am considering starting 2% BHA from Paula's Choice, however I can't afford to go through a large purging phase, especially on the cheek areas, as they are recovering from my scar treatments.
If I apply the BHA solely to my nose and forehead areas (which are the ones most prone to blackheads), would I still be susceptible to purging throughout my face, including the cheeks, or only the areas that I apply it to? Since it gets absorbed into the skin, I am thinking that it could still affect the entire face.
Thanks in advance.
