First off, a little history about me and my awesome acne: I had the clearest, and I mean the clearest skin in school. Girls used to come touch my face because it was so smooth! I never even thought about acne unless I saw an advert (yes, I'm from England), and when I finally got my first pimple at 15 I was excited because I felt grown up and wasn't left out (INSANE right?). Anyway, out of no where I got all these red spots on my forehead at 16 about a month into college, which was crazy for me. Looking back, I used to have a terrrrrible diet; it consisted of chocolated, sweets and energy drinks everyday! I'm miles better now, as I'm a qualified Nutritionist so my diet is pretty good, plus I hit the gym 4/5 times a week, so I'm farrr healthier. I found the biggest change was when at 18 I started drinking 2 litres of water a day, which cleared me up loads, though my acne was still really bad. I only got the courage to see a doctor in April 2012, when I was 20, and I've tried Retin-A, Differin, Duac, Zineryt, Erthryomycin and Tertralycine in that time (the latter of which I am allergic to). The only thing that worked was Zineryt and that stopped working after a month. I was just about to be prescribed Accutane when I decided to give the regimen a go as I have known about it for years and for whatever reason never tried it. I went to see my GP and he said my skin looked almost clear and asked what I was doing and I told him and he said wow, well if it doesn't work we will try Accutane, something I have been waiting for a whole year to try, but I said I would give this a good shot and see how it goes, as I am DESPERATE to be clear by the winter so I can go travelling. Acne sucks the life out of me, and has ruined my life and confidence to the point I've turned down jobs because I couldn't even go to the interview! Anyway....
Just gonna use this for a track of my progress as I thought I was further in than I was (approaching my 4th and I thought it had been more like 6!) and also would be nice to read back when I'm hopefully clear.
Anyway, what I am using is: Cetaphil Face Wash, Dan's BP and Derma Care for very dry skin moisturiser I got from Boots (this was recommended to me by a A.org user when I started).
My acne goes from mild to moderate. I get a lot of spots in the t-zone, on my nose, around it, my chin and mouth area, above my lip, forehead occasionally breaks out (used to be horrendous), and my left cheek too on which I've had a big red mark the size of a golf ball for years now because of the constant break outs in that area and the fact I used to pick at the scabs when i was about 17 (my acne used to be realllllly bad, like the only clear area was my right cheek. Gross.
Week 1 was fine, I didn't get much irritation. Because I lost track of progress, I thought it was on week 3 when i was starting week two, and I upped to a full finger length. Since then I've had severe flaking and dyness. My brother even said to me the other day after the movies "Dude, what's wrong with your face?".. I blamed the salted popcorn and he bought it haha!
At the moment I'm pretty clear, I've even experimented drinking caffeine which allllways breaks me out badly and I just had a pimple or two afterwards. I'm going to Barcelona on my own to party for 5 days in preparation of travelling Asia in November for a few months (I want to learn how to turn up at a hostel, meet new people etc), but anyway I reallllly want to be clear by then to give me confidence. My acne has partly ruined several holidays since it started when I was 16.
Catch up!
Week 2: upped the dosage way too much too quickly and my skin is the dryest it has ever been. I've never experienced dryness and flaking before, so this was a real shock, and is almost as bad as acne. I'm smothering my face in moisturiser and it still is verrrry dry! I'm still contemplating whether Jojoba Oil breaks me out after 6 months of us, so I'm weary of using it and it doesn't seem to help much anyway.
Week 3: I'm about mid way through week 3 at the moment, and the dryness and flakiness is getting worse. Every morning my forehead is horrendously dry, despite me smothering moisturiser on whenever I can (I even apply it on my breaks at work now!)
I took a day off from the BP to see if it settled down and I think it has just got worse, so I assume BP keeps working days after you apply it? I'm going to go down to half a finger length to control the dryness, and slowly work my way back up to full finger length. Acne wise, I'm pretty clear, but my left cheek is still red and I'm very insecure about it. Not sure if it's just scarring or acne to be honest. Hope it fades, though i have been for 2 years!
Hard to enjoy my acne free face at the moment because of all the dryness and slight redness. Also have noticed I actually have scars which is pretty cool because I have never noticed before so means I am getting clear
Sorry for the rubbish grammar, I typed it all in a rush plus I'm quite dehydrated at the moment. Gonna go drink some water and apply more moisturiser
19th April: Had a coffee today, which I usually avoid at all costs because it always breaks my out around my nose. It's 8pm and I have two small spots on my forehead and a small cyst at the top right of my forehead. Not really noticeable, but it feels like a bruise. Very worried that it will turn into a big cyst, which I get like twice a year. Have just applied Dan's BP, slightly increased from the half finger length I've been doing recently. Was completely clear on one finger length but the dry skin was horrendous and I mean HORRENDOUS!
This week, dry skin wise, it has been manageable. My chin area was very dry today though and had to keep sneaking off to the toilet at work to apply moisturiser! Hopefully my forehead clears by tomorrow, as the BP seems to make spots clear a lot faster than they usually do. I will try not to drink coffee again (I had like 5 hours sleep so thought I'd see if the BP held off the seemingly inevitable break out it causes... it didn't).
Also a bit nervous about going to Barcelona on May 4th, as I will be on my own and forced to make friends, which I'll find hard if my skin is bad :/ Really hoping it clears up. I took a big risk booking the flight not knowing what results I would get!
20th April: Spots on my forehead seemed to have gone down a lot. Can't really notice them so BP is definitely working. Today marks my 1st month on the regimen.
So far the amount of spots I get has gone down A LOT, to the point I've had like 5/6 in the past 2 weeks, which is nothing to me. The flaking is really bad though, and the redness hasn't really gone down much. Looks like I have sun burn around my chin, mouth and cheeks. Hopefully will be able to get a tan soon which will cover up the redness and red marks (1/4 Greek, so I tan easily even in England!).
I'm probably going to stay on 1/2 a finger length of BP all next week and see if the flaking subsides. I think a full finger length would be a bit over overkill for my skin, and I think once I'm used to is and the flaking stops, my skin will be okay with 1/2 or maybe 3/4 twice a day.
Hopefully this next month my skin really clears up now I'm past the 4th week!
Wow, the days are flying by! I've switched my moisturiser to Eucerin Dermo Purifying Hydrating Care as I've seen most UK people on here use it as it has similar ingredients to Dan's moisturiser.
My skin has cleared up a lot and the dryness is improved by about 80% since I started using a finger length at night and then a tiny bit in the morning. Had a few spots over the last week, but they go after a day or so, which is fine. The sun has been out recently so I've got a bit of a tan too which helps. The redness on my cheek (the worst part of my skin) seems to be improving by each day. I've ordered more BP and some AHA which I'm really hopeful will be the final piece of the puzzle to me having normal skin again 
I leave for Barcelona at about 2 AM Saturday morning, and I'm very optimistic that I'm going to have the best few days of my life there since my skin seems to be manageable now. I'll probably do an update just before, if not after I come back. Not sure if anyone has been reading this though haha!
1st May: I have a small spot on my left check and on my chin. I still have slight redness around my mouth.
I tried moving back up to using the BP twice a day to test out my new moisturiser, and my skin was very dry and flakey today (I think I used moisturiser at work about 3 times today), so I'll go back to once a day and then just apply a small amount of bp to actives.
I think I'm actually not using enough BP, as I looked at the dosage chart and it seems like my finger length of BP (I have small hands) is too thin, whereas Dan's seems to be quite thick. I leave for Barcelona in 2 and a half days so tonight I will apply a thick finger's length to my face and see how the dryness is tomorrow.
I'm staying in a party hostel in Barcelona in a mixed 24 bed dorm, so I have no idea how I plan to keep up the regimen whilst I'm there, and I certainly don't want the very dry skin, so if my skin is very dry tomorrow, I guess I'll just have to use the BP when I can whilst on holiday and try and not let any acne I get on holiday ruin my time, though dry skin shouldn't be a problem as I will still find time to moisturise. This will probably be my last update before my big holiday in Europe on my own, so wish me luck!
I hope the next update I do I can come back and say I had an amazing time. I think I deserve it after the last 5/6 years of shit skin!
Wow, haven't updated in a month! My bad!
My skin is still not perfect, and I've been on the regimen for almost 3 months now. My forehead looks great, though my left cheek STILL is red, and I don't really understand what I have to do to reduce this redness. It's been like this for years, and some days it fades and I think it's finally calming down, and other days it just looks like bad sun burn. I still get occasional spots if I miss one application and I still get redness.
I'm applying half a finger of the BP twice a day now, as anymore makes my skin peel and dry like you wouldn't believe. It's almost as bad as acne, which is a shame as my skin is either very dry, flakey and peeling but CLEAR, or not totally clear but not really dry and flakey.
I have been using AHA for about 2 weeks now, 3 times a week. I found that I started way too fast (like I did with my BP) and it resulted in redness and quite dry skin, which is weird because it's meant to be a powerful moisturiser. Basically at the moment my skin is much better than it was, but still not great.
My trip to Barcelona was good, though not as good as I hoped, mostly because of my skin and other issues, though I made some good friends and looking back it was a good time and I'm glad I did it. I applied that thick layer of BP a few days before I left and OMG that was a mistake! My skin was flakey and peeling for days after 
It only calmed down about halfway through my trip at which point my skin was not great as I was averaging 5 hours of sleep a night and I was drinking lots of alcohol and not eating much. I had a few spots around my chin, though I tried my very best not to let it ruin my holiday. Nothing worse than talking to people and literally feeling your skin peeling away. I had to keep going to the toilet and rinsing my face with water to clear the flakes... Very depressing.
Anyway, back to the skin: so to sum up; my left cheek is still red, I still get a few spots on my chin and nose (my worst area) and tiny ones in random places. To be honest, if I saw my face as it is NOW 6 months ago I would have said "I WOULD KILL TO HAVE YOUR SKIN", but even though I know it's soooo much better, I'm still very self conscious. I haaate the redness and thought it would have gone by now. I mean, 3 months almost on the regimen and I'm using half the dosage Dan suggests. Everytime I up it my skin just peels and flakes like crazy! I don't think I can use the full dosage without looking like a snake shedding it's skin. I'm hoping the AHA will help the flakiness a bit, so I can up the BP a little bit more.
I need to look into getting a good sun cream now summer is around the corner as I think the one I had on holiday didn't agree with my skin (was a Piz Buin face cream or something - expensive though I thought maybe it would be worth it).
Sorry for the late update - I kept meaning to update this but I just kept on forgetting as I have been very busy the last few weeks with the gym and other stuff. Good point actually is that I'm bulking in the gym at the moment, and mix that with weight lifting which raises your testosterone levels; it would explain why my skin isn't perfect (I've gained 5 lbs in 2 weeks 
).
My body looks better than it probably ever has and my skin is the best it has probably been since I was 15, though it's still not perfect and I just wish the redness would subside. I'm hoping the next month on AHA and just using half a finger of BP will help the redness and also clear most of my acne, or at least manage it down to a pimple or two a week.
I'll try update twice a week from now on! I haven't died
Adios, por ahora!
I read your log so keep updating! No matter the condition of your skin, enjoy your trip!
Hello!
I keep meaning to update this but forget!
I switched over to Cetaphil moisturiser as my skin is still very dry and flaky if I up the BP. I was using half a finger length and it wasn't dry much at all BUT I got spots. I upped it the last few days to 3/4 length twice a day and it's now very dry and flaky. I think I will do once a day 3/4 finger length and see how that goes. I expect to get spots but to have dry skin again.. I can't seem to find a balance
I go to Belgium in 2 weeks for my birthday to meet some friends I know through Twitter for the first time. Sucks that my skin will probably be bad when I met them. Merh. Oh well, hopefully one day my skin will be normal and stop ruining my life..
This is the 3rd month I believe. Was hoping for better results to be honest. Trial and error, and Accutane seems a bit OTT for my acne as I can manage it with BP. Just need the stupid flaking to stop as it's as bad as acne, and acne is just bad anyway.
I just want a break!!!!!!!
Will update as soon as I remember
Right, been doing 3/4 length at night and a small amount of actives in the morning. Dry skin has pretty much vanished, however I have had 2 spots on my chin and one on my forehead. Nothing bad obviously, but I think this could get worse. the 3/4 length was quite skinny, so tonight I've tried a thick full finger length and will see how it goes; in theory, my skin should have enough BP to manage my acne, and then will have enough time to recover during the day so I don't get dry skin.
Cetaphil's moisuturiser seems good! Thick and absorbs quite quickly. Happy with it so far. Not entirely sure what the AHA actually does to be honest. Perhaps helping the marks left on my skin? My left cheek is red some days, alright others. Don't really understand it.
I will update in a week or two, or whenever I remember to! I have a trip to Belgium to see a special friend in 4 days, so I'm desperate to have clear skin. I think I will give the regimen a month or two more before requesting to see a derm about Accutane/other treatment. Hopefully won't come to that, but I can't go travelling in the winter in Asia with bad skin!
It's possibly the pimples I have got recently is down to lack of water, as I usually drink 2-3 litres but the last 2 days I've been on about 1L...
Side note: decided to take 195 out of my travelling fund to whiten my teeth. They're not yellow, but I've always wanted my white smile back since I was 15. Protein shakes and fruit seem to have yellowed them a bit... Will give me confidence I hope! I've been using the kit for about 3 days and they're slowly getting whiter! =D
Keep fighting the good fight. We can beat this!
Another 3 weeks without an update.. I am bad at this!
Ok, well I had an amazing time in Belgium with my friend, and the best birthday I've ever had. She is a, beautiful (she's Mexican), wonderful person, and it was the happiest I've been in years. We had an amazing time together, and weirdly (possibly because I barely ate anything during the trip, and also because I felt very comfortable with her) my skin was pretty fine to be honest. I had like 2/3 pimples the whole trip, and not even bad ones. She said my skin was clear and she didn't understand why I complained, but I definitely had a couple.
I've been dealing with depression for the last few years, and I finally hit a breaking point at work 2 days ago, so I left early and saw a doctor. I have been prescribed anti-depressants, so hopefully I will feel happier from now on. I know a few reasons other than my skin why I have it and anxiety etc, so I'm trying to sort myself out. I've had a bad year - my Nan died in November who I was very close with, my Dad almost died because of diabetes, my skin was shit, and also I've had the standard girl problems (rejections, being messed around etc)...
Onto my skin... when I started the regimen, my Dr asked if I wanted to see a derm to get Accutane as I posted about ages ago. I didn't realise it was a 2 month waiting list!!! I would have said yes and used the regimen in the mean time! Gutted. I see a Derm on Sept 3rd I believe - my GP thinks they won't give me Accutane as my skin isn't bad enough, but I know once I stop the regimen (and I know I can't do it everyday while travelling) it gets pretty bad again, so I'll beg for Accutane and hope by December when I leave my skin is fine so I can just go and have an amazing time travelling!!!
I did lower my dosage on the regimen a lot, and my dry skin went away completely, but I was still getting 4/5 pimples a week, so I now use a thick finger length in the morning, and about 3/4 during the day. As soon as my skin gets dry or flakey, I do it once or just apply BP to the active pimples. I'll see how this goes, but I'm losing faith in the regimen. It seems to be either get acne or get dry skin, and both are pretty bad. Hopefully I get accutane and I won't have to worry about my face anymore!
I will try to remember to post again. I don't even know if anyone is reading this... I always say "I need to update my blog", then a week passes.. haha! I haven't died!
Hi 
I've just come across your log! Even though I'm keeping a log myself, I'm sort of slack in checking other people's logs (which I should actually check more because they are helpful to read)!
I'm coming to the end of my third week on the regimen and the dryness is driving me insane! Like you said a couple of posts ago, it's nearly as bad as acne... I think I'll have to cut down a little on the BP / experiment with amounts at some point because the dryness and flakes are crazy!!
Sorry to hear you've had a tough year (same here actually) -hopefully the anti-depressants work well for you.
It sounds like you've had some good success on the regimen though, which is great! I think it was a good idea to give the regimen a good shot before going for accutane. Whether you decide to continue the regimen or start with accutane, - good luck with it all - hopefully you find what works for you!
Also - Have fun on your travels!
(Jealous 
I'd love to be off traveling the world!)
Hi
I've just come across your log! Even though I'm keeping a log myself, I'm sort of slack in checking other people's logs (which I should actually check more because they are helpful to read)!
I'm coming to the end of my third week on the regimen and the dryness is driving me insane! Like you said a couple of posts ago, it's nearly as bad as acne... I think I'll have to cut down a little on the BP / experiment with amounts at some point because the dryness and flakes are crazy!!
Sorry to hear you've had a tough year (same here actually) -hopefully the anti-depressants work well for you.
It sounds like you've had some good success on the regimen though, which is great! I think it was a good idea to give the regimen a good shot before going for accutane. Whether you decide to continue the regimen or start with accutane, - good luck with it all - hopefully you find what works for you!
Also - Have fun on your travels!
(Jealous
I'd love to be off traveling the world!)
Nice to know someone is reading! Yes, although my skin still isn't perfect, and it's a daily struggle, my skin is MUCH better off. I think we tend to forget what our skin used to be like, as our standards get higher the clearer we get. At the moment I have two small pimples and I'm still not happy, whereas a 6 months ago I'd kill for just 2!!!
The dryness sucks, you need to cut down and give your skin a day off when it gets real bad and just apply the BP to the actives, otherwise it will peel like a motherf****r, and you'll feel worse! Or just apply it once a day every now and then. Your skin needs a rest! I looked like a snake shedding his skin at one point...
Yes, looking forward to travelling assuming my skin is fine 
Really hope my derm gives me Accutane next month, though my skin looks quite good so worried as I know when I go travel and can't apply the regimen strictly I'll break out. Will have to beg. Thank you! You can do it too! Good luck!
Another week has passed!
I had two small pimples today; one on my forehead and one under my nose. The reason being (I think) is because I had a shower and cleansed my face, then fell asleep without BP and moisturiser, which usually dries out my skin a bit and therefore I get a break out.
I'm going to drink coffee and stuff a few days before I see the derm to make it as bad as possible so they give me the god damn Accutane, because if I walked in there with 2 pimples they'd laugh at me! It's annoying because although the regimen keeps away 80% of it, I know when I go to Asia I'm going to break out bad as I won't have the time to be applying BP and stuff.. I'll just beg. If not, maybe they have another solution but I'd rather Accutane and possibly never have acne again..!!!
I'm applying a large amount at night, and a fairly large amount in the morning. I have very slight flaking, but nothing like before as I give my skin a rest if needs be, at the cost of maybe a pimple or two. It's probably the best balance I've had since I started, but it isn't totally clear and it seems like everyday I'm on the verge of breaking out, the BP just holds it all back until I miss a day then BAM!
Anyway, will update in a week or so, depending on when I remember. I go to Prague in a month to see my friend I saw in Mexico for a trip for 5 days or so, so very excited for that and hopefully my skin is ok by then. And then a few days after the trip, I see my Derm, so I think I'm just gonna drink coffee 2 days before and watch my face break out haha! Weird how I actually want acne for once in my life, and it's too clear
Have a good week everyone! Chin up, life is what you make of it 
Woke up today to 3 spots on my chin, and one on my nose. Don't really know why as I did the regimen fine yesterday and applied more than enough BP.. My skin is a mystery to me. Could possibly be because I'm bulking up, and with that comes excess hormone production or whatever. Wish I was just normal and didn't have to spend an hour on my skin everyday just to keep it 'sort of not spotty'... eurgh. Oh well, derm in just over a month!
Agreed! Wish I didn't have to spend so much time, money, etc on my skin! But hopefully we all find the thing that works for us and it's worth it in the end...
Good tip (in your post the other day) about giving your skin a break to recover from the dryness/flakes/peeling - because all that really can make you feel worse. It was for me anyway! I ended up applying BP only at night for majority of the past week (mainly because I didn't have the time before uni to allow it all to absorb and also because I'm not ready to go without any makeup - and I just can't apply makeup over BP/flaky skin). But giving my skin that little break from full on BP in the AM and PM really helped me cope with everything better because the dryness and flakes have pretty much gone, and although I still have acne, the only new breakouts I've been getting have been fairly small - so I can cope with that!
Hope the current breakout clears soon for you (or should I say goes away but comes back for when you go for accutane? )
Hi everyone! See a derm in about 3/4 weeks, so decided I need to start taking pics of my bad skin in case, as always, when I go it looks fine and I've wasted my time. I'll be tracking my skin progress and posting pics probably daily on Twitter here: [Removed]
I'm sure I'll use acne.org again, but Twitter is way more convenient for me, as I use it all the time now anyway. I'll be posting my Accutane progress on there too. Let's do this!