Day 10
Technically I haven't done the regimen today. I applied everything when I woke up this morning as normal, but at the last minute I've decided to do out to lunch and a movie with my mum, so I tried applying makeup and my face looked like such a mess, I've had to go wash my face again. I didn't apply BP this time. I'm going to try and apply makeup again now without having BP on my skin and see if that makes a difference. Also not applying jojoba (and just extra moisturiser instead) in case that's also why makeup didn't go on that well. I think there's probably nothing I'll be able to do about it. It's probably the dry skin (even though that's mostly controlled by moisturiser and jojoba) that's causing the make up not to work mostly. It ended up all goopy and yuck when I tried before. I don't want to leave the house at all now 
I guess it's go with bad looking makeup and hope I'm not close enough to anyone else for them to notice, or go out with a face as red as a tomato... neither are ideal options haha
I hope I can find a way for makeup to work a little. At least to minimise redness. I don't know what I'll do if I don't find a way for it to work and I have to go back to uni...
Day 10
Technically I haven't done the regimen today. I applied everything when I woke up this morning as normal, but at the last minute I've decided to do out to lunch and a movie with my mum, so I tried applying makeup and my face looked like such a mess, I've had to go wash my face again. I didn't apply BP this time. I'm going to try and apply makeup again now without having BP on my skin and see if that makes a difference. Also not applying jojoba (and just extra moisturiser instead) in case that's also why makeup didn't go on that well. I think there's probably nothing I'll be able to do about it. It's probably the dry skin (even though that's mostly controlled by moisturiser and jojoba) that's causing the make up not to work mostly. It ended up all goopy and yuck when I tried before. I don't want to leave the house at all now
I guess it's go with bad looking makeup and hope I'm not close enough to anyone else for them to notice, or go out with a face as red as a tomato... neither are ideal options haha
I hope I can find a way for makeup to work a little. At least to minimise redness. I don't know what I'll do if I don't find a way for it to work and I have to go back to uni...
Lol, I used to wear concealer... back when my acne was limited to maybe four large pimples total... and I thought I needed it THEN, haha. Mine looked so fake though, people noticed instantly. Needless to say I think it broke me out more, so eventually I stopped using it.
Plus, now my line of thinking is, if people see me at my worst NOW, then they'll only see improvement from here on (hopefully)!
Day 10
Technically I haven't done the regimen today. I applied everything when I woke up this morning as normal, but at the last minute I've decided to do out to lunch and a movie with my mum, so I tried applying makeup and my face looked like such a mess, I've had to go wash my face again. I didn't apply BP this time. I'm going to try and apply makeup again now without having BP on my skin and see if that makes a difference. Also not applying jojoba (and just extra moisturiser instead) in case that's also why makeup didn't go on that well. I think there's probably nothing I'll be able to do about it. It's probably the dry skin (even though that's mostly controlled by moisturiser and jojoba) that's causing the make up not to work mostly. It ended up all goopy and yuck when I tried before. I don't want to leave the house at all now
I hope I can find a way for makeup to work a little. At least to minimise redness. I don't know what I'll do if I don't find a way for it to work and I have to go back to uni...
Lol, I used to wear concealer... back when my acne was limited to maybe four large pimples total... and I thought I needed it THEN, haha. Mine looked so fake though, people noticed instantly. Needless to say I think it broke me out more, so eventually I stopped using it.
Plus, now my line of thinking is, if people see me at my worst NOW, then they'll only see improvement from here on (hopefully)!
That's a good way of thinking about it I guess - I'll try and remember something like that.
I got a little makeup to work. Basically just minimised the redness and didn't hide as much of the hyperpigmentation that I usually like to hide a bit better. At the same time though, I normally don't cover everything when I wear makeup anyway, otherwise I feel like I'm lying to people.
I wish I didn't care so much about my skin - that would make everything so much easier! 
I never used to wear makeup in high school (only on special occasions really) and only wore what I wore today at the start of uni. It'll take a bit of getting used to again to be wearing only enough to take out some redness and have majority of pigmentation showing. I don't even care that the acne is still visible - because makeup can't hide bumps anyway.
I think guys cant get away without makeup, no matter what they're skin is like. Of course, if you want to wear it than that's fine, but I feel like there's this pressure on women to always look good - and to look good that means wearing makeup. (Even though a lot of guys say they like women without makeup... I think they mean they like 'no-makeup' makeup look )
Anyway...
Had a good time out at lunch today. We saw 'The Heat' (Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy). I thought it was hilarious! Laughed a lot - which was great - I really needed a good laugh! 
I'll be back to following the regimen properly from tonight. I think on days where I need to wear makeup I'll cut down on the BP for the AM and see how that goes for my skin...
Day 10 (still)
Just took this photo a few minutes ago (excuse the shine/oiliness - doused my face in jojoba 
). This redness and burning feeling is killing me! My skin practically matches my lip colour 
Do you think I've been using too much BP or is this normal? (Though again, hard to tell if it's a normal amount of redness as the redness isn't being picked up in photo as it really is in person - but you should be able to see the difference between this and other photos and even between my face and neck in this one?) Should I cut back on the BP for a bit or just continue? The burning sensation takes about 45 minutes to an hour to fade/ become more bearable.
Hello Lilly!
I maybe not the best person to give advice on this but I would fight through the burning. I started waaaay too fast on The Regimen and my face felt like it was burning all the time but I didn't use less BP. I just wanted my skin to get used to it faster so I didn't alter the amount. That is my opinion anyway. I just applied more moisturizer throughout the day when it got painful and I got really busy so I didn't think about it too much.
There were also times when I stood in front of my open freezer door to get a bit of relief. Kind of odd, but it did the trick.
Hello Lilly!
I maybe not the best person to give advice on this but I would fight through the burning. I started waaaay too fast on The Regimen and my face felt like it was burning all the time but I didn't use less BP. I just wanted my skin to get used to it faster so I didn't alter the amount. That is my opinion anyway. I just applied more moisturizer throughout the day when it got painful and I got really busy so I didn't think about it too much.
There were also times when I stood in front of my open freezer door to get a bit of relief. Kind of odd, but it did the trick.
Thank you so much for the reply!
Haha the freezer is a genius idea I've been fanning my face with a piece of paper like crazy
My mum seems pretty worried I'm doing damage to my skin as my skin is very red. I told her redness is to be expected though.
My skin has been very painful so I think I'll cut back just a little on the amount I've been using in the AM and continue with the amount I've been using in the PM just for the next few days to see if that gives some relief before continuing as normal.
Thanks again 
Hello Lilly!
I maybe not the best person to give advice on this but I would fight through the burning. I started waaaay too fast on The Regimen and my face felt like it was burning all the time but I didn't use less BP. I just wanted my skin to get used to it faster so I didn't alter the amount. That is my opinion anyway. I just applied more moisturizer throughout the day when it got painful and I got really busy so I didn't think about it too much.
There were also times when I stood in front of my open freezer door to get a bit of relief. Kind of odd, but it did the trick.
Thank you so much for the reply!
Haha the freezer is a genius idea
My mum seems pretty worried I'm doing damage to my skin as my skin is very red. I told her redness is to be expected though.
My skin has been very painful so I think I'll cut back just a little on the amount I've been using in the AM and continue with the amount I've been using in the PM just for the next few days to see if that gives some relief before continuing as normal.
Thanks again
What kind of pain are you talking about? Burning, right?
Hello Lilly!
I maybe not the best person to give advice on this but I would fight through the burning. I started waaaay too fast on The Regimen and my face felt like it was burning all the time but I didn't use less BP. I just wanted my skin to get used to it faster so I didn't alter the amount. That is my opinion anyway. I just applied more moisturizer throughout the day when it got painful and I got really busy so I didn't think about it too much.
There were also times when I stood in front of my open freezer door to get a bit of relief. Kind of odd, but it did the trick.
I'm also starting to experience a little burning, and am considering whether to cut back on BP or to just keep trucking. I was thinking of cutting back to night-only application of 2 pumps, but after reading that I'm not too sure...
Hello Lilly!
I maybe not the best person to give advice on this but I would fight through the burning. I started waaaay too fast on The Regimen and my face felt like it was burning all the time but I didn't use less BP. I just wanted my skin to get used to it faster so I didn't alter the amount. That is my opinion anyway. I just applied more moisturizer throughout the day when it got painful and I got really busy so I didn't think about it too much.
There were also times when I stood in front of my open freezer door to get a bit of relief. Kind of odd, but it did the trick.
Thank you so much for the reply!
Haha the freezer is a genius idea
My mum seems pretty worried I'm doing damage to my skin as my skin is very red. I told her redness is to be expected though.
My skin has been very painful so I think I'll cut back just a little on the amount I've been using in the AM and continue with the amount I've been using in the PM just for the next few days to see if that gives some relief before continuing as normal.
Thanks again
What kind of pain are you talking about? Burning, right?
>Hello Lilly!
I maybe not the best person to give advice on this but I would fight through the burning. I started waaaay too fast on The Regimen and my face felt like it was burning all the time but I didn't use less BP. I just wanted my skin to get used to it faster so I didn't alter the amount. That is my opinion anyway. I just applied more moisturizer throughout the day when it got painful and I got really busy so I didn't think about it too much.
There were also times when I stood in front of my open freezer door to get a bit of relief. Kind of odd, but it did the trick.
I'm also starting to experience a little burning, and am considering whether to cut back on BP or to just keep trucking. I was thinking of cutting back to night-only application of 2 pumps, but after reading that I'm not too sure...
You say two pumps so I assume you are using the Acne.org BP. To be perfectly honest I used Benzac AC 2.5% to get clear and I used a fingers length every AM and PM. When I switched to Dan's BP almost a month ago I found two pumps to be a lot. I found that one pump is more or less the same as a fingers length of BP when I was using benzac. So right now I am just on one pump every AM and one pump every PM with the BP. I guess that is something to consider.
Seems to me that the measurement between the tube and the bottle are a bit off.
You say two pumps so I assume you are using the Acne.org BP. To be perfectly honest I used Benzac AC 2.5% to get clear and I used a fingers length every AM and PM. When I switched to Dan's BP almost a month ago I found two pumps to be a lot. I found that one pump is more or less the same as a fingers length of BP when I was using benzac. So right now I am just on one pump every AM and one pump every PM with the BP. I guess that is something to consider.
Seems to me that the measurement between the tube and the bottle are a bit off.
How different are Dan's BP and Benzac?
Also is Dan's thinner? Something like that could be why the measurement between tube and bottle are different.
You say two pumps so I assume you are using the Acne.org BP. To be perfectly honest I used Benzac AC 2.5% to get clear and I used a fingers length every AM and PM. When I switched to Dan's BP almost a month ago I found two pumps to be a lot. I found that one pump is more or less the same as a fingers length of BP when I was using benzac. So right now I am just on one pump every AM and one pump every PM with the BP. I guess that is something to consider.
Seems to me that the measurement between the tube and the bottle are a bit off.
How different are Dan's BP and Benzac?
Also is Dan's thinner? Something like that could be why the measurement between tube and bottle are different.
Dan's BP is more watery? Not sure if that is the right word but it feels more watery and it doesn't hold its shape when you pump it out. Benzac is definitely more gel like. Luckily for me, using just one pump of Dan's BP has done a good job in controlling my acne like benzac did.
Day 10 (still)
Just took this photo a few minutes ago (excuse the shine/oiliness - doused my face in jojoba
Glad to see you're still going strong, Lily! I definitely feel your pain because the burning was so annoying for me in the beginning too, my face always felt itchy throughout the day. I never got bright red but my skin would get to kind of an irritated orange-ish shade at certain times. I'd agree with nicmic in that you should try just pushing forward with the BP because it does get better with time, but if it's really hurting you and becoming unbearable I'd vote to keep the BP to a PM application only for awhile until your skin calms down. That way you're still on the Regimen and if you get any major breakouts you can still switch back to the twice a day method in the future, it's a much better option than stopping entirely.
About the make up, much like Wombat I'm yet another guy who has used to make up to cover skin problems I use some BB cream from time to time and when I first started the Regimen it was almost impossible to apply the BB cream...my skin just looked horrible underneath. Either I used too thick a moisturizer and it left the BB cream looking gloopy and oily or I didn't moisturize enough and it left the skin cracked and dried out beneath the BB cream and that made it look equally as awful. My gf turned me onto this lightweight Neutrogena moisturizer and that's been the perfect balance for me for a daily application, it hydrates so well and doesn't leave me oily...that way when I do need to wear BB cream it doesn't look cruddy. I hope you find something that works for you there, I think the key is definitely finding an AM moisturizer that gives you that stable balance between not too oily and not too dry.
I hope things get better for you soon overall and I'm glad to see you're still pushing forward, it's worth it in the long run.
Glad to see you're still going strong, Lily! I definitely feel your pain because the burning was so annoying for me in the beginning too, my face always felt itchy throughout the day. I never got bright red but my skin would get to kind of an irritated orange-ish shade at certain times. I'd agree with nicmic in that you should try just pushing forward with the BP because it does get better with time, but if it's really hurting you and becoming unbearable I'd vote to keep the BP to a PM application only for awhile until your skin calms down. That way you're still on the Regimen and if you get any major breakouts you can still switch back to the twice a day method in the future, it's a much better option than stopping entirely.
About the make up, much like Wombat I'm yet another guy who has used to make up to cover skin problems
I hope things get better for you soon overall and I'm glad to see you're still pushing forward, it's worth it in the long run.
Thanks so much for the advice
Strangely enough, I still haven't had that much of an issue with itchy skin. It's just extreme redness and burning feeling and the dryness is becoming more annoying (but that's where jojoba oil is a life saver )
Today (Day 11) I used a tiny amount of BP in the AM and had no burning feeling at all! Which was a relief but also felt like a sign that I should be using more than that. I'll try more tomorrow. Like you and nicmic62 have suggested, I'll go back to the amount I had been using in the AM tomorrow and just keep pushing through it. That's probably a good idea. That way my skin will either get used to it sooner or I'll probably be stuck in this in between phase where I don't increase BP anymore for fear of burning my skin more... And like you said, I can always cut back to once day for a bit if it does get too much.
I've never tried BB creams. I hear mixed things about them. Do they give much coverage for you?
I think you're right about makeup and moisturiser. I think that was what was giving me the most trouble with applying it yesterday. Need to find a good balance of moisturiser.
I actually have some Neutrogena moisturiser (my brother was using it but he's back to not doing anything for his skin and his skin being perfect - lucky kid). It's Neutrogena Oil Free Moisture with SPF 15. Does that happen to be the one your gf suggested? Either way, I'll give it a try for the AM anyway.
Thanks again
Day 12
Woke up with insane flaking around my mouth and chin. I'm going back to using the same amount of BP in AM and PM so I'll be sure to increase the moisturiser / jojoba even more. Didn't experience much redness or burning yesterday - not even at night with the normal amount of BP I've been using... so I'll see how that goes today.
Skin update: The breakouts on my right side (which you can sort of see in the last picture I posted here) and breakouts on the 'edge' of my chin are the worst that I have right now. Don't really have anything active on my left side. Forehead still has a few spots above my right eyebrow but is otherwise good too. So, overall it's not that bad - hoping it all continues on up from here
PM update: No crazy burning feeling today at all! And that's with using a fair amount of BP in the AM and PM. Also, only a slight amount of redness compared to what it was 2 days ago (crazy how quickly things change on the regimen). I guess that means my skin is pretty much adjusted to the amount I'm using. Now to go through all the redness and burning again next week when I try increasing the amount further 
Day 13
Feeling really good today so far! Woke up with no flakes and my skin didn't have that insane redness or burning after doing the whole regimen this morning. 
The spots on my chin and right cheek seem to me like they're starting to clear. Hopefully they'll clear by the end of next week, if not sooner. Hoping not to breakout more either - but it's still early days in terms of the regimen so I'm sure breakouts are still going to happen for a bit. Though I haven't seen anything new on my left side - so that has been relatively clear for the past few days Hoping it stays that way!
Had an interesting conversation with my brother last night about acne. We had been talking about nothing related to acne when he suddenly says that a friend of his from school has acne now - and then he laughed! Not a full on laugh - more of a 'chuckle' I guess but still - he laughed about someone having acne - which shocked me in a way. He's normally such a nice guy I didn't think he'd be teasing his friend like that behind his back. I told him that it wasn't something to laugh or tease someone about. He said it wasn't meant to be offensive but I said it offended me a bit - especially seeing as he was 'prompted' to mention this after looking at / talking to me. My brother has pretty good skin apart from a couple of spots now and then. Maybe the rest of his friends have completely perfect skin so seeing this friend with acne makes him feel less alone? I don't know. But I think he got what I was saying - that acne is more serious than most people would think so not to laugh about a person with it or tease them. I just thought that's something he already understood, as I'm sure he's seen how acne can affect me...
Hi! So how do you use your jojoba? Just mix a couple drops with your moisturizer? Some people do the scrub method to remove flakes (which I'm afraid of even trying while I still have active pimples), and others also put on a thin layer right after cleansing and before BP...
Hi! So how do you use your jojoba? Just mix a couple drops with your moisturizer? Some people do the scrub method to remove flakes (which I'm afraid of even trying while I still have active pimples), and others also put on a thin layer right after cleansing and before BP...
I just mix a few drops in with my moisturiser at night. I've been using 3-5 drops depending how dry my skin feels. The oil with the cetaphil moisturiser definitely helps with flakes but doesn't make them disappear completely. And it makes my skin look quite oily and shiny which is why I've only been using jojoba at night (but I'll use it in the morning if I don't plan on going out that day).
I actually tried using jojoba oil to exfoliate this morning. I was a bit worried about doing it while still having acne too so I just tested it on my chin. It's pretty gentle if you use enough oil and it helped with the flakes more too. But I think it's impossible to get rid of all the flakes at this stage. That will have to wait until your skin is fully adjusted to the BP I think.
I don't think putting jojoba on before BP is a good idea - the BP won't be able to work effectively on you skin. Adding it to your moisturiser would be the best way I think.
Day 14
End of week 2! In a way, it feels a lot longer than 2 weeks though...
Nothing much to report on really. I spoke too soon about my left side being clear - I woke up with a few tiny whiteheads there but I'm not bothered my them much because they are really small.
I might regret this, but my plan for week 3 is to get up to a full fingers length of BP (which I think is the same as a pump on Dan's BP? I'll have to check). I've been using approx. 3-4cm of gel / about from finger tip to a bit past first knuckle. So I guess I'm nearly halfway to a full fingers length. Maybe it's too quick to suddenly ramp up to that amount so I'll aim to be at that amount by the end of week 3 (if not sooner). I only have this week left before I go back to uni, so it would be nice if my skin had pretty much adjusted to this amount of BP before then.
Keep on trucking Lilly. The first few months can be crazy and unpredictable but it does get better. Unless your skin is mega irritated, continue to increase BP gradually.
Good Luck
Thanks for the tip Sach My skin was crazy irritated a few days ago - I'm really surprised at how quickly that's resolved though. But I'm sure I'll end up with more irritation again when I increase BP again. If it's as bad as it was those few days ago I'll definitely go slower with the BP
Day 15
(Week 3)
Basically woke up with a beard of flakes! Gross! I guess I'm not using enough jojoba oil. It feels like enough when I apply it at night but it's been completely absorbed by the time I wake up in the morning. I've been trying to sleep on my back too lately so that my pillows aren't touching my face all night but it's hard to just switch to a different way of sleeping! So I tried exfoliating with jojoba oil this morning and I only slightly increased the BP - I think it's better that I go slower rather than end up with more dryness on top of what I'm already experiencing plus crazy burning and redness again. I'd look like an actual monster going back to uni like that If things look like they're going ok though, I'll increase it a bit more (if my skin can handle it).
But the rest of my skin is looking good. The breakouts on my right are nearly gone and haven't had new ones there. Same for my forehead and the little spots I had on the left cheek are gone too. My chin is still the worst area in terms of breakouts and flakes/dryness. That's probably why the dryness is worse there - I've been concentrating the BP there a bit more than the rest of my face.
Hope everything is going well for you all
Day 15 - evening update
Despite exfoliating with jojoba and using a tonne of it with my moisturiser this morning, my chin and jaw is still quite flaky. I made a mistake in terms of the regimen guidelines tonight because I went and used a wash cloth to help exfoliate. I tried to stay gentle but I think I was probably a bit too rough on my skin. I hope it doesn't cause any major issues.
It's really annoying me that my BP is drying white on my face. It sort of looks like it's caught in dry skin... but it's probably just that I had a bit more BP in the areas where it dried white than in other areas where it dried/absorbed normally. It's fine after moisturising though (all blended in and not white looking).
Annnd the burning and redness is back too - Woohoo :/ haha Just like I thought it would. I've just finished the regimen for the evening (waiting for moisturiser to absorb fully) and my skin is burning so much! I think I'll end up standing in front of the freezer like nicmic said a while ago Hoping my skin adjusts to this new / slightly increased amount of BP soon.
Day 16
Flakiness and dryness around my mouth / chin was better this morning than yesterday morning. It was still a little dry and flaky though. I think I should be using even more jojoba (I did use a lot last night though) and I need to be careful that my bed sheets aren't wiping it off as I sleep.
I was feeling pretty down about my skin this morning. I feel like I'm breaking out a bit more and I guess the dryness is really getting to me. But I was going through old photos on my computer and found a bunch of photos I'd taken of my skin about 2 or 3 months ago at least (might upload sometime) My skin has improved since then a lot! So that's encouraging and makes me feel a bit better about my skin I have a feeling this week (week 3) will be tough though...
Not much else to say for this morning... Still applying for / looking for jobs. Hope to find something soon. I've been doing a lot of it through online applications - it would probably help and go apply or hand in resumes at places in person but I just can't face doing that right now with my skin being how it is.
Edit: - My mum is still quite worried I'm doing more harm than good to my skin because my skin is so red again... it looks a bit like what I imagine it would look like after a chemical peel....
I'm looking for a new moisturiser too. I tried the neutrogena one out a few days ago but I feel like I needed to use a lot of it to make my skin feel ok. I think it will be good in a few weeks time when my skin is hopefully less flaky and dry feeling. It would probably be good now if I mixed it with some cetaphil... I'll try that next time.
I'm also looking at a brand called DermaVeen, which makes moisturisers etc for skin conditions like eczema, which I think I'll try soon. They make a moisturising SPF30 cream as well which I want to get too. I prefer to use and SPF 30 (due to me being pale naturally and the extreme sun here - plus the BP makes you extra sensitive to the sun) but majority of moisturisers seem to only have SPF15.
There's also an Australian brand called MooGoo that make specialty skin condition creams - eczema and psoriasis etc - I've used some of there things and I really like most of what I've used (except their acne cream which did nothing for me) so I'd like to try one of their moisturisers again too but they use a lot of different oils in their products, so I'll wait until I've hopefully experienced clear skin for a while before trying them out again.