Acne.org Products
thirtyforthirty - Thank you! You're right. Thanks for forcing me to go look at the older pictures. I think that when one problem goes away, you look for another. Thanks for the kind words!
Again - lol Thanks again!
Month 4: Day 5
Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!! I've been on a mini vacation to Memphis for my aunt's 60th birthday party and did have access to a computer. Memphis was fun! Had a busy week this week. Today was Grad day at school. I took a cap and gown picture. What's crazy is that some of my friends (who have always had better skin than me) chose not to take the picture (which was free) because there wasn't a retouch option.. AND I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THAT AT ALL!! My skin has come such a long way! I'm sure my picture would look better with a few touch ups here and there but I really don't care. I have no pimples on my face. I wore my skin proudly today. I was more concerned with my hair. Feels good. So good.
I'm still having no physical side effects. But emotionally, I find that I cry soooo easily now. I'm not sad or anything. I'm actually quite happy. I feel truly blessed. But just the sight of the word "cry" and I'm tearing up.. or if I see someone crying or hear of someone crying, I'm crying too.. weird.
Short and sweet update.
I love this site and all of it's users. Y'all are amazing. I'll be back to doing my regular updates soon. Like now.. lol I really missed it.. Even if it was for a few days..
Whit!
My god, girl, u look amazing!
I know I've said this before, but ur skin color is gorgeous, and now ur looking so even toned!
Did ur derm intend to keep u at 60mg?
Mine bumped me to 80mg, and I'm honestly loving it!
Again and LipsLikeSugar - Thanks! I'm happy with my skin right now. Who would have ever imagined that! Not me!
Crystal - Thanks!! I have no idea what "they" intend to do as I keep getting a new derm every time I go to that place for some reason. But "Luke" said that 60mg was a good dosage for me and that they were going to get me completely clear with this medicine before they take me off. But I would really like for next month to be my last. I wasn't counting on being on this for 6 months. But since they decided to keep me at 60mg, I feel like I will be on it for 6 months no matter what because if I do indeed get bumped to 80mg, I will want to stay on it for 2 months.. Idk why.. I just have that feeling.. lol I guess it's because I'm predicting a breakout and I want it to be GONE GONE when I get off it.. =/ i'm trying not to think about it.
Nothing really new to report. Guess it's a good thing. I have a few newly formed "bumps" in random places. Honestly wouldn't have noticed them 4 months ago.. lol
Something I never mentioned though was.. I have these sinks on the tip of my nose. They were raised pores but they are now like little dips. What's also weird is that now that they have become these big concaved pores, I get sweat bead the size of the pores.. they may be bigger.. right where the pores are.. And I get what pores are and that it's pretty natural but just thought it was strange that my sweat has different sizes based on the size of the pore. lol random..
School starts this week!
Enough said. That made my day! (P.S. I call him grapes because his last name is welch.. lol)
So exciting!
I hope everyone is doing well!!
Month 4: Day 12
Enough said. That made my day! (P.S. I call him grapes because his last name is welch.. lol)
So exciting!
I hope everyone is doing well!!
Yay!
That must be an amazing feeling Whit.
I'm soooo happy for u babe!
umm...
Definitely broke out since last updating. My face is still doing well but it has taken a small step backwards. It's just not smooth right now. I have a inflamed pore on my upper right cheek, right below my eye.
What's funny though is that the right side of my face is..or was clear. My left side is the side that seems to just not care that I'm on accutane. Those clogged pores are STILL there. NOTHING has changed on that side. If anything has changed, some of them are more prominent. That's about it.
This break out has me feeling very discouraged and confused. Right now, I'm not as confident or hopeful that this medicine will work for me. It's not a coincidence that Aunt Flo came for her monthly visit yesterday and she brought more acne with her.. While I know my skin is NOWHERE near how bad it was in the past, I just wonder how it will be when I stop take accutane. I obviously have hormonal acne and I know accutane does not fix that.
AND ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS, my skin is now about 4 shades darker than it was before I started. School started recently. Everyone told me I looked different. Many said my skin looks so much better. Some of them didn't know I was on accutane. But some said I was darker. Some said I "gained a lot of color" over the summer. My boyfriend and my parents have noted that my skin is looking a bit "burnt" on my neck, chest, and even my face. The sun feels so different to me now. And now that school has started, I have to walk around campus with the sun beaming down on me. I use SPF 30 on my face, neck and chest. the skin that is exposed to the sun on the rest of my body is just fine. It's also darker, but definitely not burnt looking.
Not a very uplifting post today. Hope everyone is doing well.
Hi Whitney!
I just want to reach out to say that your skin looks beautiful and you are a stunning lady!
Don't worry about your recent breakout, it will clear up and this will likely be the last one you have before a clear complexion 
Good luck with the remainder of your course!
C
Carmen - Thanks for the positivity! I really needed it. Still do. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
Face Update
My PMS breakout was not as bad as last month, BUT.. it was very close. Decided to take these pictures tonight after I wash my face. Haven't done a face update for a while.
My face is not where I want it to be. Don't get me wrong! This is pretty much the best my face has looked in like 10 years. But I know it can be better. I feel bad complaining on this site when people have far worse acne than me. I'm just frustrated. I was hoping next month would be my final month. I see no real improvement from first starting 60mg almost 2 months ago to now. My appointment is on September 6th. Next month will be my 5th month. I'm thinking about bringing up being upped for the next 2 months. I don't know..
Still no real dryness. Lips are not that bad. They are VERY pink though. Still able to sleep with my contacts in without a problem. My back is kinda itchy. School has started. I'm not having a problem focusing so far. We'll see if I'm saying the same thing once clinic starts and I have a 2 tests on the same day.. lol
I hope this isn't going to mess up the streak but... I haven't had a headache in a while. I can feel them trying to start but for some reason, they never become a serious headache.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Oh and I got my graduation picture proof in the mail the other day. My face did indeed look smooth but funny enough, I looked a little oily. I'm definitely shiny in the pic. haha
Hello!
Had my dermatologist appointment today. Had a different doctor again! But this time, it was the doctor who's name is on the overhead. Ironically enough, I was charged less than what I'm usually charged.
He said that I will be on a 6 month course. And that I will stay on 60mg till the end. (I brought up being upped to 80mg and was quickly shot down) So I will be finished at this time in November.. It sucks because my boyfriend's birthday is at the end of October.. If this would have been my last month, I would have been able to really party at the party that I'm hosting.. Maybe this will be work in my favor..
About the weird discoloration and unevenness of my skin tone, he said it will go away when I stop accutane.. I've had this discoloration since I was taking solodyn and ziana... which was almost a year ago.. Then he basically said suck it up.. we're fighting the greater of two evils. Acne vs. Discoloration.. I say let's get rid of the acne.
The clogged pores on the left side of my face is kinda sorta starting to go away..
Like I said before, I'm not happy with my skin at the moment. Again put it perfectly... If we're on accutane, we deserve perfection.
But my skin is better than it was. Gotta look at the bright side.
Oh, and a seriously awful headache woke me up at 5:30 this morning. It hurt so badly that I was nauseous. Oh my goodness! It was bad. But by the end of the school day, my sinuses finally started to drain and the headache subsided. Thankfully. And I'm still keeping with my same theory which is: It is a accutane induced sinus headache. Accutane dries you out which makes the gunk harder to drain which causes a sinus headache. And it's because I didn't drink enough water. Over the summer, I would just sit around and eat and drink all day. But now that school has started, I don't even have time to drink.. Seriously, I drink maybe 2 bottles a day.. bad..
Well that's all. Thanks Again! and Carmen for the encouraging words.
Hey Whitney,
Just looked at your pictures. Amazing, you're skin looks great. I am so jealous. Just googled oil is back on accutane and your blog appeared. My oil has come back after 2 weeks of being uber dry. I was wondering, did your oil dry up again? My breakout seem to coincide with the oil production returning. Just wondering, how you are you treating PIH, you seem to have none, its amazing. I have an olive skin and PIH is rife, even where is smooth all you can see is purple, red marks!!! Have you experienced any indents or scarring?
Genuinely happy for your progress. I know first hand how much this sucks.
Eva xx
Hi Eva!
My oil didn't truly go away until I started month 3. I stopped producing oil not too long into my course and then it came back. But it has definitely gone away now.
Regarding the PIH, I do have some all over my face and back. I "scar" really easily. And it's true PIH. ANY type of inflammation will cause some type of darkness. It could be puffiness cause my an allergic reaction and I will see the result of that puffiness for a while. I'm not really doing anything about it because it's actuallystarting to go away. It was especially bad before I got on a retin-a gel. Since it makes your skin pill, it really helped with the fading. And I think the accutane makes my skin kinda do the same thing even though I don't really have a problem with dryness. But this is the fading of the individual marks due to my acne. My dermatologist said to not worry about it right now, and that everything will fade eventually. I believe her. My brother had bad skin and about a year after he really stopped breaking out, his marks faded. There are no marks on his face. I hope it's genetic! lol And as far as the indents and scaring, I really only have a problem with the hyper-pigmentation. No real scars.
Hope I helped!
Whit!!!
How are you love??
I am totally w/ u on the "we need something to stress over" thing. 
Now if I could reprogram my brain to stop worrying about my skin...
So strange, bc everytime I look its clear.
Sigh, so thru Nov for u?
I decided to go the full 6 months. Might as well get as much tane as possible, lol. I hope I kill this shit for good 
So not only did we start together, we'll end together 
Btw, thanks for keeping count on my days for me 
So crazy how it feels like we just started, isn't it??
Crystal
xoxoxo
Hey Whitney,
Thanks for all the info, its so good to have this outlet and have other people who have been through it and can give me the benefit of their wisdom! I am praying this is my last IB and I will dry up again! Its so confusing being on accutane and I think that's the problem. Nothing stays the same, its up and down and all over the place. But your positive attitude and how far you have come gives me hope so fingers crossed, I will be in your shoes soon!
Eva xxx
Crystal! - I know! Starting and ending together! I didn't even think about how long ago we started until I read your post lol. And your thanks for counting your days actually made me laugh out loud! Seriously! lol
Eva - Thanks! Your in my thoughts! My fingers are crossed too!! =)
Haven't been on here in a while!
I'm still here. Still alive. School sucks. In the process of applying to grad schools. I have a new puppy. Love him and kinda don't all at the same time... lol
I'm going to do a full update VERY soon. Sorry. =( (Although nothing as changed.. Well I'm a little more clear.)
Miss y'all! Hope everyone is going absolutely wonderfully!
Month 6: Day 23!!!!!
Hi all! Long time no update..
First things first..
Front
Right
Left
With Makeup..
Only 1 week left!!!!!
I truly don't have anything to update regarding my face. And that really makes me sad. =/ I have come to terms with the fact that I just will not obtain perfectly smooth skin from accutane.. at least not during the course of it. If you noticed on the right side picture, I have a nasty scab (which is going to be an ugly scar) from me popping an active that popped up randomly. It was a clogged/raised pore that I guess finally decided to come out. I have a few more of those that, as I've said, I've come to terms with. They may just not come out anytime soon. They may just decide to become inflamed and gross later... I don't really care anymore.
I'm a couple of days behind.. I'm sooooo over taking these pills that I now don't care if I remember to take them. Not good but that was a few weeks ago. I am now back on track. =)
So that's it with the face.. Pretty clear..but it's been pretty clear for a while now. I do realize I look pretty dry in one of the pics but that's from my dog scratching me in my face while abusing me.. haha.. (have a new puppy btw.. His name is Max. He's a mini chihuahua - 5 months old.. 4.6 lbs of adorableness)
I am so very sorry for abandoning my log. I've been super busy trying not to have a mental breakdown so I can graduate this December.
I am taking 6 classes this semester and I am vice president of our major's organization which comes with a lot of duties and responsibilities. I was also very busy applying to grad schools and touring them and preparing for graduation. All this on top of the actual classes I'm taking.. which includes my clinical work. I have 5 clients this semester - 1 being autistic and 3 being severely or profoundly mentally and/or developmentally delayed.
I've been accepted into all of the grad schools I applied to. (yay!!!) Graduation is a little over a month away! (yay!) and Clinic is about to end! (I would say yay but this also comes with a lot of report writing)
Looking back on everything, I've realized that this was the absolute wrong time to do a course of accutane. This semester was unbelievably stressful for me and I think the accutane elevated all of those emotions for me. I have cried nearly every day for 3 months. (seriously..not exaggerating) No one invites me to go out because I can't drink, which sucks because I've had a lot of things happen to me recently that have not had a proper celebration. My boyfriend and I have argued and split up several times because of my mood swings.. The stress and maybe the accutane have caused my hair to start falling out.
I was diagnosed with minor depression 6 years ago so I am always acutely aware of my feelings so I can properly keep them in check.. I can say I have reached a state of depression. It is minor and I do have it in check though.. just sucks because this should be a happy time in my life.
But this semester is about to end. I'm about to graduate and move 5 hours away (very big deal for a southern girl who doesn't travel or go anywhere).
Very exciting time in my life and I will be starting fresh with clear skin!
ok is it me, but all the pictures, starting from pre accutane, it looks like your face has really really minimal acne...
Yes. My face wasn't bad. That's because I was on a retin-a gel (ziana) and antibiotics (solodyn) for 6 months all the way up until I start my accutane course. It did work well but it didn't clear me up as well as I wanted and as soon as I stopped with the antibiotics, my face went crazy again, so I got back on them to calm my face down before I started the accutane. That was my deciding factor. i did not want to have to take pills for the rest of my life (i know that a little dramatic but I have a sister who is 40 and still has moderate acne) I also want to have kids someday so I was going to have to stop taking medicine eventually. I would rather my acne not come back when I do. =)
Thanks for reading my log.
Ah your skin looks SO good! Congrats on only a week left! My acne wasn't horrific to begin with either so I understand what you said in your last comment, haha. Your acne doesn't have to be horrible to go on Accutane! If nothing else works Accutane is the next option and any acne is still acne and is not good for your face and should be treated. Sorry I'm rambling haha. Congrats again and good luck!
ok is it me, but all the pictures, starting from pre accutane, it looks like your face has really really minimal acne...
Yikes, a busy semester and accutane! I'm glad you're almost done Whitney! perhaps you could look into something like dry brushing, that helped with my overall skin texture quite a bit. If you have money to throw around or something to save for, Fraxel seems to do amazing things for people's skin texture. Maybe an 8% SA peel a couple times a week, I really like MUAC! It seems like tane did help reduce quite a bit of the clogged pores, and some kind of topical regimen would be great to solidify the results, maybe retin-a?
Best of luck to you!
Lookin Good Whitney! I know you think you should have waited to do accutane when your life wasn't so busy, but I disagree. I think that once your done, you will be so happy that it' done and over with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just put all this horrible acne nightmare behind you and move onto more important things in life. 
Thanks Tim12. I actually don't plan on going on any serious topical treatments like a retin-a anymore. Most of my discoloration is not from acne anymore. It's really from sun exposure while on these serious acne treatments that make skin sensitive to the sun. My derm said if my acne comes back, it's probably hormonal which he will then prescribe spiro to see if that helps. If that doesn't work, then I guess I have no other choice than to go back to the gels and whatnot. Lets hope it doesn't come to that shall we?!
Again, you are right. Now that this semester is almost over and this accutane course is most over, I'm starting to feel better about everything.
Month 6: Day 30
Today is my last day taking these pills!!! YAAAYYYYY!!!!
Nothing new to update on as far as my face goes, so I thought I'd let this be a kinda "How I Got Through This Horrid Accutane Course" since this course was actually relatively easy for me physically...maybe not mentally...haha
Sooooo lets get started..
Facial Clenser: CeraVe Hydrating AND CeraVe Foaming. I used the hydrating on every time I washed my face unless I had on makeup. If I did have makeup on, I used the foaming one. I will continue to use the foaming one after this course. It gets off ALL of my makeup in one wash. No gross pore clogging makeup remover needed. I'm in love with these cleansers. I didn't like the hydrating one at first because it really feels like you're washing your face with lotion. But that definitely comes in handy when you have dry accutane skin. Like I said, love them both! It should be noted that I did start my course using L'Oreal's go 360 clean for sensitive skin. I really liked it. It reminds me of the cerave hydrating cleanser but it's not as hydrating..which is why I switched over after I used up my sample.
Facial Moisturizer: CeraVe AM and CeraVe PM. I use 1 pump of the PM and a half pump of the AM in the morning. I really don't like the AM. It's super greasy and doesn't absorb completely into the skin. I only use it because it has SPF and doesn't make my skin burn when I put it on. But those or the only pluses. The PM is great. The CeraVe regular lotion and the PM are seriously just about the same thing. I just like the PM better. It just seems to absorb better. I really can't justify this claim though. I can't even justify it to myself. I just like it better. That's it.
Bodywash: No one every talks about this!!! I used Ivory simply clean for most of my course. I like it. It's good if your on accutane in the summer months because it's gentle on your skin but doesn't leave any residue that the companies claim to be moisturizers to make you feel gross when you start to sweat. BUT if you are taking acctuane in the cold month, you definitely need a moisturizing body wash. As soon as it stopped being like 90 degrees outside, I noticed a difference in my skin. My back, neck and chest area started to get tight and itchy. My skin just felt dry. SOOOO i switched to Dove. The original moisturizing one in the blue and white bottle. I always stick to the original formula for things...in my experience, things that they add in are usually a gimmick..something to keep them relevant while their next to the newest thing. I love this Dove bodywash. It actaully does what the commercial says! Moisturizing body wash that does indeed rinse completely off! Love it.
Body Lotion: Accutane does not only affect your face. It dries out all of your body. I started using the Johnson and Johnson Ultra Moisturizing lotion (the yellow bottle). I actually really liked it. It absorbs completely and leaves your skin feeling crazy soft and supple. BUT!!!!! It has oil in it. Accutane makes skin photosensitive...not a good combination.. So needless to say, once I realized that the sun felt like it was burning my skin because the darn lotion has oil in it that was making the sun fry my skin, I switched to something else. I am now using the Olay...the one with shea butter.. I don't know the exact name and I'm being soo lazy right now. I just don't feel like going get the bottle. Y'all will see it if you decide to try it.. it's the one that says shea on it.. lol I love it. Does everything the other does and the sun feels completely different to me. This could be a combination of things, so I'm not going to say it's the lotion. I do love it though. I will keep using it post accutane.
Supplements: I didn't take anything extra except for biotin every now and then.. I didn't really have any joint pains. In the beginning I did but that went away fairly quickly on its own. I really didn't take biotin to counteract any accutane side affects.. I just wanted to lose weight and maybe grow my hair a little faster/healthier.
Ahh! The Moisturizing of the Lips!: DON'T GO TO SLEEP WITH NOTHING ON YOUR LIPS. You will hate yourself in the morning. ALWAYS have some type of lip something on your lips or you will wake up not being able to brush your teeth without some type of rip/crack/tear. (I'm being a bit dramatic to make my point. Seriously put something on your lips at night!) Even if you wake up after failing to moisturize your lips and everything is fine, by midday, your lips will be peeling off. I didn't have a problem with my lips as far as dryness. (My lips did change color. They are now pink. That's weird because I'm black. It just doesn't look right.) I use vaseline on my lips every night. I've been doing this since high school. Wipe it off in the morning with a warm wet washcloth. You start the day with perfectly smooth lips. Only thing about this is that you are basically removing the top layer of your lips off so you MUST immediately and constantly make sure you moisturize you lips or it will have all been for nothing. I did not like Aquaphor. I used it. I do not hate it. It's just so shiny and thick and it shows any peeling you have. It's a mess. I can tell you now, don't get EOS. Chapstick has alcohol in it - enough said. I like Carmex bu not the original. I LOVE the carmex ultra moisture one. It comes in this lipstick looking tube. Very cute packaging. It really is more moisturizing than the regular carmex. It's not sticky at all! My boyfriend has given it the kiss approval. And it really does keep my lips moisturized. It doesn't stay on as long as the aquaphor but it's also more convenient to put on since you don't have to use your fingers. It has no taste but it has a pleasant smell..like if you caught a whiff of lemon cream pie.. but only a whiff - not like in your face.. lol I like it. I will also be using it post accutane.
I would recommend liquid makeup of you want to be gentle with your skin because it doesn't require you to really buff anything in. But if you can do without makeup all together then great! I wish I could. I actually haven't been wearing any as of late. I used MakeUp Forever Face and Body liquid foundation and didn't have any problems with it. In fact, I like wearing it because I think it locks in my moisturizer. It takes a lot longer for my skin to start looking dull/dry when I wear it. And I have ZERO flaking when I wear it.
The best advice I can give is to go with the flow! Some people on here start with the strict routine of moisturizing and supplements and whatnot as soon as they start their course.. Don't do anything drastic unless you have to. Don't do anything unless you have to. For instance, your oil will not go away overnight. There is no need to start with the heavy moisturizer if you're still producing oil. You just going to clog your pores and/or look like a oil slick.. If there is something you don't have to deal with, then don't! Just because everyone says it's great doesn't mean you have to jump on the bandwagon. I haven't really needed to use I'd say 85% of the things people talk about on the accutane boards.
Oh 1 more important thing.
Drink plenty of liquids. Anything. (Preferably not carbonated beverages and alcohol goes without saying) Accutane dries you out - not just your face..everything. If you fail to drink an adequate amount of water, you will get the dreaded accutane headache. It's not pleasant. It's actually pretty horrible. I cried when I had my first few ones.. Then I just gave in and started drinking more. After a while it will become habit. And it's a great habit to have.
Best of luck to everyone on the rest of their course. Let me know if I've left anything out.
Hello!
Post Accutane: Week 2
I won't really be keeping up with the day's and the weeks and whatnot. I just so happen to know how long it's been since I've stopped taking those dreaded (but amazing) pills.
I don't have dry skin anymore!! Just regular normal skin. It's pretty nice. I've had one little blemish pop up on my chin..but seriously, it was a clogged pore that decided to come out. It went away in two days. My skin isn't as smooth as it was on accutane. It feels just as smooth and nice. Just doesn't look as smooth. My lips have returned to their normal color! All is well.
Here are a couple of pictures of me standing in line for Black Friday. Got everything I wanted!
