I know how you feel... My red marks used to be so bad it took me two hours to cover them up with makeup - I was exhausted before I even got out the house and even with all that on my confidence was affected and on the subject of photos, my sister said anyone looking through our albums would think I had died!

Time helps, it does, but it does take a lot of time. There are products you can use that can help but you have to be careful if you are still on or have just come off accutane. Skin healing is impaired for 18 months after accutane so you have to be careful about using irritating products. I would steer clear of peels til after that full time (I used to do them before accutane and felt they helped considerably) but from what I have read you can introduce other things after about two months.

My three recommendations:

AHA - Alpha Hydrox 10% Lotion (as recommended by Dan) worked for me. Now I am using Eucerin Lactic Acid AHA (see sig) mainly because I wanted something I could buy easily in the UK. Dan's AHA would probably work too and there are plenty of others out there.

Vitamin C serum - I tried one serum with ascorbic acid in it and that broke me out badly and is known (now I find) to be irritating. Sodium ascorbyl phosphate or l-ascorbic acid is more stable and less irritating, there is even some evidence that it can help reduce sebum and prevent acne. I'm currently testing Superfacialist Glow Boost Vitamin C serum.

Retinol - My skin broke out badly with retin-a (0.01% tretinoin) but I got on well with epiduo (benzoyl peroxide + 0.1% adapalene) so I thought about trying adapalene alone now but I thought it would be too harsh on my skin, I'm through with the excessive dryness and flaking! So I'm trying cosmetic grade retinol because I've heard so many good things about it especially about evening skin tone.

So, the only category I can recommend with personal experience is AHA, I really think it has made a great difference to my skin. The other two have a wide body of evidence to support their efficacy but I am only in the early stages of testing them myself. I hope that helps somewhat!

(Some people might say that my routine is a bit harsh but I designed it using information from Paula's Choice which I trust. This is a good article about combining the products I have described https://www.facebook.com/notes/paulas-choice-inc/the-truth-about-using-retinol-with-aha-bha-and-vitamin-c/10151246226879004 Final note, I use vitamin C in the morning because it boosts your sun protection and retinol at night because it makes you more vulnerable to sunlight. Always use a moisturiser with SPF at least 15 when using retinol or aha. Dermatologists recommend SPF 30.)

Thank you for your response! I think I am going to try this AHA, there is pretty good reviews of this products so i might go with this one first