So I have struggled with small bumps on my forehead for about half of my life (since my teenage years). I had MASSIVE forehead envy whenever I saw someone with a smooth forehead. It seemed too that when I was stressed or tired the bumps would get worse, which made me think it could be some kind of allergy or rosacea for a while. Now I won't oversell my problem - the bumps were colourless and only noticeable when the light caught them, so it could have been worse.

I've also had a touch of acne rosacea on my left cheek my whole life, which recently (due to a massively stressful year) exploded into what looked like adult acne all over my chin (which would NOT go away).

I won't go into everything that I tried to clear my skin, because - trust me - I tried it all: dandruff shampoo masks, elimination diets, antibiotics, every lotion and potion known to humankind... I stopped short of lazer therapy - although I believe that probably would have helped enormously. I also saw dermatologists and doctors with mixed success. Below are my two significant skin issues and what worked for me, FINALLY.

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Small bumps:
I looked into every theory under the sun around small bumps - malassezia yeast, rosacea, pimples, mites, etc. At the end of the day, based on what worked for me I think they were actually just clogged pores... Yep. I am dead serious. SO clogged that nothing would shift them. I think the reason they got worse when I was stressed was because my skin probably became more congested or flushed and the oil, etc. had no where to go.

So what worked? Chemical exfoliation. It was seriously that simple. But you have to get something of decent quality. I had a few false starts in this area until I went to a lazer clinic and had a series of chemical peels and hydrofacials, which dramatically cleared my skin. I later had a hydrofacial which did nothing, so I determined it was the chemical peel that made the difference. But I didn't want to be trucking off for an expensive chemical peel every month, so I looked for a good at-home product. What has worked for me is Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Extra Strength Daily Peel. And NO moisturiser, etc. You basically have pores that are prone to clogging and unable to clear away blockages - treat them as such.

Acne Rosacea:
So I would suggest everyone suffering adult cystic acne to consider whether they might actually have rosacea. Is there a trigger for your acne - eg stress or diet? Does it flare up and then calm down within 24 hours (but not actually ever go away)? Then it is likely rosacea. I had to go to the doctor because a cluster of what I thought were big pimples on my chin would not go away. They were red and angry and no matter what I put on them they stayed right where they were - except when I went on a couple of days holiday, during which they almost disappeared.

The doctor put my on a low dose of antibiotics (doxycycline) and told me to never put the steroid cream given to me by the chemist on my face again... BUT while I think the doxycycline is definitely helping, my acne rosacea suddenly went away when I realised I was VITAMIN B deficient. I worked this out because there were strange glossy patches on my tongue I had never seen before. I looked it up and apparently it indicates a vitamin B deficiency. I looked at the list of symptoms of deficiency and realised I had many of them - including skin rashes due to the body not being able to deal with inflammation! I had also weirdly bought Vegemite a week earlier (very high vitamin B content) because I had a craving - and I HATE Vegemite! So I immediately bought a good quality vitamin B supplement (Blackmore's Executive Stress Formula, because I know the deficiency and resulting rosacea were all triggered by stress) and within two days the rosacea began to disappear. Four days later my chin was clear again. That will teach me to stop taking my daily multivitamin!

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I know the above might sound simple, but it really was a long journey to get there because it was so confusing to work out what was happening with my skin and there were SO many products and so much conflicting information (I seriously spent a small fortune trying to clear my skin). I felt as thought I had already tried to treat my clogged pores, so had dismissed that as a possible cause of the small bumps. I was just using the wrong products (physical scrubs that just irritated my skin).

I sincerely hope this helps someone else facing these two skin problems. Good luck!