No, H# no. I've been told by everyone who thinks they know that "you need to exfoliate to remove the dead skin from your skin." Including my derm. In my experience, the only thing exfoliating does is irritate skin and stimulate pores to produce more oil. Turns out, my problem was too much irritation. I stopped using anything drying including benzoyl peroxide, retin-a, sodium lauryl sulfate, and most importantly, any scrubbing cleansers. No rubbing with a washcloth. Dab dry only. I even only spray my toner on, no cotton pads. Without the irritated skin, there was no need to exfoliate. Olive oil massage if skin is dry or flaky. Massage for 2-5 minutes, hold a hot wet washcloth over skin for 30 seconds, dab off excess oil, then cleanse normally, followed by viamin c toner for repair and a few (4) drops of jojoba. By replacing any lost oil on the surface with jojoba, your skin will not overreact by producing too much oil. Lose the chemicals, lose the irritation. Plus of course, a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet, low sugar, with lots of water is essential to keep skin glowing.

The combination of your symptoms is classical for hormone related issues. So you should get your hormones checked and I bet spironolactone would help you.

Any physical peeling irritated my skin too much, but I love the BHA, it makes the skin incredibly soft and clear.

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All of my hormones were normal in my blood and I had a scan of my ovaries, I do not have PCOS... I still think its hormonal though as its mainly on my chin/around my mouth and started after my period stopped due to huge weight loss...

It might not be the hormones themselves, but rather a oversensitivity to DHT , whose receptors are blocked by Spiro.

Do you think dianette will still help? I will ask my dermatologist about spiro. Thanks

I don't know Dianette? We had a BCP here called Diane 35. It was very helpful with acne after a few months because it contained anti-androgenic ingredients, but they took it off the market because of severyl deaths related to it. But it was helpful, yes. But make sure you get tested for genetic thrombophilia before you use it.

Dianette is the same thing as Diane 35. I've been on it 5 weeks, so far no improvement, my skin is actually worse

That will take a while, rather months than weeks. Diane 35 used to be the ultimate weapon against acne in germany until it was forbidden.

All of my hormones were normal in my blood and I had a scan of my ovaries, I do not have PCOS... I still think its hormonal though as its mainly on my chin/around my mouth and started after my period stopped due to huge weight loss...

I went through the same thing as you. I was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa 11 years ago and lost my period due to such an extreme low body weight. Even during that time my blood tests came up as my hormones being normal as well. I didn't believe that for a minute because it took years for my period to come back, which was when I gained a sufficient amount of weight for my BMI and maintained it for about a year.

I can't recommend enough staying away from any form of BC if you aren't menstruating naturally. That is definitely a hormonal imbalance. Even though Diane 35 isn't a direct form of BC, it works with your menstrual cycle and it may be the culprit of why it's not working for you.

Feel free to take what I say with a grain of salt, but please be careful.