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hey lovely ladies and gents,
thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement. I feel better knowing that we are all in this together and that at least the acne has greatly diminished (hasn't gone all the way yet but still thats better than nothing!). PIH will go away by their own. I hope. Well its been my 7th week on differin and I hope that my skin will be generally clear (NO/little PIH and no acne) by june 28th (apx will have been 4 months of treatment)...
Amethyst, your logic makes complete sense...that could definitely be your IB...just please stick with it!!! It does get better! I'm so glad you decided to join. Please post about your daily experiences so that we can all benefit from it [Edited image out] YAYY! I love it when we have new people on our boards! I'm excited! WELCOME! 
Noregrets, thanks for your words and advice!!! Any updates on your differin journey? It's funny how you can still shave with it!!! I went to get my eyebrows waxed the first month I was on it....HOLY SHIZITES!!! lol....My eyebrows were burnt off...like you could see the bare flesh there. NEver happened to me before and only happened after I started to use the differin...but it healed loll with 6 lbs of aloe vera. haha...but i guess shaving and waxing are really different anyway...shaving might cause irritation..not skin to rip off
Jacinthaa, you are my soldier lol. TRUDGE ON!!! It will pass. Differin has shown to do wonderful things for your skin. You are going to be the skin of what fabulous looks like soon!!! I seriously look to your skin hoping mine will look like that one day. So when you feel down, make sure you know, there is one girl named Allison who is wishing for your skin! 
WISEBOY, AND KARIYA, MISS you guys [Edited image out]
Also...i was taking off my makeup and applying my diff+klaron+DCL AHA gel and i discovered...a small bump forming under my skin....my skin is just raised over it indicating the formation of a pimple. meehhhhhhhhhhhhh :/ lol. I hope differin will take care of it overnight/or maybe in a few nights....oh well. now that all tht crap is over my skin...no more touching <3 you guys!!! btw...an amazing foundation can make all the difference !!!
hey to be honest I didn't really read all of this but just wanted to let those of you know that are struggling with it that it does work!
I was on epiduo (BP + differin) from december to march and it cleared my skin in that time.
And then when I stopped it in march i still had a lot of left over red marks but they heal better when your not using the stuff anymore.
So even if your derm tells you to stay on it to keep clear, I don't really think its necessary and you just get better w/o it.
Jacinthaa angel, check this website out!!! Its a derm website and so it has some of the most "skin friendliest" cosmetics....foundations, powders, tinted moisturizers...etc...check it out! My favorite is the illuminaire concealing foundation. But just scroll around....maybe get your self a new skin friendly treat 
Makeup without guilt! haha...hope you're doing well.
Beender!!! THANK YOU for that thoughtful post!!!!! I think I can speak for all of us when I say we really needed to hear that...what do you mean by "clear skin?" Did it get rid of almost all your acne lesions and leave you with PIH or did it just clear your skin altogether?
yeah I mean I had my ups and downs over the three months but near the end I really hadn't gotten anything new for a few weeks so I was pretty sure I was in the clear.
But yeah it did leave me with red marks that didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon.
Around the time I was pretty much clear from it I was sitting in my pharmacology class and we were talking about drugs for the intestinal tract or something like that and my professor mentioned something like even though drugs treat things, they will never return your body to homeostasis. This statement really hit home with me for some reason. ANYWAYS I think this is the reason most acne meds prolong healing AKA getting red marks.
Now that I've been off of it for about 6/7 weeks I'm not gonna lie I've gotten about 4 pimples but they are so small and do not leave red marks and are gone in 2 days.
Anyway in conclusion, YES i think retinols are good, YES I think they will eventually clear your skin, but would I suggest using them after you're clear?....nope
So last day I was wondering why I was getting all these tiny pimples just along my hairline, and now I know the answer! Since a week or something, I started to use a facewash again, because my face tended to be a little bit oily. BAD CHOICE. After a couple of days the scalp of my forehead became very dry -> which results in tiny pimples.
Soooo I'm back to not washing my face with a special acne facewash. I'll take the oil any day over pimples!
Bluh and I think the tiny pimple in the middle of my cheek is resurfacing again, hoping it will stay tiny!
i forgot to update last night, the nodule on my jawline has reduced drastically, however i think now that i'm in to week 2, i've started to purge. I'm getting some red bumps that pop up in a matter of hours and then go away in a day or 2 and also got some tiny closed comedones on the upper part of one of my cheeks, is this purging? the deep comedones in areas where my skin is quite thick ( like lower cheek) not much change to them.
Allison i ain't going to lie my shaves are farrrr from comfortable recently, i'll probably get myself a gentle razor. lol imagine that pulling of a wax strip n the skins gone too.
+1 to beender, PIH heals by itself, there's no need for things like hydroquinone. I've noticed with PIH it peaks after a few days and from there on it starts to lighten. hydroquinone is banned in the UK Europe and many other countries because of cancer links and other side effects. I don't understand why in America their not as cautious.
Amethyst glad you joined, i'm on day 10 so we're at the same stage, I agree it starts to work from day one on any superficial comedones but takes longer on deep ones. keep posting we're all friendly [Edited image out]..
jacintha i'm still using a deep cleanser but one that don't exfoliate (so no beads, acids or benzoyl peroxide etc). I think since im putting differin, moisturiser, and shaving cream on my face i still need a deep cleanser to remove it all to prevent any clogged pores and give me a clean canvas to work on.
noregrets, purging usually means that all your previously smaller comedones may become inflamed and into big ones...or that where you had inflamed ones..they might turn into pustules...so its just taking it one step further because now the acne lesions have less skin to hide under due to the constant shedding every 4-6 days via differin. Anyway, if you are getting pimples where you have NEVER gotten them before..I would take heed.
Anyway, YOU GUYS.....lash me on the wrist 60 times with a wet noodle. lol. Mastermind me....decided to try to pop a pimple because it had a tinyyyyyyyy and i mean (super super super super small) whitehead on it...and it would not pop!!! So I was convinced..I kept trying and trying for a good 3-4 times and now its all red and super angry with me. AHHHH!!! :/ must stop picking. lol.
Jacinthaa, thats exactly what happened to my forehead...i was like: "uhhh im not applying differin there...wth is going on?" and i realized it was a new cleanser and so I stopped using that...put some BP on the 3 forming pimples...and they didn't grow..they are going away!
Also that pimple I was talking about yesterday....the one I could feel forming...it didn't form!!!! It feels like its disappearing back into the deep blue sea...! YAY differin!
thanks for the reply Allison, the bumps are in the usually area i would get them but instead of becoming to a little head they just disappear like your one u mentioned yesterday, regardless i'm still going to stick with this.. throw away your comedone extractor and clip your nails that way u cant pick! lol
oh and i'll check out those blotting sheets cos my face is a oil slick at moment...
lol good idea noregrets....oh my skin is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FLAKY!!!! Even liquid foundation wont stay on!!! I am applying 0.3 differin 2x a day....I was advised 1x a day but I upped my own dose after 5 weeks. Should I turn it back down..? I mean...if you stand within a foot of me....it just looks like I have freckles and extreme dryness...like I haven't moisturized my face in weeks.
Wow Allison, I think that's a bit much!
I'm applaying 0.1 differin only in the evening.. And you're using 0.3, twice.
Oh and it sucks that you're flaking is so bad! You just wanna rub your face with a towel and hope the flakes will come af, urgggg. But just decrease the amount of differin, so maybe you should only apply a tiny bit in the evening, and moisturize your face with a thick layer before you go to bed tonight.
Wow and we're totally similar! I had this pimple on my forehead, this morning I thought I saw a head, and I try to squeeze. Didn't work! So it was all red and angry, but I put some sudocrem on it and went back to bed. Hour later it was just the same pimple before I started squeezing (thankgod!)
So I have a question for all the Differin-users here. Since I started differin, i have these mornings when I wake up and I have like a wannabe-scratch in my face. It looks like a kind of stripe you get when you scratch your leg with your nails if you have an itch. And most of the time when people get those kind of scratches on their face (i really don't know how to call such a scratch in english) and they disappear when you take a hot shower and put some moisturizer on. But my scratches stay there for 2 days or something! And sometimes they're on really bad places (like the middle of my cheek, so it must be the fact that I lay my cheek on my pillow while sleeping) And I tried EVERYHINTG! Like have satin/silk bedsheets, or put a towel over my pillow. Nothing works and it SUCKS. Like when you don't have pimples, you have a really bad red scratch on your face -.- Does anybody have the same problem?
Woke up this morning with another one and it bugs the SH*T out of me.
And I hate the pimple on my forehead, it's the only active I have at this morning but it's just right in the middle of my forehead and it's angry-looking. So I'm hoping it will go down SOON.
The marks on my face which used to be red are now brown. Which can only be a good thing. Next stage is removing them permanetly, and Differin looks to be working.
I've sort of set up a timeline where I would be completly clear which is mid June. So if I keep doing the right things and be patient, it will happen!
lol so I was totally being a drama queen...my skin isnt headed for the worst...lol. There are just a few closed comedones that are back up (and they always happen in the same place!)
Wiseboy and Jacinthaa! I have a question!!! So while you were on differin, did the places you had acne pre-differin erupt and then calm down and then erupt again and then calm down? Or was it a linear improvement? Do they eventually go away.
Lol Jacinthaa, you're probably right! NO WONDER my skin is flaky. That's applying 0.6 mg of diff/day!!! And you use 0.1 one in the evening once so I use what you use in about a week, in one sitting!!! AHHH!!! Thats horrid....and you've seen my skin....its not active in pimples (just a few closed comedones and lots of PIH) ...maybe I should bring it back down to just once a day? Hahaha.....I feel like during the first stages of differin use...your pimples will come to a head faster so that you can pop them and be on your way....but during the later stages of differin....its like differin really really prevents them from coming to head...I feel like its saying: "TRUST ME! Leave it alone...let me do my job and take care of it!" haha.
Wiseboy, that's when I'm hoping to be clear too!!! That will be my 4.5 month mark! Anyway, what is your skin color? They are turning brown? That seems to indicate a deeper shade....If I'm not mistaken, I think the derm said for fair skin tones, the more brown-black the PIH is...the longer it will take to heal....If its red, it will take a medium amount and if its pink, it will go away in no time ( a few weeks). I think he said the progression should be something like this.... brown-->red--->pink--->lighter shades of pink-->gone. But if you are a darker skin tone, then...I could understand why they are brown and that may indicate healing!
I know that the only bad marks I have are from pimples I picked at, and because of the differin I ripped the skin around it off. And when it started peeling, I picked at it again (bad habbit, but well, I learned not to pick in those days!) So I got like these red patches on my face from ripped of skin. It looked almost like I had some kind of skin-disease (other than acne) I remember a day when I just had to go out, so I covered my whole face in make-up (very thick layer, and because of the differin my entire face was smooth, only those patches of ripped of skin) And someone complimented me on my clear skin. And I was like, oh my god you should see it without make-up, it looks like a freaking disease!
You're totally right allison, I had these really nasty whiteheads during my first weeks of differin. Some I popped (like really gross yuk) and sometimes I just let them be.
I just have a real sucky skin, because even wounds on my legs/arms won't heal completely in like a year. So that's probably the same case for my face.
And yeah you should really stop using differin so much 
I never experienced dry skin, probably because of the 0.1 only one time a day.
Uhm and as answer to your question. I broke out next to my mouth/nose, on my chin, cheeks, just all the places where I had closed comedons. I think my cheeks took the longest time to get entirely clear. And now the only places I get pimples are next to my nose, above my lip and sometimes a raised bump on my cheek. The only thing I'm really sick about is the fact that I have all these tiny holes in my cheek, because of the blackheads/clogged pores that were pushed out during my IB. So that looks kinda ugly.
Hi everyone! Thanks for the warm welcome
Yep, pretty sure I'm having my IB. Thanks for the reassurance allision and noregrets, that things can happen right away, good to know I'm not a weird exception I was so happy yesterday when I woke up, nothing inflamed! But I didn't get my hopes up. Good thing I didn't because by the end of the day, there were lots. And today... even worse. So true what you said allision, about things not coming to a head, that's been happening to me too. But seriously though, Bring It On Differin!
I don't have much PIH, in fact I've never really been prone to it. I just have some of the marks that you're talking about Jacinthaa... where I've picked and the skin around it rips (sounds so awful!!! Why do I do this to myself LOL). I need to get rid of my comedone extractor too...
Anyone notice a dull appearance to their skin? When I was on Accutane, after the intial breakout, my skin was soo glowy and soft and smooth... now it's a dull mess, even with makeup on.
On 4/24/2012 at 1:02 AM, allisoncatherine said:oh no kariya [Edited image out] When is your next apptment with your derm? Didn't he/she say they were seeing improvement? Also what concentration of differin are you on? Maybe bump up to 0.3?
hey..
next appointment is may 10th.. i keep getting pimples and a bump that i havent touched has turned into a nodule.. idk if this is helping at all.
Amethyst, my face was also very dull in the beginning. But later on you start to get a really nice glow, because your face will get a little bit greasy (but not dirty greasy!) so it just looks smooth with a nice shine.
I still get pimples sometimes that don't come to a head, but differin will take care of them I'm not even picking at whiteheads anymore, because in 2 days differin dries them up and they flake off!
So skin is all good today. Only that annoying red pimple on my forehead that just doesn't wanna dry up! It's been there for 3 days now, getting a little bit smaller everyday -.- So i'm just putting a little bit concealer around it so it won't grab the attention if you look to my face. For the rest, no active pimples whatsoever
My skin was v©ry dry yesterday (because of the 2 nights of sudocrem I put on my face) so last evening i put a tiny bit of bio oil on my face, and my face felt so nice this morning! Not dry, not greasy, just normal. Loveit! It didn't broke me out whatsoever So i'm planning to start using bio oil like 2 or 3 times a week, for my red marks and skintone.
Oh and i'm back washing my face with only water. I barely put on make-up, only a little bit of concealer, so I don't need to rub my face with a facewash to get all the make-up off. And I must say, the scalp of my forehead feels normal again! No pimples there, so I think my face reacts the best to just water.
Jacinthaa, you are compeltely right about the looking like you have a skin disease part. I'm on week 7 of differin and damn the hyperpigmentation is SO bad...without makeup on...i look like i DO have a skin disease! Acne is lessening though....I probably have like 12 itty bitty small comedones on my face. and when I say small...i mean....even I can't tell they are there unless I stick my face a few mm NEXT to the mirror...hopefully those will go away with time! So I got my eyebrows down....my eyebrows are BURNT you guys!! oUCH! lol. Its starting to scab so I'm pretty sure they will fall out...but wish me luck...lets stick with the differin!
alryt guys, well i'm on night 12 now, still have that lingering nodule on my jaw although a lot smaller, few deep closed comedones don't seem to have changed, nothing new has developed, a little flaky around mouth and cheeks..
Allison i'm only using .1 once a day so maybe 0.3 x 2 is a little too drying, I've always thought flakes tend to make your skin more prone to clogging.
Kariya i'm sorry you haven't noticed much change, have u been getting frequent deep lesions like cysts and nodules and did u get these before differin as well? there's a chance they can leave behind indented scars (don't mean to scare) so if u think maybe differin is making them worse i think u should move on to .3 or a different retinol all together. If your just getting PIH, that's not so bad and if your derm agrees then a few more weeks could help, (i read some people take longer I guess thicker skin and so) but if your getting deep ones then better of changing it up. A friend of mine says birth control worked great for her. At least you know you stuck through for the 12 weeks [Edited image out] there's plenty of other treatments out there, and I'm sure y'all look fine and we'll all be clear one day [Edited image out]
Ahhh allison! Totally know how you feel about the eyebrows, did them myself yesterday. YIKES!
And your PIH will get better! Have you heard of sudocrem? It's like my savior when i pick at a pimple, I put it on, it dries, and the mark/pimple is so much smaller next morning! It's made for baby's butt, but it works as a charm on red marks!
I have about 2 clogged pores now, and just like you said, you can't even see them unless you get like with your face IN the mirror.
So last night I was so fed up with that annoying pimple on my forehead, and it had like a tiny white head, so I gently popped the sucker. And oh my god, it's like almost flat this morning! I put some differin and sudocrem on it last night, and now it's all good
So skin is back to NO ACTIVE PIMPLES! Yeah. And my cheeks looking so smooth, gosh I love it. For 3 days I put some sudocrem on my last prominent red "cheekmarks" and now they're almost gone <3 Oh gosh you gotta love sudocrem.
So I thought it was all the foundation doing the work...my extra coverage maximum foundation...so today I decided to just apply a thin layer of mineral makeup...which as ya'll know is very good for your skin and its not such a great coverage....so here are the pictures with just that thin layer of makeup on. And as you can tell...these are super close ups....you would be totally able to see any active pimples underneath such a thin layer but there are none Just the microcomedones I was talking about!!! I just covered up my PIH and this is how my skin looks. Oh and today for the first time in a LONG time...I did NOT put on differin in the morning...instead, I slathered aloe vera on my face and BOY did it feel wonderful!!!!! I feel like the PIH may not be healing quick enough because my skin has NO moisture to work with!!
Progress: So anyway, I'm starting my 8 week mark today! So it hasn't been the full 8 weeks YET. So in 7 days I will update on the whole 8 week experience but so far.....differin made my skin soo bad initially that it even putting on makeup made it look awful!!! I had to hold a cloth over my face when I applied eye make up because the active bumps made it unbearable to look at. Week 3-4 was when my skin was the ABSOLUTE worst....and I don't mean i had cysts and nodules worse...but I mean, worse relative to ME. I think in the first month alone, I had a total of maybe 15 pustules/papules that came up at different times. Now, I get NO active pimples. I mean...even if I feel one coming...I slab on some differin/Klaron and even a dab of BP if im feeling super paranoid and the next morning...its close to gone. There has definitely been an improvement in my skin. I mean...the PIH is TERRIBLE (i mean...terrible!) but I don't blame that on the differin. I have tan skin and so i'm more susceptible to PIH than you lucky fair people But either way....I know differin is going to eventually fade that away (asked my derm). i still have some stubborn clogged pores (comedones) on my skin but I know the differin is working on them because they are turning red (poo) but becoming flatter and flatter everyday...so eventually I feel like they are going to be gone. I think it is a HUGE improvement that as of week 7-8, I get NOOOO active pimples!!!
So advice for you guys who are on it.....this is what you should expect.
a) initial worsening (i'm not saying its going to be like "HOLY HELL MY FACE HAS A DISEASE ON IT!" but...it will be worse than your baseline. If you do feel like you have like a "holy hell my face is diseased" reaction...please go see your derm. it may be an allergic reaction. Be realistic though.
b) FIRST sign of healing: your pimples may be erupting like crazy but they GO AWAY faster than they did before (if they lingered on your face for weeks before...they might go away in 3-4 days!) and the process just keeps speeding up.
c) if you have a sensitive witch of a skin or are tan like me....you are probably going to be susceptible to PIH. NO LIES....its a WITCH. Its awful! But Its so easily covered by a little powder/makeup.
d) where you had pimples before....those places are not going to heal just ONCE. They are going to keep getting inflammed/bigger and then go down and then come back up and then go down....these are your STUBBORN places so differin is going to make sure that all that damn infection or clogged crap is gone and it takes it more than once to do that. Over time, however, you will notice that the inflammation is getting more and more subtle and not lasting as long.
e) Please be patient. Differin works glacially slow....and for godsake, i'm on the 0.3. I'm still hoping to see more results as I keep using it and of course I will be letting you guys know what will be happening....
^^ but those are just a few things I learned so far. I hope that helps! <3
On 4/25/2012 at 9:07 PM, allisoncatherine said:b) FIRST sign of healing: your pimples may be erupting like crazy but they GO AWAY faster than they did before (if they lingered on your face for weeks before...they might go away in 3-4 days!) and the process just keeps speeding up.
Thats exactly what happened to me last week! Had 4 just come out of nowhere and will hopefully go by Friday.
But my skin is just looking the same at the moment. Just got to be patient, and they will go! [Edited image out]