Well it has officially been 2 full days now (all day yesterday and then all day today) since I've started this regimen. Can't expect any improvements so far- I decided to take a few more photos today because why not. I will try to post pictures and updates as regularly as possible (ideally daily, though realistically I will miss days here and there). Some of the larger whitehead marks have definitely gone down making the overall appearance slightly better, and I shaved tonight (so generally more skin is visible). I think I ate decently well today, though more sugary items than I could have.

I should add that I used a honey mask tonight- just on my chin and nose- for about 15 minutes.

I have a doxycycline pill 100mg that I generally take every other day. Does anyone have any thoughts on if I should continue to take this? I think my body is pretty immune to it (I have been on and off it for ~4 years). It usually helps subside redness and initially was brought on to dry out these larger pustules I was getting on the side of my face. Because the dosage is quite low and it is every other day, I am thinking I will continue to take it, unless someone on here suggests I don't.

Not much change today to be honest. Got about 11 hours of sleep last night, which was great, though with the holiday didn't eat as well as I should be. I've now been using the pantothenic acid for 3 days and the saw palmetto for 6, so both too early to see any real improvements. Have about 2 smaller new marks today, and the other things have all faded a bit. I will post new pictures tomorrow evening.

So today was the 4th full day of being on this regimen. I was able to get about 6 hours of sleep last night (not quite 7), and I felt like I did a good job eating healthy and drinking water today. However, with that said, when I woke up I had a few more spots than yesterday, and I feel like overall my skin got worse today. There are still improvements from the day I began, and I guess this whole thing has to be taken one day at a time.

I think an indian healing clay mask would work perfect for you. Since your acne isnt inflammed, it would do it some good. Or maybe a honey mask.

I think an indian healing clay mask would work perfect for you. Since your acne isnt inflammed, it would do it some good. Or maybe a honey mask.

 

Great- I will have to give that a try. The honey mask I find breaks me out a bit, though it definitely calms the existing spots- I will have to give it another try. Indian healing clay sounds like a nice option as well- though I'd prefer not to spend any money if possible.

I think an indian healing clay mask would work perfect for you. Since your acne isnt inflammed, it would do it some good. Or maybe a honey mask.

 

Great- I will have to give that a try. The honey mask I find breaks me out a bit, though it definitely calms the existing spots- I will have to give it another try. Indian healing clay sounds like a nice option as well- though I'd prefer not to spend any money if possible.

 

Omg I'm so with you! I spend so much money on skin stuff. But the indian clay mask is super cheap, like 6 bucks! Get the Aztec Secret brand. But its a nice size, totally worth it. Or try using aloe Vera fresh from the leaf if you have any aloe plants around. That's great for redness and scars. I use it. Works very well. The plant is way better than bottled stuff.

Hey I don't think you really have a problem with acne as much as you do with irritation. Your skin just kind of looks irritated and red in the middle of your forehead and on the sides of your cheeks. Honestly any cleanser I've ever tried has just made my skin more irritated and prone to breakout. I found when I stopped using a cleanser that pretty much all the little spots on my forehead like you have went away. The same thing with my cheeks also.

And besides if you are eating healthy you really shouldn't need to use products on your face. Yeah maybe like a mask once a week or something or moisturizer if you're dry but other than that it's really not necessary and can just cause more irritation.

Hey I don't think you really have a problem with acne as much as you do with irritation. Your skin just kind of looks irritated and red in the middle of your forehead and on the sides of your cheeks. Honestly any cleanser I've ever tried has just made my skin more irritated and prone to breakout. I found when I stopped using a cleanser that pretty much all the little spots on my forehead like you have went away. The same thing with my cheeks also.

And besides if you are eating healthy you really shouldn't need to use products on your face. Yeah maybe like a mask once a week or something or moisturizer if you're dry but other than that it's really not necessary and can just cause more irritation.

 

Hm, that's pretty interesting. I definitely have acne spots on the sides of my cheeks, but I would agree it is a much more irritated look than it is the 'typical' acne (if there is even such a thing). Interestingly enough, I have gone a few days at a time without using any cleansers and sometimes this has led me to become more clear, so perhaps you are onto something. This weekend I will be away and likely not bring my cleansers with me, so we will put your theory to the test haha.

My biggest concern with that approach is that these areas (particularly my cheeks not so much the forehead) are filled with a lot of clogged pores/blackheads (hard to see from the photos). And I worry that not using any sort of cleanser will not help to get those pores unclogged.

haha good. I hope it helps. I feel like you fell into the same trap I did with the skincare industry. I had a minor breakout once and freaked out and bought proactive. It just made my face red and worse so I bought more products to fix what the first product caused. I just kept going from one product to the next spending lots of money and doing lots of weird stuff to my face.

I'm just now working myself out of it by eating healthy and not using a damn thing on my face like normal people...and the results so far have been pretty great.

haha good. I hope it helps. I feel like you fell into the same trap I did with the skincare industry. I had a minor breakout once and freaked out and bought proactive. It just made my face red and worse so I bought more products to fix what the first product caused. I just kept going from one product to the next spending lots of money and doing lots of weird stuff to my face.

I'm just now working myself out of it by eating healthy and not using a damn thing on my face like normal people...and the results so far have been pretty great.

 

Sounds kind of like my situation. Never had more than 2-3 pimples ever at a time, and all of a sudden my face blew up with spots. Before I knew it I was on a pill, a sulfur cleanser, and a spot treatment, and I have been on a plethora of other things since then. We'll see what happens. I definitely think eating healthy is critical- for me I am able to see a clear link between eating unhealthy and bad skin problems (though when I eat unhealthy I also stress about the bad skin problems I know are going to result, which may be in some ways a self fulfilling prophecy- the stress leading to those problems).

Yeahh I think diet is really important, not only for clear skin but just your body in general. So many chronic illnesses and debilitating diseases can be linked back to diet. Keep your updates coming I'm interested how things will work out for you.

It has now been 1 week since I began this regimen. This past weekend I was away from home, and so my diet was not nearly as healthy as it has been. I also didn't use any scrubs on my face. I got a number of individual spots, but the general soreness on my face decreased, so I think my skin is looking healthier than on Friday. I will post some pictures when I'm home from the office today, but overall things are going pretty well, and I think there has been definitely some level of improvement from this point last week, which means I am on the right track. I think my forehead is particularly bumpy today, and the sides of the face have more larger marks but an overall less 'rashy' look. Curious to hear what you all have to say though.

Well today is day 10 I believe of this particular regimen. I ate very healthy today and feel good about that. I haven't been using the moisturizing lotion at all, but my skin is getting a bit dry, so I will start doing that. I am also going to use a honey mask later tonight. Overall (and I will try to post pictures later), I have gotten rid of anything really large on my face, though my forehead continues to be bumpy. Now primarily there are a lot of blackheads and smaller spots, as well as marks from old spots. I definitely can see progress which is really nice.

I feel like when I put on a moisturizer/lotion (specifically this CeraVe nowadays) redden my marks or make them appear more visible. Thoughts on this?

I have those stupid bumps on my forehead too. You can't really see them but you can feel them. It's really annoying and it always seems like whatever I put on them just makes it worse. But yeah your cheeks are looking so much better from the first pictures.

Well, I woke up this morning with my first 'real' breakout while on this regimen. Basically maybe 3-4 new spots and my face looking more red/sore than the days previous. In a way I am kind of glad, however, as this will be the first real time to put this regimen to the test and see how long it takes for this breakout to get under control and fade out. I will update in the PM after work

Ok so its been almost 2 weeks now since I have been on this regimen. I have kept consistent with the pills (Pantothen, Saw Palmetto, Daily Vitamin), I feel like I have eaten pretty consistently healthy, and not touched/picked anything. The washing has been inconsistent, as I've yet to figure out what I can use consistently that won't dry out my face (week one I used some Sal. Acid cleanser, and week 2 I really have just been washing with water). This weekend I had a friend visiting, so I drank pretty heavily, but here are some pictures. Overall, things are OK. There are very few big/dark marks, but the skin is uneven and there are a lot of smaller things. Let me know what you think, I am still having lots of issues with dryness. My forehead is not great (a few larger bumps up top), but not terrible either.

Your skin looooooks greeeeeaaaat!

Thanks!! Though I think the camera is always a bit deceiving (sometimes good sometimes bad). Anyways, it has now been about 16 days since I began this regimen. Overall I think there have definitely been improvements. I am using all of the pills that I had planned on, eating healthy, and I have avoided picking at my skin completely (besides the occasional scratch). My skin is less sore overall and the color is more of skin color and less red. In addition, I have really avoided any large marks, and anything that is on the larger side has only lasted a day or so. However, I definitely still have some marks and a ton of blackheads, so I'm not sure what to do for that. I have been swimming lately, and this really dries out my skin as well. I haven't been washing with anything but water, nor have I used any topicals on my skin in terms of gels, etc. I used a moisturizer last night because the skin was dry after a pool session. I can't tell if the pool overall helps my skin or makes it worse- it for sure dries it out, but this may actually break me out further. I used an oatmeal mask today, which I am a big fan of. I broke out last night (2nd time in the past 16 days), but the break outs don't seem nearly as bad or long lasting as in the past. Right now I have 2 spots on my right side that aren't great, and the left side seems generally a bit splotchy. My forehead really has stayed the same throughout this regimen, so I am unsure what to do there. Here are some photos that actually now that I am seeing them look a little worse than I had thought. Anyways, give me your thoughts in general and more specifically about the chlorine, and I am having trouble deciding if I should continue with the swimming or settle on another exercise. I will be continuing this regimen until August 6th, so about 3 more weeks at which point I have a skin appt. and will see if they have anything helpful to suggest.

I joined a swim team at 8 years old and was on it until I was 18. That means my face was in chlorine for 2 or more hours almost everyday for 10 years. During that time I NEVER had any skin problems. Maybe a pimple here or there but nothing bad at all. I never used anything on my face besides water during that time and my skin was never dry, just normal.

I think it becomes a problem when you are using chemicals on your face in addition to swimming in the chlorine. I remember one girl had a severe reaction to her face wash and the chlorine. She had a red acne rash type thing all over her face. Since your now only using water I don't think it really would do any harm. I would just take a shower afterwords though to get the chlorine off.

I think your skin is still going to need a couple of months to readjust though. You can't just come off products and expect things to be good. It's gonna take time. But, I would say keep swimming!! It's my favorite thing to do in the world and I miss it so much sometimes.

Alright, great. I will continue with the swimming then since it is definitely great exercise, and I will try to make sure I am moisturizing enough so that the skin isn't drying out. For what it's worth, I swam from age 6-16, and the first 5 months or so of my skin problems I was swimming daily (usually 2x daily). I will keep this updated as to how everything works out.

Yes Sir! There is definitely improvement that is completely visible. And I know what you mean about the camera haha sometimes it makes it look better than it is and sometimes it is just the opposite haha. Just keep at it! You are close to freedom, won't you say?

Yes Sir! There is definitely improvement that is completely visible. And I know what you mean about the camera haha sometimes it makes it look better than it is and sometimes it is just the opposite haha. Just keep at it! You are close to freedom, won't you say?

 

Haha well thank you. I think close to freedom is an overstatement, as my skin has gotten to look like this many times in the past and its really about improving further/maintaining, but I am hoping I am on the right track.

Yes Sir! There is definitely improvement that is completely visible. And I know what you mean about the camera haha sometimes it makes it look better than it is and sometimes it is just the opposite haha. Just keep at it! You are close to freedom, won't you say?

 

Haha well thank you. I think close to freedom is an overstatement, as my skin has gotten to look like this many times in the past and its really about improving further/maintaining, but I am hoping I am on the right track.

 

YUP:)