So I've been a lurker on acne.org for about 6 years now.. and I've only just made an account. I've found it a great resource yet sometimes a great way to become obsessed over my skin, but mostly I've found the stories, experiences and testimonials have been a great comfort to me in those times I felt alone and lost with my acne battle. So I'll give a little outline of my story, because that's always my favourite thing to read and then I'll tell you about what I'm doing now, and about my recent experiences with retin-A.

My Story:

(I like sub-headings, don't you?)

My spots started slowly, my older sister had taken on the title of 'acne-sufferer' and her skin was worse than mine, so I felt a bit ungrateful to complain about my relatively few spots at home, but I would spend increasing amounts of time in the bathroom in front of the mirror inspecting the changes to my face. As my friends spots started to disappear as we got older, mine got worse. Again, nothing so bad it was seen as a problem to anyone else, but I was painfully aware of the spots on my face, the new spots emerging everyday and the scars of those recently departed (RIP). I would cover my face in foundation, which although some says exacerbates the problem, never seemed to particularly make a difference to me. It was always my dream to roll out of bed and go to class make-up free because that's the kind of girl I think I am, and sometimes the thought of dealing with my skin in the morning made my mood just awful, And so acne has always had a grip on my mood and daily life but has been something I didn't feel like I could openly explain and talk about without people telling me not to worry. Roll around university, and my skin was still playing up, everyday I felt I had to cope with it in some way, and meeting so many new people I felt incredibly embarrassed and conscious of it. Now I've left uni and am still dealing with new spots cropping up often on a daily basis; I feel that enough is enough. Only occasionally have I let my skin stop me, but I am sick and tired of being so conscious and embarrassed of it as I carry out my life the way I want to live it. Now I'm entering the 'career' phase of my life, and I refuse to allow my skin to have a part to play in my professional life. I am at home for this month before beginning my new job and thought.. what better time to start a new skin regime than right now? Christmas is a busy time for seeing family and friends, but I'm okay going through the IB around them, however by next month I DO NOT WANT BAD SKIN. I will walk into my new office with clear skin, maybe some new clothes.. some heels too probably, ohh maybe a new haircut? Anyway, 2014 is my year for defeating this, so fingers crossed because I don't have that long. I'll tell you a little about my regime now, and how I feel it's working out for me.

Products:

Topical - A pea-sized amount of Retin-A .025% every other night.

Birth Control - I'm also on a BCP called Marvelon, which hasn't really helped but also hasn't adversely affected me in any way, but next month when i run out I'll probably ask to go back onto a pill called Cilest, which had better skin effects while I was on it at uni. Pills have been tried throughout my life with varying degrees of success, they're great when they work and a total nightmare when they don't..

Cleanser - I purchased the Olay Pro-X cleansing brush last week, and use it with the Olay cleansing milk which seems to cleanse but NOT DRY OUT my skin, which is already dry as hell and not at all oily (so why spots, WHY??)

Moisturiser - To moisturise heavily I use Avene Cicalfate and to moisturise under make-up or more lightly I use E45.

Germolene - I use this bad boy for everything, and put it on my skin when I feel like picking because it is a literal physical barrier between my spot and my nails. BAD HABIT ALERT, i am such a picker..

Suncream - As of yet I'm not using any because hey, it's december so sun is not an issue yet, but will look into buying some in the new year.

Regime:

Day 1:

Morning: Cleanse with olay cleansing milk

Apply E45

Apply make-up

Evening: Cleanse lightly with olay cleansing milk then wash off with warm water to get rid of initial make-up/dirt build up.

Put more cleansing milk on my face and use Pro-X brush to work it into skin for around 60 seconds, wash off.

WAIT 20 MINS.

Apply Retin-A on my face, dotting it onto nose, forehead, chin and cheeks and rubbing it in.

WAIT 20 MINS.

Apply Cicalfate moisturiser and go to sleep.

Day 2:

Morning: Use Pro-x to work in olay cleansing milk and to buff off any dry skin or flakes from use of Retin-A the night before

Apply E45

Apply make-up

Evening: Use cleanser without the pro-x, making sure to get off ALL make-up

Sleep with germolene on problem areas

I then repeat this cycle, the whole routine is basically geared around my use of retin-a every other night and my use of pro-x the same evening and the morning after I apply retin-a, the rest is just basic skin maintenance. It looks a lot written down but its really not!

Results:

2 and a half weeks in and I think my skin is starting to respond quite well. It seems to have acclimatised to the retin-a and doesn't flake so much if I just use moisturiser. I had a pretty bad IB with a lot of active spots and more popping up for about a week and a half, but right now my face seems to be drying spots and small flaky scabs (gross) from if I picked (AWFUL HABIT, STOP IT.) The retin-a and pro-x combo has left it looking really clear and smooth in the areas not broken out, and with only one active spot at the moment I'm really hoping to start moving onwards and upwards with it. I know people think they're over their breakout and then BOOM, but I'm hopeful and all I can really do is wait and see.

Sorry for the long post, I hope the sub-headings (gotta love'em) made it easier to just skip to the bits that were relevant. Please ask me any questions at all, and I'll be sure to update.

Have a great day whatever you're doing.