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@thechase i've not used it for a few days and the skin looks better, its really hard to decide because i just cant afford to keep breaking out from it. i clearly have no self control when it comes to squeezing spots.
personally if i can see a black head or a white head i will squeeze it out. black heads left in the skin can stretch the pore permanently. But then popping does spread bacteria and leaves marks. so what do you do..
thats what happened to me, one area would break out then clear then another would kick off. I might continue it because its only been 3 nights rest from it..
the differin seems to make sort of these red spots that micro swell up and don't produce a head. i've been using Dermopurifyer from Eucerin recently and have had better luck so far in terms of spots coming out and going away.. but then i also stopped the SPF and the serum which has oils in it..
gah this is why i hate topicals. so up for taking Accutane and fingers crossed 'curing' this and not just making do. if spots didnt occur in the first instance... problem solved
@SV, Hard to say because since using differin i had accumulated many more nodules/cysts and pustules in waves, the pustules on the apples on my cheeks that i popped have left seemingly permanent red marks, but from what i've read these will fade but can take ages and who knows they may never fade.
i just dont know if i can commit to using it for another 2 months if it just makes my skin worse or at least no better than it was before all of this.
i really need to stop picking, and for the spots to just stop coming through. then i'd look into treatments to fade scars and indented scars because the amount i have which are small add up to giving me a rough textured skin..
thinking skin peel and chemical peep would do it. I've got a dermotologist appointment booked mid june, so will see what they say - effectively im nearly 27 and still break out, ive tried topicals and anti-biotics and of course hoping i would clear later in life, which hasn't happened. so although its light acne, its persistent and coupled with my obsession with picking
what do you think?
Tbh if I were you I would do accu-tane. Im 17 right now if this doesnt work, that's what im doing. At your age and because of all the things uou have tried I dont think anyone could fault you for it. If you are going to keep going with the differin until your next derm visit remeber that one day maybe a few months from now you could be completly clear. For the past few weeks ive been breaking out and i just remind myself that my skin will be completly clear in a few months. I just hope I stop breaking out so badly because of the differin
Day 96 | 14th week
Ok, so I've done the full initial 3 months and am still using every night. There are still some little bumps on my jawline, near the chin area but my forehead and the whole left side of my face is back to normal (normal being no bumps). Right side of the face still has catching up to do in terms of bumps and hyperpigmentation but on the whole, my hyperpigmentation's faded a lot to the point where I can get away with some sheer foundation and a bit of concealer to cover it, rather than using a thick, heavy foundation and concealer. I'd say that my face is 98.5% clear now. I've got a spot coming up on right jawline, where a bump previously was and another one right at the edge of my face on the left (in the hairline) but I'm guessing that's because I've been a little lazy in washing my hair last week, especially since I have nowhere to be now that it's the Easter holidays.
Tried to get an appointment with the derm but it's all full up until mid-May so guess I'm just using the 0.1% cream from now on. Tbh though, when my face is so close to clearing up completely, I don't really want to risk putting a stronger concentration on my face because it's obvious that the 0.1% has done its job quite well, so I think more patience is needed for the last stubborn few bumps. It's really nothing to moan about, come to think of it.
@SV, Hard to say because since using differin i had accumulated many more nodules/cysts and pustules in waves, the pustules on the apples on my cheeks that i popped have left seemingly permanent red marks, but from what i've read these will fade but can take ages and who knows they may never fade.
i just dont know if i can commit to using it for another 2 months if it just makes my skin worse or at least no better than it was before all of this.
i really need to stop picking, and for the spots to just stop coming through. then i'd look into treatments to fade scars and indented scars because the amount i have which are small add up to giving me a rough textured skin..
thinking skin peel and chemical peep would do it. I've got a dermotologist appointment booked mid june, so will see what they say - effectively im nearly 27 and still break out, ive tried topicals and anti-biotics and of course hoping i would clear later in life, which hasn't happened. so although its light acne, its persistent and coupled with my obsession with picking
what do you think?
Stick with it, it only gets better from here on in. At three months my skin wasn't my idea of perfect but much better and I could tell the differin was working. Im at about 9/10 months in, using it every night to every other nights and I've not had an active spot for months (touch wood) yeh I get the odd tiny blocked pore if I have maybe wore too much make up or been exercising but it is nothing and disappears in a few days. I've never tried the 0.3 but I would wait at least another couple of months if it's working just give it time to get you where you want to be 
and well done for sticking with it so long, I see so many people give up because they don't see instant improvement, it's a slow worked but well worth it, and anti aging benefits which is such a bonus compared to the damaged BP can do to your skin in the long run xxx
Day 101 | 15th week | ~4 months
UPDATE
Interesting stuff guys. Been to the derm just now and enquired about a 0.3% strength adapelene; turns out there's no such thing, at least in the UK anyways, bummer. So I told her about how well it's done for my skin but how there's still a few stubborn bumps that don't seem to be going away and she prescribed me the 0.1% adapelene/2.5% BP combo, which I believe is Epiduo.
My main worry is that using another ingredient will make my skin worse again but then again, I've heard how good BP is for comedonal acne. It's also a gel formula which I need to get used to. If it's too strong, I'll go back to the original Differin tube. I also think I'll go back to putting on my niacinamide serum in the mornings (not used that for about a month now). Also worried about how dry it's going to make my skin too, after reading about it. I think I will only put the Epiduo on the jawline area, where most of my bumps currently reside and continue the Differin cream on the rest of my face and see how it looks. But it's probably not something I'd want to be putting on my face every single day.
Here starts a new chapter, I guess. Will update soon.
I think if you stick with the differin you will see those stuborn bumps go, honestly it took me about six months for everything to really clear, but I didn't mind waiting it out as my skin wasn't getting any worse, epiduo might be a bit strong, I don't like BP anyway, it really did a number on my skin, very dehydrated and fine lines, it has taken me this long to correct it, plus differin helps with anti aging so in the long run it is more beneficial for your skin
Update on Epiduo (9th day) | 16th week of adapelene
As of today, all my jawline bumps are gone. Very quick, minimal purging. BP didn't make me as dry as I thought it was going to: on the first night of applying it (decided to go for all over the face in the end), my face felt so dry and was itchy around my nose. BP seems to make hyperpigmentation from new spots a bit darker? But my skin was back to normal by the 4th/5th night of using it. Seems to be much more effective at getting rid of closed comedones and now my face is 99% clear of bumps. Some pesky little ones came back on the forehead when I was still just using the Differin cream, although I'm not sure whether that was because of new skincare or makeup, but the Epiduo is taking care of that at the moment. Still have a bit of hyperpigmentation (what's new ey) but overall, I am very, very glad I tried the BP too. I'm going to wait until my face is 100% clear and then reduce the amount of nights I'm using the BP.
June 3rd will be 3 months for me. Not much improvement lately regular white heads and bumpy skin. Hoping this gets better soon
hey man! wow thats gone fast,
I couldn't last more than 8 weeks, my skin just continued to be bumpy, i was getting painful nodules and i said enough is enough. I am SO glad i stopped using Differin when I did.
I do now believe the only way is to go on Accutane. and thats exactly what i am going to do.
I have had enough of the constant onslaught of spots, yes they may be small, but they leave scars and its making my face look terrible. Scarred enough as it is from the picking, its just something i cant help but do.
destroy root cause of spots= nothing to pick at = problem solved = live life.
Week 10:
So I have completed ten weeks of differin. I'm quite happy now - almost down to all red marks /scars but there are A LOT!!!! They'll fade over time
Forehead completely clear really but was never my problem area anyway
Cheeks smooth completely
I have one spot on my left cheek but that's it
If the million red marks would fade I would be ecstatic
Red marks are really hard to hide under make up but it's Much better than all the million spots I had
My face is so smooth it's unreal !!!!!!
Now just for the red marks to go away and I'll be acne free
I feel like by week twelve they'll go hopefully - fingers crossed!!!
It's so strange touching my face and not feeling a million little bumps underneath
So good
Here's my timeline
Week 1-3: no difference at all
Week 4: red and more acne
Week 5-6: worst weeks if my life, acne beyond horrible / initial breakout
Week 7: face got LOTS of whiteheads everywhere
Week 8: looked in the mirror and thought my left side looked a little better/ less whiteheads but still bad
Week 9: skin smoothed out drastically and I only had about 10 spots
Week 10: all smooth just a million red maths
I'll do the rest of the timeline when it is week eleven and twelve !!
Hope everyone is getting on ok xx