Acne.org Products
So, I'm 22 1/2, and I've had acne for 10 years. I first got it on my forehead, and it was absolutely exacerbated by picking and a poor diet. Most likely, when I was 13 and it spread to my checks, that was my fault. My acne peaked in 8th and 9th grade, and had gradually reduced over the years. I started using benzoyle peroxide (prescription) when I was in about 10th grade, but it did nothing (I was still picking my skin). When I was around 18 I decided to try and cure this by improving my diet, and that did cause great improvement. However, now, nothing I do is making it go away.
I've cut out dairy, sugar, refined carbs, artificial foods etc. (I'd say this is all about 90% cut out, but it's not easy to cut this stuff out 100%)
I took some good advice and stopped using anything but Dove soap and lukewarm water (I had been irritating my skin by using harsh cleansers, soaps and exfoliates, and once I stopped, the redness reduced drastically and my face felt a lot lot lot better)
I've been eating raw vegetables and some fruit, flaxseed, oatmeal every morning ( seems to make my skin heal quickly)
I still have incredibly clogged pores. Mainly on my forehead. I think the problem is that my skin is oily, and instead of the oil spreading, it's just sitting there. I wear Bare Minerals Foundation, which I've begun to suspect as a contributor to the problem.
I also seem to breakout in a cycle; I'll get a few prominent ones (ones that do not stay as simple clogged pores), then, in about a day, they will become inactive, heal, and I'll still be having very small ones everywhere. Then, the cycle will begins again. Everything heals so quickly, and I bet if the acne stopped fucking forming, I'd have clear skin in about a month. The problem now is that it just will not stop forming. It will look like it's going away and Ill get very excited and happy, and then it just comes back. I'm extremely white and pale, so the tiniest pimple is just so red and prominent. My friend has worse acne than I do, but since she has dark skin, there's no redness, so hers just doesn't look as bad as mine (maybe that's in my head, because logically I know her acne is more plentiful).
I think I would classify my acne as mild, compared to the people's that I see at school, but I really don't care, because to me it's severe and incredibly impairing my quality of life. I think it may be hormonal, and I do have a collapsed ovarian cyst. I'm unwilling to take any medications for my acne (Spiro,etc.), because that's just going to screw up my hormones and I'm not willing to risk my health.
I'm considering using a clay mask, because I think the main problem in very clogged pores, but I'm very fearful to do so. I fuck up just about everything I do, so I know that I'll do something wrong and make it worse.
I forgot to even ask anything; what do I do with this problem? Acne creams just make things worse, and I won't use them. I don't think prescription medication is a positive thing at all, and I'm unwilling to use it (for anything, for that matter)
Hi! I'm 23 and totally understand your frustrations with acne. Before treating my skin hormonally (I'm on Beyaz birth control and Spironolactone), I had really good success with using AHA on my face every night. Your clogged pores are a result of your dead skin cells plugging up your pores and causing tiny close comedones, so a chemical exfoliator would be a great thing for you to use!
I actually still use it every other night because it keeps my skin nice a soft. It also helps get rid of red marks if you have any. I'm also quite pale, so it's easy to see any discoloration that's left on my skin. In addition, I use Differin .1% gel that was prescribed to me by my doctor. Not sure if it's really doing anything yet, but we'll see! haha. The AHA is my holy grail product, I think. 
The AHA that I use is Paula's Choice 5% Daily Treatment AHA, but I think you can get some AHA off of this site that people have success with as well. 
It probably won't help a lot in terms of oiliness, though-- but that's okay. As long as you're washing it away every night and keeping your skin exfoliated (not manually-- no scrubbing!), you should be fine. The only thing that has reduced my oiliness is treating hormonally, but I understand if you don't want to dive into that-- it's a scary world dealing with hormones. haha I have endometriosis and I get ovarian cysts during my period and actually haven't had a problem for about 2 months now.
I use bareminerals just to cover a HP mark on my cheek- but i used to have issues with Bare minerals in the past- but found out after an allergist test that it wasnt the product itself- But the freaking brushes they give with them! they are made of horse hair... im allergic to horses. Well, i just swapped those babies out for synthetic brushes and im all good. good luck!
Heitea- Hey! I'm very fearful of putting chemicals on my face, but I do understand that I need to somehow "exfoliate" without irritating my skin. I spent my morning looking at clay masks. I ordered one, and I plan on using it after I ask a dermotologist if he thinks it's okay (I'm going to a derm for the first time ever on Friday). I will also ask him about an AHA peel. Have you ever used clay? If so, how did your skin react to it? How did your skin react initially to the AHA? I'm fearful of it making my face red, because when I see a red face in the mirror, it like, traumatizes me.
DanTheNewWorld- I know that it's hormonal, I know that my excess oil production is related to hormones, but my problem is that I need to find a non-irritating way to exfoliate. The acne isn't even popping up that terribly, it's these incredibly clogged pores that are everywhere.
I think you should change one thing at a time. For me, dairy was the culprit. Milk contains IGF-1 which results in the skin producing more sebum. Its not enough to have a 90% change it has to be all or nothing. I guess it depends whether you like eating whatever you like or having clear skin better.
Heitea- Hey! I'm very fearful of putting chemicals on my face, but I do understand that I need to somehow "exfoliate" without irritating my skin. I spent my morning looking at clay masks. I ordered one, and I plan on using it after I ask a dermotologist if he thinks it's okay (I'm going to a derm for the first time ever on Friday). I will also ask him about an AHA peel. Have you ever used clay? If so, how did your skin react to it? How did your skin react initially to the AHA? I'm fearful of it making my face red, because when I see a red face in the mirror, it like, traumatizes me.
DanTheNewWorld- I know that it's hormonal, I know that my excess oil production is related to hormones, but my problem is that I need to find a non-irritating way to exfoliate. The acne isn't even popping up that terribly, it's these incredibly clogged pores that are everywhere.
I totally get it! I'm always nervous about putting chemicals on my face...but once you start...you're like "oh!..this doesn't hurt that much..." haha
Clay masks are lovely! I use a really cheap one from Walgreen's that has bentonite clay as its main ingredient. Clay really draws out impurities. In fact, I had a spot last night that wasn't coming to a head and I put the mask on over night on that spot, and this morning it was a whitehead. In my book, that's a good thing..or else they never come out! haha...
Anyway, AHAs kind of pull layers off your skin so that you surface the under-the-skin clogged pores. Because of the exfoliation process, it also can get rid of red marks. The 5% AHA that I use is very gentle and doesn't make my face red. If you want, go take a look at my latest album in my gallery (The one that has Beyaz, Spiro, Differin and Paula's Choice in the title) and you'll see what AHA has done to my complexion overall. It doesn't make me peel or get red because it's such a low percentage. It's only been 19 days since I've been on my new regimen, so the results aren't incredible..but they're noticeable, i think.
KImsirtis- My boyfriend used to have severe acne, and it cleared up when he cut dairy. However, he eats it now, moderately, and his acne has not returned.
Today I chose to not wash my face, and I think it's helping a bit. I mean, I think what's happening is that my skin is so dreadfully sensitive that the slightest removal of oil with soap may be causing the over production of oil, which is clogging my pores. My boyfriend does not wash his face at all and his skin isn't greasy. He attributes the no washing method to why he got clear. At first I doubted him, but now I'm slowly beginning to realize that he's correct. The problem is, how am I supposed to get my make-up off at night? I wear very little, but still, it obviously needs to come off. I can't not wear it either, I'd look really sick and unwell (I use it to cover my dark circles as well).
Melmel87- Thank you, I'll check that out
So, today I had off from class and work, and I did not wear make-up, or wash my face, I just let the water mist it while I showered. My redness reduced drastically and all the clogged pores are like, coming out. The pimples that looked like they would form today are now just tiny whiteheads that I expect to dry up shortly. Nothing new has formed over the day.
I don't think I'll ever wash my face again in the morning, but at night I will almost always need to, because I go out everyday (school and/or work). This week is an unusual one because I am off from both, so I have the chance to not wear make-up.
nice. u may have been helped by some lack of stress (physicall too) if i understood corectly. i would give washing with green tea a chance if i'd really needed to wash, i think it also has hormonal influences.
btw moussaka if it's made from eggplant/potatoes, those would be some of the vegetables that leave acid in the body, very bad for acne, especially eggplant.
btw2 imho from what i know moussaka chaos comes from knowing the recipe rules so well that one gets borred with them and becomes playfull. nice thing. made me hungry
DanTheNewWorld- Can you elaborate on "washing with green tea"? Also, moussaka chaos is a song by Slowdive. You ought to check them out.
SO, this morning, I once again refrained from washing my face with soap. I have a few tiny whiteheads, but my horrific redness is gone. Three weeks ago exactly, I had a treacherous breakout that reduced me to tears. My boyfriend told me to stop washing my face, and to stop using acne washes and creams. I took his advice to the point of stopping everything and only using white Dove soap morning and night, with lukewarm water. Now, after washing my face only at night, and simply letting the shower water mist my face in the morning, my face is much much much better. Those clogged pores I talked about yesterday have reduced without coming to a whitehead (90% didn't come to a whitehead).
I did some research and I'm theorizing that there's an "acid mantle" that protects the skin from bacteria. Using face washes and acne products strip that off time and time again, and the harsh products and harsh exfoliators also create tiny cuts, which just causes more and more acne to form, and nothing heals properly and redness abounds. I think that, after three weeks of seeing improvement, and seeing the most improvement while washing my face the least, supports this theory.
yes, i don't use soap for daily washes for a lot of years now (i have some experience with acne), but that's not enough to remove acne from your "system". many teens have acne and it naturally goes, leaving them with the funniest conclusions..
washing with green tea would be 1.anti-DHT (seamingly the culprit for acne), 2.liquid for dirt removal, 3.good for skin in general (antioxidants, vitamins etc)
quite impressive that song, especially for it's age. i'm sometimes also in this type of style, i'm a huge royksopp fan, i even uploaded an unique track recording the radio lol, check 'royksopp - electric counterpoint (radio version)'
DanTheNewWorld- Can you elaborate on "washing with green tea"? Also, moussaka chaos is a song by Slowdive. You ought to check them out.
SO, this morning, I once again refrained from washing my face with soap. I have a few tiny whiteheads, but my horrific redness is gone. Three weeks ago exactly, I had a treacherous breakout that reduced me to tears. My boyfriend told me to stop washing my face, and to stop using acne washes and creams. I took his advice to the point of stopping everything and only using white Dove soap morning and night, with lukewarm water. Now, after washing my face only at night, and simply letting the shower water mist my face in the morning, my face is much much much better. Those clogged pores I talked about yesterday have reduced without coming to a whitehead (90% didn't come to a whitehead).
I did some research and I'm theorizing that there's an "acid mantle" that protects the skin from bacteria. Using face washes and acne products strip that off time and time again, and the harsh products and harsh exfoliators also create tiny cuts, which just causes more and more acne to form, and nothing heals properly and redness abounds. I think that, after three weeks of seeing improvement, and seeing the most improvement while washing my face the least, supports this theory.
Nice! Keep it up and see if it works long term! I think it's a great idea to let your skin breathe. I have a weird phobia of just "letting it be." haha. If your boyfriend has had success, take his advice! 
Also-- in terms of washing with green tea-- it's really soothing and helps with redness (mostly because it's green- the opposite of red on the color scale and 'cancels' it out). I've placed a green tea bag on a cyst and it has gone down considerably before. 
DanTheNewWorld- Okay, I'll look into that. Ha, impressive for it's age. All the best music came out of the late 80's and early 90's. You should look into more slowdive and check out all of the shoegaze/dream pop bands. There are even some newer ones that are good, such as DIIV and Widowspeak. I like the royksopp song.
Yeah, this is working. My skin is the normal color again (the one is was born with ha) and the three new whiteheads that I got yesterday are gone. I'm very excited right now. My skin is really healing. I may not even need to clay mask (look at me wasting even more of my money on my stupid skin)