Hey guys! So I don't have a picture to show you right now, but maybe later I'll post one...? Anyways, so I'm kind of confused with what's wrong with my skin.... I can't tell whether or not it's actually acne, or if it's something else, such as possibly perioral dermatitis.

So earlier in the year, near the very end of January, I got this "awesome" nodular thing on my chin (it wasn't painful, but it was a big, solid kind of bump, and you could tell that there was some nasty fluids in it; yuck). I feel really stupid and wish I hadn't of done this, because maybe I wouldn't be dealing with this issue, but I decided to try and put Epiduo on the problem. I did so because Epiduo has benzyl peroxide, and I thought this would help the problem; however, I originally don't even use Epiduo because my skin doesn't react well to it (for some odd reason it makes my skin break out with some sort of cystic acne, and then it does also get my skin really red, which lasts for a couple of weeks maybe (but that's a normal side effect)). I originally use the topical treatment of Retin-A (Tretinoin), and my skin doesn't ever get any bad reaction to it. But anyways, because I had also been breaking out in this one spot around my nose and the pustular had been repeatedly returning, I decided to spread the Epiduo there, and then I spread the Epiduo on the other side--basically, I began spreading the Epiduo all over my chin and on my nasolabial folds and near the edges of my nose.

This was when my skin began to get really weird and bad, like it is now.

In these areas I had spread Epiduo in, I think it gave me some weird rash, for my skin got really red in these areas and it began peeling really badly and I began breaking out with these deep pustular kind of pimples, and whenever I would stretch out the skin in my chin (like purse my lips so the crease in the chin was stretched out), I could see there were a ton of small white bumps; it was as if all of the small pores in my chin had gotten congested with dead skin and sebum or something, and I noticed that in these clogged areas, those were where these deep pustular pimples would arise in. Now, I'm the worst when it comes to leaving my skin alone and there's a pus-filled pimple, so of course, I'll commit the sin of picking and popping my pimples. I'm sorry, I know it's really bad, but I do it anyways. But here's the thing about these pimples, I would pop them, and I could tell there was still some stuff in the pore, so I would try and get that out, but whenever they would come out, they would come out

as some cylinder shaped rod, like they were the shape of the pore or something, and they were like solidified sebum molded in this shape

Later on, maybe around the beginning of March, and my skin was still struggling on the chin and nasolabial folds area, really red and angry, still peeling like it was nobodys business, very texturized and bumpy, still getting some of those weird pustular pimples that seemed to go pretty deep with those rod stems that would also come out (whenever I couldnt get those out, a brand new pus-filled head would form again), while I was up close towards the mirror, I saw that in these areas on my face, there were some areas where there seemed to be a small white head, and it didnt look like it was pus-filled, it just looked like it was like a small tuft of skin clogging my pore. So, I didnt want to try and squeeze it out, instead, (you guys probably think Im insane, and this weird and gross) but I grabbed my eyebrow tweezers and decided to try and pull it out (yeah, I know, who the heck does this?). When I did that easily, a fairly large rod of what Im assuming is solidified sebum or pus, came out at the end of this tuft of skin, and it left the pore I had pulled it out of looking like it was just an empty hole (which these would disappear in the morning, so I guess my pore closed up).

So I ended up tweezing out some more that were like that, and they had those weird solidified sebum/pus rods at the end, and they were pretty long, so I guess they ran pretty deep. And sometimes when my skin would peel, I saw that in some areas, there were also those weird solidified sebum things attached to the sheet of skin. (This probably sounds really gross, Im sorry, but Im just trying to figure out what the deal is with my skin, and I want to cure it because my mentality on my personal image has been messed with really badly.) Also, I noticed even in flat areas of my skin in these troubled areas, I could see that the pores were clogged with something white; they were flat, but after some time, I noticed that these areas were the areas that I would break out with some large, nasty pus-filled pimple with those weird rod things that would come out at the end.

I have (guiltily) tried to squeeze out the weird white bumps on my chin (and this is probably another reason as to why my skin is still so red and irritatedI just wont leave it alone!), and sometimes, some solidified weird bulb of sebum or something would come out (and they look like the shape of the actual hair follicle, because you know how in diagrams of the skin and hair follicle, the shape is like a tear drop? I feel like that was kind of the shape...)

Also, on my chin, I have been getting cystic/nodular acne too, and they have been fairly painful.

In the past, my skin has never had this big of a problem at all. I rarely broke out in my nasolabial folds area, and I rarely ever broke out in my chin area. But nowI just want to cry.

Anyways, SO

Currently, my skin is still struggling, but I guess its not as bad as it used to be. It still is really red and irritated (and sensitive since it's not fully healing), still peels in the struggling areas, and it is still fairly texturized and bumpy (Im not sure if its better though). Whenever I stretch out the skin on my chin, I dont see those small white bumps as obvious as before, but in some areas, theyre still there, and I still get those weird rod things I can tweeze out occasionally (but I dont think they ever return in those same spots). The areas I managed to get the rod things out of, whether it was through tweezing or picking out one of those weird pustular deep pimples, I havent broken out again since; they look like my normal skin, and they arent bumpy. But my skin is still very bumpy in the other areas. I feel like my pores in these troubling areas are clogged with solidified sebum (or pus, if thats what it is), and I dont know what to do to make this process heal faster or go away, since picking and squeezing my skin only makes it really mad

I have gotten two chemical peels in the past two-three weeks, and I think this kind of has helped me a little, but I dont know how much

I do put foundation on, and I really wished I didnt have to, and I feel like if I could give my skin a break for a few weeks, maybe this issue could reside, but I am still in high school and I have beauty school to go to, and its just really embarrassing to me if I dont have foundation on to cover my skins issue so it at least doesnt look so red and obvious (and I do make sure my makeup is non-comedogenic).

So I dont know, what do you guys think? Is this acne, or is it something else, like perioral dermatitis? Ive gone to my dermatologist, and I will be taking Accutane starting next month (my acne has gotten worse over these past few months for some odd reason, and its also been getting worse on my chest and back as well; I do get some cystic ones, but thankfully, I havent really dealt with serious scarring where it leaves a dent in my skin). Ive already been on minocycline, cephalexin, and doxycycline, and right now, while I wait the 30 day wait before they put me on Accutane, Im on erythromycin.

I feel really stupid for not trying hard enough to explain to my doctor in full detail about what Ive been experiencing with my skin, but because he didnt say or have any thoughts about saying this is perioral dermatitis, I guess maybe its not.but I just want to make sure. So any kind of feedback would be great. Thanks!