Do you happen to have flaky scalp and/or any noticeable dandruff? Does your face/acne itch? My gf has psoriasis and some of her scalp flakes, causing breakouts v similar to the one youre dealing with - in which case it would be fungal.

if it isnt fungal & its bacterial, is there anything in your diet that you can think of thats changed in the last couple months? any minor dietary change can have a huge affect on our skin. have you been trying BP and SA in this same couple months span? For me personally, mixing between treatments to try to find one that works always ended up aggravating my skin (leading to inflammation, leading to breakouts) so I got to the point where I would try one consistently for a few weeks at a time to see how my skin reacted and to not irritate it more by using other products.

I hope you figure out what the root cause is, & in the meantime as hard as it is try to tell yourself that this is temporary

here if you have any more questions that I can answer 🙏🏼

@starpower thank you for responding. I dont have a flakey scalp, but my skin has been burning and a little itchy. I had been trying BP and SA which had worked for my acne before, but if anything it may have made the breakout worse. I have had this on my forehead since December but a couple of weeks ago it spread to my cheeks and chin, and its just so discouraging when nothing will seem to clear it. I got nizoral the other day and I just started using it so Im hoping that will clear it up. I hope your gf can figure out her skin too, its certaintly a battle sometimes💔

It is definitely a constant battle, one that we shouldnt have to fight & God knows its not easy - I agree w you that the Bp and Sa may have irritated your skin & made the breakout worse but theres no way you couldve known, you were just trying everything you could to make it go away, 100% have been there myself. I hope the Nizoral helps clear you up and get to the root cause, keep this thread updated about how its working for you if you can!

good luck Eva!

Have you started any new medication or supplement?

Recently given birth? Gone off of birth control?

If it's not from a medication or something hormonal, I am wondering what it could be. It does look like "regular" acne, and that makes me think The Regimen probably can get it under control regardless of what is causing it. Have you tried The Regimen? It's benzoyl peroxide based, but it's the way you use it that matters.

@dan

I have not started any new medications, but I do take magnesium, ashwaghanda, b12 and d3.
There has been no hormonal factors (other than typical menstrual influence) that I think would impact my skin.

I havent tried the regimen yet, but I was prescribed Epiduo Forte on Friday by my derm. I am nervous to use it, because I have read a lot about it making fungal acnemuch worse. Although Im not sure of the cause of my breakout, using BP burned my skin way more than it had in the past, and it inflamed the already present acne.

I did read someones post on here about using salt water treatments to clear up their skin, and I think Ill try it. Salt is both antifungal and antibacterial, so other than drying out my skin I dont think it can do too much damage if its not what I need. Do you think epiduo is the right treatment for me? I am very apprehensive about using it.

the first picture is after four days of using nizoral shampoo as face wash, and the following photos are after three days of the same method

Oh wow, looks like it's getting better. Whatever works, keep doing it.

If you ever need to try The Regimen again, the redness and inflammation is expected for the first month or so. It happens to just about everyone. That's why you ramp it up slowly. That goes away and will completely clear up acne. So keep it in your back pocket for if/when you need it.