When I use coverup on spots I go, ibuprofen, tto, coverup.

I apply the coverup when the tto is still wet. At the moment I'm using those sort of lipstick-style dispenser coverup. When I use brush coverup, I mix the TTO into the coverup.

I haven't had any problems with peeling.

I did try and 'spot treat' using the gel but its not good for girls as you cant put make-up on it without it going all funny and peeling off.

I find one of the major advantages of this regime is that it is much easier to apply cover up compared to using benzoyl peroxide which caused no end of peeling. Which cover up are you using??

I did try and 'spot treat' using the gel but its not good for girls as you cant put make-up on it without it going all funny and peeling off.

I find one of the major advantages of this regime is that it is much easier to apply cover up compared to using benzoyl peroxide which caused no end of peeling. Which cover up are you using??

 

Its not my skin that's peeling, the Ibuprofen gel itself seems to go all funny when I put make-up on. It goes all 'rubbery' and comes off in bits.

Maybe I need a different Ibuprofen gel? This stuff is Morrisons own 5%.

try using boots own that works well and make sure you moisturise!!

Status check. My skin has mostly recovered from a slight bad patch from when I was using JBL as my moisturiser. It's been going from strength to strength since then. I've got one miniscule pustule today, but I think it will be gone in the next day or two. I had one threatening-looking bump last week, but it never came to a head and it's fading now, and it's almost invisible with cover-up on. A few days it should be gone I think. That's the thing with this, I'm finding that spots sort of appear, and sort of change their mind and disappear again in just a day or two, where often they would have lasted for weeks or months.

How's everyone else doing?

At the moment my acne sounds very similar to yours; just a few small spots that claer up very quickly and others that just go before causing any problems. Still loving this regime,lets hope it carries on.

I lost my ibuprofen gel for a week or two and my spots returned. BP didn't work as well leaving lingering red marks (and bleached clothes). I'm back on it - onwards and up!

Thank you so much Temp123, what initially gave you the ibuprofen idea? It's way better than anything Dan is promoting. Are you still doing light therapy or have you ditched that?

I lost my ibuprofen gel for a week or two and my spots returned. BP didn't work as well leaving lingering red marks (and bleached clothes). I'm back on it - onwards and up! 🙂

Thank you so much Temp123, what initially gave you the ibuprofen idea?

I used to be on minocycline. It worked pretty well, except that you have to cycle minocycline and I would break out every 14 weeks and the effect of that would last about 9 or 10 weeks. Worse than that, the doctor would want to see me at week 12, he would take one look at my face, tell me I didn't need such a powerful drug and promptly refuse to represcribe me. Then I would go back about 8 weeks later, and he would pale and write out a new prescription more or less without me asking. But he wouldn't write one out before that, "well your acne is bad... but it's not that bad..." only he would get progressively more hesitant. Then it would take 3-4 months to recover. That's 6 months. So mino on the whole kinda sucked.

Minocycline is primarily an antibiotic/antibacterial but it works better than topical antibacterials, because it also has an anti-inflammatory effect.

Tea tree oil on its own was OK, but didn't seem to work quite as well, presumably because it lacks the anti-inflammatory bit, but I was walking through a shop and spotted the ibuprofen gel... and... well nothing is stronger than a purpose-built anti-inflammatory. :dance: I was a bit nervous at first that I might poison myself until I calculated how much was absorbed, but it's really quite a small amount; but I checked with the pharmacist and I even pulled the research findings on it; and I found the combination worked pretty well.

It took a while to work out, because acne takes several weeks to respond, and I wasn't sure how much I needed to use and stuff but eventually I decided it really did work.

I might try nicotinamide next instead of the ibuprofen, that has got reasonably good reputation.

Hi all,

Just a quick update to say that I am very happy with this routine. It's the best I've used in my 6 year battle with acne.

Like everything it takes a little fiddling to get the best arrangement for your skin. And there are times where you have to be careful. E.g. shaving etc.

I'm finding it a little difficult to get the balance between what is good for my face (which can tolerate slightly stronger concentrations) and my neck. My face is now effectively the clearest it has been. My neck is still a little fiery, the irritated areas are still red and obvious, but overall I'm delighted

I'm also taking more vitamin A and D than I did before this treatment, this must also be helping.

Temp - cheers

J

Hi there,

I've been using the regimen for about three months now and my acne is a lot better (but still not perfect!)

Since everyone has been raving about the ibuprofen gel I figure I should try it out.

Does anyone have any advice for when I should put the ibuprofen gel on in conjunction with Dan's BP?

Cheers,

Tom.

don't use both. Use one or the other!

What's the reason they should not be used together?

Perhaps if 30 mins - 1 hour was left in between the applications that would be fine..?

By all means try it- I doubt it would do any harm, you never know it might work better.

Generally, I personally prefer to try things that other people have tried successfully (preferably with published studies behind them to show it works- this scheme is based on an extension to a published study based on using 5% TTO).

The problem is it takes weeks/months to find out whether something really works or not.

But absolutely go ahead and try it.

Thanks for a v. informative topic temp123

I'm striving for prevention through diet but the odd bugger still appears overnight so I'm going to give ibuprofen gel a shot as a 'dab on existing spots' product. Will report back!

Actually I see you're using red/blue light, tea tree oil and ibuprofen should be similar, but quicker and less hassle.

Actually I see you're using red/blue light, tea tree oil and ibuprofen should be similar, but quicker and less hassle.

Hope so - finding the time to patiently sit in front of a lightbox is hard some mornings!

Just wanted to say that this site and these tips re ibuprofen gel are genius. I have mild asthma so may try it with caution as am on the spot treatment. Really helpful, thanks ALL. I'm new to the site and so have found it really illuminating.

Hi,

I only joined the site today and came across this post and am very interested in trying out the ibuprofen. I'm 27 and get very bad, painful break outs only on my chin, taking Dianette for 3 months has helped somewhat but I am still getting painful under surface spots. From what I have read, my Clinique moisturiser needs to be changed though I am not sure to what.

I am going to buy some TTO to mix in with my moisturiser, I'm not quite sure about getting the balance between the two right but assume that I should not skimp too much on the TTO? Is it easy to buy undiluted TTO?

Can't believe I have struggled with my skin for so long and never come across this site...

All the things here are pretty available. I can get all the ingredients from my local (reasonably large) Sainsburies.

The hardest is the pure tea tree oil, my local Sainsburies currently stocks it in 25ml bottles for about A7.50 or so, but I bought 60ml in Holland and Barrett for about A12. 10ml usually goes for about A3.50 IRC. Boots also stock it.

You need about 5-10ml per 100ml of face cream, you can just eye-ball it while pouring it out, you don't need to measure it precisely. You can use scales if yours are accurate down to a few grams, it's about 5-10 grams per 100ml.

You just want to make sure you're not below the magic 4% line, otherwise it may not work properly.

What makes you say your moisturiser needs to change?

Current status:

Skin tone is excellent, I've more or less given up on cover up makeup because I don't need it. I've got really no spots at the moment at all and only very minor red marks. I'd probably have quite a lot of trouble persuading people that I have mild-moderate acne.

I'm also taking some vitamin A supplements, cod liver oil and a multivitamin, but I'm only about 50% above the RDA for a man and well below the maximum allowed, and my skin seems a bit less greasy; I also get some body acne, and my body acne seems a *bit* better, but just not in the same ballpark as my face, not even the same country, so I don't think it's that, although it may be helping some.

Anyone from the states try this? What brand should I buy?

Thanks,

I've been doing this Ibuprofen Gel and tea tree oil regimen for about three weeks now and I have to agree that it is probably the best regimen I've ever been on! I have no new or active spots at the moment, and only a few marks left from former acne

The regimen which works for me is:

Gently submerge face in warm-hot water for about a minute in the morning;

Wait 10-15 minutes then apply a generous amount of Ibuprofen Gel all over my face;

Then wait another 10-15 minutes and then apply Dan's moisturiser and 4-5 drops of pure tea tree oil.

I do pretty much the same in the evening but replace the moisturiser and pure tto with the Tea Tree and Witch Hazel night lotion from Boots.

Thanks for finding out about this regimen, it's worked wonders on me and I hope it does to others too!

Gently submerge face in warm-hot water for about a minute in the morning;

Wait 10-15 minutes then apply a generous amount of Ibuprofen Gel all over my face;

You may be overdoing it if anything, I think that just the thinnest layer is all that's needed.

Then wait another 10-15 minutes and then apply Dan's moisturiser and 4-5 drops of pure tea tree oil.

I would recommend just unscrewing the pump and pouring ~15ml (1/2 fluid ounce) TTO into his moisturiser and then just stirring it very thoroughly for a minute or two and screw it back up tight again. Once it's stirred in well it should be completely stable. 15ml works out at about 6% strength for a new bottle. It's just a lot easier, and you may find you use less TTO this way, and so it's cheaper. 8 ounces should last a good couple of months maybe. I checked his ingredients it should be perfectly OK in theory and in practice it sounds like you're doing really well.

Thanks for finding out about this regimen, it's worked wonders on me and I hope it does to others too!

Sounds good!

Just reading this thread and it has catched my eye lol. I was wondering do you just wash your face with normal warm/hot water before applying this iburprofen gel method? Or do you use a cleanser before hand? Also i was wondering what moisturiser you use? Because i get blemishes easy and my skin is pretty senative.

Sorry for all the questions. First time for me on these boards and you all seem very nice people. Haven't posted and i already feel welcomed lol

Oh just little info about what i've done for my acne is that i just used warm/hot water to wash my face in the morning, followed by a moisturiser then wash my face again in the evening with warm/hot water followed by moisturising. I've been too scared to put any kind of product on my face due to alot of things giving me big blemishes and showing alot of redness on my face.

Thank you for reading. Looking forward to a reply

Hiya, I used to be on this regime (im on accutane now so couldn't continue with it) I used to wash my face with warm water and used a mild cleanser as well before applying the tto/ibuprofen. Hope this helps.