Hello, my name is Lucia and I am 19 years old. I have suffered from acne since I was 11 and I can now say after 1 year I am acne free. I have been on and off of acne.org for years, spending countless hours reading and researching. I have read sooooo many "success" stories, and tried them for myself. I had some luck with some, and others made my skin worse. Unfortunately with acne, not one thing can work for everyone. It took me a really long time to find what was causing my acne and it was a very long road. I never thought one day I would be on here writing my own success story. I never thought it was possible. Even if my routine can help one person, it would make me so happy. I really believe this routine could especially help girls from 11 to 30 the most, but obviously it could help anyone, you never know unless you try it. So, I won't get into the history of my acne and all that, I will just tell you where I get acne and my skin type. My acne was along my jaw, cheeks, mouth, and occasionally forehead. My skin is combo, really oily on my T-zone, and normal everywhere else. I had a mix between cystic acne and whiteheads. Cystic on my cheeks, occasionally on my chin, and jaw. And whiteheads around my mouth, and like I said, occasionally on my forehead.

My skincare routine is one that I have worked on and worked on. I have tried sooo many products, it is absolutely crazy. I have been using these products for around 8 months, and I will never change them. I cannot even tell you how much they have affected my skin, in a good way! My skincare routine is finally perfect, and best of all it is soooo cheap.

Morning: Splash face with water, apply Formula 10.0.6 with cotton pad, apply "Hydroquinone, Arbutin skin lightening serum" by JJ Labs (bought it off etsy for like $10. I am in LOVE with this serum!!! Has so many amazing ingredients. It is supposed to help with hyperpigmentation, which it does, but it really helps with acne too. Everytime I had a breakout, I would use this and in the evening when I removed my makeup, the breakout would be like 90% smaller!), apply "pH balancing B3 vitamin spritz" by Ellarose minerals (also on etsy!!!) as my moisturizer, then finally my HG sunscreen/moisturizer "Oil free moisturizer spf 30" by Mario Badescu (I know I said cheap, but this is a product I cannot live without, it's just my personal preference! But whatever works for you, I have had a really hard time finding an spf that isn't expensive, that won't break me out. Sometimes you just have to take the splurge on a product.)

Makeup- The thing about makeup, is everyone has different opinions and preferences, so I will let you use what you think works for you, but I will tell you my foundation, powder, blush, and concealer are all by ELF. I have tried sooooo many brands but all break me out, the only brands I trust are Cover FX, ELF, and Physicians formula. Everything else wrecked havoc on my skin. My all time favorite foundation is the ELF one that is targeted towards acne. It never has broken me out and it lasts forever on my skin! I highly recommend it, and it's super cheap!!!

Night: remove makeup with washcloth, and 2 nights a week use my olay pro x, cleanse with my HG cleanser "Uncle Harry's acne face wash" OMGGGG this stuff saved my life. And it is ridiculously cheap, $2.40!!!!! I would pay $40 for this cleanser, it is that good. I am telling you, it will change your life. Apply "Uncle harry's silver spray", then every other night apply a tretinoin cream. Now this alone worked absolute wonders on my skin, but I was still struggling.

Diet- Cut dairy, avoid gluten (very hard for me), and limit Soy. I eat mainly paleo, but again, sometimes bread just calls my name. I do not eat a lot of beef, mainly chicken and turkey. Drink as much water as you feel necessary, and finally the BEST product of alllll, "itworks greens powder" I buy it off amazon, and if you take one thing from this, it should be this powder (or Uncle Harry's face wash heheheh) it has changed my skin! I won't go into all the ingredients and stuff, you can look it up for yourself but I have one of these a day, and I cannot tell you how amazing it is. It really helped with clearing my skin. And finally drink tea, when you feel necessary.

Supplements- Vitamin d3, zinc, saw palmetto (ahhhhmazing).

And that's it!! It has been a year of doing this routine and my skin is 10000% clear. I never get a breakout, maybe once every 2 months, because of eating too much gluten or sugar, or sweating and not showering after my workout. I honestly cannot believe my skin. The only complaints I have now, are that my skin is still a little oily and if I am sick my skin looks really dull, but otherwise it is the skin of an angel!! I really hope this can help someone! I probably won't post anymore, just do yourself a favor and try this, I promise you, it will work if your skin was like mine. Just try it and maybe in a few months you will be on here wriring about your cure!!!