I'm not promising any miracles, but I thought I would share with everyone my journey dealing with acne, and where I am now.

I never used to have trouble with pimples until I turned 16, I thought for sure it would start earlier than that if it was due to puberty, but then I also thought it would go away faster than it did as well (I'm now 20)

After lots and lots of facial washes, shampoo's even changing the type of toothpaste I used - I finally realized my acne had less to do with what I was washing my face with and more with what I was ingesting.

I started drinking coffee with sweetener when I was about 16, which is when my skin started to get bad - so I decided to stop using sweetener cold turkey, that also meant no diet coke's! Then I stopped drinking anything with caffeine in it. No coffee, no tea (even decaf coffee/tea has about 4-10 mg of caffeine in them, so I've stopped drinking those too). Doing this helped clear a lot of my pimples, but I still wasn't completely satisfied so I turned to vitamins to help.

I tend to break out with cold sores every couple months, and to stop it I take 100 mg of L-Lysine, 3 times a day. I noticed that when I would take this my skin was clearer as well. I found out that it's because even though I stopped drinking caffeinated drinks, there was still some of the same constituents in nuts, chocolate, beans, fish even - basically everything. I guess I'm very sensitive to L-arginine containing foods, and L-lysine (can be found in cheese, and yogurt) helps to even out L-arginine levels in the body. Since L-lysine isn't made naturally in the body you have to take supplements or foods containing high doses of it for it to work. I also take vitamin C and vitamin D about 3 times a day as well. The L-lysine started working within 10 days I believe. sometimes I take 25-50mg of zinc, because it helps to speed up healing time, but I wouldn't take it every day. and only take it with meals! otherwise you may feel like throwing up.

lastly, I wash my face with St. Ive's peach apricot scrub that contains 2% sacylic acid (this helps to open your pores, don't underestimate the power of this), and in the morning before i put make up on and at night after i wash my face I put OXY's vanishing cream with 5% benzoyl peroxide on my face. the first week you will be somewhat red but don't fret, this goes away. the benzoyl kills acne bacteria.

I'm also on birth control, and have been for 2 years, currently on alesse 21 so that might be helping a bit but probably not too much because I still had this problem after taking it for 6 months.

this regimen has seriously helped me, I don't worry about getting pimples anymore. I may get one or two small ones a week but they aren't even noticeable. L-arginine may be making you break out!

hope this will help someone! you can message me with any questions you may have