Hello Community,

I thought I'd give an update on how my acne situation has been since I stopped using sprionolactone, my acne panacea, exactly two years ago.

I've written other posts on how I've had acne since I was in 5th or 6th grade, the treatments I've used, etc. No need to go over that again, so I'll simply summarize here by saying that I'm a 28-year-old female, half Filipino and half white, and I've tried almost every treatment described on this forum, including 1.5 courses of Accutane when I was in high school.

Since February 2014 my skin has had its ups and downs. My face has gone through phases of being almost completely clear save some congestion of the pores, to having sudden onsets of breakouts. My back acne also became inexplicably (at the time) worse around Fall 2014. 2015 was also a bad year, skin-wise, with mild acne on my face, and the back acne getting progressively worse. I was living in New York then and, to put a cherry on top of the cake, during the winter I also developed eczema on my face and chest. Lovely.

Until January 2016 my face skin continued to have mild breakouts and congestion of the pores on my nose, cheeks, and forehead. My chin was bumpy, not with zits but with blackhead-like comedones. My back was also covered in a fine blanket of pustules around the shoulder area, lightly peppering my trunk.I hid my face daily with a layer of foundation and powdered.

As I've mentioned before, my acne got overwhelmingly better once I stopped eating dairy and paid attention to my sugar and carbohydrate intake. HOWEVER, I hadn't really cut out dairy completely. I still ate heaps of butter in the morning and used mostly butter to cook with, thinking that I could extrapolate on the wisdoms of the paleo diet and tell myself that butter was mostly fat, anyways, with low levels of lactose and therefore wouldnt affect my acne. I also indulged in the occasional goats cheese, and ate pizza about twice a month.

In January 2016 I gave up dairy completely. I gave up my butter, I gave up goats and sheeps' cheeses (having previously believed that they were the lesser offenders compared to cows milk), and I stopped eating my delicious pizza. I also became more of an avid labels-checker, avoiding any foods that had any dairy additives whatsoever, as I had noticed that even indulging in a swipe of nutella on toast had led to an almost immediate zit on my cheek.I also once ate a small bit of milk chocolate that my sister-in-law offered me and it led, 2 hours later, to a breakout on the same cheek.

Whamo, and just like that, once I fully committed to not letting any dairy get past my mouth, no more active acne on my face or back.

However, I still had clogged pores on my nose, cheeks, and forehead. As Ive said in a previous post, Ive experienced wonders with estheticians who have performed extractive facials (professionally removing blackheads, congestion, etc.) with steam. The steam prevents scarring and makes the gunk more removable. I went to my esthetician on the 22^nd of February, 2016, and she performed an amazing extractive facial that cleared out about 70% of my congestion. I no longer get the weird comedones on my chin. I must say, my skin is looking really good, and it gets barely oily. I had bumps underneath my skin quitting dairy stopped them from forming, and getting the extractive facial improved them enormously. I plan to follow up with another extractive facial next week.

Also, forgot to mention this, but face is less red. It use to get red-ish around my chin and nostrils, but that redness has also diminished.

To Summarize

In my case, after a ton of muddling, I've found thatmy acne is directly aggravated by dairy, of any kind. (In my view, this makes sense since Im part Asian and my mother, who is the Asian part, is intolerant to dairy.) A strict elimination diet for about a month was how I discovered that I cant relax on my anti-dairy diet in any way if I want to have clear skin. Those of you here who take food allergies and intolerances seriously are probably thinking to yourselves, uh, ah doe-y, but there it is.

Secondly, somehow my bodys metabolism of the dairy in part contributes to the congestion and oiliness on my face. Once I quit dairy, my oil production greatly reduced but my face still retained all of the previous congestion. The extractive facial was key to removing that congestion. I am a fan of glycolic acids, which exfoliate the pore, but the physical action of the extraction treatment was what helped me the most. Also, from observing my skin, it looks like trapped gunk keeps surfacing and eventually coming out on its own. I suppose since the root cause has been eliminated, the congestion no longer has a purpose to be there?

Btw, I unintentionally cheated yesterday, ordering a pastry without cheese/dairy at a bakery. However, the woman behind the counter erred and gave me the pastry of the customer who had ordered after me, which was filled with cheese. I took one unknowing bite of the devil pastry around 3 PM. Later that evening, I had an inflamed zit at the top of my forehead. Correlation or causation?

Current skin regimen
(I wont self-analyze too much, just list):

Morning

1. Splash face a couple of times with water. Dab off water with towel.

2. Apply DeVita Perfecting Time Moisturizer. (Ive also used, gasp, mineral oil-containing Nivea Cream a couple of times, without any problems.)

3. Apply Mac FX Foundation on pigmented/discolored areas if going to work/event/etc.

Evening

1. Remove makeup first with Ponds Cold Cream and warm washcloth. (I use to oil cleanse but prefer the cold cream, basically the same as the much raved about and exorbitantly pricey Eve Lome.)

2. Use African Black Soap by SheaMoisture to remove excess. Sponge off with washcloth.

2. Apply Peter Thomas Roth 10% Glycolic Moisturizer every other night. Perhaps use Paulas Choice Retinol Moisturizer on off-nights, depending on how Im feeling.

Also, a link on the science of why dairy causes acne for some people:

http://www.blisstree.com/2012/02/02/beauty-shopping/dairy-causes-acne-456/