Did post elsewhere but it looks far more active in here so I'll put something in here too.
Basically, I have mild/moderate acne, have done since age 11. I'm nearly 18 now. I'm not terribly self conscious of it but it's annoying as hell all the same. It seems to be too much for spot creams to handle but not enough to warrant using prescription drugs.
Flareups mostly occur above the cheeks and above/at the sides of the lips. The ones around the lips are the worst, take weeks to go.
I've tried pretty much every product available off-the-shelf in places in the UK like ASDA, Tesco etc, including:
Just about every type of Clearasil
Witch Hazel sticks/gels
Cocoa Butter and E45 moisturisers
Good Things "Stop that Spot"
Tea Tree Oil - not a fantastic brand, though. I do have it in pure form too but haven't tried it diluted yet.
Lots lots more smaller brands
Nothing has worked, occasionally a product will work for a couple of days but then just starts making it worse.
Only product I've had luck with is Doublebase Gel, surprisingly. Skin tone is much better, scarring clears up a bit, less irritation overall.
There was another tea-tree based product which worked, and by worked I mean nuked most of the skin off my face. After it healed it was fine for several weeks before it kicked off again.
Tl;dr - can someone recommend something for me? I have yet to try Benzoyl Peroxide products yet, seems like my last port of call, but there's a bit of a Benzoyl Peroxide shortage where I am. I've already ordered Oxy On The Spot 2.5% Bp which will be here soon. Considering ordering Quinoderm 5% Bp.
Can't get Regimen stuff in the UK at any viable cost, might I add.
EDIT: Forgot to add something which may be of note. I was put on Sertraline HCl (Zoloft) 50mg a while back, quit not long later because I didn't need it really. But to my surprise, my spots vanished over the space of a day. Wasn't using any other products at that time, and it's not a recognised effect of Zoloft, so not sure why it happened.
hi there!
have you thought about your diet? that perhaps you might be sensitive to something like milk or wheat?
also it definitely helps if you stick to a routine for your skin. anything too abrasive will do something on the first or second try. but it will stop working precisely because it is too abrasive. i definitely do not recommend super strong bp.same goes for undiluted tea tree oil. it will not do much for you other than burn.
i have yet to try this next one, but i'm so curious about it, all i have to do is find a place where i can buy a lot of cucumbers: to drink from 4 to 5 cups of cucumber juice a day for a week. for what little i have done before, i know it takes about two cucumbers to make one cup.... i still need to find where i can buy that many cucumbers as i said. anywho, this "folk remedy" i read about in a juicing book. it is supposed to cleanse your lymphatic fluid system, i imagine it cleanses your blood as well, but as i said, i have yet to try it.
i have found that my problem is related to stress, food and hormones... in that order. you might want to take notice of things like this as well, that way it gives you an idea of how to avoid flare ups.
i was having some stomach problems earlier in the year, so that i changed my diet and was eating soooo many salads. my skin cleared up a lot. perhaps you can try that and see how you react.
so far the only product that has helped me the most is the bp. i hope you can find something like the aha product, that should definitely help as well.
i wish you luck!
Sorry I should have been a bit better with my wording, the Sertraline actually cleared it up completely for the duration I was on it.
Regarding diet - two things:
1) I'm definitely milk sensitive in some way. I try to avoid it.
2) I tried changing my diet completely, fruit, veggies the lot lol. It was fantastic for a couple of weeks then just got worse, now I have to be careful even eating fruit. My body must be imbalanced or something who knows.
It definitely sounds like the Bp may work well. I mean, my acne really is light, it just won't go away and I'm sick of constantly having to pop/hammer with product etc only for 5 more to appear the next day. I found out a lot of products I used are on the "avoid" list too.
I will let you all know how the Oxy On The Spot works. Thankyou!
Just an update. The Oxy On The Spot is working fantastically. Few of the spots initially went cystic but it settled down. Might step it up to Quinoderm 5% to nab those last few.
Would that be a good idea?
Mostly, I'm just left with an absolute tonne of scarring. Any ideas? It doesn't look so bad when I moisturise but soon as the cream is washed out it looks awful.
Update. Something is working great - Sudocrem - probably because it's sort of non-abrasive.
Just a related note - That nasty ingredient Sodium Laureth Sulfate. Is it bad in shampoo, too? More specificially this one - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fudge-Body-Builder-Shampoo-Litre/dp/B001FASHV8/
