takenick 1 Share Posted November 3, 2012 (edited) I'm a 23 year-old male, struggled with acne for ages. For the past couple years the main issue was blackheads or "sebacious filaments" on my nose/cheeks (plus mild acne). I was seriously about to start using Retin-A to get rid of them... But instead, 4-5 months ago I just stopped using BHA and stopped exfoliating. Suprisingly, the pores and blackheads on my nose/cheeks became much less noticeable. (I also have been keeping a little scruff which looks way better.) The main thing is I have been using finasteride for hairloss for about a year. It decreases the amount of DHT in the bloodstream. This made me realize acne is truly an internal hormonal problem. My face is basically clear and if I do get pimples they're so small I don't even have to pop them. If I do they barely leave a mark. It also has pretty much halted hairloss but there are sexual side effects, nothing too serious I hope. Supposedly it's because of increased estrogen production. Zinc is supposed to inhibit estrogen, so I've been taking zinc gluconate. But I recently found out that it's not real zinc and doesn't do anything, so I will soon be buying zinc glycinate or zinc picolinate to see if that makes a difference. 2011 and early 2012 I tried tons of other products... BP, BHA, AHA, ACV, pore strips, masks, and my skin was much worse than it is now. My current regimen is: Wash face with Purpose Gentle Liquid Cleanser at night Moisturize with Paula's Choice Moisture Boost Treatment Cream at night (and I will soon be getting a cheaper moisturizer) EltaMD UV Clear SPF 46 during the day Pretty simple. Hope this helps some people. Use less products and fix your hormones... Edited November 3, 2012 by takenick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hathor999 0 Share Posted December 3, 2012 None of those are real zinc if am not wrong. i think you are referring to elemental zinc and different types of zinc compounds contain different amounts of elemental zinc which i think is what's needed for acne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
