Prescriptive:

Roaccutane 20mg once a day

Dianette contraceptive pill

Erythromycin 250mg 2 twice a day

Differin Cream

Over-counter:

Cleanser: Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser

Moisturiser: Eau Thermale Av¨ne Rich Skin Recovery Cream

Scrub: Simple Kind To Skin Smoothing Facial Scrub

On-the-spot treatment: Witch stick

Foundation: Clinique Rednesss Solutions

Lip Balm: Carmex

I am a nineteen year old girl and have suffered from acne since I was 13...the severity of my acne grew with age and no amount of drugs I was prescribed by my dermatologist ever made any difference. The contraceptive pill (Dianette) did manage to kind of control it but only slightly (instead of being huge red painful bumps they would be 'normal' sized)...obviously, this wasn't good enough. From age 16 to 19, my acne flare ups would be so severe that I felt I couldn't leave the house, when I did go out I felt like everyone was watching and cringing for me. My college attendance and the general quality of my life suffered hugely. It's crappy to admit but the way you feel physically definitely corresponds with the way you feel mentally...my friends would say they could tell the exact state of my skin just by my mood. The state of mind you go into is like an obsession with skin...I could barely think of anything else...so weird.

I cannot believe I am one month into my course of Roaccutane and there is not a single spot on my face and hasn't been for a whole week. There's marks and there's large ugly pores but... !! I haven't even experienced any side effects yet so I feel like I've found the perfect combination of antibiotics and over-counter products to use that stop that anticipated initial break out and keep your skin as calm as possible. I know everyone is different and I'm possibly just really lucky but, I really hope this helps:

I used the contraceptive pill and Differin Cream for a month before hand (try and ask for the Dianette pill, although some scary side effects it's best for clearing skin...up to you. I'd steer clear of Mycrogynon, I hear they prescribe it cause it's cheapest for them and it made my skin worse and my mood horrific.)

The first 2 weeks of Roaccutane, for me was all about bringing everything nasty to the surface. This part could be depressing but it's not, because you know it's getting rid of it for good...so satisfying. Erythromycin, an antibiotic, was prescribed to me specifically to help with the initial flare up. I'd get about 2/3 big red bumps on my face at a time...they'd rear their ugly heads then leave and heal surprisingly quickly with possible thanks to Differin gel. I used differin throughout the initial breakout and eased myself off it when the spots started to calm down. I don't use Differin anymore. Straight away, you'll find the texture of your skin gets super rough (especially nose, top of cheeks) because all the black heads, white heads, green heads (!) .. they all get pushed to the surface to make way for your new perfect skin. A simple scrub removes these easy.

Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser is wonderful to use from the start. It's well known to prepare your sensitive skin for the harshness of such drugs. You'll have to ask for this behind a counter and then probably wait for it to be ordered it in. Please don't spend spend crazy amount on designer skin care. Cetaphil is a about a tenner and perfect for your skin. Don't bother with anything else.

Avene Rich Skin Recovery cream has been amazing. With morning and night use it's kept dryness away completely. I used a different moisturiser one day and came home with itchy, peely skin. This one is formulated to calm and intensely hydrate your skin with no harsh chemicals and it's perfect. It makes my skin feel normal. Use this.

My lips are very dry and a bit mingin...i haven't found a miracle cure for this. However carmex will relieve your lips until your next application and make them feel cold and tingly. I reckon without a good lip balm my lips would proobably have fallen off by now.

The foundation i'm using, clinique redness solutions, looks amazing when the sun goes down...but i'm yet to find a foundation that covers the discolourations in daylight that still looks natural.

feels so good.