I'm around 80 days into my 6 month course of Accutane, while the spots seem to be calming down, I'm worried about the dryness of the skin. I have quite a few red marks from previous breakouts that will, no doubt, fade with time when I finally stop breaking out. I've been getting severely dry skin that is peeling recently, however the last time I tried to moisturise, I broke out crazily! After using the Cetaphil moisturiser for 3 days, I'd had enough and stopped using it and like magic, spots calmed down again! Anyway I've been reserved about using moisturiser since then and used a fingertip the other day to sort out a patch of dry skin and now, 2 days later, I have a whitehead there! Really annoying me, as I feel the Accutane is working well, but the moisturiser to get rid of the dry skin is letting me down!
What should I do!?
Moisturizing is absolutely essential on accutane, not just for cosmetic reasons, but because the extreme dryness reduces your skin's ability to heal itself and increases your susceptibility to secondary infections (you definitely don't want that). If EVOO or coconut oil has worked for you, fine - but I do know of several people who break out on both of those oils (even when using extra virgin oils). It's kind of a craps-shoot on how your skin will react to most oils in general, and especially on accutane: skin can be very, very weird.
I use ceraVe PM moisturizing lotion at night and Vichy Capital Soleil moisturizing sun-cream in the morning. I also use 100% pure moroccan Argan oil as a serum, but again - you need to be careful with oils. My advice is to use a very simple good non-comedgenic moisturizer with NO active ingredients (i.e., no salycilic acid or retinoic acid). Look for moisturizers formulated for "sensitive skin", like Aveeno and Cerave. If you want to spend a little extra money, Avene (a french brand) has a line of moisturizing products designed specifically for people on accutane, as does La Roche Posay and Vichey.
I started using cetaphil but found that it just sat on the surface of my skin. I use it on my body instead of my face. I use cetaphil cleanser morning and night followed by clarins extra comfort toner and I moisturise with clarins hydra quench cream. It has literally saved my skin. I'm on a low dose of accutane because of my cholesterol 45mg (should be on 80) . I use elizabeth ardens 8 hour lip balm.