I had a terrible experience with Ziana! However, I am not posting to be a big bummer! I'm actually surprised you said you had read mixed reviews, because almost everything I read had glowing reviews, prompting me to think I am definitely in the minority. My derm thinks it is made of gold, and was super stumped when it didn't work for me.

I think odds are in your favour that it will go well! Best of luck.

I had a terrible experience with Ziana! However, I am not posting to be a big bummer! I'm actually surprised you said you had read mixed reviews, because almost everything I read had glowing reviews, prompting me to think I am definitely in the minority. My derm thinks it is made of gold, and was super stumped when it didn't work for me.

I think odds are in your favour that it will go well! Best of luck.

Oh really? Well I sure hope it's like gold for me! What's your acne like? Mine's light on my face and probably light/moderate on my chest and back. Lots of hyperpigmentation and clogged pores/comedones on my face though. My dermatologist tried to get me to use it a few years back and I didn't touch the samples she gave me because I was so terrified of topicals. What did Ziana do to you?

I have hormonal acne. It came back when I went off the pill. I thought maybe I could avoid going back on birth control by using a topical. My derm prescribed this with glowing reviews. I started to get big lumps under my skin that I SWEAR were not there before about a week in. I thought "I guess this is the initial breakout people talk about". It continued to get worse and worse until about week 10 when I finally decided something was wrong. My acne was so much worse than it had been, and was popping up in places I had never had issues before. It showed no signs of improvement.

Maybe it would have gotten better if I had waited it out, I'll never know. I went through severe acne about ten years ago, and I just wasn't going to do it again. So I stopped the Ziana and did a course of Accutane.

My acne is mostly on my chin and around my mouth, so different from yours. I don't know why my Ziana experience was so bad. Everyone seems to have so much success with it. I really think it is very beneficial for a lot of people, and there's a great chance it will be good for you. I read tons of studies on it before using it, and they were all very positive. I also found it easy to use - just a tiny bit every night, so I wish it had worked for me. Best of luck.

I have hormonal acne. It came back when I went off the pill. I thought maybe I could avoid going back on birth control by using a topical. My derm prescribed this with glowing reviews. I started to get big lumps under my skin that I SWEAR were not there before about a week in. I thought "I guess this is the initial breakout people talk about". It continued to get worse and worse until about week 10 when I finally decided something was wrong. My acne was so much worse than it had been, and was popping up in places I had never had issues before. It showed no signs of improvement.

Maybe it would have gotten better if I had waited it out, I'll never know. I went through severe acne about ten years ago, and I just wasn't going to do it again. So I stopped the Ziana and did a course of Accutane.

My acne is mostly on my chin and around my mouth, so different from yours. I don't know why my Ziana experience was so bad. Everyone seems to have so much success with it. I really think it is very beneficial for a lot of people, and there's a great chance it will be good for you. I read tons of studies on it before using it, and they were all very positive. I also found it easy to use - just a tiny bit every night, so I wish it had worked for me. Best of luck.

Thank you for replying Kim, I hope I have success with it too! I hope the accutane worked for you!

So I haven't posted a picture in a couple days because there's been really no difference in my skin. A couple of new pimples popped out on my chest, but I think that's because of the time of the month. My picked spots seem to be healing quickly, so that's interesting.

I only use the Ziana on my face every other night so I'm not sure if it'll take longer for me to see a difference or what. I'm assuming eventually she'll switch me to every night? I'm only applying a very thin layer to my face and then moisturizing immediately afterwards as she instructed. I moisturize my chest and back after washing with 10% benzoyl peroxide in the morning.

I just want my chest to clear up so I don't have to keep borrowing my mom's high necked shirts and wear my own sundresses and tops. I just got a job working in a high end women's clothing store and I have to be dressed really well, which wouldn't be a problem if I could wear any of my nice clothes! Luckily my mom is letting me borrow her nice stuff, bless her heart.

I'll post a picture tomorrow night. Happy Easter everyone!

I changed my mind, here's a picture of my face and chest as of tonight. Ignore my red cheeks, I was picking gunk out of my pores.

No improvement in my chest or back, if anything they seem worse, a few more pimples. Also got a few more pimples on my face, a few around my mouth and one on my jawline. I NEVER get pimples there.

This was a weird time for me to start medication because I don't know if this is purging from Ziana or hormonal from the monthly visitor. Blah.

I also blanked and put Ziana on my face tonight and then realized I had used it last night. I hope that doesn't freak my skin out because I'm only supposed to be using it every other night.

There's been very few responses to this but I'll keep posting because I like to log my own progress. Please if you have tips, encouragement, or advice leave a reply!

So my face is getting worse but I've been picking at it. I've noticed some peeling on my nose and chin but nothing excessive or upsetting. A little extra lotion does the trick.

I've been picking at my chest too because it's been breaking out pretty badly, same with my back. I'm PRAYING that this is the purging I've read about and I'm gonna keep at it. I just want my chest to be clear for summer so I can wear a bathing suit without looking like I have some rare disease. Compulsive skin picking disorder + acne = bad.

In the picture I have spot bandaids over some pimples on my chest and my shirt is covering some of them. The red spot on the upper left corner of my cheek is hyperpigmentation, same as above my eyebrow. The angry red spots are the new/picked at pimples. Oh the joys of acne.

Sigh. It's only been a week. Hopefully around the end of 2 weeks the purging will stop and my skin will be suddenly glowing and flawless. I'll persist until 6-8 weeks and if I see no improvement then I'll try something else.

I'll post another picture tomorrow or Thursday.

Cheers everyone.

Here comes the IB! Oy! This stuff will definitely bring everything to the surface before you start seeing improvement, so don't stress yet! And don't pick! This will just spread infection everywhere and make it way worse. I was a terrible picker in my early twenties, and it definitely made my issues worse and caused some permanent scarring I regret. Hang in there!

I am so rooting for this to work for you!

Here comes the IB! Oy! This stuff will definitely bring everything to the surface before you start seeing improvement, so don't stress yet! And don't pick! This will just spread infection everywhere and make it way worse. I was a terrible picker in my early twenties, and it definitely made my issues worse and caused some permanent scarring I regret. Hang in there!

I am so rooting for this to work for you!

Ugh I know. Blah trust me I'm aware of how bad picking is. They wouldn't call it a compulsive disorder if it was easy to stop! I try my best not to though. Thank you so much for rooting for me, I really appreciate it!!! I'm not too worried about the IB, it's better than nothing happening! It's a pain in my butt though.

Holy IB, Batman! My back, which usually has 5-10 pimples is PEPPERED in little pimples everywhere. My chest is an absolute war zone. My face is not too bad (knock on wood) but there's definitely a few little pimples popping up.

Someone, please, I beg of you, tell me this goes away and I'll be left with beautiful clear skin. I'm almost through week two.

I'm not going to post a picture of my face because I have a soothing mask on it but I'll show my chest. It surprisingly doesn't look as red and raw and irritated on camera as it does in real life.

I was on Ziana for around 4 months and it was not the topical for me. But don't be discouraged, everyone is different. Prepare in your mind to have bad skin for 3 months. If you're not seeing consistent improvement by then, you may need to visit your derm. Atralin was a topical i liked though i still broke out on it. It was gentle too.

I haven't posted in a little while because I've been really busy. I've been using my Ziana faithfully, and my chest actually seemed to be getting better. However I woke up today with two large pimples on my chest which I'm trying not to touch. My back doesn't have active pimples per se but there are a lot of little bumps cropping up and a lot of peeling there. My face has been good for the most part but I got really sunburned when sitting outside at a restaurant with my friends the other day on my nose and forehead. Hence the no picture, because I'm a lobster. Aside from the sunburn I've noticed peeling everywhere I've put the Ziana. It's nothing unmanageable. I just want clear skin. Sigh.

Thanks leelowe, I don't know if I can handle 3 months of breakouts when I have a very important vacation in July. I see my dermatologist on May 20th for her to check on me and we'll see what she says. Until then I'll continue to use the Ziana.

I had sever acne when I was around15 and 16 years old it was a nightmare for me. now I have a lot of acne scars to remind me of the horror. anyways, now im 21 and my acne has calmed but now only like 3 pimples pop out in a month which is not bad. But I was just tired of having zits in my face I have had zits since 13 that's 8 years. so I went to my derm and she prescribed me ziana and solydine 65mg (pill). she said the first month it might get worst and like in 3 months I should see results. at first it did get worst but not really like around a month in a half I noticed no zits and since then I have not had a zit in my face...I also have zits in my back and chest but my derm said not to apply it there I don't know why but im not worried about my back as much as my face...Anyways give it time like in 3 month I think you should start seeing results... good luck

I had sever acne when I was around15 and 16 years old it was a nightmare for me. now I have a lot of acne scars to remind me of the horror. anyways, now im 21 and my acne has calmed but now only like 3 pimples pop out in a month which is not bad. But I was just tired of having zits in my face I have had zits since 13 that's 8 years. so I went to my derm and she prescribed me ziana and solydine 65mg (pill). she said the first month it might get worst and like in 3 months I should see results. at first it did get worst but not really like around a month in a half I noticed no zits and since then I have not had a zit in my face... I also have zits in my back and chest but my derm said not to apply it there I don't know why but im not worried about my back as much as my face... Anyways give it time like in 3 month I think you should start seeing results... good luck

Thank you so much Ariday, it's nice to think that in about 3 weeks all of my acne will be better!!

So I'm about 3 weeks in currently, in 7 days I believe it will have been a month. My chest teeters from okay to horrible, and right now is horrible. My face is a WRECK right now but my monthly visitor is currently in town and I believe it has a lot to do with that. My back is absolutely covered in black heads which I NEVER had before the Ziana. I'm so discouraged right now. I'm hoping that I'll push through it and it'll get better because it's only been three weeks.

Any support would be great, I'm so depressed over my skin because it lowers my self esteem so much. I don't even want to leave my house and luckily I don't have to for a few days if I don't want to. But I'm sick of letting my acne control my life.

So I've been doing a lot of research and I'm starting to thing my acne might be hormonal. I get these huge nodules and cysts right before my period every single month and it takes weeks to heal from it. I'm on a triphasic BCP and I've read that monophasics are better for acne, so I made an appointment with my OBGYN and PCP to test hormone levels/anemia and possibly switch BCPs.

I'll keep everyone updated.

Hi Rasine! How is everything going? Are you still using Ziana? I'm currently using it and I'm 2 weeks in and it's horrible!

Hi Kaysean!

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I guess you're a whole new week in now! A couple weeks ago I started my TOM and my face and chest exploded. Before that the Ziana hadn't really done anything besides break me out a little. I finally had enough so I went to see my OB/GYN and got put on a monophasic BCP to keep my hormone levels stable. Basically I went from Ortho Tri-Cyclen to Ortho Cyclen. My OB/GYN said it shouldn't break me out because it's the same thing I was on without fluctuating levels, so that's good. However, I stayed persistent with my Ziana and my Panoxyl wash for chest and back throughout the whole ordeal. I'm a little over a month into using it now.

So here's the verdict as of right now: my back is still kind of a wreck. I have a ridiculous amount of blackheads which I NEVER had before Ziana. My shoulders broke out really bad and so there are some dark red spots there. But not too many active pimples. My face is decent, a lot of red marks from my TOM and an active little pimple on my upper lip. My chest is good (knock on wood) with no active pimples right now, but a LOT of red marks that are still really embarrassing. I'm seeing my derm on Wednesday and she'll check on me. I really just want to say hang in there with me, I've read it can take 2-3 months to kick in. You're really finishing up the bad part (so am I) so now it's just waiting for the good stuff (faded scars, no new active pimples, etc).

Please let me know how you're doing! I'll show you what my face/chest/back are looking like tomorrow.

Hey everyone!

Sorry for not posting in a few weeks. I've kept being diligent with my Ziana, and I have to say that it's going REALLY well.

My chest is completely clear of active pimples and so is my face. All red marks in the following picture are hyperpigmentation.

However, my back is still kind of blah. I know I can't reach the whole thing with the Ziana, so I guess my shoulders and upper back are a bit better, but in general I still have a ton of black heads and get a few deep painful pimples. Honestly, I can handle my back breaking out, I'm just excited about my chest and face doing better. I'm actually wearing my own clothes, sundresses, and going to the pool and beach! That's a HUGE step for me. I was wearing my mom's high-necked shirts and skipping out on a lot of fun activities.

To anyone starting Ziana: STICK WITH IT. It took about a month for me to see results and I'm very pleased so far! My derm was really happy too.

I'll post again if anything changes, now I'm hoping these scars start to fade. The Ziana should help with that because it's a retinoid I believe.

Literally so happy that ziana is working out for you! I'm currently using biacna (another name of ziana), and I've been using it for one week and I've started to get a lot more white heads and pimples but I am hoping it'll get better soon! One question, IS your acne hormonal because I read that ziana doesn't help hormonal acne-it just brings everything up to the surface. I'm 16 so I'm praying it's false.

So bad news, after getting back from a vacation I took my dermatologists earlier recommendation and stopped taking my minocycline. Unfortunately my face exploded into nodules, as well as my chest and back. Luckily I had an appointment with my derm and she said that while she wants to keep me off antibiotics.

She prescribed 100 mgs of spironolactone and a sodium sulfacetamide face wash. So now I feel like I'm at square one because the spironolactone can take 2 months to work. The face wash seems gentle enough.

Alexa, I'm not really sure what the root of my acne is to be honest. I guess if it's hormonal the spironolactone should help. I really hope it does. So far Ortho Cyclen and Ziana apparently aren't enough. Here's to hoping the spironolactone and the face wash will work!

I'll keep everyone updated.

Hi! I just started Ziana 3 weeks ago with doxycycline 150mg. I had a rough breakout last week (because my monthly). How has Ziana been for you? Have you maintained clear skin? You said it cleared up after a month, but is it still clear after switching antibiotics and birth control? I'm on seasonique to help balance my hormones and I love it. You should definitely look into it. I only have 4 periods a year on seasonique which means only 4 week of breakouts compared to a breakout each month for a week.

Hello ! Any update? How is your regimen going?

So it's been a very long time since I've posted, but I have very good news.

The sodium sulfacetamide wash is amazing, I use it morning and night on my face, and once a day on my chest and back. It's very gentle.

The Ziana keeps my pores unclogged and really helps slough off dead cells, but I can only use it every other day because I peel so easily especially during the fall/winter.

And lastly, my miracle pill, the light of my life, spironolactone. This stuff keeps me 99% clear, EVEN DURING THAT TIME OF THE MONTH. I'm so in love with this stuff.

I missed a week of this regimen due to being in the hospital for medical issues and I broke out so badly, and as soon as I started back up again I became super clear again.

I am so, so thrilled to finally have a regimen that works. I can wear normal dresses and tops without covering up my chest with scarves and such because my skin is finally clear. And I no longer have to spend an hour covering up blemishes!!

I'll continue to post horribly sporadic updates for anyone interested!

Has it helped with hyperpigmentation?? I am using Ziana/Bianca gel for that just started. Thats my main thing to get rid of...