As promised, here are some photos (don't look if you don't want to see gross skin, obviously!).

Please be nice, it's hard for me to post these but I'm doing it in the hope that it will help others who are going through the same thing

You can click on the pictures for a slightly bigger view in my gallery.

Before Regimen

Here is one where I'm wearing makeup - you can see that the huge bumps can't be covered up

Day 2

Day 3

Same as you, I have eczema as well as moderate acne. I've tried everything from accutane to chinese medicine with little or short term improvements. With Dan's regimen, I found it too harsh for my skin since I can't even use any type of BP without my skin turning beet red. It seems the less I do, the less my skin gets irritated so all I'm using now is Spectrol gel cleanser in the morning and night and clindamycin and hc 1% cream perscribed by my dermatologist. But like any regimen, I think you should stick to it for at least a month to see if there's any noticable improvement. Also, you look good. Are you mixed race?

Hey! I guess I'm not the only unlucky one with this combination. Is your eczema in the same areas as your acne?

I'm sorry to hear that the regimen didn't work for you. So far, I've just had what seems to be the normal reaction to BP - some temporary redness and stinging but nothing that prevents me from using it. Once, I accidentally got the BP too close to my eye, and that majorly flared up my sensitivity/eczema there, so now I'm extra careful to give my eyes a wide berth.

Thanks! I am mixed, my mom is Chinese (hence the Chinese doctor and remedies!) and my dad is Caucasian.

My eczema is mostly in the same areas as my acne, the nose and cheeks. I've had it for the longest time but was not aware I had it, thinking it was acne rash, so I made it worse in the past by over washing my face, blow drying it AND not moisturizing. No one believes me but I told a few of my dermatologist that it only seems to get worse when it rains. They just dismiss it as pyschological. I have almost clear skin in the summer when it's hot and dry and it only gets worse when it rains. And I dont even have to be outside for this to happen. And just my luck, I happen to live in the rainiest city in north america. On a side note, I find that avoiding milk and dairy products entirely has reduced the amount of new pimples. Mostly because cows produce alot of hormones and that's supposedly is bad for the skin.

Day 4

No visible changes today, so I'm not going to bother posting pictures. I just cleansed and moisturized in the morning, and did the full regime with a large pea-sized amount of BP at night. I've found that a regular pea size isn't enough to cover my whole face anymore, maybe because my skin is drier now and it doesn't spread quite as easily.

I had to wear makeup to work today because I was out with a client, so before the regime at night I took off my makeup with my Shu Uemura Porefinist Cleansing Oil (which is amazing at gently removing even waterproof makeup; I definitely recommend it to anyone who finds that regular cleansers aren't getting all their makeup off). I also brought a little bottle of moisturizer with me to work and reapplied it to my chin and jawline halfway through the day, and that helped with the flakiness I've started to see there.

One little confession... I picked at a bunch of my pimples today and made a bit of a mess I know I shouldn't, but I have the hardest time leaving my face alone! A ton of the pimples you can see in yesterday's photos had come to a head today and felt like they were sticking out 2 inches from my face, so I had a moment of weakness and accidentally-on-purpose poked at them until they popped. After kicking myself and vowing to stay as far away as possible from my bathroom mirror, I dabbed some Polysporin on the spots I picked and covered them with those little round band-aids before going to sleep. I read that tip somewhere online, and it has been a lifesaver for a compulsive picker like me. It really speeds up the healing process, and usually lets you bypass the terrible scabby phase of a popped pimple (which most of you probably know is impossible to hide with makeup!).

That's so frustrating about the weather affecting your eczema since there's nothing you can do about it! At least now that you know you have it, you can treat it. Just be careful with the hydrocortisone, because when used over long periods of time it's bad for the skin and makes it really wrinkly and crepey. I've used it in the past when I've had flareups, but I recently went to a dermatologist (usually my family doctor just treats my eczema) and he prescribed me Elidel cream, which has a different active ingredient than HC. I haven't done much research on it, but I'm hoping it has less negative long-term effects.

Thanks for the concern. I have been warned as well that using it for a prolonged period of time thins of the top layer making wrinkles more prominent. But alas, it is one of the few things that is actually working for me so I've been using it for almost 6 years now, twice a day. Please let me know how that elidel cream works for you. I may want to try. Also, Picker. Picker. Picker. Stop picking.

Oh wow, that's a lot of hydrocortisone! Have you tried reducing the frequency at all? Even when I used it, I would just apply it for a few days until my eczema calmed down, and then I would go back to a non-medicated cream for moisture.

I will definitely let you know how the Elidel goes. I've been using it twice a day for about 3 days, and the itchiness and redness is pretty much gone on my inner elbows (but you can still see that the skin looks different there). My neck is also not itchy or red anymore, but it's still been pretty dry and flakey so I've started using non-medicated cream on it during the day, spread out from my Elidel applications. Is your eczema more dry, or more red and itchy?

I don't think I can ever get off it since my skin is pretty much dependent on the HC compound cream. It's basically my moisurizer after cleansing morning and night because it has cetaphil lotion in it. Even applying a thin layer of it makes my skin look greasy as hell. Maybe I don't absorb it too well or maybe I'm applying too much. I don't know. I'm glad the Elidel is working good for you. It sucks that you have it on your neck and elbow as well. My eczema isn't too bad and I think I have managed to get it under control. It's mostly red and irritating rather than dry. But the main concern for me right now is the acne. I don't know if will ever grow out of it. It has gotten less over the years, but it sucks having to be worried about how my skin will look when I wake up.

Sorry about the lack of posts! I've been really busy in the last few days so I'll catch up now.

Day 5

Since my skin had been doing very well with the BP and I had no redness or flaking, I decided to start applying it twice a day instead of just at night. The recommendation for the Regimen is to wait until the 2nd week to apply twice a day, but I felt that my skin was doing better than average with BP irritation so I moved it up a couple days. In the morning I applied a large pea-sized amount of BP, and the same at night. I took a few pictures on this day:

You can no longer see flakiness (as you can in the Day 3 photos), but I still have quite a bit of active acne in these photos. Overall, my skin is flattening out a bit, but the whiteheads I do have are really big.

Day 6

In the morning, I did the full regimen with a large pea-sized amount of BP. At night, I used slightly more BP, maybe about half a finger's length. I felt that my skin looked about the same.

Day 7

In the morning, I used about half a finger's length of BP, and at night maybe a little bit more than that - 2/3 of a finger's length. I have pretty small hands for my size, so it still doesn't feel like all that much! I felt like my skin had improved even since I last took photos two days ago, so I took some more for you guys.

The amount of active acne I have is greatly reduced even from earlier this week, especially on my cheeks, where I have only one whitehead in total! Everything is starting to calm down, although I can tell now that I have a bunch of hyperpigmentation that will still be there once I clear up. If everything continues to go well, I'll order Dan's AHA in a couple weeks to help deal with that.

I know I'm a long way off from clear skin, but now I feel like there's hope for me if the Regimen keeps doing what it's doing!

I don't think I can ever get off it since my skin is pretty much dependent on the HC compound cream. It's basically my moisurizer after cleansing morning and night because it has cetaphil lotion in it. Even applying a thin layer of it makes my skin look greasy as hell. Maybe I don't absorb it too well or maybe I'm applying too much. I don't know. I'm glad the Elidel is working good for you. It sucks that you have it on your neck and elbow as well. My eczema isn't too bad and I think I have managed to get it under control. It's mostly red and irritating rather than dry. But the main concern for me right now is the acne. I don't know if will ever grow out of it. It has gotten less over the years, but it sucks having to be worried about how my skin will look when I wake up.

How is the clindamycin working for you so far? When did you start it?

The Elidel seems to have done a great job, I stopped using it and switched back to my normal moisturizer (GlaxalBase - it's really heavy, but I have a very dry kind of eczema and this is the only thing I've tried that keeps it nice and hydrated). Sometimes it gets a bit irritated, but most days my neck is totally smooth and soft, and you can't even tell I had eczema at all!

One other thing that you can try is this tea called Hautex Skin Tea by Flora. I picked it up a couple weeks ago at a health food shop and really doubted that a bunch of natural herbs could actually fix my eczema, but after 3 days of drinking it, my eczema had gone from a huge flareup (red, itchy, flaky - gross!) to being completely perfect and smooth. It's not expensive and it's all natural, so you might want to give that a try. Unfortunately I haven't noticed that the tea has any impact on my acne, but it's still worth it to get rid of eczema.

How is the clindamycin working for you so far? When did you start it?

The Elidel seems to have done a great job, I stopped using it and switched back to my normal moisturizer (GlaxalBase - it's really heavy, but I have a very dry kind of eczema and this is the only thing I've tried that keeps it nice and hydrated). Sometimes it gets a bit irritated, but most days my neck is totally smooth and soft, and you can't even tell I had eczema at all!

One other thing that you can try is this tea called Hautex Skin Tea by Flora. I picked it up a couple weeks ago at a health food shop and really doubted that a bunch of natural herbs could actually fix my eczema, but after 3 days of drinking it, my eczema had gone from a huge flareup (red, itchy, flaky - gross!) to being completely perfect and smooth. It's not expensive and it's all natural, so you might want to give that a try. Unfortunately I haven't noticed that the tea has any impact on my acne, but it's still worth it to get rid of eczema.

I started it somewhere in 2009 and it's been working on and off. I say this because I think after using it for so long my skin has developed some sort of resistant to it so it's benefits have diminished over time. It hasn't gotten better progressively but it hasn't worsen either which justifies why I continue to use it. On the surface it has the same effect as BP without the redness and irritation but with a longer use period to see result. I think I'm allergic to BP, even a little causes my skin to burn leaving a red sploch. But overall, my skin has gotten thinner to the point where broken capilaries are visible in places they weren't before. I guess that can be treated with laser, which I had done in the past as well. I'm glad the elidel worked for you. It's sort of a science applying the right product combination to suit your skin. As much as I'd like to try the skin tea, I know I'd end up buying it and using it for a couple of days and end up being too lazy to stick to it. I've been taking a high amount of vit.a, 40,000IU a day and vit. d3 for the last few years though, so I'll most likely either end up messing up my liver and/or having clearer skin.

It has now been exactly two weeks since I started the Regimen! It feels like a lot longer, but that's just because I'm so anxious to see results. I've now worked my way up to a full finger's length, twice a day. I'm not using as thick of a stripe as Dan's videos show, but I plan to work up to that when I feel like my skin can take it. I still don't have that much flaking or redness, but just enough to make me cautious about overdoing it.

I did get another little breakout after the exciting (relatively) clear period at the end of my last post, but they were fairly small whiteheads and most of them have gone away again.

Here are some photos I took on Week 2, Day 5:

As you can see, my right cheek is still pretty bad but my forehead is clearing up and my acne isn't quite as obvious from head-on. These may actually look worse than my Day 7 photos, but that's partly due to the fact that I just got a new phone with a much better camera, so it fortunately/unfortunately captures a lot more detail.

Still, not a lot of progress since last week, but I'm sticking with it and still taking Trimethoprim twice a day. I'll order some AHA+ soon, because I can see a lot of hyperpigmentation that will still be there when I (hopefully!) get clear, especially on my right cheek. I feel like my skin is a little bumpier too, especially around my temples where I feel like I have a lot more clogged pores than I had before. Did this happen to anyone else? Maybe it's just my imagination, or maybe the clogs are slowly coming to the surface?

Also, there's a hard area on my left cheek about 1-2cm long where I had really huge and consistent nodules, and I'm guessing that it's scar tissue. Will this gradually break down by itself? It's like a hard and slightly raised bump, kind of like one of those horrible under-the-skin pimples, but it's not painful or red.

I started it somewhere in 2009 and it's been working on and off. I say this because I think after using it for so long my skin has developed some sort of resistant to it so it's benefits have diminished over time. It hasn't gotten better progressively but it hasn't worsen either which justifies why I continue to use it. On the surface it has the same effect as BP without the redness and irritation but with a longer use period to see result. I think I'm allergic to BP, even a little causes my skin to burn leaving a red sploch. But overall, my skin has gotten thinner to the point where broken capilaries are visible in places they weren't before. I guess that can be treated with laser, which I had done in the past as well. I'm glad the elidel worked for you. It's sort of a science applying the right product combination to suit your skin. As much as I'd like to try the skin tea, I know I'd end up buying it and using it for a couple of days and end up being too lazy to stick to it. I've been taking a high amount of vit.a, 40,000IU a day and vit. d3 for the last few years though, so I'll most likely either end up messing up my liver and/or having clearer skin.

If you've been taking such high amounts of Vit A for years and still haven't seen a change in your skin, I feel like maybe you should ease up off them :/ I've heard that synthetic vitamin A isn't very good for you, and high amounts of even natural vitamin A can be dangerous, so maybe you should talk to your doctor about it and see what she/he thinks.

Have you seen a dermatologist for a new acne treatment (other than clindamycin)? Since you have problems with topical treatments because of your facial eczema, antibiotics might be worth a try.

Hi Horsey, sorry that you have some acne at the moment. As you've tried quite a few things I wonder if you could try supplements too? I recommend 15mg of zinc per day, you could possibly take higher, but I take 15mg with copper. Zinc is supposed to be good for everything including skin and repair. Would take about 6 weeks before you noticed anything.

Did you try Accutane? This cleared my bad acne up.. i now just get a few a week.

I also recommend you check vitamin D levels (its easy low cost test). Just to see if you're low on that. Vitamin D effects hormones and is a common deficiency.

Benzoly Peroxide is good.. I use it everday. 5% and then use a no-oil moistriser.

Keep posting your progress, so far it looks like your skin is improving well.

If you've been taking such high amounts of Vit A for years and still haven't seen a change in your skin, I feel like maybe you should ease up off them :/ I've heard that synthetic vitamin A isn't very good for you, and high amounts of even natural vitamin A can be dangerous, so maybe you should talk to your doctor about it and see what she/he thinks.

Have you seen a dermatologist for a new acne treatment (other than clindamycin)? Since you have problems with topical treatments because of your facial eczema, antibiotics might be worth a try.

I haven't seen a dermatologist since 5 years ago. The last ones I saw work in the same office and they're apparently the best in the city. But the problem is they're pretentious and refuse to listen to my concerns, and I've only spent about 5 mins of their time every couple of months because they operate with a get in get out mentality. They take a look at my face for 1 min and say something like, "oh, your skin isn't that bad". That is true because some days I don't get a single acne at all or only a few. But it's weather dependent like I mentioned. I have days/weeks where I completely break out in every possible strange place (ear, eyebrow, neck) And mostly because they feel acne isn't a top priority for them compared to other more devastating skin disease which they also specialize in. So you get my hesistation to even go see them, not to mention the wait time (months), when all they're going to do is make superficial comments and give me refills on the cylindamycin that they perscribed. Also, I'm reluctant to see any more dermatologist as there's really nothing that I haven't tried before from pills to accutane (3x) to steroid creams etc. Also, because what I'm using isn't doing anything for me BUT it also isn't making it any worse, so I'm sort of playing it safe. My experimenting days are long over. You're right that I should talk to my doctor about my Vitamin A intake, but I know that'll I'll just continue taking it anyways because I'm stubborn. But maybe I can get blood test in between. Anyways, how long have you taken Trimethoprim? I'm asking because I took something similiar called Tetracycline when I was 17 that was the defining point of my acne journey and by defining, I mean it took a turn for the worst. My face broke out completely. There wasn't an area on my face that didn't have acne. It was covered from my forehead to my neck completely. I wanted to stop it right away but my ignorant doctor told me that was supposed to happen, so I continued taking it for another month before I stopped. Those pills lead to 90% of all my acne scars, some of which I still have today. Also, I do see some progress on your face, it looks smoother and less inflamed. So congrats on that. Also, I don't think I've asked, but are you doing anything, diet-wise to see if it helps your skin. I've tried to cut out dairy products from my diet as I am 100% convinced that it makes my acne and skin in general worse. I know this because I used to take protein powder and it's made from whey/casein, which is a milk byproduct and on the second day of taking it my skin broke out really bad and the day I stopped my skin went back to "normal". I've heard going on a vegan diet makes a huge difference but I dont think I can ever go meat free as I love meat too much.

Hi Horsey, sorry that you have some acne at the moment. As you've tried quite a few things I wonder if you could try supplements too? I recommend 15mg of zinc per day, you could possibly take higher, but I take 15mg with copper. Zinc is supposed to be good for everything including skin and repair. Would take about 6 weeks before you noticed anything.

Did you try Accutane? This cleared my bad acne up.. i now just get a few a week.

I also recommend you check vitamin D levels (its easy low cost test). Just to see if you're low on that. Vitamin D effects hormones and is a common deficiency.

Benzoly Peroxide is good.. I use it everday. 5% and then use a no-oil moistriser.

Keep posting your progress, so far it looks like your skin is improving well.

Thanks for the encouragement It really helps!

I do take a few supplements right now. I've been taking Omega 3 capsules for about 8 months and recently started also taking vitamin C, D, and calcium as I don't consume much dairy. I've heard that zinc can help with acne, so I'll pick some of that up and add it to my roster! I recently had a physical done with blood work and everything, so I'll ask my doctor about the results.

I want to avoid going on Accutane if at all possible because of all the side effects, which would be a lot worse for me in particular because I already have eczema and Accutane would aggravate that. I'm going back to my dermatologist in November, and if I'm not clear by then he wants me to go on it, but I'm hoping I won't have to. I'm glad you had great results on it though! Did you suffer any lasting side effects?

I'll try to post some new pictures tonight as it's been a few days.

I haven't seen a dermatologist since 5 years ago. The last ones I saw work in the same office and they're apparently the best in the city. But the problem is they're pretentious and refuse to listen to my concerns, and I've only spent about 5 mins of their time every couple of months because they operate with a get in get out mentality. They take a look at my face for 1 min and say something like, "oh, your skin isn't that bad". That is true because some days I don't get a single acne at all or only a few. But it's weather dependent like I mentioned. I have days/weeks where I completely break out in every possible strange place (ear, eyebrow, neck) And mostly because they feel acne isn't a top priority for them compared to other more devastating skin disease which they also specialize in. So you get my hesistation to even go see them, not to mention the wait time (months), when all they're going to do is make superficial comments and give me refills on the cylindamycin that they perscribed. Also, I'm reluctant to see any more dermatologist as there's really nothing that I haven't tried before from pills to accutane (3x) to steroid creams etc. Also, because what I'm using isn't doing anything for me BUT it also isn't making it any worse, so I'm sort of playing it safe. My experimenting days are long over. You're right that I should talk to my doctor about my Vitamin A intake, but I know that'll I'll just continue taking it anyways because I'm stubborn. But maybe I can get blood test in between. Anyways, how long have you taken Trimethoprim? I'm asking because I took something similiar called Tetracycline when I was 17 that was the defining point of my acne journey and by defining, I mean it took a turn for the worst. My face broke out completely. There wasn't an area on my face that didn't have acne. It was covered from my forehead to my neck completely. I wanted to stop it right away but my ignorant doctor told me that was supposed to happen, so I continued taking it for another month before I stopped. Those pills lead to 90% of all my acne scars, some of which I still have today. Also, I do see some progress on your face, it looks smoother and less inflamed. So congrats on that. Also, I don't think I've asked, but are you doing anything, diet-wise to see if it helps your skin. I've tried to cut out dairy products from my diet as I am 100% convinced that it makes my acne and skin in general worse. I know this because I used to take protein powder and it's made from whey/casein, which is a milk byproduct and on the second day of taking it my skin broke out really bad and the day I stopped my skin went back to "normal". I've heard going on a vegan diet makes a huge difference but I dont think I can ever go meat free as I love meat too much.

Ah, I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience with dermatologists! The first one I ever saw was like that, she was 2 HOURS late to see me and then she looked at me for about a second and prescribed me a bunch of stuff and sent me out the door. It's been 5 years for you though so I think it would be worthwhile for you to try again, just maybe at a different dermatology office. There are some good dermatologists out there

I started trimethoprim at the same time as I started the Regimen, so just over 2 weeks ago. I was on it once before when I had pretty mild acne about 5 years ago and it completely cleared me up, but it doesn't seem to be doing much so far.

Other than the supplements I noted above, I don't do a lot of special things with my diet except that I recently cut down on gluten. I used to eat a TON of pasta and other wheat products, but my parents got into the gluten-free craze and so I've greatly reduced my intake of that as well. I've also stopped drinking milk as of about 8 months ago. I used to drink a lot of milk and so I cut it out to see if it helped either my eczema or my acne but it hasn't seemed to have an effect. Other than that, I eat fairly healthy and avoid sugary foods and anything fried. Nothing breaks me out like deep fried food, which is awful because of course I love it!! If I eat even one order of fries, 2-3 days later I'll have at least 4 new under the skin cysts :'(

So my skin seemed to have taken a turn for the worse in the last 2 days or so, and I was worried that maybe the Regimen wasn't working for me, but then I got my period for the first time in about 7 weeks. (I had been on the Pill for about 2 years but stopped taking it in January of this year, and my periods have been very irregular since then). I've always had my worst skin of the month right before my period, so I'm hopeful that it will clear up quickly. I know that hormones are a huge driving force behind my acne and I've been going to a Japanese acupuncturist to help get them regulated. I'm not going to post pictures right now as I don't feel that they would be representative of the Regimen's effects, but hopefully I will have some new progress to report by the end of the week!

Oh, and a couple days ago I had a sudden onset of pretty bads flakiness around my temples and forehead, so last night before applying BP I used one of my Peter Thomas Roth Unwrinkle Pads (which have AHA in them), left it on for a couple minutes, rinsed, and then finished the Regimen as usual, and the flakiness seems to have totally gone away now.

So my skin seemed to have taken a turn for the worse in the last 2 days or so, and I was worried that maybe the Regimen wasn't working for me, but then I got my period for the first time in about 7 weeks. (I had been on the Pill for about 2 years but stopped taking it in January of this year, and my periods have been very irregular since then). I've always had my worst skin of the month right before my period, so I'm hopeful that it will clear up quickly. I know that hormones are a huge driving force behind my acne and I've been going to a Japanese acupuncturist to help get them regulated. I'm not going to post pictures right now as I don't feel that they would be representative of the Regimen's effects, but hopefully I will have some new progress to report by the end of the week!

Oh, and a couple days ago I had a sudden onset of pretty bads flakiness around my temples and forehead, so last night before applying BP I used one of my Peter Thomas Roth Unwrinkle Pads (which have AHA in them), left it on for a couple minutes, rinsed, and then finished the Regimen as usual, and the flakiness seems to have totally gone away now.

ah, that sucks to hear. Hopefully, your hormones normalize and the regimen does its thing.

So I'm now halfway through my 4th week on the Regimen. I'm sorry that I haven't been updating as much anymore, but it's mostly because I don't really have any updates. All of the progress I was seeing seems to have slowly reversed itself or just kind of stopped

These are some pictures from Week 3 Day 5:

It's been about a week since I took these photos and my skin is about the same or maybe a bit worse now. Looking back at the pictures I posted from Week 2 Day 5, I'm a little shocked at how much worse it got in that one week (and it has stayed that bad for now two weeks and counting).

My skin doesn't really feel like my skin anymore, it feels thick and sore in places, and of course a lot drier. I've started to see a bit more flakiness, probably because a few nights ago I skipped the moisturizer because I felt like my skin was smothered by it and needed a night off. Has anyone found that Dan's moisturizer actually made things worse?

Anyway, it's getting harder to stay motivated on the regimen and I'm starting to lose hope... but I will try to stick with it for another month at least and order the AHA+ which will hopefully help with texture. I will try to keep to weekly updates as I go along.

Best wishes to everybody else in the fight against acne!

ah, that sucks to hear. Hopefully, your hormones normalize and the regimen does its thing.

Thanks, I really hope so too. I seem to have the opposite problem as most people, who clear up fast but have lots of irritation and flakiness. I don't have much of either but I also am not clearing up! Maybe my skin has just become immune to BP over all the years that I've used various forms of it. I'm tempted to just stop using BP and see what my skin does on its own, because I haven't seen any progress in weeks, but I don't know.

 

ah, that sucks to hear. Hopefully, your hormones normalize and the regimen does its thing.

Thanks, I really hope so too. I seem to have the opposite problem as most people, who clear up fast but have lots of irritation and flakiness. I don't have much of either but I also am not clearing up! Maybe my skin has just become immune to BP over all the years that I've used various forms of it. I'm tempted to just stop using BP and see what my skin does on its own, because I haven't seen any progress in weeks, but I don't know.

I don't think I've ever charted my acne progress before when I was trying out a new regime. I think I'd go mad scrutinizing my face. I know some days are going to look worse than others but don't be discouraged. If Dan's regime doesn't work for you as it's almost been a month then you should stop.

So I'm now halfway through my 4th week on the Regimen. I'm sorry that I haven't been updating as much anymore, but it's mostly because I don't really have any updates. All of the progress I was seeing seems to have slowly reversed itself or just kind of stopped

These are some pictures from Week 3 Day 5:

It's been about a week since I took these photos and my skin is about the same or maybe a bit worse now. Looking back at the pictures I posted from Week 2 Day 5, I'm a little shocked at how much worse it got in that one week (and it has stayed that bad for now two weeks and counting).

 

My skin doesn't really feel like my skin anymore, it feels thick and sore in places, and of course a lot drier. I've started to see a bit more flakiness, probably because a few nights ago I skipped the moisturizer because I felt like my skin was smothered by it and needed a night off. Has anyone found that Dan's moisturizer actually made things worse?

 

Anyway, it's getting harder to stay motivated on the regimen and I'm starting to lose hope... but I will try to stick with it for another month at least and order the AHA+ which will hopefully help with texture. I will try to keep to weekly updates as I go along.

 

Best wishes to everybody else in the fight against acne!

The regimen is a roller coaster for sure! Give it at least 3-4 months to see results. I was still breaking out at 3 months and it wasnt until my 4th month that i found some relief. I hated the acne.org moisturizer and jojoba broke me out so you may want to switch to something else.

Stay strong hun, you're not in this alone.

Just wanted to pass along some tips to you now that my sons have been on a modified version of the regimen for almost 10 months....

- Leelowe is absolutely right, it takes months, rather than weeks, to see progress and it's a frustrating process. Many ups and downs. And setbacks.

- Dans moisturizer was a disaster, esp for my older son. Red and irritated skin, as close as you could come to an allergic reaction.

- Most effective BP product my sons have used is LaRoche Posay Effaclar Duo (this is my best tip to pass along to you). Prior to this they used Proactiv and Acne.org 2.5% BP. Both were just ok, clearing their skin about 80%. It wasn't until they switched to the LRP that they saw the most dramatic improvement. Technically it's not allowed on the regimen, because it's 5% BP and also contains salicylic acid. But it has been awesome for them. Gentler on the skin, has stopped all pimples, and is flattening out closed comedones as well. Gets very good reviews and I highly recommend it.

- Once a day works better for my sons. Twice a day was way too irritating and that seemed to lead to more acne, esp very inflamed acne.

- On a misc note, their skin seems to be much better in the warm weather. I'm not sure if it's due to sun exposure in the summer months or increased humidity ?? But hoping it doesn't get worse again when seasons change!

Hope some of that is helpful to you! Please stay positive!

The regimen is a roller coaster for sure! Give it at least 3-4 months to see results. I was still breaking out at 3 months and it wasnt until my 4th month that i found some relief. I hated the acne.org moisturizer and jojoba broke me out so you may want to switch to something else.

Stay strong hun, you're not in this alone.

Thanks for the encouragement, Leelowe. I'm glad the regimen ended up working for you!

Just wanted to pass along some tips to you now that my sons have been on a modified version of the regimen for almost 10 months....

 

- Leelowe is absolutely right, it takes months, rather than weeks, to see progress and it's a frustrating process. Many ups and downs. And setbacks.

 

- Dans moisturizer was a disaster, esp for my older son. Red and irritated skin, as close as you could come to an allergic reaction.

 

- Most effective BP product my sons have used is LaRoche Posay Effaclar Duo (this is my best tip to pass along to you). Prior to this they used Proactiv and Acne.org 2.5% BP. Both were just ok, clearing their skin about 80%. It wasn't until they switched to the LRP that they saw the most dramatic improvement. Technically it's not allowed on the regimen, because it's 5% BP and also contains salicylic acid. But it has been awesome for them. Gentler on the skin, has stopped all pimples, and is flattening out closed comedones as well. Gets very good reviews and I highly recommend it.

 

- Once a day works better for my sons. Twice a day was way too irritating and that seemed to lead to more acne, esp very inflamed acne.

 

- On a misc note, their skin seems to be much better in the warm weather. I'm not sure if it's due to sun exposure in the summer months or increased humidity ?? But hoping it doesn't get worse again when seasons change!

 

Hope some of that is helpful to you! Please stay positive!

Thanks so much for the tips, KAmanda! I have a prescription from my derm for BenzaClin Gel, which is 5% BP and 0.1% clindamycin. Maybe when my acne.org BP runs out I'll try switching to the BenzaClin. Dan's moisturizer doesn't irritate my skin or anything like that, but I just feel like it might be too heavy for my skin. Did you have any moisturizer recommendations?

There's not much to report for the end of my 4th week - my skin seems to be stuck in a rut. Looking back at my gallery, I think it's worse now than it was before I started the regimen. It got better in the second week, and then just got so much worse so quickly! I really don't know what's going wrong as I'm following the instructions precisely and with all the acne.org products.

I'm keeping on with it because I don't really know what else to do, and I hope things turn around soon. I go back to university this week and am really dreading seeing all my friends with this disaster of a face

Week 5 Day 1

My left cheek, which had recently been the better of the two, seems to be getting worse. I hadn't had more than one or two whiteheads there for a while but now I see several coming up. The right cheek looks worse than ever, and there are some blood spots/scabs where the whiteheads have ruptured (most of this seems to be happening during the night, as my pillow shows some blood drops too). I had my period about 1-2 weeks ago, but I guess my hormones are still a mess from coming off the pill.

If you're looking for a lighter moisturizer the Neutrogena Combination Skin is pretty good, but it does tend to sting when layered on top of BP. The Olay Sensitive Skin is also ok. Pure grapeseed oil is nice too, because it's a very light oil, but it's not a true moisturizer. Honestly though, my sons have never really found a moisturizer that they truly love so I can't strongly recommend any particular one. It's a lot of trial and error.