I'm so sorry you're going through such a bad breakout! It's terrible isn't it?

I can only tell you what worked for me with the same sort of acne. I will tell you exactly what I use because NO other face wash/acne gel/moisturizer has ever worked for me except these. They all broke me out.

I use Olay foaming face wash for combination skin, it's at Walmart. Blue and purple bottle. Wash gently with a nice lather for 10 seconds. repeat over again for 10 seconds if you had makeup on)

For acne gel I order acnefree's Terminator benzoyl peroxide 5% online because it's not in stores anymore and nothing else works the same. (rub it in all over, and a second time all over your bad areas, then spot treat)

Then I do Walmart's sensitive moisturizer (equate, compare to Neutrogena) I only use this in the morning.

I use these products in the acne.org Regimen. It has consistently given me clear skin for a year. With only occasional breakouts, because I am just plain acne prone and probably always will be. I've got a few right now... but I've had the first clear year of my life!

I highly suggest you try that combo of face stuff I just mentioned and give it a try on the regimen. Gentle washing, CLEAN towels, moisturize in the morning with the walmart brand (Everything else has broken me out, Cerave, Olay, all of them) I don't moisturize at night because I wake up with whiteheads. I just let the Terminator gel do its job while I sleep. Be generous with how much you apply..

Remember, no face wash that has beads or scrubs, and no face brushes! They aggravate the acne, being gentle is key. Give it a try! If you need any help I'm on here fairly often!!

Best of wishes to you, and happy holidays!! *HUGS*

I always wanted to add something... my mom had suggested the Simple face line to me too, but it didn't work for my acne. I've tried almost everything in the drugstores and a few pills and prescriptions from derms and nothing has worked before this. Neither did cutting out soda and dairy With the regimen + products I'm using now, my skin gets so smooth I can touch it or rub it once or twice and it's not the biggest deal in the world, you know? It was a cosmetic issue, not internal. That's why dermatologist stuff never helped. People swear acne is internal but people are not right all of the time.

Just wanted to share with you!! I hope you decide to try and I hope I have helped a little!

I agree mostly with above. You need something that GENTLY cleanses your face morning and night. You need something that kills the acne bacteria effectively and you need something to soothe the skin. It is this combo that clears up skin...that and in addition avoiding dairy because it has hormones that aggravate cystic acne (which is what you have). For a cleanser I agree that Olay Foaming wash is good. It is very gentle.If your skin can tolerate a topical BP then use that. Use it once a day. If your skin reacts to that then use a gentle BP cleanser once a day. I really like Panoxyl 10%. It really works but is very gentle for sensitive skin. Personally I have to use a topical antibiotic in addition to the BP cleanser because the BP is washed off. Both BP cleanser and topical BP kill acne bacteria. Use a moisturizer especially developed for acne prone skin. None of the Clinique or Liz or department store brands work (even if they say they do) and this is because they have too many other additives, scents, etc. When they or their staff say they work for blemished skin it means they work for people with extremely mild surface acne...the kind you can hardly see. You have cystic acne. This requires different kind of care.My derm swears by DML lotion. You can get it online or at a drugstore. It was developed for acne prone skin and for skincare following cosmetic surgery so you know it is mild and soothing.Hope this helps. Oh - also pay attention to diet. Avoid all dairy, sugars, caffeine, alcohol and processed oils. This will make a dramatic difference in your skin inflammation. Diet will not cure cystic acne by itself but used in conjunction with a BP product and gentle skincare you skin will clear up. Please see my regime below. It was developed for my horrid cystic acne and I am 100% clear now and have been for a long time. I keep posting here because I want to see others avoid common mistakes in acne care.

I'm so sorry you're going through such a bad breakout! It's terrible isn't it?

I can only tell you what worked for me with the same sort of acne. I will tell you exactly what I use because NO other face wash/acne gel/moisturizer has ever worked for me except these. They all broke me out.

I use Olay foaming face wash for combination skin, it's at Walmart. Blue and purple bottle. Wash gently with a nice lather for 10 seconds. repeat over again for 10 seconds if you had makeup on)

For acne gel I order acnefree's Terminator benzoyl peroxide 5% online because it's not in stores anymore and nothing else works the same. (rub it in all over, and a second time all over your bad areas, then spot treat)

Then I do Walmart's sensitive moisturizer (equate, compare to Neutrogena) I only use this in the morning.

I use these products in the acne.org Regimen. It has consistently given me clear skin for a year. With only occasional breakouts, because I am just plain acne prone and probably always will be. I've got a few right now... but I've had the first clear year of my life!

I highly suggest you try that combo of face stuff I just mentioned and give it a try on the regimen. Gentle washing, CLEAN towels, moisturize in the morning with the walmart brand (Everything else has broken me out, Cerave, Olay, all of them) I don't moisturize at night because I wake up with whiteheads. I just let the Terminator gel do its job while I sleep. Be generous with how much you apply..

Remember, no face wash that has beads or scrubs, and no face brushes! They aggravate the acne, being gentle is key. Give it a try! If you need any help I'm on here fairly often!!

Best of wishes to you, and happy holidays!! *HUGS*

 

 

I always wanted to add something... my mom had suggested the Simple face line to me too, but it didn't work for my acne. I've tried almost everything in the drugstores and a few pills and prescriptions from derms and nothing has worked before this. Neither did cutting out soda and dairy With the regimen + products I'm using now, my skin gets so smooth I can touch it or rub it once or twice and it's not the biggest deal in the world, you know? It was a cosmetic issue, not internal. That's why dermatologist stuff never helped. People swear acne is internal but people are not right all of the time.

Just wanted to share with you!! I hope you decide to try and I hope I have helped a little!

Thank you for your reply. Yes, having a breakout is the worst. Especially one this bad! I'm from the UK so I'll probably have to do a search online for the products that you're recommending but I will take a look.

Did you find that the Terminator gel broke you out more when you first started using it? Or did it start to help your skin straight away? I'm trying to avoid using any new products that may cause my skin to get worse before it gets better kind of thing, especially with it being so close to christmas and new year.

I use makeup brushes to do my makeup with - does this mean I need to avoid using these from now on?

Thank you for your help

I'm so sorry you're going through such a bad breakout! It's terrible isn't it?

I can only tell you what worked for me with the same sort of acne. I will tell you exactly what I use because NO other face wash/acne gel/moisturizer has ever worked for me except these. They all broke me out.

I use Olay foaming face wash for combination skin, it's at Walmart. Blue and purple bottle. Wash gently with a nice lather for 10 seconds. repeat over again for 10 seconds if you had makeup on)

For acne gel I order acnefree's Terminator benzoyl peroxide 5% online because it's not in stores anymore and nothing else works the same. (rub it in all over, and a second time all over your bad areas, then spot treat)

Then I do Walmart's sensitive moisturizer (equate, compare to Neutrogena) I only use this in the morning.

I use these products in the acne.org Regimen. It has consistently given me clear skin for a year. With only occasional breakouts, because I am just plain acne prone and probably always will be. I've got a few right now... but I've had the first clear year of my life!

I highly suggest you try that combo of face stuff I just mentioned and give it a try on the regimen. Gentle washing, CLEAN towels, moisturize in the morning with the walmart brand (Everything else has broken me out, Cerave, Olay, all of them) I don't moisturize at night because I wake up with whiteheads. I just let the Terminator gel do its job while I sleep. Be generous with how much you apply..

Remember, no face wash that has beads or scrubs, and no face brushes! They aggravate the acne, being gentle is key. Give it a try! If you need any help I'm on here fairly often!!

Best of wishes to you, and happy holidays!! *HUGS*

 

 

I always wanted to add something... my mom had suggested the Simple face line to me too, but it didn't work for my acne. I've tried almost everything in the drugstores and a few pills and prescriptions from derms and nothing has worked before this. Neither did cutting out soda and dairy With the regimen + products I'm using now, my skin gets so smooth I can touch it or rub it once or twice and it's not the biggest deal in the world, you know? It was a cosmetic issue, not internal. That's why dermatologist stuff never helped. People swear acne is internal but people are not right all of the time.

Just wanted to share with you!! I hope you decide to try and I hope I have helped a little!

Thank you for your reply. Yes, having a breakout is the worst. Especially one this bad! I'm from the UK so I'll probably have to do a search online for the products that you're recommending but I will take a look.

Did you find that the Terminator gel broke you out more when you first started using it? Or did it start to help your skin straight away? I'm trying to avoid using any new products that may cause my skin to get worse before it gets better kind of thing, especially with it being so close to christmas and new year.

I use makeup brushes to do my makeup with - does this mean I need to avoid using these from now on?

Thank you for your help )

I would usually say diet is the culprit for most acne cases but yours isn't severe at all and by the looks of it, it just looks irritated from excess use of other substances that aren't deemed "natural". Try cutting down on the products you use and this may sound a bit odd but try to only cleanse your face with water instead of using any products. I bring that up because like I said, your skin just looks irritated, not exactly "acne" or what others experience here on this forum.

Thank you for your reply mk04, for some reason it won't let me reply to you via "Quote".

I think I do agree with you, before I used any Clinique or Liz Earle products, my skin was fine. Just the odd spot here and there so yes I agree - my skin has just been irritated as a result of using these products.

I will try your advice and just wash my face with water - I've heard this to be quite successful for some people so I will see how it goes.

Thank you )

Don't add anything new until you see the derm. Keep washing and moisturizing. Also, if you can, ditch the makeup until you've begun to get things under control. It's a process and may take weeks/months to clear but don't get discouraged.

Hi leelowe1, thanks for replying.

I am no longer adding anything new to my skin, as I figured that it will just irritate my skin more and I am seeing some improvements..I'm using ice to reduce inflammation and drinking a lot of water and green tea.

Gonna try and slowly come off makeup so fingers crossed!

Ab95x,

Sorry I'm late getting back to you! I was out of town for a few days.

To answer you about the Terminator gel, no it never broke me out once I started using it correctly, all over my face, instead of just spot treating. Once I started it with the Regimen, it was only good things from there.

Makeup brushes are ok, but make sure you wash them after each application. I use Elf's makeup cleanser and it's super easy- you just spray it on and wipe it off. It smells good too! A lot of causes of acne come from the products and things we use that are a LOT dirtier than we think they are, ya know?

I'm so sorry you're having a hard time, especially at this time of year when you want to look your best! You're not alone though!

I'm also from the UK so I'll tell you what I use to calm my skin down when I break out:

I wash my face with cold water sulphur soap (might sound weird but it's really gentle and doesn't dry). I just got it from Boots, in a bar for a couple of pounds. Ask if you can't find it!

I then tone with pure witchazel - this is so good for reducing redness. Again just got this from Boots.

I then apply Paula's Choice BHA 2% gel.

I then use Aveeno daily moituriser.

At night, I spot treat with Queen Helene mint julep mask. This stuff is really good to leave on overnight. You can get this off Amazon and it's so cheap for a huge bottle.

All of these products are fine for my sensitive skin so shouldn't aggravate your blemishes any more.

I hope things improve for you but I must say from what you can see of your pictures, you look like a very pretty girl and I'm sure you have so many lovely features people will be admiring rather than your spots!

I know it's difficult but good luck and I hope you have a lovely Christmas x