Hi everyone!

I am new on this forum but I thought I'd share my story here with you guys

I am a 22-year old girl from Holland. I used to have real light, pale and flawless skin. My acne battle began when I was 13 years old. I first started having the occasional big pimple - like most teenagers - but as time progressed, things got worse. The acne I had was moderate, but persistent. I had small and moderate whiteheads, blackheads and inflamed pimples all over my face. My cheeks, chin and jawline suffered mostly. What made things worse is that I couldn't stop touching it all, if I had a new zit or clogged pore, I just had to squeeze it out. I did this so many times, like almost daily for over a few years, until my face was just covered with blood because I squeezed way too hard.

This left me with not only scars, but also just large pores all over my face. There's literally holes all over my face, and because the pores are so large, they easily become clogged, no matter how clean I keep my face.

Obviously, I tried everything to make the shit stop. Benzoylperoxide was my saviour for a few months, it really made the large inflammations calm down and the pimples I had would dissapear quite fast. Unfortunately, it wasn't the wonder I hoped for, because the acne remained.

When I was 19, my GP prescribed me YAZ 24+4. This actually helped my skin a lot. The really large inflammations kind of vanished, although it never really took care of everything. My forehead was completely clear, but I still had some clogged pores and whiteheads on my cheeks and chin.

But I was okay with that. I got differin from my GP for the remaining pimples but this just made my skin burn, I didn't see improvement so I'd stopped after three to four weeks. (I know the real effect shows after 6-8 weeks, but I couldn't stick with something that made my skin burn right?)

I think it was at the end of summer 2013, I was 20 and almost 21, that I started noticing the skars of my recent pimples wouldn't fade anymore. They always healed quite fast, within a day or three, and vanished within a week. That was no longer so. It took weeks before some faded and many didn't fade at all. What was kind of weird is that my skin had also turned oily, where as before, it was always on the dry side. My skin, especially my cheeks began to look blotchy as well. I saw red spots which I first thought were acne scars (but later found out were telangiectasia). I always used blush to put a little colour in my cheeks but that just wasn't necessary anymore. I always had the problem that my face would be red as a beet after excercise, but now my entire cheeks just began to look pink permanently.

I saw my GP a few months later and I was diagnosed with Rosacea. I got metronidazole cream, which would help with the burning I experienced (it was summer), but it didn't really take the redness away. In fact, it got worse, and the cream also clogged my pores.

Today, the rosacea has only gotten worse. The difference is that I kind of know how to deal with it now. I know what my triggers are (central heating, sunbathing in the middle of the day, alcohol, spinach, smoking, being in smoky rooms, harshly rubbing my face, some ingredients such as alcohol, exercise, harsh cold wind on my face) and so I know what to avoid.

I recently stopped using BC for a month because I have experienced dry eyes for several months and I wanted to see if it had anything to do with that. What happened unfortunately was a revival of full blown acne. I suddenly had it everywhere, even on my forehead and between eyebrows - where I haven't had it in years. Obviously, I started BC again the following month, which is now, March.

My biggest problem is this: I have large pores that easily get clogged and some whiteheads frome time to time, and I have rosacea as well (flushing, persistent redness, p&ps). I need sensitive products because of rosacea, but I also need some harsh products to control the acne. Plus, I hide the whole situation with foundation, which aggrevates it even more.

My current regime:

Morning:

- gentle cleanser by Uncover Skincare (ingredients: Aqua, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate, Lauryl Glucoside, Sodium Laureth-11 Carboxylate, PEG-150 Distearate, Laureth-7 Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Laureth-10, Methyl Gluceth-20, PEG-4 Rapeseedamide, PEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Ethylhexylglycerin, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Caprylyl Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Tetrasodium EDTA.)

- Exfoliant by Uncover Skincare (ingredients: Aqua, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Citric Acid, Salicylic Acid 1%, Methyl Gluceth-20, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Evodia Rutaecarpa Fruit Extract, Allantoin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium Hydroxide, Ethylhexylglycerin, Butylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA.) n I know that using an exfoliator might be a bad thing for rosacea, but I don't experience a worsening of the rosacea, it helps to keep my pores clean. I am kind of worried about some other ingredients, such as citric acid.

- Different from day to day: Either Benzoylperoxide 10% and/or Zinc Oxide cream. I use a teenieweenie amount of BP on trouble areas, and Zinc Oxide on areas that need healing.

- Moisturizer for dry skin by Decubal I actually think this moisturizer is way too thick and I think it clogges my pores (ingredients: Aqua, Pentylene Glycol, Glycerin, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Niacinamide, Simmondsia Chinensis, Glyceryl Stearate, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Butyrospermum Parkii, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyglyceryl-3 Methyglucose Dist., Magnesium Aluminium Silicate, Sorbitol, Ceramide 6 II, Ceramide 3, Phytosphingosine, Xanthan Gum, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polyglyceryl-2, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Stearic Acid, Sodium Gluconate, Sodium Hydroxide )

- Sunblock by Biodermal I cant find the ingredients of this one, it just says it's for sensitive skin. It doesn't really give me huge breakouts (whiteheads) but it makes my skind oily.

After this I apply make-up, most importantly foundation. This is my second major problem. I still haven't found a foundation - either liquid or powder - that doesn't make me break out. At the end of the day, after using foundation, I observe new clogged pores and whiteheads, especially on the cheeks/jawline/chin area.

Night:

- First take off my make-up with Nivea Daily Essentials Sensitive Cleansing Wipes for Dry and Sensitive skin. (ingredients:

• Aqua, Isopropyl Stearate, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycerin, VP/Hexadecene Copolymer, Sodium Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Methylisothiazolinone)

- Wash my face with Uncover Skincare cleanser

- After that I wipe my face with a cotton pad drenched in Garnier micellar cleansing water

- Then I apply Uncover Skincare exfoliant

- Afterwards I often apply BP or zinc again, depending on what my face looks like.

Once or twice a week:

- Garnier self heating zinc mask.

Well after all this info on my skincare routine... my questions for you are:

- Are there people out there with the same problems as I have? (oily skin, large pores, whiteheads, flushing, rosacea)

- What products would you advice? (you know of a calming non comedogenic moisturizer?)

- Anyone have any experience with a good noncomedogenic foundation?

- Is there anyone who has experience with low dose accutane for this kind of problem? Because I want to try this as a last resort

if all else fails.

- Any other tips? (maybe dietary, although I've already cut out enough in my opinion )

Thank you for reading all of this, looking forward to your replies!

xoxo DC