when beginning a new regime like this is it normal to have ups and downs?

Yes, it's normal. Sometimes a new regimen will cause the skin to purge, which can take up to 3 weeks to surface. But there can be a series of purges depending on the severity of your acne. While severe cases can take up to 4 months to clear, light cases might require only 1. How would you describe your acne? Also, if your skin doesn't remain clear even after the purge(s), the routine isn't working.

>And how may weeks would you give a regime before you expected it to be showing its FULL results?

What specific results would you like? Just clear skin, or something else (such as evening out your skin tone, improving texture, etc.) Things like this take much longer than simply clearing acne.

I would probably consider my acne more on the mild side, while occasionally delving on the slightly moderate side (mostly my forehead and chin). Would it be safe to say a middle ground 2 months? to see if it was purging or just breaking me out.

I'm mostly just talking about active acne, I know redness and skin tone can take months to start changing at all.

I usually switch one product at a time as its hard to tell what's working and what's not when you change multiple products at a time. Saying that, 3-4 weeks should give you a fair idea how your getting on.

Yes, 2 months seems good.

 

I hope there are people here who can give you a more accurate answer. I haven't used a routine like this.

 

BTW, how long do you leave the scrub on? Thanks

I changed to a more gentle regime, I think I was clearing from the products in the scrub, but started breaking out pretty bad from the over exfoliation of just patting it on twice a day. The exfoliating beads can be pretty harsh even if you don't mean them to be.

I'm going to try the foaming cleanser version of the products I'm using, which is obviously as gentle as it gets.. and then use a simple witch hazel toner all over afterwords in the morning. Then at night ill pat on the scrub as usual and call it a night. I hope this works in calming the breakout down.. and I shouldn't purge much more since I'm just switching to a more gentle variation of the product.

I really hope this works... if not ill have to go back to make "safe" just washing with dans cleanser morning and night and that's it.. but It just doesn't give me a level of consistent clear that I'm happy with.

Also to answer your question I usually leave the cleanser on for a minute or two.. lets the clay set a little, and the products to get a little grasp on my skin.

I wish I didn't have extremely sensitive skin and could tolerate more harsh products! D :

To me medicated acne washes never appealed to me since I'd just be washing the product down the drain. The reason topical treatments are so effective is that they stay on the skin. Even hours after you apply the product, they still do their job. It was found through trial & error that one application of BP is effective for 12 hours. As far as AHA, it will do its job as long as you feel the burn, etc.

 

Is your skin too sensitive to use topical BP? You might be able to get away w/ AHA alone b/c the product itself can usually clear mild cases of acne. BP is required for moderatesevere cases.

Unfortunately my skin became hypersensitive after applying bp for a couple months. A rare occurrence. My skin can only tolerate washes and very mild toners.. no topicals that stay on the skin unfortunately. I can't even use moisturizer without getting a reaction.. well I'm still trying to find one that will work. I've been to a dermatologist and a skin specialist, unfortunately neither of them could give me answers. I could try antibiotics, but I don't think it's worth it based on everything ive read about it.. I think I'm best off trying to find some wash/toner that provides some relief, or just sticking with my gentle cleansing routine until I hopefully grow out of it..

 

To me medicated acne washes never appealed to me since I'd just be washing the product down the drain. The reason topical treatments are so effective is that they stay on the skin. Even hours after you apply the product, they still do their job. It was found through trial & error that one application of BP is effective for 12 hours. As far as AHA, it will do its job as long as you feel the burn, etc.

 

Is your skin too sensitive to use topical BP? You might be able to get away w/ AHA alone b/c the product itself can usually clear mild cases of acne. BP is required for moderatesevere cases.

 

Unfortunately my skin became hypersensitive after applying bp for a couple months. A rare occurrence. My skin can only tolerate washes and very mild toners.. no topicals that stay on the skin unfortunately. I can't even use moisturizer without getting a reaction.. well I'm still trying to find one that will work. I've been to a dermatologist and a skin specialist, unfortunately neither of them could give me answers. I could try antibiotics, but I don't think it's worth it based on everything ive read about it.. I think I'm best off trying to find some wash/toner that provides some relief, or just sticking with my gentle cleansing routine until I hopefully grow out of it..

I don't know if you've experimented w/ diet or not, but this seems like a good resource. I currently take 50 mg of zinc gluconate/day. It provides 40% improvement in acne symptoms. Is this something you'd consider doing?

I never noticed too many triggers with diet and acne with me personally. Citrus being the only thing I actively avoid. I tried zinc before! But I never really stuck with it for too long. How long were you taking it before you noticed any clearing?