Hey guys, I've just started epiduo 3 weeks ago & i wanted to share my journey with everyone who has similar skin or problems like me.
My skin is oily, i never had acne all my life, i only developed it 4 months ago. I don't have severe acne, just lots of scarring because i popped every single one of the pimples i had. At my worst, i had about 4 pimples on my face. I mostly had pustules, and one cystic pimple that wouldn't go away for ages.
This is my routine.
Morning:
Wash face with Cetaphil oily skin cleanser
Spray aveeno thermal water, wait for it to dry.
Apply is mixture of ducray depigmentation cream & acnedop (Adapalene & clindamycin)
Apply sunscreen (riviela sunscreen)
Night:
Wash with cetaphil oily skin foaming cleanser.
Spray with aveeno
Apply a mixture of ACL AHA lightening gel & Epiduo
Apply moisturiser ( I use my derm's brand)
I've been given antibiotics as well. 250mg azithromycin for 3 days every week for a month.
Also, i apply makeup on most days, i haven't had any issues applying makeup with these products.
This is my progress so far,
Week 1: No stinging, but skin was dry and looked red. Skin felt smoother than usual.
Week 2: Mild stinging, nothing too crazy. My face burned when i washed it though which is weird. I had tiny breakouts on my forehead which is so weird because it used to be the clearest part of my face.
Week 3 : Not much of a difference, now i get small little bumps on my skin. It doesn't look like a pimple, its just a tiny white sac. I usually put a TINY dot of BP(2.5%) on it overnight and sometimes its gone. I have notices that my scars are fading so yeay! I will post up pictures very soon.
Its officially week 4. Can't believe its already been a month. On the the first 2 days of this week two clogged pores popped up. But they went away in a day.
I now have one red looking spot and 1 raised bump on my face. The rest of my face is pretty much clear. I think it might be due to me eating really unhealthy for the past few days. Looking forward to clearer skin! My acne scars seem to be fading slowly & my forehead is back to being clear. Will update this thread next week with before after pictures.
Its now the 5th week. Time sure flies. I think i'm still in the initial breakout stage. Once again, no big break outs, but i currently have about 3 small pimples that are just under the skin. I haven't been feeling to optimistic lately, but i'm going to stick with it because i know retinoids take atleast 2-3 months to really work.
So if there is anyone else who just feels like giving up, don't! Lets wait it out! My skin hasn't really been dry or anything.
Scars are fading slowly, don't know if its the epiduo or the aha. I have also been exfoliating with fine ground coffee scrub every 2 days, which leaves my skin baby butt soft.
Its now the 5th week. Time sure flies. I think i'm still in the initial breakout stage. Once again, no big break outs, but i currently have about 3 small pimples that are just under the skin. I haven't been feeling to optimistic lately, but i'm going to stick with it because i know retinoids take atleast 2-3 months to really work.
So if there is anyone else who just feels like giving up, don't! Lets wait it out! My skin hasn't really been dry or anything.
Scars are fading slowly, don't know if its the epiduo or the aha. I have also been exfoliating with fine ground coffee scrub every 2 days, which leaves my skin baby butt soft.
I really feel like giving up! It's only my 5th day today and I am having an outbreak, skin became really red... But I'm hanging on! Let's do our best
Its now the 5th week. Time sure flies. I think i'm still in the initial breakout stage. Once again, no big break outs, but i currently have about 3 small pimples that are just under the skin. I haven't been feeling to optimistic lately, but i'm going to stick with it because i know retinoids take atleast 2-3 months to really work.
So if there is anyone else who just feels like giving up, don't! Lets wait it out! My skin hasn't really been dry or anything.
Scars are fading slowly, don't know if its the epiduo or the aha. I have also been exfoliating with fine ground coffee scrub every 2 days, which leaves my skin baby butt soft.
I really feel like giving up! It's only my 5th day today and I am having an outbreak, skin became really red... But I'm hanging on! Let's do our best
Stay strong! The first weeks are always the worst because our skin is getting used to the product. It's gonna be worth it 
This has been the worst week yet!! Im still breaking out in tiny pimples in the oddest places, mostly where i never broke out before which is my inner cheeks and my forehead. I envy those who didn't have to go through the initial breakout and their skin started clearing up right away. Its been a little more than 5 weeks. I'm going to stick with it no matter how long it takes. I read on some forums that aha could cause you skin to purge as well. I don't know if i have pimples or whiteheads, its just small red bumps under the skin. What is this? Anyone has any idea?
6 weeks!
My skin is much better. I'm still getting those pesky tiny breakouts(i have 2 bumps the size of a pinhead on my face), but I've figured that if i just let them be & not spot treat them with extra bp, they tend to go away on their own in 2 days. Also, i picked at a blackhead last week, I HATE THOSE THINGS. And sure enough i got that nasty sucker out, but it started bleeding and i had a huge dark scar. And 2 days later the weirdest thing happened, the scar dried up, peeled off, and the skin underneath looked like nothing had ever happened. I've noticed this happening with some of my newer scars. Odd indeed. But i'm not complaining. My older scars are definitely improving. I'm just hoping i stop getting those tiny bumps.
I've also been using finely ground coffee to exfoliate my skin once in 2 days, and it seems to be helping my skin.
Start of week 7. I've had 2 small pimples on the side of cheek that have been lingering for awhile now. I'm so tempted to pop it, but i will not! other than that, i'm still purging, but not in big pimples but rather small whiteheads, they go away on their own in a day or 2. So it doesn't bother me too much. I've seen other uses see improvement after 8 weeks, so i'm just praying that my skin gets better soon. I hope anyone reading this knows that this medicine takes time, so please please stick it out for atlas 3-6 months before deciding to quit. Scars are steadily fading though.
It's week 10 already? I'm still breaking out a little bit here and there. I think I still haven't got past the purging. But my pimples rarely last longer than 2 days and go away without scarring so I don't mind. They are also really tiny. I think I might have broken out because of sleeping with makeup on the other day! Oh well. I think the best way to motivate yourself is to take pictures. Every time I look at my progress, I feel the epiduo has helped me so much
Hey guys. Its week 11 now. what can i say. My skin isn't where i want it to be, but its improved tremendously. I will be going to the derm in 2 months for a review, maybe ill get something stronger. But, my skin is definitely not breaking out like crazy or anything. Im just still getting those tiny bumps on my forehead and they annoy me. Ill get the bumps on my face too, once a while. Might be going on Retin-a next, now that my skin is used to adapelene. :)) will keep updating this thread until i can achieve flawless skin.