So I've dealt with acne on and off since I was a teenager, I'm now 24. I've had years in between where my skin was near flawless and I had no worry about acne on my face, but at other times I would breakout for months and months on end, end up ordering a kit of Proactiv or something and using it until it ran out/started working, and then stopped. Fast forward to about July, and my skin progressively started to get worse and worse to the point where I didn't want to leave my house a lot of the time, etc. My acne has never reached the moderate stage thankfully, its just been fairly mild. By mild I mean a couple of active spots, some remaining red marks from healing spots, and a nose full of blackheads. (gross, I know). One of the main problems is the fact that I'm very fair-skinned, therefore any red spots stand out A LOT.Lately I've been getting a new cyst almost every week, usually form on my cheek next to my nose, or on my forehead. To give you an idea of where my acne is at the moment, I have a deep cyst next to my nose (it isn't painful do to me using salicylic acid, ill get into that in a minute), I have about 3 red spots on my forehead from previous pimples, and a few small spots on my cheeks that won't turn into anything big, just unsightly and annoying.
So for about the past 2 months maybe a little longer, I've been using Dermologica's MediBac Kit on my face. It's a salicylic acid treatment.
It's basically a 2% cleanser, followed by a 2% topical "clearing mattifier" and then moisturizer in the morining.
The cleanser again at night, followed by a 2% topical "overnight clearing gel", and moisturizer. Maybe some sulfur spot treatment if I have any spots to dry up. Exfoliate once every couple of days due to the Salicylic Acid.
A fairly simple routine to follow, and it seemed to really work for the first week or so. After my skin cleared up after a week or so of use, of course my skin purged and I broke out pretty bad. Long story short, it hasn't cleared up since.. it's definitely helped my skin, the salicylic acid is great for reducing redness of exisiting/healing spots and keeping cysts at bay until they're ready to pop. The kit is great for clearing up EXISTING acne. The problem is that it doesn't seem to PREVENT new breakouts/cysts from popping up. I've been using this kit for about 2 months or more and I'm still waking up in the morning with a new spot or 2 forming that weren't present the night before.
With a stressful time of the year coming around and a whole lot of family to see (Xmas, New Years, my Birthday in February), I want to look my best because acne takes a huge toll on my self-esteem and mood, probably because I've dealt with anxiety and depression even before my acne got this bad. I want to be able to be around my family and feel good about myself and not so self-conscious, etc.
The problem is, if I begin the Regimen today, it's only 4 or 5 weeks until Christmas/New Years. From what I've read, I feel that if I start the Regimen now and put down the Dermologica, my skin could be a lot worse in a few weeks as it gets used to the Regimen and away from the Salicylic Acid treatment.
Im torn between crossing my fingers and hoping that the Dermologica will keep me fairly clear until Xmas, then starting the Regimen after all the family gatherings etc are over, incase my skin gets really bad in the first few weeks of the Regimen,
Or if I should bite the bullet and start the Regimen today, and hope that it starts to clear me up by week 3 or so.
I used a full proactiv kit about 6 or 7 months ago, and have used BP on my skin before, so it won't be brand new to my skin, but right now my skin is used to Salicylic Acid, so I'm reluctant to make the switch and hope for results in such a short period of time.
FYI, the products I bought from the Regimen are:
The Cleanser
BP Treatment
Moisturizer
Jojoba Oil
Any suggestions of what may be the best route to go? Anyone notice their skin clearing within only a couple of weeks of starting the Regimen?
Also, was wondering what you all use as an exfoliator with the Regimen, and how often you exfoliate, if at all.
Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this, I think it's actually my first post. I appreciate any help.
Start the regimen but you won't see clear skin in 5 weeks, trust me. I've been on the regimen for 7 weeks now and I still have an active breakout. And at 5 weeks you will have extremely flaky skin. So if you can bear all that Go ahead and start, or if you can't just start in January so you don't look worse than you already do right now in December.
I've been on the regimen for 5 weeks and I am still breaking out.. Some ppl get clear within a few weeks but others take months. The first 3 weeks were okay for me I didn't have much of a break out and my skin wasn't overly flakey however towards the end of week 3 and week 4 my chin had about 4 break outs on each side last week that cleared up and my right cheek started breaking out.. It all seems to be kinda clearing up a bit atm but I won't speak too soon. I don't use the reccomended amount of BP for the regimen as when I started increasing the dose I started breaking out majorly so now I only use a pea sized amount morning and night. If your acne is mild you might wanna do this too.
as to wether you should start it before Xmas it depends how bothered you are by your acne. I started mine 4 weeks before I started a new job thinking I would be clear by then.. But this is when the flakiness really kicked in for me and that Itself can be more embarrassing than the acne espesh if it's only mild
If you are worried about being a bit uncomfortable with the holiday parties coming up then just start the Regimen after the holidays. You might not end up enjoying the season if the itchy, flaky and red skin is very prominent.
Go into the regimen knowing full well that you will stick with it and really stick to it for a few months to give it a fair chance to work for your skin.
On November 17, 2015 at 424 PM, nicmic62 said:If you are worried about being a bit uncomfortable with the holiday parties coming up then just start the Regimen after the holidays. You might not end up enjoying the season if the itchy, flaky and red skin is very prominent.
Go into the regimen knowing full well that you will stick with it and really stick to it for a few months to give it a fair chance to work for your skin.
Hey Nic,
I actually went ahead and started it, and it's been going great for a week now but I'm having one small issue with red/eczema looking spots by my nose/upper lip, could you check out the thread I just posted and maybe give some insight if possible? Here's the link: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/354409-red-spots-eczema-looking-patches-around-nose-after-first-day-of-applying-bp-twice-one-week-in-the-the-regimen/
thank you!!
On November 10, 2015 at 459 PM, oyinkan98 said:Start the regimen but you won't see clear skin in 5 weeks, trust me. I've been on the regimen for 7 weeks now and I still have an active breakout. And at 5 weeks you will have extremely flaky skin. So if you can bear all that Go ahead and start, or if you can't just start in January so you don't look worse than you already do right now in December.
Thanks for your reply Oyinkan (love your name btw) . I started anyway and been having great success the first week of use, here's a link to an update on how I'm doing a week later
On November 17, 2015 at 615 AM, Natalielucy said:I've been on the regimen for 5 weeks and I am still breaking out.. Some ppl get clear within a few weeks but others take months. The first 3 weeks were okay for me I didn't have much of a break out and my skin wasn't overly flakey however towards the end of week 3 and week 4 my chin had about 4 break outs on each side last week that cleared up and my right cheek started breaking out.. It all seems to be kinda clearing up a bit atm but I won't speak too soon. I don't use the reccomended amount of BP for the regimen as when I started increasing the dose I started breaking out majorly so now I only use a pea sized amount morning and night. If your acne is mild you might wanna do this too.
as to wether you should start it before Xmas it depends how bothered you are by your acne. I started mine 4 weeks before I started a new job thinking I would be clear by then.. But this is when the flakiness really kicked in for me and that Itself can be more embarrassing than the acne espesh if it's only mild
Thanks for your reply Natalie ! I went ahead and started anyway and been having great success the first week of use, here's a link to an update on how I'm doing a week later. one minor issue with redness but that's it, pimples are fading super fast 