Edit: read the last post if you want to see what has finally worked for me! Link for pictures too.
After being in very low spirits about my skin, I researched the Internet for what seems like half the day yesterday. While reading over a post on acne.org, labeled, "The bad list", I realized the natural organic crap I've been using as a face wash, contained 2 comedogenic ingredients, at the top of the ingredients list. smh. What was I thinking?!
Instead of sulking, I tried really hard to find something new,without harsh detergents, from, "thegood list", but I couldn't find anything that struck a chord just yet and I got tired of looking, so I started thinking back...
There were a few periods in my life that my skin was pretty decent and I tried like crazy to remember what I was using on my skin and I think it was mainly,plain old dove sensitive skin soap, but I'm not certain. I'm not sure what moisturizer I was using, along with what I was washing with. I also wanted to try and remember what broke me out. So, I brainstormed and wrote out a timeline. Some things I used during major events in my life, so I remember the year(s) when I used them. Other things, I know the exact year because I looked back in my Amazon purchasing history lol.This doesn't count things I used for 2 weeks, before movingonto the next. I've tried a lot of things. Also, I just wrote the approximate year, not exactly how long I used each thing, unless I could remember.Some of this list doesn't have dates, but I put everything in approximate order.
* I now know that diet does play a role in my acne, but this is solely a list of topical things that I can remember trying, as I don't remember what I ate lol. As of the last year and recently though, I avoid (as much as I can), dairy, guar gum (binding ingredient in dairy free ice cream), preservatives/ flavor packets/ mixes (recently, after an acne.org member reached out to me), peanut butter and I take Ceylon cinnamon supplements after each large meal.
Face wash:
Starting yesterday, dove sensitive skin beauty bar, because I had to stop using Castile soap and it's what I had
-2015-16 Castile soap (possibly what broke me out during tretinoin usage?)
-2015 albolene -tissue off, then double cleanse (this worked, but I started double cleansing with Castile soap, so maybe that's why it stopped working?)
-2014-2015 castor/grapeseed ocm
-2014 coconut oil ocm (broke me out. Comedogenic. Duh.)
-Dove sensitive skin beauty bar? (I think this is what I used, but I didn't think I used it for so long and maybe I'm missing something here. I wasn't aware of the ingredients changing possibly sometime in 2011? Maybe that's why I kept looking for something else at that time? Or maybe it was the moisturizer I was using at the moment?)
-Acne.org regimen (I think if i didn't abuse bp before using this, it could've worked, but it didn't work for me)
-cetaphil (didn't work at all. Didn't clean at all. I wish people would quit seeing my face and immediately recommend it to me)
-2010- dermologica wash and moisturizer (broke me out)
-clearasil face wash (very drying)
-Proactive wash and system (horrible experience)
-Purpose bar, or pump wash (both worked for a while)
-clean and clear wash (worked for a long while. My skin got used to it, or there was an ingredient change, but I'm not sure)
Treatments/masks:
Currently-
-Calamine lotion on spots and under makeup for less than a week now
-Raw honey for the past 2 weeks (calms redness and helps bring down cysts a little)
-ACV/water toner 1:1 ratio (takes off excess makeup, if there is any)
-no moisturizer, except oil under my eyes
-Every few weeks, Albolene mask, scraped off with a business card to pull out blackheads (totally weird and it works to pull out hard black heads, but this has to irritate)
-2015-16 tretinoin (constant purge? Or was it the crap organic wash I was using?)
-2010-15 de la cruz sulfur ointment (great at exfoliating, but my skin must've gotten used to it)
-Bentonite clay and ACV mask (helps calm)
-2012 chemical peel (f*** that)
-Queen Helene mint julep mask (love this. Need to buy again)
-2006 Aspirin mask (worked for a while)
-tretinoin (used it wrong and burned my face off)
-Clindamycin (didn't do much for the cost)
-differin (didn't do much for the cost)
2004-2006- tinted clearasil, mixed with white clearasil, used as, "makeup" (worked for a while, but I abused it and I believe that's why my skin has reactions to bp now. It was also aging me, even though I was in my 20s)
-clearasil as spot treatment (worked and led to using it daily and all over my face as makeup. Go big, or go home?)
Moisturizers that I actually stuck with:
-currently- nothing, except oil, or albolene under my eyes
-Organic, cold pressed pumpkin seed oil
-albolene
-Organic, cold pressed grapeseed oil (I mix this with castor and still use it)
-Organic, cold pressed castor oil (needs to be mixed with another oil, but it's effective)
-jojoba oil (broke me out)
-Emu oil (I'd buy again)
-Dan's moisturizer (kind of stung, but I stuck it out for a while)
-Olay moisturizer, sensitive skin, newer version (thank you, Dan for pointing out that the ingredients changed. I was able to use the old one for a while)
-Proactive moisturizer (I have a deep hatred for all things proactive. A job interviewer once asked, "are you proactive?"... My thoughts, "oh, dear God, that word!"
-Olay moisturizer, sensitive skin, old version (worked well)
-Salicylic acid moisturizer, I think clearasil, or clean and clear (didn't work as well as I'd hoped)
Things I may keep using, or start using again:
-Dove sensitive skin beauty bar, if I can't find something without ingredients on the bad list, I'll keep using
-De la Cruz sulphur ointment
-queen Helene mint julep mask
-If I need moisturizer, I'll most likely stick to a very thin layer of albolene, or an organic oil
wow, that's a lot
Oh, and I'm a 34year old female with very oily skin, cystic acne, blackheads, comedones and dark purply hyperpigmentation, against pale or tan skin, depending on the season. I wash day and night religiously. I also sleep on a white, 100% cotton t-shirt (as a pillow case) washed in mainly ACV and changed every 2 nights, since my left cheek is in a constant state of breakout these days.
This post was written for my brainstorming/ trial and error benefit, but if something in here helps someone learn from my trial and error, I wanted to share.
ifI don't find something that works for me, I need to consider Accutane, since I'm done having kids, like derms have suggested in the past
After making this timeline and realizing i actually used the de la Cruz sulfur ointment for 5 years, I decided that product should be something to definitely try again again. But, this time, when I dug out a tub of it, I may have figured out the reason why it stopped working, or why I didn't think it worked at certain times while using it, during the 5 year spread!!!
...I opened the old tub and around the rim of the lid, the sulfur had turned pink, like it was some sort of fungus you see in a shower that needs to be cleaned! Ew!! I immediately threw it away and found a new, sealed container under the bathroom sink, then proceeded with that.
Could there have been fungus growing in the tubs of sulfur I was using on my face, causing more acne and I just didn't see it?! Could that be the reason my holy grail acne treatment didn't work sometimes? there's definitely. chance because, well one, I saw with my own eyes that it can happen. And, two, because I was at the point that I was buying this stuff in 6 packs, then keeping an opened/used tub of it in various places, like my overnight bag, makeup bag, the downstairs bathroom and the master bathroom. That's 4 places for it to sit and breed gross fungus. Bleh!
This is time around I'm going to do things different and hope for the best.
I'm going to only use 1 unsealed jar of de la Cruz at a time, close the jar as tight as I can and probably throw away if my face seems uncontrollable.
I'm never going to use my fingers to scoop this stuff out, to put on my face.
I'm going to use less this time around. When I was using before, I was mixing it with moisturizer, morning and night, without rinsing off and that was probably too much.
The directions say to use like a mask and rinse off, but last night, I applied a very thin layer, after washing with dove sensitive skin beauty bar, without moisturizer and went to sleep. This morning, the cyst I've had for 3-4 days, right in the middle of my forehead, had come to a head! Yay! I carefully popped it, by pulling the top off with tweezers (I know I shouldn't, I just can't help it), washed with dove and did not apply moisturizer. My face doesn't feel dry, but I'll proceed with caution and see how this goes.
I still have the raw honey on standby and I may dab the calamine on any actives before makeup.
If anyone came to this thread because of any of the products I listed above, I want you to know what has finally worked for me and my super oily skin! And it was none of those products, especially once the heat and high humidity started setting in where I live.
Before and after pictures are here: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/357853-21-years-with-acne/#comment-3518508
...if you don't want to read through my boo hoos in that thread, here is my current regimen:
i take 20 drops 2-3 times a day of burdock root tincture (blood cleanser and liver supporting herb).
Before my shower, I wipe my face with organic, cold pressed grapesees oil and a tissue, to take off my makeup. I get in the shower and let the hot water run on my face. When I get out, I wipe my face dry, with a dry towel. Not the traditional oil cleansing method, I know. But, I've tried ocm before and it didn't clear like this is.
Once A week, I "shave" my face with aneyebrow razor (tinkle brand), to exfoliate. It gets tiny hairs off too. I do this with a dry face, that probably has some grapeseed oil still on it.
After my shower, or after shaving, usinga cotton round, I wipe Dickinson's brand witch hazel all over my face and neck.
I do not moisturize. Again, my skin is super oily. If I moisturize, or use moisturizing cleansers, the oil on my face keeps building up and it gets pretty awful. For the winter, I plan to use Thayers alcohol free rose pedal witch hazel in my regimen. I tried it before I tried the Dickinson's and it was just too moisturizing for this humidity.
I hope this helps someone!
