intothewild 6 Share Posted August 7, 2016 (edited) I just wanted to share a little story that I was thinking about today. When I was 16 my acne started to become noticeable. I had had mild skin issues probably since age 14 but it got to the point where it was noticeable and I wanted to fix it at age 16. I started washing my face with new cleansers (Benzoyl peroxide, Salicylic acid, etc) I would religiously wash my face 2 to 3 times a day. This in hindsight caused my acne to become worse but at the time I thought it was just naturally getting worse because of puberty and all that. So i kept keeping my face squeaky clean washing it with salicylic acid cleansers and using alcohol toners. Finally my mom suggested a dermatologist appointment. For some reason 16 year old me came to the conclusion that my acne needed to be at it's worst by the time the appointment came so I could get the best most powerful treatment haha. I stopped using the cleansers way less frequently for about a week. I would shower and only use water on my face during this week. I thought this would make my skin worse. I think I used the cleansers once or twice during this week, but compared to using it 2 or 3 times a day like I was doing this was nothing. So the day before the appointment my skin had looked the best it had in a while. I was shocked. I had been overly cleaning for no reason. It was only making things worse. This is when I realized more does not mean better when it comes to acne products. What helped me the most is when i minimized my skin care routine. Now I use a Benzoyl Peroxide cleanser once every 1 or 2 days in the shower and after the showers I use neutrogena oil free moisturizer. During the day if I feel oily I splash my face with water and pat dry with a towel. This has been probably the best routine I have come across. I am just sharing this information because I feel like a lot of new acne sufferers go to the same line of defense I did. They get overly clean and it causes things to get worse. Thanks for stopping by if you read this far! Edited August 7, 2016 by intothewild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
