Hi everyone,

**Before you read any further, I wanted to let you all know why I am posting on acne.org tonight. I've been wanting to post this for a while because I know that many acne sufferers stalk each post and forum daily, endlessly looking for cures and solutions. I know because that's exactly what I did for 8 years straight. And I know how much of a negative impact suffering and obsessing over the clarity of your skin can have on your personal life, friends, family and academics.

You are not alone and you are actually stronger than most people by having to go through this kind of emotional distress in life. It will make you stronger and smarter later, trust me. TBH, I can actually say that most readers and posters on this site are extremely literate and excellent internet researchers (always looking for that next possible cure haha).

A bit about me, I am 25 years old and have been suffering from acne since middle school. Starting in middle school, I used by first acne product which was a Neutrogena acne bar soap. Of course, this escalated with the severity of my acne and I ended up using Proactiv all throughout High School to keep my skin clear. I thought that Proactiv was amazing at the time. Regardless of the price, it kept my skin crystal clear and who could really put a price on that right? ...Wrong.

When I started college, my acne started to change and Proactiv was slowly losing its effectiveness (I had to start using it twice a day, faithfully again to reap 85% clarity). It was during this time that I started to obsess HARD about my skin and was probably on acne.org more than my studies. Acne held me back from dating, social confidence, attending class and more. I feel foolish that I let it affect me so much looking back, but I also know how real it is to have acne put you back...

Fast forward 6 years and I was still on acne.org as well as googling any type of successful treatments out there (on bodybuilding. org forums too). I stopped using Proactiv and started experimenting with Cerave, Neutrogena, 5-star acne products on Amazon... anything really. And yes, I gave it 4-8 weeks to see if it was actually working. During this time, I was really messing up my skin. Coworkers and family were actively asking me what happened and recommending products to me which drove me insane and also really tore down any confidence I had even more. I even went to a dermatologist and the first thing he recommended was Accutane (rude but also understand some people had great outcomes with it). After I was faced with the decision to either go on Accutane, start antibiotics (which I definitely do not recommend!!!) or just let my acne go crazy and leave a lot more hyperpigmentation.

---I decided to just face my fears. At this point my acne was pretty bad and I did not want to risk my health just to have it potentially fixed for an indefinite amount of time. I decided to just listen to my dad and let my skin heal without products FOR A WHILE. No, this post isn't some hollistic preaching to use all natural products.. it's my successful experience with clearing my acne that I feel obligated to share with everyone in the hopes that I can help someone, or anyone.

REGIMEN

For the first month, I transitioned my skin off all my products. Using just warm water to rinse and pat dry with a towel. Yes, you will accumulate dead layers of skin. Try not to scratch or pick (unrealistic, I know). During this month, you will obviously have a period of increased acne, your face will itch when you sweat and your acne will heal faster when irritated or popped. The goal is to let your skin barrier heal and reset.

**Special PSA about acne products QUIT while youre ahead. Like everyone has mentioned to you, acne products are all a scam in the end. What they essentially do is kill all the bacteria on your face and sterilize your face, which does prevent acne and clear you but requires you to never be able to go without their products or change anything up in your routine without sudden breakouts (from bacteria reintroduction). Your skin is supposed to have good bacteria and your skin barrier works over age and time to normalize your skin oils to prevents clogged pores/pimples. What I am saying is, acne products are just a trap.

The next month and a half, I stopped using any products and continued with just warm washes. Again, lots of dead skin, faster healing of popped pimples and itchy skin. Keep going!

The next month I started applying Aloe gel mixed with oil-free lotion on my skin to re-moisturize and build a healthy skin barrier again. It was really all about healing to this point. My skin was calming down but definitely still breaking out with the normal cysts and small pustules. However, it was nice to have such an easy regime and calmer, less angry skin.

During the next month, I grew tired of not having clear skin so I reintroduced some products that were A) NOT made for acne reviewed and regarded highly to not break you out.

I started with and I am still using Shiseido Men Foaming Cleanser (gentle and main part that cleared my skin) paired with Shiseido Men Moisturizing Emulsion (thicker than their hydrating lotion and does not clog pores while ACTUALLY HYDRATING for once!)

I then introduced the Shiseido Men deep cleansing scrub to alternate every two days with my foaming cleanser to add exfoliation (Really took my skin to the next level of consistent clarity) and also added their oil-free SPF sunblock.

Thats it really. I know I may have missed a lot of details that I forgot to mentioned but I have outlined my overall journey to reset my skin balance before reintroducing more sustainable, healthy products to my skin. This really helped clear up my skin and give my confidence back.

I plan to be active on this forum for a couple weeks/months to help answer and clarify any questions! I hate people who post with cures in it and then fall off the face of the planet.

side note** i acknowledge that I am a guy and understand that women are more prone to hormonal acne which cannot be solved by resetting skin balance/new cleansers. My sister has hormonal acne and I can say that birth control paired with snail essence facial products made her skin flawless.