Day 2

The universe is really testing me, I have one solid size pimple with a white tip on my left side, and three solid sized ones with white tips on the right. But I stared at myself in the mirror and legit told myself, "not this time!" sounds crazy, but talking to yourself helps. I need to hold myself accountable and I have a feeling if I can make it the next few days without touching these the rest of these days will be easier ( white tip pimples are so hard for me not to poke at).

Day 3

I took a long shower and when I got out two of the smaller pimples on the right side had popped. I disinfected the spots and didnt touch them AT ALL anymore. However, the third pimple on the right side has now turned into a gnarly huge pimple with 4 whiteheads. YAY. As tempting as it was to touch it, just seeing how complicated it would be to actually pop it correctly due to all of the tips helped me keep my hands off. So far I feel like I look more hideous than ever, but its only just the beginning. I am hopeful that by week 2 it will be a lot different.

1 hour ago, Anna524 said:

Day 3

I took a long shower and when I got out two of the smaller pimples on the right side had popped. I disinfected the spots and didnt touch them AT ALL anymore. However, the third pimple on the right side has now turned into a gnarly huge pimple with 4 whiteheads. YAY. As tempting as it was to touch it, just seeing how complicated it would be to actually pop it correctly due to all of the tips helped me keep my hands off. So far I feel like I look more hideous than ever, but its only just the beginning. I am hopeful that by week 2 it will be a lot different.

Hi  congrats on stopping picking! i have been trying for about a year and a half now and i am able to go long periods but i relapsed a few nights ago. I have pretty much a gaping spot. it looks like i fell and grazed my face. do you have any tips from previous experience how to heal this fast?

1 hour ago, GracieP said:

Hi  congrats on stopping picking! i have been trying for about a year and a half now and i am able to go long periods but i relapsed a few nights ago. I have pretty much a gaping spot. it looks like i fell and grazed my face. do you have any tips from previous experience how to heal this fast?

Hey! thank you! yeah i think your best bet right now would be a neosporin and a bandaid. Just do anything possible to keep it covered and moist so the hole fills in from the inside out, not just from the edges. I would do the bandaid for a couple days. After that I usually would keep it moist at night with a little bit of vaseline. 

Day 4

Great news! The gnarly pimple had this dry skin on top of it that was half off, I used my tweezers to pull it completely off, and all of the tips of the pimple erupted. I cleaned it up, put some vaseline on it and covered it with a bandaid. Its gone done immensely in size. Turns out if I dont touch any of my pimples if it needs to come out itll do it one way or another on its own, and this way there is no self-inflicted skin damage. All of my other pimples have shrunk dramatically. I will keep a bandaid on this one for the next couple days since it was such a big pimple with many holes to make healing accelerate.

These 4 days , did you leave your face natural or you used any cream ?

10 hours ago, Teensufferingfromacne said:

These 4 days , did you leave your face natural or you used any cream ?

I continued my normal daily routine. Which consists of a Salylic acid face wash twice a day, my neutrogena moisturizer with spf 30 for the day and at night my neutrogena light night cream.

Day 5

Today Im noticing a good change in my skin. That gnarly pimple has flattened out very much and is now a light pink shade. I continue to dab Vaseline on it at night when I go to bed. As for the rest of my skin all those tiny pimples have gone done immensely. Overall my face looks less red. Hoping it continues to do better everyday!

On aseparate note Im considering switching face washes to the cetaphil gentle cleanser that everyone talks about as I do have fairly sensitive skin. Not sure though!

Day 6

Everything is about the same way it was at day 5. Cant wait for some serious time to pass LOL

Day 7

Stupidly tried a new foundation that did not make my skin happy and have some new small pustules. Yay for me being an idiot. Lmao but still no picking 

PS. The gnarly pimple has gone totally flat and is almost normal skin color. This is amazing since I™m usually left with a red scar forever 

Day 8

for the past two days I have not been washing with any cleanser anymore and it seems to be speeding the recovery of my skin up.

Its a a little bit dry since I dont use my night cream however I still use my spf in the morning. My skin is doing good and its certainly less red.

I still use makeup everyday, yes I know its bad but trust me Ive tried without it and I know it wasnt causing the breakouts. So when I take it off I use ponds cold cream cleanser (aka put the cream on then lightly take it off with a cotton pad) once all the makeup is done I lightly splash cold water and pat dry and thats it.

Day 11

my skin improved a tiny bit everyday I still get pimples but theyre so tiny and they go away within day. Only issue now is how and when will i exfoliate? Im seeing a lot of flakey skin.

This is was the first morning I woke up with an oily t zone which gives me hope that my natural oils are coming back after years of hard washing and making my skin super dry and sensitive

Day 14

skins looking pretty good however it™s super oily because I™m about to get my period so now I™m scared. Hoping it keeps up the good work. Only have one medium pimple on the left side from where I dabbed on the spot concealer that turned out now to be non comedogenic  

on the right side I have tiny tiny bumps by my red marks are still healing I don™t know if I should start using night cream again. Need to give it more time 

day 20

my skin is looking better, however Im pretty annoyed right now because that gnarly pimple seems to have left behind not only a red mark but also a slight roll in the texture of my skin. But its fair too soon to say if thats permanent. Sometimes they fill in on their own when its early on.

Day 22

i still havent gotten my period, I got a tiny new pimple on my right side. To be honest Im getting the vibe that skin picking isnt whats causing acne, I do think it can make it worse but I have had any AH HAH results with not doing it to be honest. May be too soon to tell.

Hi Anna! I'm struggling with the same thing. I make it to a month and then fail. I just failed two days ago. And I had made it 5 weeks! Augh! My problem is clogged pores...I hate those things and I just want them to go away so I pick and squeeze and a mess happens. ive been good about not picking at any live acne and will ocationaly pop a white head. i had a miscarriage back in October 2016 and since then my skin has been nuts. I don't think I helped much though, I tried so many remedies and washes (even the oil cleansing method
,that ruined my skin). About 4 months ago my sister in law told me she only uses a washcloth and warm water to wash her face. So, I gave that a try and my skin purged allot and I picked and it purged more and eventually my forehead cleared, my cheeks cleared and I only had hormonal breakouts on my jaw line and around the mouth. Durring those months I was using jojoba oil off and on seeing how my skin liked it and then just around Christmas I used it every night. It clogged my pores all along my right jaw and some other areas. But not as badly as my Jaw. That's what I picked at just a couple days ago. So frustrating! it looks so bad now. I just hate those little tiny bumps. But, I've realized I cannot use anything with oil on my skin. So, I'm back to just washing with water and my wash cloth (even works when I wear makeup) and then apple cider vinegar as a toner and aloe Vera. I only do this before bed and just rinse with water in the morning. I've been using apple cider vinager for a Couple weeks now and I think it's fading some scaring and keeping some pimples at bay. Anyhow, just wanted to comment and help encourage you to keep it up! I'm back at faze one myself again trying to get to another month without picking. My goal is to get to two.months.

On 2/2/2018 at 10:04 AM, Jessica Marie said:

Hi Anna! I'm struggling with the same thing. I make it to a month and then fail. I just failed two days ago. And I had made it 5 weeks! Augh! My problem is clogged pores...I hate those things and I just want them to go away so I pick and squeeze and a mess happens. ive been good about not picking at any live acne and will ocationaly pop a white head. i had a miscarriage back in October 2016 and since then my skin has been nuts. I don't think I helped much though, I tried so many remedies and washes (even the oil cleansing method
,that ruined my skin). About 4 months ago my sister in law told me she only uses a washcloth and warm water to wash her face. So, I gave that a try and my skin purged allot and I picked and it purged more and eventually my forehead cleared, my cheeks cleared and I only had hormonal breakouts on my jaw line and around the mouth. Durring those months I was using jojoba oil off and on seeing how my skin liked it and then just around Christmas I used it every night. It clogged my pores all along my right jaw and some other areas. But not as badly as my Jaw. That's what I picked at just a couple days ago. So frustrating! it looks so bad now. I just hate those little tiny bumps. But, I've realized I cannot use anything with oil on my skin. So, I'm back to just washing with water and my wash cloth (even works when I wear makeup) and then apple cider vinegar as a toner and aloe Vera. I only do this before bed and just rinse with water in the morning. I've been using apple cider vinager for a Couple weeks now and I think it's fading some scaring and keeping some pimples at bay. Anyhow, just wanted to comment and help encourage you to keep it up! I'm back at faze one myself again trying to get to another month without picking. My goal is to get to two.months.

Hey Jessica!

So for me I realized that not using a cleanser at all was starting to break me out and I think its cause simply taking my makeup off with a makeup remover wasnt enough and there was left over makeup laying on my skin. The only cleanser thats ever worked for me without making my skin more sensitive is angels on bare skin by lush. So Im using that again and I can already tell my skin is happier! Something to look into but if you have super oily skin I wouldnt go for it. Apple cider vinegar and me did not get along as I have very sensitive skin and it would just irritate it, but Im so glad its working for you!! Im the same way the hardest part for me is when I see those tiny congested spots, it makes me go crazy I want to see my skin totally flat and that tiny bump irritates me. But honestly not touching them after a few weeks it disappears (a few stick around but those guys never come out no matter what I do). I think it just takes time and self love. I find myself talking to myself in the mirror about how nice my skin is (even when its not). It truly works and calms my stress down. I am so sorry about your loss by the way, I cant even imagine. Feel free to post here whenever youre in a pickle. Id love to have a buddy to go through this with!

9 hours ago, Anna524 said:

Hey Jessica!

So for me I realized that not using a cleanser at all was starting to break me out and I think it™s cause simply taking my makeup off with a makeup remover wasn™t enough and there was left over makeup laying on my skin. The only cleanser that™s ever worked for me without making my skin more sensitive is œangels on bare skin by lush. So I™m using that again and I can already tell my skin is happier! Something to look into but if you have super oily skin I wouldn™t go for it. Apple cider vinegar and me did not get along as I have very sensitive skin and it would just irritate it, but I™m so glad it™s working for you!! I™m the same way the hardest part for me is when I see those tiny congested spots, it makes me go crazy I want to see my skin totally flat and that tiny bump irritates me. But honestly not touching them after a few weeks it disappears (a few stick around but those guys never come out no matter what I do). I think it just takes time and self love. I find myself talking to myself in the mirror about how nice my skin is (even when it™s not). It truly works and calms my stress down. I am so sorry about your loss by the way, I can™t even imagine. Feel free to post here whenever you™re in a pickle. I™d love to have a buddy to go through this with!

 

 

Hey Anna
Thanks and I totally agree  with the self love. I have not been real good at loving myself. I wake up and try to tell myself that this is me and I can't change it.  Talking to myself too. It does seem to help! I would love to go through this with you. I am keeping a journal And I think that's helping. I've noticed that those clogged pores do either dry up or slowing snake out  if I just leave them alone. I have four children and my son is starting to get some tiny pre-teen breakouts so for his sake I need  to break this and be an example.  My sis in law told me the breakout is normal  if you stop using a cleanser. It's your skin purging and rebuilding itself back to its normal state. I went on youtube and found people who did the  caveman/water regime. I wear makeup too on special  days.  I changed my makeup to a brand with more natural ingredient that your skin needs. Going makeup free for most of the week now, I think has really helped my skin heal too. You really  need to find what works for you though. I use to wear a full face makeup  everyday  for the past 10 years or so and now I'm 32 and Just want an easier lifestyle for myself and dress up my face with a more  natural look. 

9 hours ago, Anna524 said:

Hey Jessica!

So for me I realized that not using a cleanser at all was starting to break me out and I think it™s cause simply taking my makeup off with a makeup remover wasn™t enough and there was left over makeup laying on my skin. The only cleanser that™s ever worked for me without making my skin more sensitive is œangels on bare skin by lush. So I™m using that again and I can already tell my skin is happier! Something to look into but if you have super oily skin I wouldn™t go for it. Apple cider vinegar and me did not get along as I have very sensitive skin and it would just irritate it, but I™m so glad it™s working for you!! I™m the same way the hardest part for me is when I see those tiny congested spots, it makes me go crazy I want to see my skin totally flat and that tiny bump irritates me. But honestly not touching them after a few weeks it disappears (a few stick around but those guys never come out no matter what I do). I think it just takes time and self love. I find myself talking to myself in the mirror about how nice my skin is (even when it™s not). It truly works and calms my stress down. I am so sorry about your loss by the way, I can™t even imagine. Feel free to post here whenever you™re in a pickle. I™d love to have a buddy to go through this with!

 

 

Good for you for setting this goal.
I am also trying to stop picking at my face, I usually get to about 5 days then I squeeze all the hard and deep spots.
I do let myself squeeze white heads but only when they are absolutely ready to com out.

Today I squeezed a CLUSTER of about 6 deep red spots on my left cheek and now I can feel a hard crust developing over the area, I hope it does not scar!

I'm set a goal of not picking either, need to leave my skin to heal. I'm also a dude and can't hide the redness with makeup etc, don't know why we do this to ourselves. The last time I had a bad acne breakout I was able to not touch it whatsoever, this time with having a bad relapse I can't leave my skin alone.

Also considering on only using cleansers once a day as I find they are harsh on existing acne and redness, but will continue to moisturise twice a day. Good luck!

On 2/7/2018 at 4:20 AM, jPablo said:

Good for you for setting this goal.
I am also trying to stop picking at my face, I usually get to about 5 days then I squeeze all the hard and deep spots.
I do let myself squeeze white heads but only when they are absolutely ready to com out.

Today I squeezed a CLUSTER of about 6 deep red spots on my left cheek and now I can feel a hard crust developing over the area, I hope it does not scar!

I'm set a goal of not picking either, need to leave my skin to heal. I'm also a dude and can't hide the redness with makeup etc, don't know why we do this to ourselves. The last time I had a bad acne breakout I was able to not touch it whatsoever, this time with having a bad relapse I can't leave my skin alone.

Also considering on only using cleansers once a day as I find they are harsh on existing acne and redness, but will continue to moisturise twice a day. Good luck!

Hey well if it makes u feel better I touched my skin last night too. The good thing is I dont poke at pores anymore which was my biggest goal but I did pop a really bad Whitehead that was hurting a lot. If u tend to have more red skin thats sensitive I would advise again using any of the acne chemicals and go for a more simple face wash. Thats what Ive started doing and the redness has gone down a lot. It must be a lot more difficult to go through this without wearing makeup so I commend u. I wish I was that brave!

Sorry it has been awhile since Ive written I dont truly think my picking was the culprit of my acne. Cause the acne of course did come first. But I did recently see a holistic facialist and Ive started a DIM supplement because she believes my acne to be all internal. Hopefully it goes well and if I see any major changes I will post a thread on it!