Well My active acne is almost completely gone from the vitamin supplements I've been taking(B5, zinc, vitamin C, B-complex, whey protein). But I still have a sea of red and purple marks.

That is the most frustrating thing.

I don't mind having a pimple here and there, but the red and purple marks seriously mess up my appearance.

I have read through many of the topics on this forum extensively and have recently started using pure aloe vera gel on my face in hopes to speed up the healing process of these marks.

I just shaved and got a good look at my skin without the weeks worth of stubble, and really the purple marks that I have, I've had them for over a year, maybe 2 years. They have just kind of always been there.

It's as if they were red marks, they were healing, then they faded to purple and never healed anymore.

So, what is the difference between red and purple marks in terms of treatments? It seems to me that a red mark is actively in the healing process, while a purple mark is maybe deeper under the skin and not getting as much attention in terms of healing. I don't know though.

I'm not going to use any acne fighting products until all my active spots are completely gone. Until then I'm using aloe and zinc to fight scars and red marks.

It's been a week of using aloe and there hasn't been a noticeable change in my red or purple marks, but active spots have healed faster and cleaner.

It's been a couple days of using zinc(citrate) and there hasn't been much change from that either.

Do I really need some intensive exfoliation to break up the purple marks?

It's really a shame because I do have nice skin otherwise, it's smooth an even toned where ever there isn't a spot. But I have so many red and purple spots from the 4 years I've had acne that it effectively ruins my complexion.

Definitely frustrating.

Time really hasn't seemed to have done much.