bizzyskin

Retin A did nothing for me too, and Accutane scares me for some reason. Never tried Murad though. What's your regimen right now?

This might be a stupid question, but mandelic acid's pore-tightening effect is temporary right? As in, you need to continually be taking it or your pores will open back up to their natural state?

Cetaphil cleanser has been a godsend for me after trying many, the last being Loreal Nutri-Pure foaming cleanser that was awful. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Do you think it's important to wash your hands with the same thing you're cleansing your face with? For some reason I'm thinking if you washed your hands with a soap with other fragrances and chemicals in it, they would stick on your hand and mix with your cleanser. Maybe I'm paranoid?

Jenstar, can you recommend any specific brands or where you got yours? They mentioned a few in the link you gave (BabysRUs, Crabtree). Also, when you use the brush, do you see skin flake off?

I hope there isn't a link because I've been going on an exercise rampage the past two weeks (New Year's resolution)

This doesn't really answer your question, but Walmart has their generic brand of Cetaphil that's even in the same looking container as Cetaphil (can't remember the name), so you might want to check the ingredients in that.

My dad grows aloe. Do they make natural aloe that you can buy at the store, and would there be any benefit of using an actual plant compared to the store-bought one? Don't think Dad would like it if I cut up his plant. And I'm too lazy to grow it myself

Interesting that I was always taught to scrub my hands with soap for at least 30 seconds otherwise I wouldn't really be getting my hands clean, yet we're talking about cleansing for only 10 seconds. I'm not disputing the time amount, I think it probably takes me about 10 seconds.

Interesting. Has anyone else experienced success with this combination? I may have to try this. Thanks for the heads up!

Did the dermatologist say it had to be that specific combination? Ivory bar soap has wrecked havoc on my face in terms of overdrying. I've never heard of that moisturizing lotion though.

Twice a day. Used to wash 3 times/day but my skin got too dry (but just as oily)

I always thought sauna/steam room sessions were good for clearing pores, as well as sweating from the gym. At least my skin feels great afterwards

I've never used the Cetaphil moisturizer, but the Oil of Olay ones I'm using are white and apply clear (like Hutch said)...unless you caked them on? At any rate I would recommend moisturizing every time after you cleanse.

That is so annoying. A few years ago when my acne was much more severe, my 30 year old cousin visited and she was like, "you should wash your face twice a day". Gee thanks.

Moonstruck Chocolates! Yum...And I like the idea of a pure chocolate drink, but I tried some from Costco and it was awful!

But how old is your brother? Is he the same age you were when you were breaking out? Like loser666 said, 'diet makes acne worst only for people who has acne-prone skin.' And those with acne-prone skin genetically start getting acne when they hit puberty. I'm assuming your brother is really young...

Switch to once a day, give it a few weeks, and if you're breaking out more, switch back. Sounds like you have a pretty good idea of how often you break out when washing twice a day. Just don't change anything else with your regimen when you switch to once a day, or you won't know what the cause is if you break out more.

Wow, I tried those a while ago and they didn't work for me. But I didn't do all the preparation you described. I might have to try that again, and with the SA.

My BF has this. They're not inflamed, but I can pick them out. H&S didn't help.

ok so the OO Complete was just awful. I broke out several times last week and in a bad way. It was so bad I stopped using it before the week was up and switched to the Protective Renewal Lotion on Thursday morning. It helped, no breakouts since then. I'll keep with it for another week and see how it goes.

I use the metal tooth scraper the dentist uses to scrape off plaque. Not the ones you buy at the pharmacy though, they're too blunt. I had to ask my dentist for the real thing.

How long was it until you started seeing improvement in your acne? (if it worked for you) Weeks?

Watch movies with my bf.

Something my older brother told me when I was going to college and freaking out that really helped was when he made me realize that everyone has that anxiety - others were just better at hiding it than me. This wasn't specifically about my acne, but it's a part of it. I mean, people without acne are sitting there worried that their nose looks funny, or some other thing they freak out about.