Ziana : Clindamycin (1.2%) and Tretinoin (.025%) Gel

1st week: Its a nightmare, everything is bad! 2nd Week- things start to FEEL better. 3rd week: Wow i can tell a little bit of a difference. 4th week: Wow im so close to acne frree! 5th week: I'm cleared up! Go Ziana!! Give it some time, just a little, it'll get bad, just stay with it! Ill garenttee you it clears up!! PROMISE!

I am 22 years old and have been dealing with pretty much every kind of acne for years. I have tried everything you can buy in the store and nothing really worked (I read that a lot of drugstore acne products put stuff in that makes you break out so you keep buying their products). When my face is broken out, I don't want to leave the house and I am constantly thinking about my skin to where I feel absolutely depressed about it. So I saw a dermatologist and he put me on clindamycin (probably not great spelling) lotion in the day, adapalene cream at night, and doxycyline for a month to help with the initial breakouts they sometimes cause. It worked fantastic for me for like a year and a half and then my skin randomly started breaking out again really bad. I went back to see my dermatologist and he put me on a bunch of stuff that didn't work and I was dealing with even worse skin for a long time without solution. He finally put me on ziana a month ago for the nighttime, onexton for the day, and ampicillin tablets. Since I was trying to avoid accutane (which was my next option), he also recommended that I change my birth control to one that helps acne so I switched to yaz immediately. The first week was pretty bad because the onexton hurt (it burned, itched, made my face red) and the ziana made my face flakey and dry when I woke up in the morning. My doctor told me that these products can take up to 4 months to be effective and that they oftentimes make your skin a lot worse before it can get better (it has to bring up all the acne and bacteria up to the surface to get rid of it which takes time). I broke out pretty badly the first week and the beginning of the second, on top of that my face was flakey so I couldn't really wear makeup and I was just bummed (even though I knew that's how some of these treatments work and it's probably a sign that it's working). I've had a few side effects that were not unbearable and also went away as my body and skin got used to the medications. I was expecting that I would have to deal with it for months. Honestly, with the exception of accutane, I have been on every pill and and cream there is. By the end of week two and miraculously it was crystal clear. I never thought i would ever be someone to not wear makeup, and I have been (even on dates! That is how clear it is). It's still a little dry, but I started using a really gentle moisturizer (4 dollar ponds) with both the ziana & onexton and also using a lot less of the product. When I first got the onexton, I put a lot on because I wanted to make sure it "really worked" and that was such a mistake because it was VERY painful. I have been using a pea sized amount with moisturizer of both and it works better that way. When I was having my initial breakout, I would desperately read these reviews to have hope and I made a pact with god that if my acne clears up, I will share my experience to help others who are going through the horrible issues acne causes. My advice: don't use too much, don't exfoliate (ziana is an exfoliant and that's why there is flakey skin at first. It also makes your skin super thin so you can't pick and have to be very gentle), be careful in the sun, avoid any other harsh products, and hang in there! You might have an initial breakout, you might not. Either way, it depends on the person when your skin clears up and if you give up before 4 months, you could miss out on a chance to see the progress, my breakout was so bad that I wanted to stop and I read these encouraging posts and figured that I was going to have acne either way (if I was off the medicine or if I was on it) so I might as well suffer through breakouts while I'm treating it and it's worked for me. If you give up before a few months, you haven't even let the medicine do it's job yet and there isn't a single acne perscription that says if can get rid of your acne before 4 months (otherwise I would have tried it). Don't believe me? Ask your doctor. Don't give up, bug your doctor and ask a million questions. As soon as one didn't work, I got another, and kept going until I got something that works for me. I hope everyone finds what they're looking for and hangs in there :]

my acne was never bad, it was light-moderate when i went to a dermatologist. she gave me this ziana gel (and a bp wash for morning) so i use it every night, pea sized amount, and moisturizer. for a longgggg time it didn't seem to be doing much, i'd still get a pimple here and there but the problem was my picking. soon as i stopped, my skin has been virtually clear and if something comes up during the day it looks worlds better in the morning. its kinda expensive, and thats with a coupon from the derm for 3 tubes at 20$ each, i think its originally like $80 or something so good value plus the tube is enormous and you don't need much at all so overall its good value.

I used this product years ago and had fantastic results. I had to stop using it after four months because I was pregnant. I just went back to the derm and asked for this again. I am only on day 5, but I wanted to review based on my present and past experience. I am currently experiencing extremely dry skin and lots of peeling, but this is a good thing! Layers of old dead skin are coming off and my skin is getting smoother and clearer by the day! Things WILL get worse before they get better with this product. Last time that I used this product I experienced the same peeling and dryness for about a month. I only use a tiny bit all over my face at night. After the peeling ended I used ziana every other night to maintain my clear skin. This time I am seeing results much more quickly as my pores already look much smaller and the purging is less severe :) I wash my face with cetaphil and I use my clairsonic brush or a washcloth. I see much better results using something that helps to remove that peeling skin! I also moisturize constantly. Give this product a chance! It can take more than a month to see results. The dry skin look with makeup is not a good one, but if you suffer through it you will thank yourself in the end!!!

got it from a derm. who didnt explain how it should be used. i put it on all over my face and it made my face break out even more. i was so upset! went to a second derm. for another opinion and they decided to leave me on the same treatment. except, this doctor actually showed me how to use ziana. amazingly, it worked about 2 weeks later. in fact, ppl have commented on how my face has changed. you only use a PEA sized amount and rub it all over. my acne was the very small zits that make your forehead look very lumpy...and now theyre all gone! Do recommend!

My Derm recommended Ziana. My acne was was mild to begin with and after a week of applying Ziana I had new acne covering my entire face. I also got the deep pimples that hurt really bad. I looked horrible, and my self esteem took a dump. I didn't even want to talk to people face to face. I fixed my hair to cover the sides of my cheeks. I also had to apply thicker makeup to try and cover the purplish scars I had all over my face. Around week seven I noticed that I wasn't getting any new acne and my face was clearing. It is now week 10 and my skin looks amazing. It has a glow to it and I can almost go without foundation. I still have a few light colored marks but they should be gone soon. It feels great to be able to tuck my hair behind my ears or wear a pony tail without being embarrassed. I recommend Ziana but make sure you give it time.

Amazing product that worked right away. Would recommend it to anyone!

I started getting acne after I stopped using birth control pills. In the matter of 2 months my hormonal acne quickly went from mild do moderately severe. I went to the dermatologist and I started using Ziana in December of 2010 and April 2011 my skin was completely clear with the exception of hyperpigmentation marks from precious acne. By May 2011 my skin was completely clear and hyperpigment-free. My regimen consisted of the following: -AM- Cerave cleanser & pat dry Duac gel all over face Murad skin perfecting lotion -PM- Cerave cleanser & pat dry Ziana gel all over face Cerave PM facial moisturizing lotion **I also had 2 chemical peels performed at my dermatologists office during the first 6 weeks of my treatment. These were TERRIBLE and made my skin much worse. My doctor then suggested I have a pulsed light/heat energy therapy treatment. I had two sessions of this and noticed great improvement after each one. **Occasionally I would use the Proactive refining mask as a spot treatment over night after my Cerave lotion if I had large pimple coming on. **Occasionally I would use CVS brand 10% benzoyl peroxide acne spot gel in the AM after my Murad lotion if I had a cluster of small pimples. I followed this regimen religiously for 5 months and my stubborn acne that I thought would never go away was finally gone. Also, even though it is not recommended my dermatologists, I think that being in the sun during the month of May really helped to fade my hyperpigmentation spots. I originally thought they only appeared faded because I got a sun tan but now that my tan has faded quite a bit it is obvious that the marks have indeed faded as well.

This stuff works for most people. My skin did get worse before it got better, but I knew that going into it. Now it is such a relief not to have horrible skin. I still have some scars, but my skin is smooth and I don't have to cake on makeup before I leave the house! Just to reiterate what I and others have said: ONLY USE A PEA SIZE AMOUNT AND WEAR SUNSCREEN. I can remember standing at the Clinique counter buying makeup, and the makeup lady saying to me, "You know you should wash your face twice a day and your acne will get better." I just started crying. I knew I spent more time caring for my skin than she did, and she had no idea how horrible she was making me feel. I don't have to worry about that now!!! I am so glad I was prescribed this product.

I have had acne for about five years. My acne started to get really bad (hurt to touch anywhere on my face)about a year ago, so I went to the dermatologist and he prescribed this. It got better immediately. Now, a year later my skin keeps getting clearer and clearer every month!