I have a question! I have moderate hormonal localised acne (that is mostly purple/red scars now) on my cheekbones right in front of both ears, either side of my mouth and scarring on my cheeks near my nose. I started Epiduo 3 days ago after my skin built up a resistance to Apo-Doxycycline 50mg and 100mg. The first night was fine, pimples under the skin came up and disappeared by the end of the day. I did learn quite quickly that you CANNOT put the cream on popped pimples, cause it leaves a rash! The second day I helped a friend out with a makeup assessment and she put quite a thick layer of foundation on my face. It burned a little around my eyes and mouth, but I said I'd take the makeup off at home as I knew my face would be red underneath. I got home and used Garnier's Micellar Water to take off the makeup, and alas, my cheeks became hot and red and my eyes stung like hell. I put a cold towel on my face and just laid down on the bathroom floor because it hurt so much. I also put Borage Seed Oil on my face, which calmed the redness a bit. I went to bed praying that I'd look better in the morning. This morning I woke up and my skin looked great! My skin was smooth and glowing and didn't hurt at all. I've learnt that my skin gets angry when I cleanse it in the morning, no matter what cleanser I use, so I just use a hydrating serum, moisturiser and sunscreen. I wet my face, and when I touched it I realised why it was so smooth. Epiduo had bloody stripped a layer of skin off my face and there were burnt patches that killed to touch. I was in so much pain! I waited a bit to put any makeup on, probably around half an hour. I dabbed concealer on and that is all I put on my skin. I'm sitting at school now and my face is just burning. My skin is hot, and the skin under my eyes is swollen and ridiculously sore. I don't know what to do! I've read that people have experienced burning, but should I continue using it? I'm seeing my GP on Saturday, if my skin hasn't improved she's putting me back on Doxycycline 50mg. The products that I use: AM: - Cold Water - The Ordinary's Marine Hyaluronics - Dermalogica Active Moist - Nivea Daily Veil SPF 30+ - Clinique Concealer PM: - Cold Water - Clinique Redness Solutions Cleanser - The Ordinary's Marine Hyaluronics - Epiduo Cream (Spot Treatment, very thin layer, I use one pump) - Clinique Redness Solutions Moisturiser and if my face still feels dry - Dermalogica Active Moist

Didn't do crap for me

Hello friends, I had moderate acne solely on my right cheek- literally never a spot anywhere else. This went on for about two years, and was starting to scar- potted, red, etc. So I forked out to see a derm, who prescribed epiduo. I used it for 7 months exactly. The first 4 months were utter hell. From having mild 'bumpy skin and max 2 spots' on my cheek i went from having full blown deep cystic acne. months 4-7, slowly cleared up, but has left scarring. Now the cheek is pretty much clear, but the entire rest of my face now gets spots. Epiduo essentially barred the spots from coming out on that 3cm space on my cheek, and instead now spread them across the rest of my face. Sadly, I now dream of having the skin I had before epiduo. Use with caution for small area.

I've had acne all my life and as a teenager it got so severe that I eventually went on Roaccutane (which worked amazing, but came with a lot of side effects). 4 years after finishing accutane my skin started breaking out again, which was worsened by changing contraceptive pill. I didn't develop deep cystic acne again but had constant stubborn whiteheads and small bumps all over my t-zone. I especially had a breakout of bumps under the skin on my forehead that wouldn't clear. I was almost ready to beg my doctor for Roaccutane again but she said to try Epiduo as my case was still 'mild'. The first few weeks my skin was dry, red and flaky. It itched and looked pretty gross (so I wouldn't try it before a big event, I waited until I had study period for exams and wasn't seeing many people). I managed the dryness using Cetaphil moisturising cream which is amazing, as well as jojoba oil at night, and my skin eventually adapted. The key is to moisturise with it! Within a few weeks my skin had dramatically cleared and now I only need to use it every few days on new spots, and it dries them up really quickly and stops them becoming any bigger or inflamed. I'm not sure if it would work well with deep cystic acne, but for mild surface breakouts and whiteheads it has worked really well for me. Warning: if you use too much this will make your skin crusty and dry - use a sparing amount and make sure you moisturise with it and exfoliate dead skin regularly.

First, you skin definitely needs time to get used to this. I strongly suggest only using Epiduo every three nights for the first month. *tip* My dermatologist told me to mix a pea size amount in with my CeraVe face moisturizer because of my sensitive skin, I barely had any irritation. Still, this will definitely dry out your skin. After about four months, I really started seeing results. I was so excited. Then, after about six months, my acne came back worse then ever before. I'm not sure if something happened internally to make my acne aggravated, but Epiduo completely stopped working for me.

I am in my mid 30s and suffering from oily skin & moderate hormonal adult acne I thought acne will be behind me when I was in my 20s but nope still there. I tried going to the derma, getting facials and peels, buying OTC products with salicylic to glycolic acids, using prescribed tretinoin different strengths, etc. some are effective but I want to keep my acne at bay and prevent them from popping by out doing simple regimen and I don't want to burn money anymore so still looking for a product that I can buy OTC that works. So far for me epiduo is effective though progress is slow compare to tretinoin but definitely milder than tretinoin in terms of side effects I experienced sensitivity in my skin from the exfoliation effect but I did not see noticable obvious peeling, purging (few pimples but not worse), subtle burn & itchiness during the 1st week of using but only for a little while then gone after few days. Now on 3rd week of using epiduo and I am noticing some improvement in my skin's texture, acne marks seem to lighten a bit, acne is less especially on my forehead and chin, skin is still oily though. I plan to use this for another month and see if the improvement continues (hopefully). I am trying my best not to pick my face but tempting sometimes. How I use epiduo: At night wash face with cetaphil gentle cleanser then apply cetaphil moisturizer to wet face then wait to dry then apply pea sized amount on whole face. At daytime wash face with cetaphil gentle cleanser then apply neutrogena moisturizer SPF15 but I do alternate sometimes with my snail gel or a stronger SPF lotion if I know I might have longer exposure outside. I am asian and don't have sensitive skin nor allergies.

I'm on my week two of epiduo and my acne was like worse than ever. Bumps keep coming up my face even on spots I don't normally get them. (So saaadd) but, but, I heard that this is the initial purging stage and yes! I could feel my bumps drying up and flattening. Yay! As for my skin, i have sensitive and oily type but srsly, it never dried up my face. I'm still oily. Hoping for better skin sooner!

I was prescribed this for moderate acne, and the first week or so it DID work, a little bit. It dried my face out which is expected but after about a week it was like applying water on my face and letting it sit there overnight. It did nothing. It seems to only work for those who have a pimple here and there.

8 Weeks in and still no progress, help?! I apply a pea size amount every evening, but am still getting new white pustules every day

My initial experience with my epi-duo cream was awesome - I felt like I'd finally found something that actively prevented any new active formations on my face, and my skin-tone evened out quite noticeably, making my skin appear to have a healthy glow. My application was consistent, being every second night. I would cleanse skin, wait until it dried and then apply a thin film of the cream over the majority of my face, however I would focus the application on my problem areas (outer cheeks and chin) and spread any leftover to the rest of my face. Within the first week, I FELT LIKE I saw results. While my skin did appear to purge slightly, the cystic acne I had was quickly dried out - intensely - and would flake off within a day or two. This meant the scar underneath was also noticeable muted when compared to the scars of my previously active acne. Of course I was overjoyed... A few weeks into using this cream, I began noticing no increase in improvement. If anything, my skin began worsening. Frustrated, I maintained consistency with application. It was one night almost immediately after applying that my skin began burning severely - nothing was different to my routine so I was troubled. I had to wash the cream off after 20 minutes of the same intensity of burning. Afterwards, in a desperate attempt to quench my skin, I applied an all-natural moisturiser, spf free, but this only burnt my skin more, so I had to wash it off immediately. I haven't used the product since - in my eyes, anything that burns the sheeeet out of your face isn't going to be good for you, holistically. My skin showed no noticable change, but now, 3 weeks after ceasing to use Epiduo, my skin has worsened - the acne has now spread to my jawline, and cystic-like bumps are appearing more frequently. I am frustrated - but I don't want to turn to this product again. While it provided immediate results, they were short-lived and seemed to come at quite some cost.