I've been loyal to Carley's Clear an Smooth Skin line. While their product is the best one out there I still got breakout occasionally, especially before having my cycle. When I started this BC pill I noticed the difference within a week that my breakout has stopped. It sucks to know that my breakouts are almost entirely due to hormonal imbalance, but at least this combination of pill and Carlry's work for me. I have no new breakouts, not even before my period. However, BC pills are not made the same and may not work with everybody. I am glad that this works for me.

The regimen on this site is what I have been using and it is working fine. As of today, I have been on for 6mos. But, I decided to add this birthcontrol in after 2mo on the regimen. When I started ortho tri-cyclen on December 13, 2009, I was 137 lbs. As of today, March 29, 2010, I am 144lbs. That's a 7lbs difference in 3 1/2 mos. I LOVE THE PILL! It literally stopped my breakouts overnight and it felt awesome not to worry about it. This pill is awesome if you can manage to eat right and exercise and reduce your salt intake. I just finished my third pack and will not continue taking it simply because I want to shed the extra pounds before summer. I have included AHA Alpha Hydrox-- glycolic acid into my regimen in hopes that this will keep my breakouts at bay! Feel free to look at my profile on this site and see the images for yourself. The BC was the boost my skin care regimen needed!

I've only been on this for a month. I love it, I reccommend it, but it hasn't helped with acne yet. Strongly effective against pregnancy. Very little side effects that I can handle.

This review is for those looking for a super detailed experience on this birth control. I relied heavily on the descriptive review of others before trying this BC and thanks to those people, it helped solidify my decision. My backstory: I developed hormonal acne about two years ago out of no where (I was 21). My skin had been about 95% clear for years It was all along my lower jawline and it hurt so bad to the point where laying my face on my pillow to sleep hurt. I tried everything to make it go away. Switching topical cleansers, eating more clean. Switching beauty products. Even antibiotics and antibiotic creams from the derm. I felt like a monster and avoided going out. I had traveled out of the country and my acne mysteriously went away. Im talking in about a week and a half I was almost 100% clear. It was so strange. So I knew it was something in my environment that was triggering it. (The USA has so much bad crap in their products compared to other countries such as Sweden). So I decided to go the natural route first. What helped: Out of all natural methods I tried, I found the most success with green Matcha tea. Green tea in general is good for acne and has so many good reviews! It was the only thing that kept me about 80% clear. I had previously tried spearmint tea, fish oil, vitamin C and sawgrass palmetto berry extract. All of these things block the production somewhat of androgens. However, my recent trip back from Sweden left my matcha tea not as effective and I had consistent acne on my forehead that would not go away and so I was about 65% clear and my back was worse. I caved and decided to try this route because I could not bear to hide any longer. I live in Florida and covering up is torture due to the heat. Ortho tri cyclen review: I was hestitant about going on BC because of all the synthetic hormones it contains and the side effects but I was desperate. Upon starting this BC, I was a teeny bit nauseous the first week. Nothing unbearable and my boobs did get a little sore (but didnt get much bigger unfortunately). I noticed within a week the acne on my forehead was disappearing. The acne on my back was doing a little better but not significantly. Ive only been on it one month and am starting my second month. I was super worried about my hair falling out so Im still keeping on eye on that. I did get a bit emotional at times, especially as I got farther down the back. At the start of month two (now) my boobs are still sore so that is kind of annoying. What I will say is that it made my period the worst it has been in about 8 years. I thought BC was supposed to lighten your period. Instead, mine lasted NINE days and 7 of those days I had consistent cramping. I usually only cramp the first two days. It was terrible. I tried to refrain from taking painkillers every day for a week but after dealing with cramps for 5-7 hours a day trying to wait them out I would give in. As for my acne: It hasnt totally disappeared. I still have some on my jawline so Im hoping that month two will bring better results. My forehead is almost clear and I occasionally get them on my neck/chest too. However, I am pleased enough with the improvement so I will continue it. Hope this helps everyone!!

Within the first week of taking this medication, my acne cleared up DRAMATICALLY. A little background information: at age 22, I started getting hormonal cystic acne break outs along my left jawline and forehead. Prior to these persistent breakouts, I had no major problems with acne, just the occasional breakout at "that time of the month". After trying Retin-a for a few months with no progress, my dermatologist switched me to a regimen of a Differin and Acanya. Though this helped clear up my forehead acne, my jawline acne was still very persistent. It wasn't until I did a little research that I realize this type of acne was hormone related. Even though I was already taking a generic of Loestrin, I decided it was time to switch my pill. After telling my gynecologist of my troubles, she suggested Ortho tri-cyclen. Within the first week of taking this medication, my existing acne started clearing and no other pimples were appearing. Mind you, these were the persistent ones: painful to the touch with a large white head. I couldn't be happier with the results! A month into taking this medication, I haven't had one cystic pimple appear, it's like a miracle drug! If you have a similar story to me, definitely give it a try!

I was skeptical of this product at first because of the reviews but I really like it. Doctor said first few months might be difficult, but after finishing my first pack I like the results already. Barely any acne flareups since I started and my mood was improved as well! Cons of this product was that my appetite increased causing some weight gain but its barely noticeable. Also I realized when I came off it to have my period, I had some mood swings but it went away after a few days. I have tried almost everything to control my acne for years and I finally found something that works. I Highly recommend this product!

I ended up going off of the this medication a month ago because of the weight gain/always feeling hungry. Since then, I did lose about 6 pounds, and my appetite has been a lot more normal. However, my acne is already back (I had forgot how bad it was). I'm afraid that cystic acne will return, and I will probably go back on ortho tri-cyclen as soon as I can get into the doc for a prescription. I had a fair amount of scarring and redness from acne breakouts in the past and over the past year or so it finally started to fade away and I was finally comfortable going out in public without makeup on occasion. (I used to NEVER go out without foundation on, even on a quick tirp to the grocery store or fast food drive through) I'm on the fence between trying out a different BC that will hopefully work on my acne and won't cause the appetite problems, but am afraid that if a different birth control doesn't work I will end up with more scarring.

I posted a review over 2 months ago about this contraceptive. I've currently been on it for almost 5 months now and feel that I'm more eligible to post a legit review. So the first few months I experienced no side effects but no benefits either. Around my 3rd pack I was experiencing breast pain, spotting, extreme mood swings. I'm now at the end of my 4th pack and my acne is the same, except that I now break out on my chest/back at times,this pill hasn't helped it one bit, which I don't understand...Oooh, and more importantly it has made my cramps worse. I already suffer from really bad menstrual cramps and thought birth control was supposed to help. I'm contemplating waiting out another month (5th pack) but am not sure yet. My body just doesn't seem to be adjusting. My gyno want's to switch me to Yasmin.

I had to switch to something else, I could not stand the severe migraines with the sensitivity to light and sound. The depression was bad too, I would cry for no reason and always be sad. My sex drive disappeared. I gain so much weight. I wouldn't recommend these pills to any of my friends.

The best thing I can say for Ortho Tricyclen (I went on the low dosage pill) is that it was extra protection against pregnancy when I was sexually active, and it was free because it was covered by my insurance. The worst thing I can say for this pill.... well quite frankly there's a lot of negatives. While taking the pill I broke out even more than usual, and that was in the first 3 weeks of taking it, when I was being super careful not to miss a day. The pimples would come up in areas I didn't usually experience acne- my cheeks, and it came up worse than ever on my T zone. When I started accidentally missing days, or taking the pill at different times, it got much worse. My period would restart and I'd have up to 3 periods in a month which obviously messed up my hormones- I started breaking out worse than I ever had. I know it was my fault, but I'm naturally a forgetful person & making sure I always took the pill at the EXACT same time every day was difficult for me. The worst part about this pill, however, was that it caused me to become absolutely lifeless. Honestly, it completely warped my personality/mental state to the point where I would try to do my favorite things and would feel absolutely no point in doing anything- it was like I could no longer experience happiness. I've been depressed before due to going through certain life experiences, but this depression was unnatural and pretty frightening. I couldn't stop it and it was getting so bad that I eventually I just weaned myself off of the medication. Point is: if you're the type of person who takes a long time to get used to a routine or regimen, this is not the medication for you... even on a low dosage. Be careful, and make sure to look out for symptoms of depression.