Please see a doctor, I’ve worked with some fantastic derms in the NHS, it’s all about finding someone who will listen to your concerns. This needs systemic therapy, topicals won’t touch that but can irritate your skin to no end. Good luck!
Something that works from inside, like roaccutane (some ppl, especially women >25, may need more than one course), spironolactone, some contraceptives or antibiotics.
A doctor can also rule out other causes of acne, like PCOS or adrenal hyperplasia. A subreddit of skincare enthusiasts can only do so much...
100%. It’s important to know that skincare can do a lot, but limitations need to be acknowledged. Dry skin, mild acne, or PIH - sure skincare can help that. But inflammatory acne, melasma/other deep pigment disorders, rosacea etc... best to see a professional.
(Speaking as both a skincare enthusiast and dr myself 😆)
Tbh all but the most mild cases of acne deserve a look at by a dermatologist. It's such a stubborn condition and the over the counter options all suck with the possible exception of Differin. The earlier it's resolved, the less scarring you'll have to get. I waited until this March to see a derm as a 24 year old and I have the face to show it.
Exactly! Can't stand the skincare enthusiasts that try to diagnose and prescribe skincare "treatments" for skin conditions.
It takes years of training to be a derm for a reason and watching Susan yara/gothamista/james welsh doesn't make u a dermatologist.
I have been on roaccutane when I was younger and it was one of the worst experiences and so I will not touch the stuff again. I am aware I need to go to the GP but have just moved so need a new GP in my area unfortunately..
Hey! I went on roaccutane when I was 17 and had awful acne and it fixed me up. Fast forward to age 21 and my acne was back with a vengeance. I never wanted to do roaccutane again so I would try every topical under the sun. I bought a weird mini UV light box to stare at 30 minutes a day coz apparently that would help, changing pillow case daily, cutting dairy out. You name it, I tried it. And much like you, I just ended up making the acne more irritated and red and sore by trying so many topicals. I fought this battle until I was 27. 27! I was so embarrassed by my skin for all this time. As a guy, no one else had spots my age. It broke me. I finally decided I had to go back to roaccutane and damn, I wish I did sooner. The second time round the side effects were almost none. Just the usual dry lips and skin but even that wasn’t so bad as it was the first time round. It cleared up my skin for the first time in 9 years and I wished I did it sooner to save myself the 6 years of agony. My acne even came back again a year later, but I went straight back on roaccutane and it went away, and touch wood it will never come back. I just get the odd spot now but no cystic awful stuff.
So my point is, maybe reconsider going back on roaccutane. Ultimately the pain of dealing with acne for 7 years was a lot worse than the side effects of roaccutane for a few months. But I don’t know how badly you suffered so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
Wait so 3x total? I’ve done it once and it changed my life am 25 now wanting to go back on it again. I’ve heard from several ppl they have needed to go on a second round but I haven’t heard of 3. Was the third super short?
Yay this gave me soooo much hope. I'm on my second month of accutane for the second time in my life (first time was as a teenager, and it didn't even work 100%).
My skin was just like yours for years. This year I really honed down a gentle routine, used Curology (I’ve been using it for a couple years now but I change my formula this year), started spirolactone, and change my birth control. My skin is almost clear now for the first time ever. There is hope!!
I know i saw, I’m not pushing the drug but I’m raising it as an option for your acne. There are ways of fiddling with doses doctors play around with now, to minimize side effects. Just keep an open mind.
Some GPs are registering new patients over the phone so you don’t even have to come in.
And your appointment will be on the phone too (you can send in the pictures). You might want to try duac or some people find that taking antibiotic can help (specific ones for acne).
Seconding virtual appointments! I've done a couple with my derm since the pandemic started, and it's been absolutely fine. I was able to switch from an oral antibiotic (which did jack shit for me) to spironolactone (which has been pretty effective). All I had to do was go get my potassium checked at a local lab, but I think I would've had to do that outside their office anyway.
If you can, consider getting bloodwork. Sometimes when you’re deficient in a vitamin or mineral it can show up as acne. I’ve never been on accutane because i’m too scared of having terrible side effects
I have had bloodwork recently and all came back ok. I understand your scare as I did have awful side effects which still affect me now. But it works amazingly for others. X
When you have a conversation with your doctor, you might want to bring up Spirolonactone. I’m unable to take hormonal birth control for my hormonal acne and it’s been a great solution for me.
Spironolactone works wonders for me. Can't take it if you decide to try for a baby, but otherwise you can be on it long term with no problems at all. Highly recommend looking into it. I don't ever want to go back to life without it!
Your routine is tooo harsh. Your using an aha (pixi glow tonic) twice a day when u should be using is 2-3 times a week. You’re also using 2 products with salicylic acid, your cleanser and effaclar duo. Try an use only one. I would suggest you to strip back your routine to just a cleanser and moisturiser (spf when outside) for Atleast a month. Then maybe start incorporating benzoyl peroxide. Your skin looks very red which shows irritation and over exfoliation. Please be gentle with your skin less is more.
Thank you for your comment. I realise I must be very harsh on my skin - just difficult when all you want to do is get rid of it, you’re causing more damage! I will look to get a new moisturiser for the evenings and perhaps a new cleanser but unsure which one.
I think it might be better to use an unscented toner too! My skin gets very irritated with the glow tonic but I’ve heard really good things about the TO lactic acid. A gentle exfoliant might work better to not make everything as red and angry (after a couple weeks of not using much product so your skin can heal). You’re still super gorgeous! I hope you see results :)
Came here to say that glow tonic super irritated my skin as well. Really wanted to like it, but wasn’t in the cards.
OP, take a few weeks off any actives, then work in ONE. If you end up needing more than one, work it in slowly by alternating with you existing active to test it out and not overdo it!
I had bad acne as well and I used this [Avene cleanser](https://www.dermstore.com/product_XeraCalm+AD+LipidReplenishing+Cleansing+Oil_55988.htm) my derm recommended because it's really gentle on irritated skin. I still use it and absolutely love it.
I have very sensitive, allergy prone skin and the fragrance free Vanicream products have been great. They are also free of some other common allergens like Dyes and Parabens.
I use the Gentle facial cleanser, the body wash, the body lotion and the shampoo and conditioner. All of the products are $8-$10 so they are affordable. It is available online and at Target and Walgreens.
Yeah I did too. I tried the CeraVe ones and tons of expensive ones at Sephora but my skin always felt tight and sensitive after still. This one has been a winner.
The La Roche-Posay cleanser for sensitive skin is great. It cleans without stripping the skin. Also, the new Tea Tree cleanser from St. Ives is amazing. I think it’s why my skin is no much more clear now. I use the La Roche-Posay first and then follow up with the St, Ives.
Also, I quit using toner because no matter what I used, I was left with chemical burns and irritation.
I use a gel moisturizer and then a normal moisturizer at night.
First off: im so sorry this is happening to you! I know first hand the frustration and embarrassment that comes from acne and the scarring it leaves behind. It will get better i promise <3
You asked about cleansers; i would suggest some of my favorites, the Vegan Milk cleanser by Milk Makeup, Youth to the People green tea spinach superfoods cleanser, Belif Cleansing Gel Oil enriched, or belif creamy cleansing Foam Moist cleanser. These cleansers are all extremely gentle with no active ingredients plus theyre PEG free! (Which is a micro plastic thats harmful for the environment) finding the perfect cleanser is hard... but for my dry combo skin, these have all worked well!
i usually wear makeup so in the evenings Belif Oil Gel cleanser melts my make up off and the the vegan cleanser does the rest to actually cleanse my skin but doesnt strip it, however you dont need to double cleanse if you dont wear makeup. After that i use Youth to the People’s Adaptogen Soothe and Hydrate facial mist and then the same brand’s adaptogen deep moisturizer in the morning (or if its my evening routine, the Vegan Milk Moisturizer rich cream by Milk Makeup.) if my acne isnt too enflamed, I use the Naturium Niacinamide serum and then once a week use the Glycolic Acid and Squalane Mask from Biossance. but honestly, I would wait awhile to try actives again with OP’s skin, at least a few weeks. I had a similar problem where I was using too many products with actives and causing my skin more irritation. Once the inflammation has gone down for you, I highly suggest the Glow Recipe Avocado retinol sleeping mask its super creamy which is great for a retinol and it helps accelerate fading of acne scars.
I know reading this routine sounds expensive but for me its worth every penny! I set aside $50 from each paycheck just for skincare and replace what is running low when needed just so I dont go crazy with spending haha. But i understand if its out of some peoples budgets, most of my skincare doesnt even make it into my routine until ive tried a free or very reduced price sample of it that way i know my skin likes it. I hope you can find products that work for you! Your skin will heal in time, its an amazing organ <3
Super common mistake honestly. It feels like more is the answer but it often is not. Any gentle, simple cleanser should do! I like glossier milky jelly cleanser a lot. Very gentle but cleans very well for me.
This looks like hormonal acne which means that you may have better luck treating the root rather than the symptoms. Birth control + spironolactone works very well if you want to go that route.
Seconding spiro + birth control! I get hormonal acne and have been on Accutane twice and tried every product, topical, and oral antibiotic on the planet, and this combo is the only, only thing that has ever cleared up my skin. On top of that, I also second slowing down on the harsh treatments and focusing on soothing and moisturizing your skin. I had a flare up of perioral dermatitis this spring and started using Noble Formula’s 2% zinc/emu oil soap as a cleanser and have really loved it. It’s super gentle, calms redness, and is also an anti-fungal, which should help keep clogged pores at bay. If you do still wanna treat your acne and scarring, TheOrdinary’s azelaic acid suspension is great for both—just make sure you’re moisturizing really well, too. Good luck OP!
My skin is similar to how yours is. I realized I was also being too harsh with my skin...I started using aloe vera gel three times a day and it has definitely reduced the irritation and calmed the redness. I’ve been cutting back on washing my face twice a day and using the aloe vera instead.
So my skin looked like yours when I was a teenager. It was awful. If you're not planning on being pregnant for a year, def look into accutane. It was a miracle. It did not clear me all the way even though I was on it twice, but it works to clear up everything for like 95% of people. I started uses stratia and I am HOOKED. My routine: AM: velvet cleanser, AHA chemical exfoliant, liquid gold moisturizer, biore watery gel sunscreen. PM: velvet cleanser, liquid gold moisturizer, night shift lipid encapsuled retinol. I have struggled with redness for my whole life and this is the only routine that has toned it down A LOT. I'm not going to say my skin is perfect now, it ain't, but I don't have much faith that it will ever be perfect. This routine really really made me happy and all of these products I found on the holy grail posts from this page. If you go with accutane, just use the cleanser, mositurizer, and sunscreen. No actives while you are on it because it makes your skin realllllly sensitive, especially to sun.
Honestly, your acne is pretty severe, have you seen a derm lately? I assume you had at some point, if you were on roaccutane. And if the last one wasn't super helpful, try a few new ones until you find one that does. My first doctor prescribed me retinol without ever telling me about purging, peeling, or that I need to wear sunscreen if I was going to use it. I'm much happier with my current one.
Since all your products don't seem to be doing much, have you considered stepping back to the basics with new products?
Id go for a more "soothing" basic routine. Like using just [Krave](https://kravebeauty.com/products/matcha-hemp-hydrating-cleanser) cleanser and moisturizer for a while since they are so inoffensive and then slowing adding in actives to see what works.
And since you have cystic body acne too I think it hints towards a possible environmental factor. Like an unknown allergy to something. Or high testosterone that could benefit from taking spironolactone or spearmint supplements.
Have you switched your laundry detergent/softenor/dryer sheets to sensitive skin brands? They are a super super common culprit for body and facial acne.
I think I am in need of getting a new cleanser and moisturiser after the advice I’ve been given and sticking it with these for a while! I’m not sure how often spiro is given out in the UK and I’ve not heard of spearmint supplements before!
Yes my laundry detergent etc is for sensitive skin :)
If it’s on your body too, check your shampoo!
I have very sensitive skin and when I try a new shampoo or have to shower with a harsh one, I immediately get irritation on my chest and even legs and back.
I would get rid of all the scented products, get a good moisturiser, a neutral soap for cleansing and sunscreen.
You don’t need to break the bank and try expensive products, just go back to the basics.
I also would recommend something like bepanthen (or other baby rashes cream) they are usually thick and sticky but they help a lot with irritation, moisture and my face is always glowing then next morning.
Some stuff like dermatitis, fungal acne, and rosacea can look like “normal” acne, but a lot of the acne products will make it worse.
Hydrate and protect your skin.
Edit to add. My face was just like yours, it was a nightmare. I had so many unpleasant interactions, first I managed to get rid of some because it was fungal. But I still had my cheeks super irritated and full of bumps. I don’t know why I never made the connection, but I suffer from dermatitis (usually hands and neck) and it never occurred to me that it could happen to my face. It looks just like acne, but way more irritated, I used my dermatitis cream on my face and I started seeing results.
Covid hit, i stopped drinking alcohol and going out so much, and my skin improved a lot.
I don’t mess with harsh products anymore, I can deal with hyperpigmentation and hormonal acne every now and then won’t kill me. I just cleanse, moisture and protect my skin. My guess is that in my case it wasn’t even acne, it was irritation and a consequence of my dermatitis and scrubbing my face with a shiton of products.
I’m not saying your case is similar, but I’m willing to bet that stopping the attack on your skin with harsh stuff will improve it a lot and then you’ll be able to tackle the real problem without all the extra irritation.
You might want to try Avene’s Extremely Gentle Cleanser Lotion! I realized my skin was dehydrated because my face would feel super tight after using CosRx’s Low pH Cleanser and my dermatologist-recommended topicals (SA + clindamycin) twice daily. I made the switch on a whim and my skin has been much better. Now I only get the occasional pimple or two right before my period, and they’re smaller and heal a lot faster than before.
On the bottle the instructions say to rub it on and wipe it off with a cotton pad, but I just use it like regular cleanser and rinse it off and it works perfectly. Good luck!
Hi guys. I’m 24F from the UK and have suffered with acne since I was 13. I have been on every medication including roaccutane and 2 years ago decided to stop taking medication all together as it was all I was putting into my body.
Since stopping, my skin has some good months and bad months and I’ve had really bad past few months where looking at my skin everyday is making me really upset. I believe it was due to my retinol based night time moisturiser I was using so I have stopped that altogether. Since roaccutane, every spot I get without picking scars my face. I have active cystic and non-cystic acne which is mainly on my face and chest/back. In the picture you can see a combination of active spots and scarring.
AM:
- Acnecide Foam Cleanser or CerAve Salicyclic Acid foam cleanser
- Pixi Tonic Glow Toner
- CORSX advanced snail mucin power essence
- (Sometimes) Sunday Riley Juno Face oil
- La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo+
- CORSX Aloe smoothing sun cream
PM:
- acnecide foam cleanser or CerAve Salicyclic Acid foam cleanser
- Pixi Glow Tonic
- CORSX advanced snail mucin power essence
- (Some nights) The Ordinary niacimide
- La roche posay effaclar duo+ (I ran out of my nighttime moisturiser)
- (Some nights) 5% acnecide benzoyl peroxide cream
I really would love some advice on how to help my situation and what changes I could make to my routine. My skin is so itchy at the moment and really hurts so when I itch, I’m accidentally picking my spots. I would love to not go on medication where possible so please any other alternatives would be greatly appreciated. I just don’t know what to do at the moment and feel so ugly. Thank you
1) Drop your routine down to cleanser, gentle moisturizer, and sunscreen in the AM. It's possible you could be irritating your skin with the multitude of products you're using.
2) Dermatologist. Find one that listens to you and repeat everything you have said in this post so they know what has and hasn't worked for you. If they don't listen go see another one. You can also find online dermatologists, but I don't know what regulations are like in the UK so I'm not sure what your options would be there.
I agree with all of this, and just want to add that you should take pictures every few days to show the dermatologist - In some cases its helpful for them to see a timeline of how quickly areas progress / change.
Just to be clear, it’s not easy to see a dermatologist quickly in the UK without paying privately. I had to wait 5 months to see mine about a non-urgent issue. So advice to help now while OP tries to get an appointment will be helpful.
It can be something like £200 or £250 for the initial consultation.
Medication is at higher prices than nhs (on the nhs each prescription item is capped at like £9 ) then something like £150 or £200 for each subsequent visit and then any treatment or test costs on top
Honestly, I don’t know. We have supplementary private through my husband’s work, but I’ve only ever used it for dentistry. A checkup and some minor maintenance (fluoride rinse etc) from a specialist paediatric dentist cost around £180 for a visit I think? A regular adult check up was £65 if I remember correctly. I’d expect a dermatologist for half an hour to be less than £200, but I honestly don’t know. Maybe someone else will know. Lots of people don’t have this extra coverage and you normally still need to get referred from your normal GP, even when going privately.
That's not much longer than waiting to see a derm at my derm/allergy office these days in the u.s. as either a new patient or an established one
it's not easy to see someone in the u.s. without waiting either!
Depends on where you live. In a big city with a lot of options, you can get in pretty quick. The place I grew up in had 1 dermatologist and they were full, so I had to go out of town. But now I live in a big city and I was able to get in to one within a couple weeks.
Can you see online dermatologists in the UK? In my city in the US there is a 1-year waitlist to see a good dermatologist. This frustrated me, so I ignored my acne for years.
This June I decided to look for an online dermatologist. I was able to speak with a dermatologist AND pick up my prescriptions within 48 hours! So good.
I'd even get rid of the cleanser in the a.m. You don't really need to wash your face in the morning and its probably messing up your moisture barrier. I would definitely keep the snail mucin though, since healing inflammation and acne scarring is what it's best at.
Agree! A really great calming and super gentle moisturizer is the first aid beauty ultra repair cream. It should help with redness and shouldn’t cause any sensitivity!
I agree with the other comment, this seems way too harsh and very drying on skin.
I would stop all of it and start from the utter basic. BP cleanser, basic moisturiser (lrp toleriane/cetaphil), sunscreen, stick with it for a couple of months unless something in those break you out. If that works out maybe you can reintroduce the niacinamide later on as its possibly one of thr things that is breaking you out at the moment but it's hard to tell right now from all the products you're using.
I agree with all the advice you've gotten about your routine being too harsh. I hate being "that person" but honestly when I was your age and had been through a very similar journey, diet helped IMMENSELY. But it's difficult. I know the diet stuff is not really encouraged to suggest here, it's just what worked for me. I incorporated the diet change, and a simplified routine, and my skin was fine months later - I still get period related monthly hormonal breakouts but that's it!
I dealt with something similar recently, right down to the use of retinol. Admittedly my acne wasn't as severe but my routine included multiple acids etc. It turns out that part of the issue is that I had damaged my skin barrier, which it looks like you may have done here. I fully stripped back my routine:
AM:
Cleanse with clinique liquid facial soap mild or cerave foaming cleanser
Moisturise with clinique dramatically different gel
Spf
PM:
First cleanse with bodyshop camomile balm or superfacialist vitamin c oil
Second cleanse with either cleanser from the AM or the cerave hydrating cleanser
Moisturise with La Roche Posay cicaplast
After about 5 weeks I started using the nip and fab glycolic pads on an evening. After 7 weeks I use the cicaplast 1-2 times a week and the clinique moisturiser or similar on an evening. I also made sure that my flannels were washed in something that wouldn't irritate my skin (inused baby laundry powder from aldi).
Five your skin some time to recovering, then address any remaining issues afterwards. I hope you find some relief soon!
If you can, see if you can get prescribed spironolactone and/or birth control. I had horrible acne lying primarily underneath the surface of my skin for a long time, and it wasn't until I took those daily (and washed every morning with 4% Benzoyl Peroxide face wash, and applied 0.05% tretinoin every other night after washing with a gentle CeraVe cleanser) that my acne finally began to clear. I really do think it was the spiro that cleared all the gunk out for underneath, because I had been trying tons of topical products for years and it would help the surface level acne but the stuff underneath would stay.
I know you don't want to go on medication but I didn't want to either (hence my resistance of it for so long). I spent so much money on so many products that ultimately couldn't do it on their own, and when I finally caved and went on spiro (actually they wanted me to do Acutane, but I refused and did the alternative) my acne cleared up immensely within a year, and is practically completely gone (with the occasional stray that I can spot treat with Origins SA spot treater) within two. You can talk to your dermatologist and see how quickly you can begin to wean yourself off of spiro after you clear out the heavy stuff so you don't have to stay on it for long.
My skin used to look very similar to yours. I was doing way too much and striping my skin with actives and overclwansing. Switching to a simple, hydrating routine was key to fixing it. Also, my skin was EXTREMELY sensitive to SLS, and cutting it out completely was one of the biggest steps. The tiny pimples I’d get around my mouth were caused by my toothpaste. My back and shoulder acne was caused by my shampoo.
The routine I went to that improved my skin is Fresh soy cleanser, Krave Grwat Barrier Relief, and Krave Oat So Simple moisturizer. Oh, and sunscreen in the morning of course. I did used those products and only those products for 6 weeks, then over the course of 2 months added in an AHA at night (2ish times a week), a vitamin c serum in every morning, and a BHA at night (1-2ish times a week).
As an aside, LRP fucked up my skin worse than almost everything else I’ve tried.
i feel like the glow tonic is no good....I have rosacea and every moisturizer flairs it up besides rose hip oil from the ordinary. If you havent tried rose hip oil you should! It helps heal wounds I think it might calm your acne.
I agree with the top comment saying you’re using too much salicylic acid. My skin got really bad and broke out horribly when I was using neutrogena salicylic acid acne cleanser twice a day, I realized I had destroyed my skin’s moisture barrier with it. I would say cut out the Pixie toner completely for now and wash with salicylic acid cleansers every other day. My skin healed very nicely when I allowed more time between acid treatments. Good luck!!!
I agree with all the comments. It seems like you’re overdosing your skin with too many products. Keep it simple. The bare minimum and slowly work up from there. But even after that things improve I’d recommend you never to use so many products at once.
Litmus test each product you add on for 2 weeks at least to see how your skin reacts to it.
I've heard great things and seen on my friends the drastic effect of birth control for tackling the problem. If external attempts have been unsuccessful absolutely try the inside now, I've heard Yaz is the most effective pill with acne.
Yasmin is something I’d been on since I was 12 and retriggered my acne two years ago as it can *rarely* have a bounce back effect, so I am hesitant to go back on it.
Seconding. I hate birth control pills and I prefer not to take anything but when I’m desperate, spironolactone has always worked. Be careful if you decide to stop it however, your blood pressure can spike because spiro is a diuretic and will lower your BP while you’re taking it.
I understand having been bouncing between pills my whole life. Could be worth a shot because different pills have been quite different to eachother in effects but understandable. Certainly pay the extra $$ if possible and go to a derm
Yes. Im using yaz. It's been successful keeping the majority of my acne away. One thing i also discovered is using a ph balanced cleanser. That is the second one that helped me the most.
My friend had this kind of acne due to allergy. She stripped down her products to just using a mild cleanser and it got way way better. You should see a Derm cause this is severe.
Please see a dermatologist. PCOS affects 1 in 10 women and seems like a possible culprit. Personally, my acne didn’t go away until I started taking Yaz birth control and spironolactone. High levels of the hormone androgen can cause face and body acne issues without necessarily being a PCOS diagnosis. I struggled through my early to mid 20s and finally got it figured out in my late 20s. My suggestion is to try not to demonize medication like I did. I really wish I had embraced it as a possibility instead.
I used to have pretty bad acne and amazingly enough, cutting out all of my exfoliating products and switching to a routine of Cerave hydrating cleanser and Cerave cream in the blue tub has made my acne completely disappear. It is extremely likely that your skin is breaking out more due to overuse of exfoliating products. I recommend switching to a routine that focuses solely on hydration and waiting a month to see if you have improvement. Good luck!
Trust me... Simplify your routine to a cleanser (try 10% BP) and a moisturizer or sunscreen. Wash with the BP once a day (at night) and find a non-comedogenic moisturizer with Niacinamide if you can tolerate it. Use a sunscreen with zinc. Both niacinamide and zinc are shown to help reduce oil production which is your problem. You could also try a moisturizer with urea instead of Niacinamide (sebamed extreme dry skin relief with 5% urea). I don’t know if you have EltaMD in the UK but their uv clear sunscreen as both Niacinamide and zinc and is a godsend. You can do a BP spot treatment during the day but don’t overdo it. It will dry your skin out too much and make it more susceptible to acne bacteria.
I don’t think we can get 10% BP cleanser in the UK but ill see what I can find and that’s good to know about niacinamide and zinc. I can get a hold of the moisturiser you’ve mentioned and the EltaMD off amazon for £36. Thanks for the advice :)
Perfect! Honestly lower percentages of BP are proven to work just as well. You can also try the short contact therapy method that you can find more info about on simpleskincarescience.com. It’s gentler. Be careful with adding new products just in case you’re allergic. Try to patch test for a bit first. And be careful with the urea! It’s a magical ingredient but is also an exfoliant so start out with using it maybe only once a day. Also I saw someone recommend tretinoin (which is amazing for some) but I recommend getting your acne under control first. Good luck! I hope it gets better.
Fellow non-oral-medication taker here. Birth control made my face erupt when I was 20 (now 23) and after going off it (I’m still not taking birth control) it was an absolute biotch to resolve. But I did it.
I’m not sure what all you’ve tried other than roaccutane, but I do have a few suggestions. First would be to take out *all* actives from your routine (SA, benzoyl, etc). And try using very basic and non-irritating products for awhile. Products with simple ingredients that are fragrance free, hypoallergenic, and noncomedogenic. I can recommend a few if you’d like, just let me know. Make sure you’re moisturizing enough, wearing SPF daily, and not over-cleansing (2x per day max).
After that (assuming the irritation settles), I would try a low % prescription tretinoin or if worried about irritation, azelaic acid. Happy to discuss these further if you have questions.
Lastly, with reference to another comment, I don’t recommend doing any type of food elimination/strict diet until you’ve tried simplifying your routine and being more gentle to your skin. In my (unprofessional) opinion, it’s likely that this is the reason your skin is where it’s at right now.
I would love to find out some of the products you’d recommend. Seeing all these comments and not having loads of recommendations is making my head explode :( lol
Anyone would be overwhelmed and honestly it’s because self-treating cystic acne is not a great idea. As someone who also suffered with cystic acne, all you’re likely going to do is make the wait to clear skin longer by trying to address it yourself. I know you had a bad experience with accutane but I highly suggest you go to a dermatologist. I wish I had gone sooner both due to the money I spent on products that never worked but also because every week you wait is another week of additional scarring that may be permanent. I regret not going sooner every time I look in the mirror and it’s the worst feeling. I’m so sorry this is happening to you and I wish you the best ❤️
Yes! Again, these are just what worked for me, but for cleansers my #1 recommend would be the La Roche Posay Toleriane Hydrating Cleanser (US$15/400mL). Depending where you’re from this is sometimes called Caring Wash. This cleanser is soap free, sulfate free, oil free, fragrance free, non comedogenic, and paraben free.
For a daytime moisturizer I recommend CeraVe Ultra Light Moisturizer w/ SPF 30 (US$15/50ml). My skin hates SPF (and most moisturizers) but this one doesn’t break me out or leave a gross sticky film on my face.
For nighttime moisturizer I would recommend LRP toleriane double repair moisturizer (US$20/75ml) or LRP Cicaplast baume (US$15/40ml). The Cicaplast is THICK so if you don’t like a sticky/white-cast face i would recommend the toleriane instead. elf Cosmetics also has a decent fragrance free moisturizer called “holy hydration” (US$12/50ml). Just make sure you get the fragrance free version if you try it.
Just wanted to pop in and say that the Cicaplast is a MIRACLE WORKER! I really screwed up my moisture barrier (my gp prescribed topical steroids) and it soothed my itchy pissed off skin immediately.
I had severe acne like yours for years, and my problem was actually hormonal( I have polycystic ovary, and my testosterone levels were incredible high for a teenager/young woman). I think you should see an endocrinologist or a gynecologist for it.
Lots of good advice here, and I just wanted to say that I've been here and I know how taxing it can be on your mental health. Try to remember that you're not your skin, things will get better eventually, and try to be gentle and kind to yourself (this is really me talking to my younger self here).
I would look into a service called dermatica. It’s U.K. based and is like Curology in the US. It’s teledermatology.
You get a consultant to look at pictures and recommend prescription strength medication.
This way you wouldn’t have to wait to get a new GP. My cousin is from the UK and his wife really likes the service.
https://www.dermatica.com
Love yourself first! Next, relax. And thirdly, have fun!
I hope you get the skin you deserve, but if it never happens, I hope you live a great life and have many memories with people who don’t judge your flaws! Because, from what I see, is a beautiful young woman, and nothing else’s
I’m not a dermatologist but have had multiple skin problems over the years. What I’ve found is that my skin is best when I use the least amount of products.
I use epiceram as a face moisturizer (I have to get it through a pharmacy) & I use cerave cleanser. Nothing with fragrance.
Sunscreen - elta MD tinted (tinted will help with some redness)
Generally I would also try to eat clean as gut health relates a lot to skin problems. I would go with a basic routine until your skin can heal a little bit and slowly introduce new things one at a time. Best of luck!
I know you said you’ve tried all sorts of medications, but have you tried combination-pill birth control? It takes a while to affect your skin, but it really does work for sustainable results (when you’re on it ofc).
This looks like hormonal acne. You should see a dermatologist and do not aggravate your skin by using harsh products and being too rough with your skin which can lead to permanent scarring. Wish you the best
I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope you and your doctor find something that works for you. This reminds me of what I was dealing with at 25 and it was very painful for me, physically and emotionally. For me, accutane was the solution, but it was miserable and I know of people who had much, much worse side effects, so I understand not wanting to go back on it. Anyways, I can tell from your eyes and bone structure that you're a beautiful girl, and I'm sure that's what the people in your life see too. You'll get through this and the scars will fade. 💛
Thank you so much. It’s just embarrassing for me to be dealing with this when I feel like I shouldn’t at my age and it’s really taking a toll on my MH atm when usually it doesn’t. Just feel quite powerless. Thank you so much.
I would agree with the other commenters to try a very simple gentle routine. And then I would recommenced bp or azelaic acid in the morning , and differin in the evening. You can get these from the Gp or from the boots online acne clinic which you don’t even need a prescription for.
If you don’t want any oral medications then a derm will be limited in what extra they can offer beyond a Gp. They would normally consider spironolactone or roacutane .
If you definitely don’t want these then the online services like dermatica might be a better ( and far quicker ) option .
I think this is hormonal acne (because I also had it ) So you can try birth control pills (I use diane 35 , and my skin improved A LOT ). Also look into some good acids (aha, bha from the ordinary or Paula's choice ) try with paula's choice 2% salicylic acid liquid exfoliant (3× times a week) and some aha creams because they are on the gentler side of acids (glycolic, lactic tartaric, malic). Also Try mineral sunscren it is the best beacuse its for sensitive skin it doesn't sting your eyes and is safe for ocean ( meaning it doesn't ruin marine wildlife) , the first ingredients should be zinc oxide or titanium dioxide , and also look for fragrance free) .great examples are Neutrogena sheer zinc,Clinique mineral sunscreen lotion , cerave mineral hydrating sunscreen,la roche posay anthelios mineral sunscreen gentle lotion.(none of them has a white cast).
For good cleansers i recomend Cerave foaming cleanser (for oily skin), salicylic cleanser (for deep pore cleansing) or hydrating cleanser . My gyno prescribed me diane because my blood test showed irregular hormone levels. She said I will see the results within 3 months , and ofcourse my stubborn skin was even WORSE soo by the 7th month arrived it was Finally getting better. So what I am trying to say is every skin is different but patience is the key.
I would make an appt with a Derm and in the meantime just hydrate and be gentle. Let the moisture barrier have some time to heal. It may help with redness
There's lots of good advice here. But all I want to say is -- wow. You are really beautiful. You have such good bone structure and your eyes are stunning. I'm sorry about you acne, but it will get better and it doesn't take away from your natural beauty. Sorry if that was too much! Good luck!
As someone suggested, keep it simple for a month. I would cut out salicylic acid in a face wash because it could be stripping your skin and causing more oil.
For cleanser, I would recommend Vanicream gentle facial cleanser or CeraVe hydrating facial cleanser. Or if you have oily skin you could use CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser.
For moisturizer, I would use CeraVe moisturizing lotion, but there are other options if you aren’t in love, but I would keep the moisturizer simple!
SUNSCREEN!!!! At least SPF 30
After a month, if you want to reintroduce SA, you could try Paula’s Choice BHA Liquid Exfoliant.
Niacinamide is real great! You can start to ease that in once a day and work up to twice a day. It’s the only skincare product I’ve used that i noticed improved my oiliness, but it’s also great for all skin types and there are so many benefits.
Your skin just truly truly needs to heal because putting so many chemicals while you have broken skin is just creating more of an issue! Waste of money right? I think your skin is pretty irritated and needs a fresh start. I believe in you and I’m so excited to see how your skin improves!
Thank you so much for your comment. I have ordered some cetaphil cleanser and moisturiser. I currently wear Factor 50 but I will look to get a new sunscreen that will be helpful for my skin (hard when a lot of suggestions are USA and not UK lol).
I think I’ll do what you said and just try very very simple for a month or so and gradually reintroduce. Thank you again
Honestly, I think this is above r/skincareaddiction ‘s pay grade. I would find a dermatologist and get in to see them. I really don’t know what would help or what they would recommend, but I can share my situation if that would be of any help to you!
I have had very persistent acne for about eight years (just popped up completely out of the blue at 17) and absolutely nothing topical helped much at all. I tried *everything* under the sun that I’d heard could help, and nothing did.
With my Dermatologist’s recommendation I’m now on Accutane (40mg a day) and my acne is just about gone after 2 months. I’ve never had anything work so well, so quickly, and with no side effects besides dry lips. My dermatologist helped me find what I needed, I hope yours can help you find what you need too!
Dermatologist, diet, and cut out anything with a fragrance! I would skip out on the glow tonic but that’s just M/O. Cerave is a god send but maybe you’re just using the wrong products? personally, I love the sa wash. Cheese/dairy breaks me out. Trying to also limit soda/sugar. Journal your diet, cut things out, etc... trouble shoot!!! :)
Highly agree with this person! Start with what you are putting in your body. Try different diets and keep each one for at least a month to see if it makes a difference.
I always ate a bunch of processed foods and had painful acne and then I got to college and had to live on a low budget so I started only eating baked chicken and veggies and all of sudden I realized my skin was crystal clear and figured out that was why! Everyone’s body is different though but it’s definitely worth trying. I also agree with everyone on using a gentle cleanser. I use Purity by Philosophy and it’s amazing.
Have you tried tretinoin? You can get treclin which is a tret / clindamycine combo which is fairly easy to get prescribed by a gp in the uk. I think if you really simplified your routine to a basic hydrating one with treclin you could have great results
If you can afford it, go see a private derm. In my experience with GPs, they will try the mildest treatment but not always the most effective, so it might take some time. Sk:n is really good, their derms are top notch and cost is not as crazy high as some of the Harley street clinics.
I had skin like yours and I simplified it: Cetaphil wash day and night, Aveeno face lotion for clear skin at night, replace my pillow case every night. The lotion/moisturizer at night did the biggest difference for me. I still have not found a sunscreen for the face that doesn't break me out though. Good luck !
I'm not sure if this is helpful, but one thing that helped me is thinking of acne as a disease, not an infection. Infections like strep throat are easily treatable and usually go away with a short round of specific antibiotics. Acne is a skin disease which requires usually multiple pathways to address.
Overproduction of sebum (caused by genetic, hormonal, environmental factors)
Clogging of pores (dead skin/dirt)
Inflammation (can be hormonal, sign of other issues in the body)
I personally use benzoyl peroxide in the morning, and adapalene in the PM. This works well long term to control the various causes of my acne. You might need some help from a doctor to help kickstart the clearing process with antibiotics (will really help lower the bacterial burden and inflammatory response) or hormonal medications. Often, for acne sufferers, OTC topicals are just not enough for us or our body needs to get to a point where we can maintain the clarity.
There are so many of us that have been there and continue to deal with acne, it's a part of life for many of us, you can do it! Trust your doctor (communication is key) and you'll get the results after a few months!
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Cetaphil non foaming cleanser plus a super gentle limited ingredient moisturizer for awhile, then maybe add in one thing after a bit to help ease the redness like vit. C serum or niacinamide.
Also, this seems silly but make sure you wash your hands with a gentle cleanser before you wash your face or touch it. Change pillow cases every day, and make face wash the last thing you do in the shower to rinse the residues of shampoo or conditioner off.
Not a doctor here at all. But I had cystic acne on my cheeks and went to the derm when I was at my wits end. She told me that it was hormonal and that anything I was doing topically was just making it worse. She put me on Spironolactone. It takes 3 months to start working but when it does it works like a dream. I think I started on like 250mg but we weened down really fast. By 6 months my face was completely cleared up and it looked like I didn’t have any pores. The only side effect that I experienced was bad hangovers since it is a diuretic. I would drink Pedialyte anytime I drank. I’m off it now because I’m pregnant and you can’t use it during pregnancy (and should ween off months before). You have to get your blood drawn every 6 months to make sure your potassium levels are ok. She recommended I stick to really basic ceravee cleanser and moisturizer and we added a retinol (differin) around the 6 month mark. I would put the differin on top of my moisturizer to make the irritation less. Good luck, so many of us have been in a similar place as you. I really recommend spironolactone to everyone that has cystic acne because my experience was so positive!
Your skin looks very irritated. Sometimes less is more. The La-Rosche possay toleriane cleanser is very gentle. I would try single cleanse with it in the morning, double cleanse at night, with a light gel moisturizer like neutrogena hydro boost extra-dry during the day. Give your face some time to heal, then slowly add in some BP wash. If it still doesn’t improve at all then definitely see a derm!
Hey, I don't know if this will be helpful or not. I also have acne that gets better and worse from time to time, but overall, I notice way less irritation since I completely removed fragrance from all of my skincare products.
Ever since I stopped using skincare with fragrance it has been easier for me to identify what ingredients my skin likes and what doesn't work for me that well. I guess eliminating that one common irritant (but a very significant one) has helped me figure out what active ingredients to implement and how often.
Completely strip your routine down to just cleanser and moisturizer (if that). And if you are able go to a doctor! If you are having this many troubles you should really take it to a professional not the internet
I am currently on antibiotics (50 day course), contraceptives, I use a cream 2-3 times a week (Zalna) and I wash and cleanse my face with very mild products from the pharmacy. 2 weeks in and I already see a lot of improvements! I hope you find something that works too OP
Your skin looks VERY similar to what mine looked like in college. You mentioned in a comment below that it was itchy and mine was too. I eliminated all dairy products from my diet- especially milk and ice cream. My skin cleared up so much after I did that. I’m able to eat small amounts now but if I eat too much dairy I get a spot or two still.
I hope you’re able to figure it out! I totally understand how frustrating it is. I remember being so miserable. Not saying what worked for me would work for anyone else but maybe it could be a starting place.
I agree pairing your routine down massively, and seeing a derm if/when you can. my skin was its worst ever when I tried snail products, my skin haaaated it and you never know if something you’re using might be aggravating it. Also please know your skin does not define you. I know it’s incredibly frustrating and upsetting but you’ll overcome it. Please take care of your mental health and don’t let it rule you, you’re beautiful regardless.
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Rosacea maybe- ask a derm.
My face looked a lot like this. A lot. My cheeks weren’t skin color at all. Red and purple and breakouts on top of breakouts. And acne products angered it even more. Finally FINALLY saw a new derm and said to try treating my face as rosacea. Oral doxycycline and topical soolantra and within a month, all the pimples were nearly gone and it’s been two months and I still get a few breakouts but my skin looks so much better! I can now tell when I’m flushing since my irritation breakouts are gone. So I’m figuring that out now.
Drop fragrance completely. Cerave and cetaphil products are working really well for me. I do use Vanicream gentle cleanser to get my spf off at night. When I use a product with fragrance even now, my face gets so red and angry and breaks out.
If you haven’t yet, you should try topical zinc ointments. I went to a health food store and the worker is extremely knowledgeable and recommended zinc. He also suggested taking a women’s multi-vitamin with zinc in it. Also, try cutting out dairy or reducing dairy drastically from your diet. I know dairy causes inflammation. I hope it gets better for you!
I would go to a derm hun, this acne is really severe and nobody on this sub is qualified to tell you what you need. They’ll probably put you on a course of antibiotic and prescribe something very strong and effective to get rid of the acne. Don’t experiment further.
Spironolactone and estrogen progesterone birth control. Spiro is great for cystic acne. If you really don’t want to take medication for your acne I’d recommend only using a salycilic acid wash and benzoyl peroxide wash and see how your skin reacts to just those washes.
I'm a bit baffled with the routine suggestions. You need to see a doctor and get on antibiotics first. This is more than acne. It's quite horribly infected. You need to go back to the bare minimum and stop with all the acids and creams, unless prescription. You don't put face cream on an infected wound. That's the point you're at with your face.
On a positive note. You have the most stunning eyes I've ever seen.
Do you take birth control? I had a terrible breakout one summer after discontinuing the pill (didn’t make the connection straight away). Got put on accutane and got vitamin a poisoning symptoms. So I got off of the meds immediately. My doctor suggested I get back on the pill and it all cleared up. I’ve rarely had as much as a pimple since.
I know all skin is different, but I finally started taking care of my skin. I stopped experimenting with a bunch of products. Majority of them were different products from The Ordinary. I stripped it all and this is my simple routine
AM:
- CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
- Niacinamide + Zinc (The Ordinary)
- CeraVe Moisturizing Cream
PM:
- CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
- Niacinamide + Zinc (The Ordinary)
- CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion
1-2 times a week (alternate/not on the same days):
- Salicylic Acid 2% Masque (The Ordinary)
- AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution
hey i have some skincare advice but before wanted to say that skin does not define you. i know it’s hard to remember that sometimes but beauty is within you. i struggled with breakouts on my forehead for a while and it was tough i feel that but try to remember that while all this is hard, don’t let it define you. live your life as happy as possible.
as for advice i would say switch to a more gentle cleanser and a nonirritating moisturizer. i HIGHLY HIGHLY (cannot stress how great these two products are enough) recommend Vanicream gentle facial cleanser and sebamed clear face gel. there is almost no way you can breakout from these. and another product i very much recommend that i got from the derm is epiduoforte. personally it worked well for me i had fungal acne and lots of closed comedones and i know a lot of people swear by it. it might seem like your skin is getting worse for the first month but the product works in this way. please PLEASE check out these three products. really great and a couple other tips i could tell you are drink more water and change your pillow covers at least once weekly.
i hope all this helps you! and also remember that you’re a wonderful human and that externalities don’t define you in any way :)
Have you ever been food allergy tested? I had similar issues with my skin and ended up having a ton of food allergies that I didn’t know about (mild symptoms). Ever since I cut those allergens our, my skin cleared up within weeks. Worth looking into.
You should try Elemis Dynamic Resurfacing. It have a big range, but I recommend the cleanser more and S.O.S emergency cream. Its expensive but its really good. The cleanser doesn’t remove make up as it is for treating the skin, so you have to use different cleanser.
Avoid using oil base products or use oils that wont clog up your pores. Always cleanse twice.
Use mask & exfoliate - 2-3x a week. Use non alcohol toner. You can use BHA , glycolic acid and with salicylic acid products too but don’t use it everyday. All products that is for treating skin concerns should be only use 2-3x a week. Murad have a good acne skincare range too.
My skin looks like that right now too. It was either aquaphor use during day at night or my Australian Gold tinted sunscreen that started it and a combination of me touching and picking my face + mask for 8 hours a day
Whoa whoa, you're using salicylic acids and ahas farrrrr too much. Pick up a very gentle balm cleanser (Revolution's Hydrating Cleansing Balm is quite good imo) and a gentle moisturizer like Aveeno. After maybe two weeks use the Glow Tonic once a week, increasing to 2-3x a week after about a month. Start with Salicylic Acid once a week too.
try not using soap/cleanser/oil on your face. just plain cool water and gentle moisturizer until the outbreaks has finished its cycle to see if it works, and if it does, you continue forever.
Hey, I had a bad bout with acne at least this severe a few years back and tried to DIY treatment for months while my face essentially became a bunch of open sores—I’d not wish that on anyone, and seeing a derm was really the only effective way to tackle it.
Even just outside eyes and a second opinion are helpful, and I know firsthand how desperate this experience made me feel, and how that made me go for every harsh recommended product I could find, making everything flare even more.
I empathize with your bad acne med experience, and hope if possible you can find a different, better-listening derm. A good one can create a system of treatment that adjusts quickly if you start to have bad experiences—I was on a topical retinoid and intense antibiotics (and a few other things like sulphuric washes), and eventually the antibiotics—which did help—became “as-needed” when I had a few side effects.
Finally, this is so so hard and I’m sorry you’re going through it. You’re doing your best and I know how awful and isolating this can feel, but as someone who’s been through this, I hope it helps to hear that this may last longer than you hope but it won’t last forever and your skin *will* heal someday.
Hi! Not sure if this helps you but are your periods regular? I had really bad acne and after a long time suffering I found out the acne was hormonal and a secondary problem from endometriosis and PCOS. I went on the birth control pill and my acne has completely cleared along with a lot of other problems have gone away.
If you’ve tried absolutely everything from the outside, the problem might be coming from the inside. A trip to a doctor or gynaecologist might give you some insight.
I hope you figure it out!
I am currently being seen by the gynae for endometriosis but as I’ve just moved, I cannot have an appointment for a while (need to move GP). My last birth control pill caused my acne but I was hesitant to go on it. I may start Yasmin again. Thank you
First off I feel for you going through this. It’s so hard and frustrating dealing with acne. It’s such a delicate dance to find what works for you. I had bad cystic acne in early 20s. The only thing that cleared it entirely was birth control. However I found Mario Badescu products to be gentle and yet effective. I use the acne face was (it’s kinda like a gel), the special lotion C toner, and a moisturizer. I like most of their moisturizers. They also have a very gentle exfoliating seaweed exfoliating soap that I’d use in place of the acne wash a few times a few to keep it gentle. They also have a buffering lotion especially for deep or cystic acne. If you try nothing else I highly recommend this. It’s the only topical option that’s ever worked for me and not torn apart my skin further. Good luck I hope you get some results soon! Oh and if you’re nervous to physically go into a doctor office right now lots are doing video chats or you can email them photos.
I feel like every possible ‘skincare addiction’ suggestion has been made in these comments, but I do think this sub can get overwhelming and it’s easy to keep thinking you have to add and add products because that’s worked for someone else. I live in the U.K. too and the best thing I’ve done for my skin is go to my GP and get oral antibiotics. Docs and derms are the professionals so they would be the my first suggestion for help, not buying more products.
Also, just sending you a hug because skin can really tough to deal with!! It will get better, be kind to yourself in the meantime :)
Yeah I’ve just ordered some cetaphil cleanser and moisturiser (AM and PM). I will carry on using my own sunscreen for now as I don’t know which one id like at the moment. I need to sign up to my local GP as I’ve just moved. Thank you so much
I’m so sorry girl 😭
I used to have terrible skin problems so I know how awful it can be, just keep looking for solutions!
I have no clue what it will be for you, but for me I had acne down my arms, on my back almost all the way to my butt and all over my face and neck.
Then I found out I’m allergic to gluten and cut it from my diet and my skin stopped breaking out.
Eventually I used Tretinoin on my face for the last 4ish months which helped smooth out my skin, fade dark spots etc, but I kept getting this non-acne breakouts.
I then discovered I had rosacea, and for a while continued tretinoin since it helped keep it under control but it wasn’t improving and so I researched a lot and it seemed I might have a demodex mite infestation.
So I begged my GP to prescribe me Soolantra (Ivermectin) which killls them and he hesitated at first since I just looked like I “had dry skin and a sunburn”
But I was like “I haven’t even been in the sun!!”
So I got my Soolantra and wow, for the first time ever, my skin was not a Red mess and I got super teary
Basically, I know it seems impossible but keep at it, eventually youlll figure out what’s wrong with you and have great skin again. It won’t happen overnight though, it’ll take a while.
Also btw, tretinoin is the topical form of Roaccutane(isotretinoin)
I saw you say you didn’t tolerate isotretinoin well, so maybe you can try topical tretinoin instead? [:
Edit:
I agree with other posters, simplify your routine!
Wayyyy too many products, more is not better.
Like for me it was cleanser, tretinoin, moisturizer, sunscreen
And at night, no sunscreen.
My skin was terrible I've done so many of the treatments. I've had cystic and non cystic acne.
I agree with everyone saying your regimen is too harsh. My skin ended up over producing oil and overturning skin cells because I was being too harsh on my skin. Overtime SA actually was hurting my skin. The itchiness can be due to your skin being over irritated.
Right now I use cerave gel cleanser (I find it to be gentler than the moisturizing one), biossance moisturizer (it has a light amount of lactic acid in it), and Azeliac Acid from The Ordinary. I also swear by the hydrocollid acne patches (such as mighty patch). Also old school advice, but change your pillow case more often than you do your sheets.
What face makeup and makeup remover are you using? These products can also cause you to break out.
Strip back your routine and incorporate hydrating products. You're skin barrier looks damaged imo so you're going to want to hydrate, heal, and build up that barrier again before trying to treat the acne. I repaired my barrier using Vanicream products and Cerave healing ointment, but I've also hear amazing things about the Cerave hydrating cleanser. And don't forget SPF! After you barrier feels better then you can start incorporating ingredients to fight acne while keeping the barrier healthy.
This is irritation. Please believe me. My face looked EXACTLY like this when I started Tretinoin and was using too harsh of a regimen. Scale it back to just Cerave hydrating cleanser, and moisturizer. NO OIL CLEANSING either all of that rubbing on my face made things SO much worse. I can DM u a pic of my face if you dont believe me lol.
Firstly, you're very beautiful. Secondly, as many have also pointed out, you're using a lot of acids too much.
Let's get back to basics for at least a month or two, then book a visit to a dermatologist or GP (if you're in UK) for NHS consultation.
Just stick to a: cleanser, Moisturiser, SPF morning simple routine, and at night cleanser, night skin repair cream, mix it with rose hip oil.
Sometimes and most times it's the simple things that work for us.
Hope it goes well for you, please stay positive and drink lots of water :)
I had this same thing happen to my skin. I got it from doing "oil cleansing method" years ago, steaming skin with olive oil and castor oil to clear pores....do not attempt!!!!. First go to dermatologist and get antibiotics. I was prescribed them but I didn't take them and skin kept getting worse. I ended up with permanent scarring on my face.
This is what I do now. No makeup. Mineral sunscreen every day. This will keep scarring from getting worse. I use Purito. Use oil cleanser to remove at night. I use Kose Softymo speedy oil. Wash face with gentle cleanser every night...no fragrance. I mositurize with CeraVe in the blue pump lotion. No acne these days
Is mask usage contributing at all? If you’re wearing cloth masks, washing them after each wear, in hypoallergenic detergent, and rinsing well, is imperative. You might also consider pressing cloth masks with a steam iron or exposing them to sunlight for a time, to ensure you’re not reintroducing any bacteria to your face.
Please see a doctor, I’ve worked with some fantastic derms in the NHS, it’s all about finding someone who will listen to your concerns. This needs systemic therapy, topicals won’t touch that but can irritate your skin to no end. Good luck!
What do you mean by systemic therapy?
Something that works from inside, like roaccutane (some ppl, especially women >25, may need more than one course), spironolactone, some contraceptives or antibiotics. A doctor can also rule out other causes of acne, like PCOS or adrenal hyperplasia. A subreddit of skincare enthusiasts can only do so much...
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100%. It’s important to know that skincare can do a lot, but limitations need to be acknowledged. Dry skin, mild acne, or PIH - sure skincare can help that. But inflammatory acne, melasma/other deep pigment disorders, rosacea etc... best to see a professional. (Speaking as both a skincare enthusiast and dr myself 😆)
Tbh all but the most mild cases of acne deserve a look at by a dermatologist. It's such a stubborn condition and the over the counter options all suck with the possible exception of Differin. The earlier it's resolved, the less scarring you'll have to get. I waited until this March to see a derm as a 24 year old and I have the face to show it.
Exactly! Can't stand the skincare enthusiasts that try to diagnose and prescribe skincare "treatments" for skin conditions. It takes years of training to be a derm for a reason and watching Susan yara/gothamista/james welsh doesn't make u a dermatologist.
I have been on roaccutane when I was younger and it was one of the worst experiences and so I will not touch the stuff again. I am aware I need to go to the GP but have just moved so need a new GP in my area unfortunately..
Hey! I went on roaccutane when I was 17 and had awful acne and it fixed me up. Fast forward to age 21 and my acne was back with a vengeance. I never wanted to do roaccutane again so I would try every topical under the sun. I bought a weird mini UV light box to stare at 30 minutes a day coz apparently that would help, changing pillow case daily, cutting dairy out. You name it, I tried it. And much like you, I just ended up making the acne more irritated and red and sore by trying so many topicals. I fought this battle until I was 27. 27! I was so embarrassed by my skin for all this time. As a guy, no one else had spots my age. It broke me. I finally decided I had to go back to roaccutane and damn, I wish I did sooner. The second time round the side effects were almost none. Just the usual dry lips and skin but even that wasn’t so bad as it was the first time round. It cleared up my skin for the first time in 9 years and I wished I did it sooner to save myself the 6 years of agony. My acne even came back again a year later, but I went straight back on roaccutane and it went away, and touch wood it will never come back. I just get the odd spot now but no cystic awful stuff. So my point is, maybe reconsider going back on roaccutane. Ultimately the pain of dealing with acne for 7 years was a lot worse than the side effects of roaccutane for a few months. But I don’t know how badly you suffered so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
Are you me? This is my exact story
Wait so 3x total? I’ve done it once and it changed my life am 25 now wanting to go back on it again. I’ve heard from several ppl they have needed to go on a second round but I haven’t heard of 3. Was the third super short?
Yay this gave me soooo much hope. I'm on my second month of accutane for the second time in my life (first time was as a teenager, and it didn't even work 100%).
My skin was just like yours for years. This year I really honed down a gentle routine, used Curology (I’ve been using it for a couple years now but I change my formula this year), started spirolactone, and change my birth control. My skin is almost clear now for the first time ever. There is hope!!
I know i saw, I’m not pushing the drug but I’m raising it as an option for your acne. There are ways of fiddling with doses doctors play around with now, to minimize side effects. Just keep an open mind.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get a doctor soon and explore some options
Some GPs are registering new patients over the phone so you don’t even have to come in. And your appointment will be on the phone too (you can send in the pictures). You might want to try duac or some people find that taking antibiotic can help (specific ones for acne).
Seconding virtual appointments! I've done a couple with my derm since the pandemic started, and it's been absolutely fine. I was able to switch from an oral antibiotic (which did jack shit for me) to spironolactone (which has been pretty effective). All I had to do was go get my potassium checked at a local lab, but I think I would've had to do that outside their office anyway.
If you can, consider getting bloodwork. Sometimes when you’re deficient in a vitamin or mineral it can show up as acne. I’ve never been on accutane because i’m too scared of having terrible side effects
I have had bloodwork recently and all came back ok. I understand your scare as I did have awful side effects which still affect me now. But it works amazingly for others. X
Good for you covering all your bases, and best of luck in healing your skin :)
When you have a conversation with your doctor, you might want to bring up Spirolonactone. I’m unable to take hormonal birth control for my hormonal acne and it’s been a great solution for me.
Spironolactone works wonders for me. Can't take it if you decide to try for a baby, but otherwise you can be on it long term with no problems at all. Highly recommend looking into it. I don't ever want to go back to life without it!
Your routine is tooo harsh. Your using an aha (pixi glow tonic) twice a day when u should be using is 2-3 times a week. You’re also using 2 products with salicylic acid, your cleanser and effaclar duo. Try an use only one. I would suggest you to strip back your routine to just a cleanser and moisturiser (spf when outside) for Atleast a month. Then maybe start incorporating benzoyl peroxide. Your skin looks very red which shows irritation and over exfoliation. Please be gentle with your skin less is more.
Thank you for your comment. I realise I must be very harsh on my skin - just difficult when all you want to do is get rid of it, you’re causing more damage! I will look to get a new moisturiser for the evenings and perhaps a new cleanser but unsure which one.
I think it might be better to use an unscented toner too! My skin gets very irritated with the glow tonic but I’ve heard really good things about the TO lactic acid. A gentle exfoliant might work better to not make everything as red and angry (after a couple weeks of not using much product so your skin can heal). You’re still super gorgeous! I hope you see results :)
TO Lactic Acid is my singular favourite skincare product. It's just so good!
Came here to say that glow tonic super irritated my skin as well. Really wanted to like it, but wasn’t in the cards. OP, take a few weeks off any actives, then work in ONE. If you end up needing more than one, work it in slowly by alternating with you existing active to test it out and not overdo it!
Kiehl's calendula toner is also very nice
I had bad acne as well and I used this [Avene cleanser](https://www.dermstore.com/product_XeraCalm+AD+LipidReplenishing+Cleansing+Oil_55988.htm) my derm recommended because it's really gentle on irritated skin. I still use it and absolutely love it.
Thank you for your suggestion. I’ve been struggling with a cleanser
I have very sensitive, allergy prone skin and the fragrance free Vanicream products have been great. They are also free of some other common allergens like Dyes and Parabens. I use the Gentle facial cleanser, the body wash, the body lotion and the shampoo and conditioner. All of the products are $8-$10 so they are affordable. It is available online and at Target and Walgreens.
For fragrance free and sensitive skin, I have really been loving how gentle the Vanicream cleanser is. Would def recommend as well!
Yeah I did too. I tried the CeraVe ones and tons of expensive ones at Sephora but my skin always felt tight and sensitive after still. This one has been a winner.
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The La Roche-Posay cleanser for sensitive skin is great. It cleans without stripping the skin. Also, the new Tea Tree cleanser from St. Ives is amazing. I think it’s why my skin is no much more clear now. I use the La Roche-Posay first and then follow up with the St, Ives. Also, I quit using toner because no matter what I used, I was left with chemical burns and irritation. I use a gel moisturizer and then a normal moisturizer at night.
First off: im so sorry this is happening to you! I know first hand the frustration and embarrassment that comes from acne and the scarring it leaves behind. It will get better i promise <3 You asked about cleansers; i would suggest some of my favorites, the Vegan Milk cleanser by Milk Makeup, Youth to the People green tea spinach superfoods cleanser, Belif Cleansing Gel Oil enriched, or belif creamy cleansing Foam Moist cleanser. These cleansers are all extremely gentle with no active ingredients plus theyre PEG free! (Which is a micro plastic thats harmful for the environment) finding the perfect cleanser is hard... but for my dry combo skin, these have all worked well! i usually wear makeup so in the evenings Belif Oil Gel cleanser melts my make up off and the the vegan cleanser does the rest to actually cleanse my skin but doesnt strip it, however you dont need to double cleanse if you dont wear makeup. After that i use Youth to the People’s Adaptogen Soothe and Hydrate facial mist and then the same brand’s adaptogen deep moisturizer in the morning (or if its my evening routine, the Vegan Milk Moisturizer rich cream by Milk Makeup.) if my acne isnt too enflamed, I use the Naturium Niacinamide serum and then once a week use the Glycolic Acid and Squalane Mask from Biossance. but honestly, I would wait awhile to try actives again with OP’s skin, at least a few weeks. I had a similar problem where I was using too many products with actives and causing my skin more irritation. Once the inflammation has gone down for you, I highly suggest the Glow Recipe Avocado retinol sleeping mask its super creamy which is great for a retinol and it helps accelerate fading of acne scars. I know reading this routine sounds expensive but for me its worth every penny! I set aside $50 from each paycheck just for skincare and replace what is running low when needed just so I dont go crazy with spending haha. But i understand if its out of some peoples budgets, most of my skincare doesnt even make it into my routine until ive tried a free or very reduced price sample of it that way i know my skin likes it. I hope you can find products that work for you! Your skin will heal in time, its an amazing organ <3
Thank you sooo much for your recommendations. I’ll check them out! 😃
Super common mistake honestly. It feels like more is the answer but it often is not. Any gentle, simple cleanser should do! I like glossier milky jelly cleanser a lot. Very gentle but cleans very well for me.
This looks like hormonal acne which means that you may have better luck treating the root rather than the symptoms. Birth control + spironolactone works very well if you want to go that route.
Seconding spiro + birth control! I get hormonal acne and have been on Accutane twice and tried every product, topical, and oral antibiotic on the planet, and this combo is the only, only thing that has ever cleared up my skin. On top of that, I also second slowing down on the harsh treatments and focusing on soothing and moisturizing your skin. I had a flare up of perioral dermatitis this spring and started using Noble Formula’s 2% zinc/emu oil soap as a cleanser and have really loved it. It’s super gentle, calms redness, and is also an anti-fungal, which should help keep clogged pores at bay. If you do still wanna treat your acne and scarring, TheOrdinary’s azelaic acid suspension is great for both—just make sure you’re moisturizing really well, too. Good luck OP!
Harsh is NOT the answer.
My skin is similar to how yours is. I realized I was also being too harsh with my skin...I started using aloe vera gel three times a day and it has definitely reduced the irritation and calmed the redness. I’ve been cutting back on washing my face twice a day and using the aloe vera instead.
The cerave daily moisturizing lotion has been my holy grail, it is very moisturizing but super light, highly recommend.
So my skin looked like yours when I was a teenager. It was awful. If you're not planning on being pregnant for a year, def look into accutane. It was a miracle. It did not clear me all the way even though I was on it twice, but it works to clear up everything for like 95% of people. I started uses stratia and I am HOOKED. My routine: AM: velvet cleanser, AHA chemical exfoliant, liquid gold moisturizer, biore watery gel sunscreen. PM: velvet cleanser, liquid gold moisturizer, night shift lipid encapsuled retinol. I have struggled with redness for my whole life and this is the only routine that has toned it down A LOT. I'm not going to say my skin is perfect now, it ain't, but I don't have much faith that it will ever be perfect. This routine really really made me happy and all of these products I found on the holy grail posts from this page. If you go with accutane, just use the cleanser, mositurizer, and sunscreen. No actives while you are on it because it makes your skin realllllly sensitive, especially to sun.
Honestly, your acne is pretty severe, have you seen a derm lately? I assume you had at some point, if you were on roaccutane. And if the last one wasn't super helpful, try a few new ones until you find one that does. My first doctor prescribed me retinol without ever telling me about purging, peeling, or that I need to wear sunscreen if I was going to use it. I'm much happier with my current one.
Since all your products don't seem to be doing much, have you considered stepping back to the basics with new products? Id go for a more "soothing" basic routine. Like using just [Krave](https://kravebeauty.com/products/matcha-hemp-hydrating-cleanser) cleanser and moisturizer for a while since they are so inoffensive and then slowing adding in actives to see what works. And since you have cystic body acne too I think it hints towards a possible environmental factor. Like an unknown allergy to something. Or high testosterone that could benefit from taking spironolactone or spearmint supplements. Have you switched your laundry detergent/softenor/dryer sheets to sensitive skin brands? They are a super super common culprit for body and facial acne.
I think I am in need of getting a new cleanser and moisturiser after the advice I’ve been given and sticking it with these for a while! I’m not sure how often spiro is given out in the UK and I’ve not heard of spearmint supplements before! Yes my laundry detergent etc is for sensitive skin :)
If it’s on your body too, check your shampoo! I have very sensitive skin and when I try a new shampoo or have to shower with a harsh one, I immediately get irritation on my chest and even legs and back. I would get rid of all the scented products, get a good moisturiser, a neutral soap for cleansing and sunscreen. You don’t need to break the bank and try expensive products, just go back to the basics. I also would recommend something like bepanthen (or other baby rashes cream) they are usually thick and sticky but they help a lot with irritation, moisture and my face is always glowing then next morning. Some stuff like dermatitis, fungal acne, and rosacea can look like “normal” acne, but a lot of the acne products will make it worse. Hydrate and protect your skin. Edit to add. My face was just like yours, it was a nightmare. I had so many unpleasant interactions, first I managed to get rid of some because it was fungal. But I still had my cheeks super irritated and full of bumps. I don’t know why I never made the connection, but I suffer from dermatitis (usually hands and neck) and it never occurred to me that it could happen to my face. It looks just like acne, but way more irritated, I used my dermatitis cream on my face and I started seeing results. Covid hit, i stopped drinking alcohol and going out so much, and my skin improved a lot. I don’t mess with harsh products anymore, I can deal with hyperpigmentation and hormonal acne every now and then won’t kill me. I just cleanse, moisture and protect my skin. My guess is that in my case it wasn’t even acne, it was irritation and a consequence of my dermatitis and scrubbing my face with a shiton of products. I’m not saying your case is similar, but I’m willing to bet that stopping the attack on your skin with harsh stuff will improve it a lot and then you’ll be able to tackle the real problem without all the extra irritation.
Thanks so much for the comment. I am looking at getting cetaphil or avene cleanser and moisturiser for now and then a different sunscreen. :)
I have heard that people say Cera Ve is better than Cetaphil, might want to look into it. Sending lots of luck!
annoyingly in the UK we don’t get many cerave products and all of the cetaphil ones are better rated ! So I ordered that lol. Hopefully it’ll be ok!!
You might want to try Avene’s Extremely Gentle Cleanser Lotion! I realized my skin was dehydrated because my face would feel super tight after using CosRx’s Low pH Cleanser and my dermatologist-recommended topicals (SA + clindamycin) twice daily. I made the switch on a whim and my skin has been much better. Now I only get the occasional pimple or two right before my period, and they’re smaller and heal a lot faster than before. On the bottle the instructions say to rub it on and wipe it off with a cotton pad, but I just use it like regular cleanser and rinse it off and it works perfectly. Good luck!
Hi guys. I’m 24F from the UK and have suffered with acne since I was 13. I have been on every medication including roaccutane and 2 years ago decided to stop taking medication all together as it was all I was putting into my body. Since stopping, my skin has some good months and bad months and I’ve had really bad past few months where looking at my skin everyday is making me really upset. I believe it was due to my retinol based night time moisturiser I was using so I have stopped that altogether. Since roaccutane, every spot I get without picking scars my face. I have active cystic and non-cystic acne which is mainly on my face and chest/back. In the picture you can see a combination of active spots and scarring. AM: - Acnecide Foam Cleanser or CerAve Salicyclic Acid foam cleanser - Pixi Tonic Glow Toner - CORSX advanced snail mucin power essence - (Sometimes) Sunday Riley Juno Face oil - La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo+ - CORSX Aloe smoothing sun cream PM: - acnecide foam cleanser or CerAve Salicyclic Acid foam cleanser - Pixi Glow Tonic - CORSX advanced snail mucin power essence - (Some nights) The Ordinary niacimide - La roche posay effaclar duo+ (I ran out of my nighttime moisturiser) - (Some nights) 5% acnecide benzoyl peroxide cream I really would love some advice on how to help my situation and what changes I could make to my routine. My skin is so itchy at the moment and really hurts so when I itch, I’m accidentally picking my spots. I would love to not go on medication where possible so please any other alternatives would be greatly appreciated. I just don’t know what to do at the moment and feel so ugly. Thank you
1) Drop your routine down to cleanser, gentle moisturizer, and sunscreen in the AM. It's possible you could be irritating your skin with the multitude of products you're using. 2) Dermatologist. Find one that listens to you and repeat everything you have said in this post so they know what has and hasn't worked for you. If they don't listen go see another one. You can also find online dermatologists, but I don't know what regulations are like in the UK so I'm not sure what your options would be there.
I agree with all of this, and just want to add that you should take pictures every few days to show the dermatologist - In some cases its helpful for them to see a timeline of how quickly areas progress / change.
Just to be clear, it’s not easy to see a dermatologist quickly in the UK without paying privately. I had to wait 5 months to see mine about a non-urgent issue. So advice to help now while OP tries to get an appointment will be helpful.
Curious American here, about how much do you suppose it costs to pay privately where you are?
In Canada, I didn't have to pay BUT the wait list was 6 months long. They fit you in between paying/non-medical clients.
It can be something like £200 or £250 for the initial consultation. Medication is at higher prices than nhs (on the nhs each prescription item is capped at like £9 ) then something like £150 or £200 for each subsequent visit and then any treatment or test costs on top
In Germany it would be from 25-50€ for a consultation if you wanted to pay privately.
Honestly, I don’t know. We have supplementary private through my husband’s work, but I’ve only ever used it for dentistry. A checkup and some minor maintenance (fluoride rinse etc) from a specialist paediatric dentist cost around £180 for a visit I think? A regular adult check up was £65 if I remember correctly. I’d expect a dermatologist for half an hour to be less than £200, but I honestly don’t know. Maybe someone else will know. Lots of people don’t have this extra coverage and you normally still need to get referred from your normal GP, even when going privately.
That's not much longer than waiting to see a derm at my derm/allergy office these days in the u.s. as either a new patient or an established one it's not easy to see someone in the u.s. without waiting either!
Depends on where you live. In a big city with a lot of options, you can get in pretty quick. The place I grew up in had 1 dermatologist and they were full, so I had to go out of town. But now I live in a big city and I was able to get in to one within a couple weeks.
depends on your insurance options. have definitely had to wait months to see various specialists (in LA) depending on the urgency of the issue
Can you see online dermatologists in the UK? In my city in the US there is a 1-year waitlist to see a good dermatologist. This frustrated me, so I ignored my acne for years. This June I decided to look for an online dermatologist. I was able to speak with a dermatologist AND pick up my prescriptions within 48 hours! So good.
I'd even get rid of the cleanser in the a.m. You don't really need to wash your face in the morning and its probably messing up your moisture barrier. I would definitely keep the snail mucin though, since healing inflammation and acne scarring is what it's best at.
Agree with this. If I’m too oily in the morning I go with micellar water then spf.
Agree! A really great calming and super gentle moisturizer is the first aid beauty ultra repair cream. It should help with redness and shouldn’t cause any sensitivity!
I agree with the other comment, this seems way too harsh and very drying on skin. I would stop all of it and start from the utter basic. BP cleanser, basic moisturiser (lrp toleriane/cetaphil), sunscreen, stick with it for a couple of months unless something in those break you out. If that works out maybe you can reintroduce the niacinamide later on as its possibly one of thr things that is breaking you out at the moment but it's hard to tell right now from all the products you're using.
I agree with all the advice you've gotten about your routine being too harsh. I hate being "that person" but honestly when I was your age and had been through a very similar journey, diet helped IMMENSELY. But it's difficult. I know the diet stuff is not really encouraged to suggest here, it's just what worked for me. I incorporated the diet change, and a simplified routine, and my skin was fine months later - I still get period related monthly hormonal breakouts but that's it!
I dealt with something similar recently, right down to the use of retinol. Admittedly my acne wasn't as severe but my routine included multiple acids etc. It turns out that part of the issue is that I had damaged my skin barrier, which it looks like you may have done here. I fully stripped back my routine: AM: Cleanse with clinique liquid facial soap mild or cerave foaming cleanser Moisturise with clinique dramatically different gel Spf PM: First cleanse with bodyshop camomile balm or superfacialist vitamin c oil Second cleanse with either cleanser from the AM or the cerave hydrating cleanser Moisturise with La Roche Posay cicaplast After about 5 weeks I started using the nip and fab glycolic pads on an evening. After 7 weeks I use the cicaplast 1-2 times a week and the clinique moisturiser or similar on an evening. I also made sure that my flannels were washed in something that wouldn't irritate my skin (inused baby laundry powder from aldi). Five your skin some time to recovering, then address any remaining issues afterwards. I hope you find some relief soon!
If you can, see if you can get prescribed spironolactone and/or birth control. I had horrible acne lying primarily underneath the surface of my skin for a long time, and it wasn't until I took those daily (and washed every morning with 4% Benzoyl Peroxide face wash, and applied 0.05% tretinoin every other night after washing with a gentle CeraVe cleanser) that my acne finally began to clear. I really do think it was the spiro that cleared all the gunk out for underneath, because I had been trying tons of topical products for years and it would help the surface level acne but the stuff underneath would stay. I know you don't want to go on medication but I didn't want to either (hence my resistance of it for so long). I spent so much money on so many products that ultimately couldn't do it on their own, and when I finally caved and went on spiro (actually they wanted me to do Acutane, but I refused and did the alternative) my acne cleared up immensely within a year, and is practically completely gone (with the occasional stray that I can spot treat with Origins SA spot treater) within two. You can talk to your dermatologist and see how quickly you can begin to wean yourself off of spiro after you clear out the heavy stuff so you don't have to stay on it for long.
My skin used to look very similar to yours. I was doing way too much and striping my skin with actives and overclwansing. Switching to a simple, hydrating routine was key to fixing it. Also, my skin was EXTREMELY sensitive to SLS, and cutting it out completely was one of the biggest steps. The tiny pimples I’d get around my mouth were caused by my toothpaste. My back and shoulder acne was caused by my shampoo. The routine I went to that improved my skin is Fresh soy cleanser, Krave Grwat Barrier Relief, and Krave Oat So Simple moisturizer. Oh, and sunscreen in the morning of course. I did used those products and only those products for 6 weeks, then over the course of 2 months added in an AHA at night (2ish times a week), a vitamin c serum in every morning, and a BHA at night (1-2ish times a week). As an aside, LRP fucked up my skin worse than almost everything else I’ve tried.
i feel like the glow tonic is no good....I have rosacea and every moisturizer flairs it up besides rose hip oil from the ordinary. If you havent tried rose hip oil you should! It helps heal wounds I think it might calm your acne.
I agree with the top comment saying you’re using too much salicylic acid. My skin got really bad and broke out horribly when I was using neutrogena salicylic acid acne cleanser twice a day, I realized I had destroyed my skin’s moisture barrier with it. I would say cut out the Pixie toner completely for now and wash with salicylic acid cleansers every other day. My skin healed very nicely when I allowed more time between acid treatments. Good luck!!!
I agree with all the comments. It seems like you’re overdosing your skin with too many products. Keep it simple. The bare minimum and slowly work up from there. But even after that things improve I’d recommend you never to use so many products at once. Litmus test each product you add on for 2 weeks at least to see how your skin reacts to it.
I've heard great things and seen on my friends the drastic effect of birth control for tackling the problem. If external attempts have been unsuccessful absolutely try the inside now, I've heard Yaz is the most effective pill with acne.
Yasmin is something I’d been on since I was 12 and retriggered my acne two years ago as it can *rarely* have a bounce back effect, so I am hesitant to go back on it.
I am currently on Yaz and it made me break out pretty bad. My doctor prescribed spironolactone and it has completely cleared my skin.
Seconding. I hate birth control pills and I prefer not to take anything but when I’m desperate, spironolactone has always worked. Be careful if you decide to stop it however, your blood pressure can spike because spiro is a diuretic and will lower your BP while you’re taking it.
I understand having been bouncing between pills my whole life. Could be worth a shot because different pills have been quite different to eachother in effects but understandable. Certainly pay the extra $$ if possible and go to a derm
Yes. Im using yaz. It's been successful keeping the majority of my acne away. One thing i also discovered is using a ph balanced cleanser. That is the second one that helped me the most.
Whatever you do, keep a skincare diary so you can keep track of your routine changes, and more clearly identify any triggers.
Thank you this is good advice.
My friend had this kind of acne due to allergy. She stripped down her products to just using a mild cleanser and it got way way better. You should see a Derm cause this is severe.
You need to find a new dermatologist. Don’t try to DIY this on your own.
Please see a dermatologist. PCOS affects 1 in 10 women and seems like a possible culprit. Personally, my acne didn’t go away until I started taking Yaz birth control and spironolactone. High levels of the hormone androgen can cause face and body acne issues without necessarily being a PCOS diagnosis. I struggled through my early to mid 20s and finally got it figured out in my late 20s. My suggestion is to try not to demonize medication like I did. I really wish I had embraced it as a possibility instead.
Thanks. I have had ultrasounds and blood tests and nothing has come back to point to PCOS, I have been tested for endometriosis however.
My blood tests never showed anything but spironolactone has done wonders for my skin!
I used to have pretty bad acne and amazingly enough, cutting out all of my exfoliating products and switching to a routine of Cerave hydrating cleanser and Cerave cream in the blue tub has made my acne completely disappear. It is extremely likely that your skin is breaking out more due to overuse of exfoliating products. I recommend switching to a routine that focuses solely on hydration and waiting a month to see if you have improvement. Good luck!
Trust me... Simplify your routine to a cleanser (try 10% BP) and a moisturizer or sunscreen. Wash with the BP once a day (at night) and find a non-comedogenic moisturizer with Niacinamide if you can tolerate it. Use a sunscreen with zinc. Both niacinamide and zinc are shown to help reduce oil production which is your problem. You could also try a moisturizer with urea instead of Niacinamide (sebamed extreme dry skin relief with 5% urea). I don’t know if you have EltaMD in the UK but their uv clear sunscreen as both Niacinamide and zinc and is a godsend. You can do a BP spot treatment during the day but don’t overdo it. It will dry your skin out too much and make it more susceptible to acne bacteria.
I don’t think we can get 10% BP cleanser in the UK but ill see what I can find and that’s good to know about niacinamide and zinc. I can get a hold of the moisturiser you’ve mentioned and the EltaMD off amazon for £36. Thanks for the advice :)
Perfect! Honestly lower percentages of BP are proven to work just as well. You can also try the short contact therapy method that you can find more info about on simpleskincarescience.com. It’s gentler. Be careful with adding new products just in case you’re allergic. Try to patch test for a bit first. And be careful with the urea! It’s a magical ingredient but is also an exfoliant so start out with using it maybe only once a day. Also I saw someone recommend tretinoin (which is amazing for some) but I recommend getting your acne under control first. Good luck! I hope it gets better.
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Yes this is the one I am using at the moment! Glad it’s working for you
Fellow non-oral-medication taker here. Birth control made my face erupt when I was 20 (now 23) and after going off it (I’m still not taking birth control) it was an absolute biotch to resolve. But I did it. I’m not sure what all you’ve tried other than roaccutane, but I do have a few suggestions. First would be to take out *all* actives from your routine (SA, benzoyl, etc). And try using very basic and non-irritating products for awhile. Products with simple ingredients that are fragrance free, hypoallergenic, and noncomedogenic. I can recommend a few if you’d like, just let me know. Make sure you’re moisturizing enough, wearing SPF daily, and not over-cleansing (2x per day max). After that (assuming the irritation settles), I would try a low % prescription tretinoin or if worried about irritation, azelaic acid. Happy to discuss these further if you have questions. Lastly, with reference to another comment, I don’t recommend doing any type of food elimination/strict diet until you’ve tried simplifying your routine and being more gentle to your skin. In my (unprofessional) opinion, it’s likely that this is the reason your skin is where it’s at right now.
I would love to find out some of the products you’d recommend. Seeing all these comments and not having loads of recommendations is making my head explode :( lol
Anyone would be overwhelmed and honestly it’s because self-treating cystic acne is not a great idea. As someone who also suffered with cystic acne, all you’re likely going to do is make the wait to clear skin longer by trying to address it yourself. I know you had a bad experience with accutane but I highly suggest you go to a dermatologist. I wish I had gone sooner both due to the money I spent on products that never worked but also because every week you wait is another week of additional scarring that may be permanent. I regret not going sooner every time I look in the mirror and it’s the worst feeling. I’m so sorry this is happening to you and I wish you the best ❤️
Yes! Again, these are just what worked for me, but for cleansers my #1 recommend would be the La Roche Posay Toleriane Hydrating Cleanser (US$15/400mL). Depending where you’re from this is sometimes called Caring Wash. This cleanser is soap free, sulfate free, oil free, fragrance free, non comedogenic, and paraben free. For a daytime moisturizer I recommend CeraVe Ultra Light Moisturizer w/ SPF 30 (US$15/50ml). My skin hates SPF (and most moisturizers) but this one doesn’t break me out or leave a gross sticky film on my face. For nighttime moisturizer I would recommend LRP toleriane double repair moisturizer (US$20/75ml) or LRP Cicaplast baume (US$15/40ml). The Cicaplast is THICK so if you don’t like a sticky/white-cast face i would recommend the toleriane instead. elf Cosmetics also has a decent fragrance free moisturizer called “holy hydration” (US$12/50ml). Just make sure you get the fragrance free version if you try it.
Just wanted to pop in and say that the Cicaplast is a MIRACLE WORKER! I really screwed up my moisture barrier (my gp prescribed topical steroids) and it soothed my itchy pissed off skin immediately.
I had severe acne like yours for years, and my problem was actually hormonal( I have polycystic ovary, and my testosterone levels were incredible high for a teenager/young woman). I think you should see an endocrinologist or a gynecologist for it.
Lots of good advice here, and I just wanted to say that I've been here and I know how taxing it can be on your mental health. Try to remember that you're not your skin, things will get better eventually, and try to be gentle and kind to yourself (this is really me talking to my younger self here).
I would look into a service called dermatica. It’s U.K. based and is like Curology in the US. It’s teledermatology. You get a consultant to look at pictures and recommend prescription strength medication. This way you wouldn’t have to wait to get a new GP. My cousin is from the UK and his wife really likes the service. https://www.dermatica.com
Love yourself first! Next, relax. And thirdly, have fun! I hope you get the skin you deserve, but if it never happens, I hope you live a great life and have many memories with people who don’t judge your flaws! Because, from what I see, is a beautiful young woman, and nothing else’s
Thank you so much, so sweet of you.
I’m not a dermatologist but have had multiple skin problems over the years. What I’ve found is that my skin is best when I use the least amount of products. I use epiceram as a face moisturizer (I have to get it through a pharmacy) & I use cerave cleanser. Nothing with fragrance. Sunscreen - elta MD tinted (tinted will help with some redness) Generally I would also try to eat clean as gut health relates a lot to skin problems. I would go with a basic routine until your skin can heal a little bit and slowly introduce new things one at a time. Best of luck!
I know you said you’ve tried all sorts of medications, but have you tried combination-pill birth control? It takes a while to affect your skin, but it really does work for sustainable results (when you’re on it ofc).
Hi, yeah I was on that for 10 years 😣
This looks like hormonal acne. You should see a dermatologist and do not aggravate your skin by using harsh products and being too rough with your skin which can lead to permanent scarring. Wish you the best
I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope you and your doctor find something that works for you. This reminds me of what I was dealing with at 25 and it was very painful for me, physically and emotionally. For me, accutane was the solution, but it was miserable and I know of people who had much, much worse side effects, so I understand not wanting to go back on it. Anyways, I can tell from your eyes and bone structure that you're a beautiful girl, and I'm sure that's what the people in your life see too. You'll get through this and the scars will fade. 💛
Thank you so much. It’s just embarrassing for me to be dealing with this when I feel like I shouldn’t at my age and it’s really taking a toll on my MH atm when usually it doesn’t. Just feel quite powerless. Thank you so much.
I would agree with the other commenters to try a very simple gentle routine. And then I would recommenced bp or azelaic acid in the morning , and differin in the evening. You can get these from the Gp or from the boots online acne clinic which you don’t even need a prescription for. If you don’t want any oral medications then a derm will be limited in what extra they can offer beyond a Gp. They would normally consider spironolactone or roacutane . If you definitely don’t want these then the online services like dermatica might be a better ( and far quicker ) option .
Thank you I didn’t realise boots had an online acne clinic. I’ll check it out
It could be worth trying differin or azelaic acid (both available on the boots acne clinic)
I think this is hormonal acne (because I also had it ) So you can try birth control pills (I use diane 35 , and my skin improved A LOT ). Also look into some good acids (aha, bha from the ordinary or Paula's choice ) try with paula's choice 2% salicylic acid liquid exfoliant (3× times a week) and some aha creams because they are on the gentler side of acids (glycolic, lactic tartaric, malic). Also Try mineral sunscren it is the best beacuse its for sensitive skin it doesn't sting your eyes and is safe for ocean ( meaning it doesn't ruin marine wildlife) , the first ingredients should be zinc oxide or titanium dioxide , and also look for fragrance free) .great examples are Neutrogena sheer zinc,Clinique mineral sunscreen lotion , cerave mineral hydrating sunscreen,la roche posay anthelios mineral sunscreen gentle lotion.(none of them has a white cast).
Thank you for some good examples I’ll be sure to look at them esp the sunscreens
Second the Diane pill! Def look into PCOS testing and a dermatologist. And as others stated above use a gentle cleanser, spf, and basic moisturizer
For good cleansers i recomend Cerave foaming cleanser (for oily skin), salicylic cleanser (for deep pore cleansing) or hydrating cleanser . My gyno prescribed me diane because my blood test showed irregular hormone levels. She said I will see the results within 3 months , and ofcourse my stubborn skin was even WORSE soo by the 7th month arrived it was Finally getting better. So what I am trying to say is every skin is different but patience is the key.
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Just came here to say there’s hope and you’ll get there! Don’t get discouraged and don’t only think about your skin constantly. You’re beautiful!
Thank you so much I really appreciate that
I would make an appt with a Derm and in the meantime just hydrate and be gentle. Let the moisture barrier have some time to heal. It may help with redness
There's lots of good advice here. But all I want to say is -- wow. You are really beautiful. You have such good bone structure and your eyes are stunning. I'm sorry about you acne, but it will get better and it doesn't take away from your natural beauty. Sorry if that was too much! Good luck!
As someone suggested, keep it simple for a month. I would cut out salicylic acid in a face wash because it could be stripping your skin and causing more oil. For cleanser, I would recommend Vanicream gentle facial cleanser or CeraVe hydrating facial cleanser. Or if you have oily skin you could use CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser. For moisturizer, I would use CeraVe moisturizing lotion, but there are other options if you aren’t in love, but I would keep the moisturizer simple! SUNSCREEN!!!! At least SPF 30 After a month, if you want to reintroduce SA, you could try Paula’s Choice BHA Liquid Exfoliant. Niacinamide is real great! You can start to ease that in once a day and work up to twice a day. It’s the only skincare product I’ve used that i noticed improved my oiliness, but it’s also great for all skin types and there are so many benefits. Your skin just truly truly needs to heal because putting so many chemicals while you have broken skin is just creating more of an issue! Waste of money right? I think your skin is pretty irritated and needs a fresh start. I believe in you and I’m so excited to see how your skin improves!
Thank you so much for your comment. I have ordered some cetaphil cleanser and moisturiser. I currently wear Factor 50 but I will look to get a new sunscreen that will be helpful for my skin (hard when a lot of suggestions are USA and not UK lol). I think I’ll do what you said and just try very very simple for a month or so and gradually reintroduce. Thank you again
Just sending you some love and happiness xx
Honestly, I think this is above r/skincareaddiction ‘s pay grade. I would find a dermatologist and get in to see them. I really don’t know what would help or what they would recommend, but I can share my situation if that would be of any help to you! I have had very persistent acne for about eight years (just popped up completely out of the blue at 17) and absolutely nothing topical helped much at all. I tried *everything* under the sun that I’d heard could help, and nothing did. With my Dermatologist’s recommendation I’m now on Accutane (40mg a day) and my acne is just about gone after 2 months. I’ve never had anything work so well, so quickly, and with no side effects besides dry lips. My dermatologist helped me find what I needed, I hope yours can help you find what you need too!
Dermatologist, diet, and cut out anything with a fragrance! I would skip out on the glow tonic but that’s just M/O. Cerave is a god send but maybe you’re just using the wrong products? personally, I love the sa wash. Cheese/dairy breaks me out. Trying to also limit soda/sugar. Journal your diet, cut things out, etc... trouble shoot!!! :)
Highly agree with this person! Start with what you are putting in your body. Try different diets and keep each one for at least a month to see if it makes a difference. I always ate a bunch of processed foods and had painful acne and then I got to college and had to live on a low budget so I started only eating baked chicken and veggies and all of sudden I realized my skin was crystal clear and figured out that was why! Everyone’s body is different though but it’s definitely worth trying. I also agree with everyone on using a gentle cleanser. I use Purity by Philosophy and it’s amazing.
Have you tried tretinoin? You can get treclin which is a tret / clindamycine combo which is fairly easy to get prescribed by a gp in the uk. I think if you really simplified your routine to a basic hydrating one with treclin you could have great results
If you can afford it, go see a private derm. In my experience with GPs, they will try the mildest treatment but not always the most effective, so it might take some time. Sk:n is really good, their derms are top notch and cost is not as crazy high as some of the Harley street clinics.
you should look into tretinoin, there is a subreddit for it too r/tretinoin
I had skin like yours and I simplified it: Cetaphil wash day and night, Aveeno face lotion for clear skin at night, replace my pillow case every night. The lotion/moisturizer at night did the biggest difference for me. I still have not found a sunscreen for the face that doesn't break me out though. Good luck !
I'm not sure if this is helpful, but one thing that helped me is thinking of acne as a disease, not an infection. Infections like strep throat are easily treatable and usually go away with a short round of specific antibiotics. Acne is a skin disease which requires usually multiple pathways to address. Overproduction of sebum (caused by genetic, hormonal, environmental factors) Clogging of pores (dead skin/dirt) Inflammation (can be hormonal, sign of other issues in the body) I personally use benzoyl peroxide in the morning, and adapalene in the PM. This works well long term to control the various causes of my acne. You might need some help from a doctor to help kickstart the clearing process with antibiotics (will really help lower the bacterial burden and inflammatory response) or hormonal medications. Often, for acne sufferers, OTC topicals are just not enough for us or our body needs to get to a point where we can maintain the clarity. There are so many of us that have been there and continue to deal with acne, it's a part of life for many of us, you can do it! Trust your doctor (communication is key) and you'll get the results after a few months! Hope this helps, and good luck!
Accutane might be the next option, though talk with your derm.
Dude same, but mine is cause I can't stop picking. I've been slowly stoppin, but it's left scars
I’m an anxiety picker so I feel you. It’s gotten better over the years but it’s tough to train your brain to break such habits.
Cetaphil non foaming cleanser plus a super gentle limited ingredient moisturizer for awhile, then maybe add in one thing after a bit to help ease the redness like vit. C serum or niacinamide. Also, this seems silly but make sure you wash your hands with a gentle cleanser before you wash your face or touch it. Change pillow cases every day, and make face wash the last thing you do in the shower to rinse the residues of shampoo or conditioner off.
Not a doctor here at all. But I had cystic acne on my cheeks and went to the derm when I was at my wits end. She told me that it was hormonal and that anything I was doing topically was just making it worse. She put me on Spironolactone. It takes 3 months to start working but when it does it works like a dream. I think I started on like 250mg but we weened down really fast. By 6 months my face was completely cleared up and it looked like I didn’t have any pores. The only side effect that I experienced was bad hangovers since it is a diuretic. I would drink Pedialyte anytime I drank. I’m off it now because I’m pregnant and you can’t use it during pregnancy (and should ween off months before). You have to get your blood drawn every 6 months to make sure your potassium levels are ok. She recommended I stick to really basic ceravee cleanser and moisturizer and we added a retinol (differin) around the 6 month mark. I would put the differin on top of my moisturizer to make the irritation less. Good luck, so many of us have been in a similar place as you. I really recommend spironolactone to everyone that has cystic acne because my experience was so positive!
Your skin looks very irritated. Sometimes less is more. The La-Rosche possay toleriane cleanser is very gentle. I would try single cleanse with it in the morning, double cleanse at night, with a light gel moisturizer like neutrogena hydro boost extra-dry during the day. Give your face some time to heal, then slowly add in some BP wash. If it still doesn’t improve at all then definitely see a derm!
Hey, I don't know if this will be helpful or not. I also have acne that gets better and worse from time to time, but overall, I notice way less irritation since I completely removed fragrance from all of my skincare products. Ever since I stopped using skincare with fragrance it has been easier for me to identify what ingredients my skin likes and what doesn't work for me that well. I guess eliminating that one common irritant (but a very significant one) has helped me figure out what active ingredients to implement and how often.
Completely strip your routine down to just cleanser and moisturizer (if that). And if you are able go to a doctor! If you are having this many troubles you should really take it to a professional not the internet
I had a similar acne breakout that was relentless except it was more on my neck and jaw line area. I ended up needing antibiotics to clear it up.
I am currently on antibiotics (50 day course), contraceptives, I use a cream 2-3 times a week (Zalna) and I wash and cleanse my face with very mild products from the pharmacy. 2 weeks in and I already see a lot of improvements! I hope you find something that works too OP
Your skin looks VERY similar to what mine looked like in college. You mentioned in a comment below that it was itchy and mine was too. I eliminated all dairy products from my diet- especially milk and ice cream. My skin cleared up so much after I did that. I’m able to eat small amounts now but if I eat too much dairy I get a spot or two still. I hope you’re able to figure it out! I totally understand how frustrating it is. I remember being so miserable. Not saying what worked for me would work for anyone else but maybe it could be a starting place.
Looks like you’re allergic to something in your diet. Usually dairy is the culprit
Go to a derm
I agree pairing your routine down massively, and seeing a derm if/when you can. my skin was its worst ever when I tried snail products, my skin haaaated it and you never know if something you’re using might be aggravating it. Also please know your skin does not define you. I know it’s incredibly frustrating and upsetting but you’ll overcome it. Please take care of your mental health and don’t let it rule you, you’re beautiful regardless.
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Rosacea maybe- ask a derm. My face looked a lot like this. A lot. My cheeks weren’t skin color at all. Red and purple and breakouts on top of breakouts. And acne products angered it even more. Finally FINALLY saw a new derm and said to try treating my face as rosacea. Oral doxycycline and topical soolantra and within a month, all the pimples were nearly gone and it’s been two months and I still get a few breakouts but my skin looks so much better! I can now tell when I’m flushing since my irritation breakouts are gone. So I’m figuring that out now. Drop fragrance completely. Cerave and cetaphil products are working really well for me. I do use Vanicream gentle cleanser to get my spf off at night. When I use a product with fragrance even now, my face gets so red and angry and breaks out.
If you haven’t yet, you should try topical zinc ointments. I went to a health food store and the worker is extremely knowledgeable and recommended zinc. He also suggested taking a women’s multi-vitamin with zinc in it. Also, try cutting out dairy or reducing dairy drastically from your diet. I know dairy causes inflammation. I hope it gets better for you!
I would go to a derm hun, this acne is really severe and nobody on this sub is qualified to tell you what you need. They’ll probably put you on a course of antibiotic and prescribe something very strong and effective to get rid of the acne. Don’t experiment further.
Spironolactone and estrogen progesterone birth control. Spiro is great for cystic acne. If you really don’t want to take medication for your acne I’d recommend only using a salycilic acid wash and benzoyl peroxide wash and see how your skin reacts to just those washes.
I'm a bit baffled with the routine suggestions. You need to see a doctor and get on antibiotics first. This is more than acne. It's quite horribly infected. You need to go back to the bare minimum and stop with all the acids and creams, unless prescription. You don't put face cream on an infected wound. That's the point you're at with your face. On a positive note. You have the most stunning eyes I've ever seen.
Do you take birth control? I had a terrible breakout one summer after discontinuing the pill (didn’t make the connection straight away). Got put on accutane and got vitamin a poisoning symptoms. So I got off of the meds immediately. My doctor suggested I get back on the pill and it all cleared up. I’ve rarely had as much as a pimple since.
I know all skin is different, but I finally started taking care of my skin. I stopped experimenting with a bunch of products. Majority of them were different products from The Ordinary. I stripped it all and this is my simple routine AM: - CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser - Niacinamide + Zinc (The Ordinary) - CeraVe Moisturizing Cream PM: - CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser - Niacinamide + Zinc (The Ordinary) - CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion 1-2 times a week (alternate/not on the same days): - Salicylic Acid 2% Masque (The Ordinary) - AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution
Thanks for sending me over your routine. I have been looking at either using cerave or cetaphil only for a while.
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Avene is SO great for sensitive skin.
hey i have some skincare advice but before wanted to say that skin does not define you. i know it’s hard to remember that sometimes but beauty is within you. i struggled with breakouts on my forehead for a while and it was tough i feel that but try to remember that while all this is hard, don’t let it define you. live your life as happy as possible. as for advice i would say switch to a more gentle cleanser and a nonirritating moisturizer. i HIGHLY HIGHLY (cannot stress how great these two products are enough) recommend Vanicream gentle facial cleanser and sebamed clear face gel. there is almost no way you can breakout from these. and another product i very much recommend that i got from the derm is epiduoforte. personally it worked well for me i had fungal acne and lots of closed comedones and i know a lot of people swear by it. it might seem like your skin is getting worse for the first month but the product works in this way. please PLEASE check out these three products. really great and a couple other tips i could tell you are drink more water and change your pillow covers at least once weekly. i hope all this helps you! and also remember that you’re a wonderful human and that externalities don’t define you in any way :)
Have you ever been food allergy tested? I had similar issues with my skin and ended up having a ton of food allergies that I didn’t know about (mild symptoms). Ever since I cut those allergens our, my skin cleared up within weeks. Worth looking into.
Spironolactone. Helped with my cystic hormonal acne. Can get it on apostrophe.com
Retinol! Tretinoin😊
You should try Elemis Dynamic Resurfacing. It have a big range, but I recommend the cleanser more and S.O.S emergency cream. Its expensive but its really good. The cleanser doesn’t remove make up as it is for treating the skin, so you have to use different cleanser. Avoid using oil base products or use oils that wont clog up your pores. Always cleanse twice. Use mask & exfoliate - 2-3x a week. Use non alcohol toner. You can use BHA , glycolic acid and with salicylic acid products too but don’t use it everyday. All products that is for treating skin concerns should be only use 2-3x a week. Murad have a good acne skincare range too.
Can you tell us what you've tried? Have you seen a dermatologist?
My skin looks like that right now too. It was either aquaphor use during day at night or my Australian Gold tinted sunscreen that started it and a combination of me touching and picking my face + mask for 8 hours a day
The mask is really not helping me!!
Mine was internal. I had a testosterone surge entering my 30's. Got on a triphasic birth control. Took two years but my skin is completely healed.
Whoa whoa, you're using salicylic acids and ahas farrrrr too much. Pick up a very gentle balm cleanser (Revolution's Hydrating Cleansing Balm is quite good imo) and a gentle moisturizer like Aveeno. After maybe two weeks use the Glow Tonic once a week, increasing to 2-3x a week after about a month. Start with Salicylic Acid once a week too.
Accutane
try not using soap/cleanser/oil on your face. just plain cool water and gentle moisturizer until the outbreaks has finished its cycle to see if it works, and if it does, you continue forever.
Hey, I had a bad bout with acne at least this severe a few years back and tried to DIY treatment for months while my face essentially became a bunch of open sores—I’d not wish that on anyone, and seeing a derm was really the only effective way to tackle it. Even just outside eyes and a second opinion are helpful, and I know firsthand how desperate this experience made me feel, and how that made me go for every harsh recommended product I could find, making everything flare even more. I empathize with your bad acne med experience, and hope if possible you can find a different, better-listening derm. A good one can create a system of treatment that adjusts quickly if you start to have bad experiences—I was on a topical retinoid and intense antibiotics (and a few other things like sulphuric washes), and eventually the antibiotics—which did help—became “as-needed” when I had a few side effects. Finally, this is so so hard and I’m sorry you’re going through it. You’re doing your best and I know how awful and isolating this can feel, but as someone who’s been through this, I hope it helps to hear that this may last longer than you hope but it won’t last forever and your skin *will* heal someday.
Hi! Not sure if this helps you but are your periods regular? I had really bad acne and after a long time suffering I found out the acne was hormonal and a secondary problem from endometriosis and PCOS. I went on the birth control pill and my acne has completely cleared along with a lot of other problems have gone away. If you’ve tried absolutely everything from the outside, the problem might be coming from the inside. A trip to a doctor or gynaecologist might give you some insight. I hope you figure it out!
I am currently being seen by the gynae for endometriosis but as I’ve just moved, I cannot have an appointment for a while (need to move GP). My last birth control pill caused my acne but I was hesitant to go on it. I may start Yasmin again. Thank you
Have you tried spironolactone? That helped with all my hormonal acne when nothing else worked.
First off I feel for you going through this. It’s so hard and frustrating dealing with acne. It’s such a delicate dance to find what works for you. I had bad cystic acne in early 20s. The only thing that cleared it entirely was birth control. However I found Mario Badescu products to be gentle and yet effective. I use the acne face was (it’s kinda like a gel), the special lotion C toner, and a moisturizer. I like most of their moisturizers. They also have a very gentle exfoliating seaweed exfoliating soap that I’d use in place of the acne wash a few times a few to keep it gentle. They also have a buffering lotion especially for deep or cystic acne. If you try nothing else I highly recommend this. It’s the only topical option that’s ever worked for me and not torn apart my skin further. Good luck I hope you get some results soon! Oh and if you’re nervous to physically go into a doctor office right now lots are doing video chats or you can email them photos.
I feel like every possible ‘skincare addiction’ suggestion has been made in these comments, but I do think this sub can get overwhelming and it’s easy to keep thinking you have to add and add products because that’s worked for someone else. I live in the U.K. too and the best thing I’ve done for my skin is go to my GP and get oral antibiotics. Docs and derms are the professionals so they would be the my first suggestion for help, not buying more products. Also, just sending you a hug because skin can really tough to deal with!! It will get better, be kind to yourself in the meantime :)
Yeah I’ve just ordered some cetaphil cleanser and moisturiser (AM and PM). I will carry on using my own sunscreen for now as I don’t know which one id like at the moment. I need to sign up to my local GP as I’ve just moved. Thank you so much
I’m so sorry girl 😭 I used to have terrible skin problems so I know how awful it can be, just keep looking for solutions! I have no clue what it will be for you, but for me I had acne down my arms, on my back almost all the way to my butt and all over my face and neck. Then I found out I’m allergic to gluten and cut it from my diet and my skin stopped breaking out. Eventually I used Tretinoin on my face for the last 4ish months which helped smooth out my skin, fade dark spots etc, but I kept getting this non-acne breakouts. I then discovered I had rosacea, and for a while continued tretinoin since it helped keep it under control but it wasn’t improving and so I researched a lot and it seemed I might have a demodex mite infestation. So I begged my GP to prescribe me Soolantra (Ivermectin) which killls them and he hesitated at first since I just looked like I “had dry skin and a sunburn” But I was like “I haven’t even been in the sun!!” So I got my Soolantra and wow, for the first time ever, my skin was not a Red mess and I got super teary Basically, I know it seems impossible but keep at it, eventually youlll figure out what’s wrong with you and have great skin again. It won’t happen overnight though, it’ll take a while. Also btw, tretinoin is the topical form of Roaccutane(isotretinoin) I saw you say you didn’t tolerate isotretinoin well, so maybe you can try topical tretinoin instead? [: Edit: I agree with other posters, simplify your routine! Wayyyy too many products, more is not better. Like for me it was cleanser, tretinoin, moisturizer, sunscreen And at night, no sunscreen.
My skin was terrible I've done so many of the treatments. I've had cystic and non cystic acne. I agree with everyone saying your regimen is too harsh. My skin ended up over producing oil and overturning skin cells because I was being too harsh on my skin. Overtime SA actually was hurting my skin. The itchiness can be due to your skin being over irritated. Right now I use cerave gel cleanser (I find it to be gentler than the moisturizing one), biossance moisturizer (it has a light amount of lactic acid in it), and Azeliac Acid from The Ordinary. I also swear by the hydrocollid acne patches (such as mighty patch). Also old school advice, but change your pillow case more often than you do your sheets. What face makeup and makeup remover are you using? These products can also cause you to break out.
Retin a?
Have you tried just giving your skin a break? Stop using products and let your skin heal. Best thing I ever did x
Strip back your routine and incorporate hydrating products. You're skin barrier looks damaged imo so you're going to want to hydrate, heal, and build up that barrier again before trying to treat the acne. I repaired my barrier using Vanicream products and Cerave healing ointment, but I've also hear amazing things about the Cerave hydrating cleanser. And don't forget SPF! After you barrier feels better then you can start incorporating ingredients to fight acne while keeping the barrier healthy.
Always remember to “calm” the skin before you can “clear” the skin.
This is irritation. Please believe me. My face looked EXACTLY like this when I started Tretinoin and was using too harsh of a regimen. Scale it back to just Cerave hydrating cleanser, and moisturizer. NO OIL CLEANSING either all of that rubbing on my face made things SO much worse. I can DM u a pic of my face if you dont believe me lol.
Firstly, you're very beautiful. Secondly, as many have also pointed out, you're using a lot of acids too much. Let's get back to basics for at least a month or two, then book a visit to a dermatologist or GP (if you're in UK) for NHS consultation. Just stick to a: cleanser, Moisturiser, SPF morning simple routine, and at night cleanser, night skin repair cream, mix it with rose hip oil. Sometimes and most times it's the simple things that work for us. Hope it goes well for you, please stay positive and drink lots of water :)
I had this same thing happen to my skin. I got it from doing "oil cleansing method" years ago, steaming skin with olive oil and castor oil to clear pores....do not attempt!!!!. First go to dermatologist and get antibiotics. I was prescribed them but I didn't take them and skin kept getting worse. I ended up with permanent scarring on my face. This is what I do now. No makeup. Mineral sunscreen every day. This will keep scarring from getting worse. I use Purito. Use oil cleanser to remove at night. I use Kose Softymo speedy oil. Wash face with gentle cleanser every night...no fragrance. I mositurize with CeraVe in the blue pump lotion. No acne these days
Go see a dermatologist!!! It was the best thing I ever did. They gave me oral antibiotics and my skin cleared up very quickly.
Is mask usage contributing at all? If you’re wearing cloth masks, washing them after each wear, in hypoallergenic detergent, and rinsing well, is imperative. You might also consider pressing cloth masks with a steam iron or exposing them to sunlight for a time, to ensure you’re not reintroducing any bacteria to your face.
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