The Acne Thread #3

[Vega Magnus]

Well, I suppose I should post my final opinion on the Dr. Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner. It does a decent job of loosening up material in pores for removal via Biore strips and it temporarily makes pores look smaller, but that's the extent of what did for me. It is basically just a tool to help with pore cleaning rather than something that actually cleans pores, if that makes any sense, and even then, it did not cause any permanent improvement or help with discoloration of pores. I started using Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask instead and it works way better at drawing stuff out of pores. Plus, it's half the price of the vacuum cleaner and it contains much more per tube. Thus, based of my personal experience, I can't recommend the vacuum cleaner. It causes limited improvement and one could likely find something else that works as well or better for far less.

 

[~Gia~]

My face sucks ballz.
pimples
redness
dryness
huge pores
blackheads
Um, but I heard if you reduce your sugar intake most of the problems clear up. Is that true?

 

[Vega Magnus]

^Eating healthy helps a great deal, but that is only one of many possible causes.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Vega Magnus]

I just realized something. I was right when I said that I thought my skin was in a transitional state, but it's more than just that; my skin HAS transitioned. I don't have teenager skin anymore, and I think my problems with hormonal acne were in fact marking the end of it. I don't think my hormonal acne was just a random flare-up; I think it was a side effect of a major hormonal shift in my body. Since that problem subsided, I haven't had issues with acne unless I eat poorly, do not wash my face well enough, or don't clean my forehead after wearing a hat, and even those are mild and rare.

This means that I can probably cut back considerably on the strength of my treatments, which would make my skin much less red, and likely make it produce less oil as well since it wouldn't be trying to replace all of the oil that my astringent removes. It also means that all of my clogged pores are just that; clogged pores; not acne. That would explain why my clay mask and pore strips work to help that problem while my acne treatments don't. So I don't need prescription acne meds; I need to formulate a new face regimen built to keep the skin clean and combat oil and pore clogs, which lucy92 has already been kind enough to provide with her Cetaphil recommendation. A facial would probably be advisable as well to get everything cleared out and ready for my new treatments.

 

[rayoflight]

^ A facial (for extractions) would help, but getting something for daily use that helps keep oil levels at normal levels is better. Extractions aren't permanent and unless one gets them like every week, blackheads still come back between the appointments.
I'm probably like a broken record, but a retinoid product does that and more, they really do bring oil production to healthy levels and help keep pores clean in two ways: 1) normalizing oil production; 2) normalizing skin cell turn-over rate and thus slowing down the hyperkeratinization process that is one of the causes of clogged pores. It doesn't really matter whether it's one of the prescription ones (tretinoin, tazarotene, adapalene) or non-prescription retinol (but the concentration is crucial, needs to be at least 0.3% or higher), but with insurance prescription stuff is cheaper since the good retinol products are above $40 for 30 ml.
I'm also with the gentle cleanser notion! The gentler the better! For my skin cleansing waters have turned out to be most suitable and my skin really hates anything that foams, regardless of how gentle or sulfate-free it is, without them my skin is calmer and consequentially less oily on it's own (total win/win situation for me). Getting a cleanser that doesn't aggraviate skin is the best thing next to wearing sunscreen religiously, I mean that for general skin health, not just acne related. Harsh/irritating products not only lead to more oil production->more clogged pores->more acne, but also age skin faster.

 

[Cristina777]

I am so scared to go to my dermatologist...I am afraid that he will precribe retinoids. Is it common for someone not tolerate over the counter retinoids and prescription being tolerable?! My skin seems to prefer the "more medical brands looking", some things from Avene, Vichy, LRP, Bioderma are like satan on me. I have this theory that "the more medical brands looking" don't change their formulas that often so their formulas have being tested for a lot of people during years and are less likely to make my skin mad...
Is this common?!

As for the gentle cleanser, some people only seem to judge how gentle the cleanser is by the presence of sulphates or not...Well, only I can say (as a consumer) is that some of the worst cleansers for me were sulphate-free...Boreade cream cleanser was one of those that were stripping and made my skin CRAZY! My skin prefer the gels (oh yeah and the ones that cost more than 20 euros per 200 ml ).
I don't like using cleansing waters on my face, Bioderma crealine is gentle but makes me breakout so bad...my problems with cleansing waters are the amount of cotton pads needed, takes more time than using a rinse-off cleanser and rubbing the cotton pad on my face feels like physical exfoliation. Maybe I just need better cotton pads, but I don't know were to get them in my area.

 

[Kenysha75]

The best thing you can do is go to you dermatologist
Also I dont see how can crealine make you break out its the best product ever and always recommend by derm.
Your acne problem might come from other stuff...
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Cristina777]

The best thing you can do is go to you dermatologist
Also I dont see how can crealine make you break out its the best product ever and always recommend by derm.
Your acne problem might come from other stuff...
Posted via Mobile Device

Many cleansers make me breakout....I have tried only using them and they do. My skin likes "treatment" products best...
I think bioderma crealine is a great product...I've used on my eye area and I liked it a lot...But my skin around my eyes is very different from the rest of my face. Bioderma crealine is labelled for "normal to dry skin", something that I don't have.

All the things I use were recommended by derm...I am just terrified of trying something and the outcome being really bad...

I use cleanser, a acne scar product ocasionally, something that helps prevent irritation (I refuse to call that thing "moisturizer"- it's almost like putting water) and sunscreen when I am in the sun (most days I don't wear any- bad I know- they all look awful on me)...There are a lot of days when I don't use anything. These products don't cause any trouble for me...but when I try something new, I often get pimples.

I don't wear any make up...Base make up=huge acne pimples. My skin is bad...Most people want to have good skin, I just wish mine was normal.

"The other stuff" that causes my acne are: bad genes (my father is almost 60 and still gets bacne), period, hot weather...How many people do you know that at 13 already tried roacutane, birth control pill and a bunch of topicals?! I bet not many...

My skin looks better, but these last months my skin stopped improving...

 

[lucy92]

when i was a teenager i went on orthotricyclen birth control pills just to stop potential pimples, and then i went on differin (a prescription gel similar to retin A) to to stop acne as well...

i did not have bad acne, just occasional pimples.

if solutions are out there that are proven to work, then why not use it? i did not consider it drastic.

there are also laser treatments that can help with acne, but those are expensive. there are also laser treatments that suck out oil and sebum with a vacuum like treatment.

nowadays i am in my early 30's and i only get a pimple maybe once or twice a month. i'm more concerned about large pore size and blackheads.

now because of the preventative measures i took in the past 15 years with the retinol/differin products i do not have any wrinkles.

meanwhile some of my classmates from high school resemble baseball catchers mitts.

so its a win-win situation for me. less pimples, less wrinklesB)

 

[Cristina777]

Thank you lucy92 for these words.

Was it difficult for you to start retinoids? I am scared of putting them on my face. I am afraid they will irritate my skin and starting them will be really difficult.

I neglected my skin for a years because I could not face the mirror (I had really bad acne in my teens). I take better care of my skin nowdays, but still isn't good...

*edit - no weight talk*

 

[lucy92]

no, it was not difficult for me to start retinoids.

differin is a third generation retinoid. so its milder. (it also comes in many different formulas/gels etc)

Tretinoin (retin a) was a little more harsh. so i only used it every third night starting off. i could see that it was working - the top layer of my skin was starting to slough off. i used a facecloth or a clarisonic brush (i have a knockoff of the clarisonic) to take off the flakes.

i also moisturized twice a day.

i am also not out in the sun very often at all - so that keeps the irritation down.

 

[Cristina777]

no, it was not difficult for me to start retinoids.

differin is a third generation retinoid. so its milder. (it also comes in many different formulas/gels etc)

Tretinoin (retin a) was a little more harsh. so i only used it every third night starting off. i could see that it was working - the top layer of my skin was starting to slough off. i used a facecloth or a clarisonic brush (i have a knockoff of the clarisonic) to take off the flakes.

i also moisturized twice a day.

i am also not out in the sun very often at all - so that keeps the irritation down.

Thank you.

 

[Jinadaze]

I don't know what to do anymore, my skin is a complete disaster this month. I didn't change my skin care routin, only been using organic rose water as a toner for two weeks (a couple of times per day) and then stopped, because I noticed strange reactions on my skin - dryness, redness, like an irritation and then clogged pores and a break out which I didn't get rid of till now; I stopped using it 4 days ago, only that I am not sure this was actually the cause.
I wanted to order Grandma's Acne Control Bar Soap which Fabulyss suggested, but they don't ship it to my country.

 

[Fabulyss]

Aww Try the vinegar + water toner I recommended! I would love to find out if that helps you or not (I would give it at least 2 weeks of daily use). It's super cheap too.

 

[Jinadaze]

I can't find it anywhere, so I was thinking of making it by myself, since we have a domestic produced apple vinegar. I would check in what ratio it should be mixed.
I the meantime I would also check if Grandma's soap is available to ship to anywhere else.

 

[Fabulyss]

Yes the toner is do-it-yourself, not manufactured! That's what makes it so cheap. Honestly I just dab a cotton ball with apple cider vinegar and very very quickly rinse it under a faucet (for one second!). Then I apply it as a toner all over my face, every night. It's definitely helped clear my skin (it also exfoliates as it's acidic).

 

[ffashionist]

I tried using apple cider vinegar mixed with water as a toner too, but in my case it didn't work. It was too harsh for my skin. Now I'm making my own toner with colloidal silver water (which I buy) with a few drops of lemon essential oil or tea tree oil... I recently started writing about the cosmetics industry on my blog, it's fascinating how chemical products are today and how much damage they can actually cause. I would always recommend natural products vs. synthetic ones.

 

[CosiDiModa]

I really hate that my spots just won't leave me alone I'm petrified of trying any new foundation or cream anymore because my skin always reacts badly to them. I've decided I don't want to take any pills for it and neither do I want to use harsh scrubs and washes on my face as I'm scared it will leave my skin dry and damaged in the long term. I was on the clinique anti blemish regime for a good two years but it didn't make any difference other than drying my skin out. Now I just use wash my face with organic honey at night (mixed with bicarb once a week for scrubbing) and moisturise with jojoba oil in the morning. I used to use argan oil but since it finished I decided to try jojoba and it's working pretty well!

I'm waiting for my skin to calm down a bit and hopefully will start microdermabrasion for my scars etc. I hear they won't do it if you have acne? Has anyone tried it?

 

[Fabulyss]

I tried using apple cider vinegar mixed with water as a toner too, but in my case it didn't work. It was too harsh for my skin. Now I'm making my own toner with colloidal silver water (which I buy) with a few drops of lemon essential oil or tea tree oil... I recently started writing about the cosmetics industry on my blog, it's fascinating how chemical products are today and how much damage they can actually cause. I would always recommend natural products vs. synthetic ones.

The first time I tried apple cider vinegar, it was too harsh for my skin too; I almost gave up on it entirely b/c of that. But you can dilute it 80% or 90% to make it gentler. This was when it started working for me (I have really sensitive skin).

 

[ffashionist]

I will try that. Have you tried drinking diluted apple cider vinegar too? I heard it't good beacuse it balances hormone levels.