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Acne

fetus

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The age-old question. How to get rid of it? I find it funny how I went through all of middle school with a completely clear face, and didn't start getting acne until around fifteen. Anyways, I'm looking for the best way to eliminate it (mostly blackheads) and acne scars.

Any advice would be much appreciated. :unsure:
 

Amethyst

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That depends since acne can be caused by a myriad of factors.

I used to have terrible acne in middle and high school, until I started birth control. Turns out my acne was caused by hormone imbalances. My brother had an even worse time and got to the point where he had to take Accutane (which I don't recommend. Try EVERYTHING else before you try that.)

If you're a girl in high school or college, and that time of month for you tends to be exceptionally awful, I would look into different types of birth control as an option.
 

Hawthorne

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Often caused by hormone fluctuations. Birth control sometimes helps.

Drink plenty of water.

Make sure you're not overusing a cleanser (once daily if dry or combo. possibly twice if your skin is really oily naturally but few need it) and are moisturizing well.

Daily exfoliation with a topical beta hydroxy (BHA) exfoliant can help with pore-clog related breakouts. Alpha hydroxy (AHA) can help with scarring.
Both temporarily increase sun sensitivity.

Only other ingredients are time and persistence. A dermatologist may be able to prescribe a retinol treatment that can speed up cell turnover. There are over-the-counter options but some can be expensive and have lower strength.

/r/skincareaddiction is pretty useful place. Timelines. Product recommendations. They do a decent job of explaining the science behind it too if it interests you.
 

Dyslexxie

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Besides all the usual advice (clean off your makeup at night, drink water, eat healthy, avoid sugars and dairy, etc.), I've found 2 things make the most difference in my skin quality:
1. Sauna time: sweating cleans your pores very thoroughly
2. Taking 10,000 IUs of vitamin A 'aka retinoids' a day; it serves the following functions:
- Help prevent dead skin cells from sloughing off and clogging pores
- Reduce the amount of oil your skin produces, which also reduces pore-clogging
- Suppress androgen formation (androgens in the skin are a major cause of acne)
- Protect fats from oxidation (which keeps cell damage and inflammation at bay)

Because I have digestive issues, I found that since I was able to narrow down what bothers me, now I know I can reduce or avoid those foods, and my skin has since drastically improved. So maybe if you have a sensitive digestive system, make sure you narrow down what triggers it.
 

five sounds

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I developed acne in my late 20s after having clear skin my whole life (Cooooool, I know.)

I've tried various things with varying results. Currently doing an oil blend (castor, rose hip, and tea tree) steaming my face with it on then gently washing it off. I upped the amount of castor recently because it was feeling too oily. My skin looks pretty good right now, but I still have some blemishes and broke out pretty for real last time I was PMSing.
 

Pinker85

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Maybe it's cause I'm only dating myself but acne is something I like. It's another thing that makes me unique and I like the scars they leave.
 

Tellenbach

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Look up Vitamin B-5 (pantothenic acid). Lots of people swear by unfiltered apple cider vinegar (1 tablespoon in glass of water with honey). Sip it with a straw to avoid it touching the teeth and rinse your mouth to protect enamel from the acetic acid. I've had luck with both remedies.
 

ceecee

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My boys both had some acne but not severe and they did well with the Proactive stuff. Keeping their skin clean was the biggest help and the biggest challenge. My oldest would get blackheads on his nose. He put honey on it until it dried and peeled it off. No more blackheads. My husband has scarring on his chin and cheeks from acne too. He needed rx strength stuff but he never followed through with his treatment. So whatever you do, stick with it.
 

gromit

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I get a couple pimples before my period. A couple dabs of this usually does the trick for me: ESSENTIALS Dual Action Moisturizer | CLEAN & CLEAR®

I think probably my whole face is covered with tiny blackheads but they aren't that noticeable to me so I don't care. Probably an esthetician would wanna remove it all with some 11 step process, but thank god I'm not an esthetician.
 

fetus

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Thanks, guys. I've just been looking around for the best solution, and it's a little overwhelming because of all the options. I'm just going to find the best face wash first, because currently I just drench my face in water twice a day and be done with it, so... :shrug:
 

SD45T-2

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I was hoping [MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION] would drop by because she knows everything. :D
 

Lexicon

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I was hoping [MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION] would drop by because she knows everything. :D

I don't know everything.. but acne sucks assholes..

Um.. [MENTION=24479]themightyfetus[/MENTION] - do you have health insurance? If so, go to the dermatologist asap. They can prescribe some really great topicals like Retin-A, Aczone, and others. They are awesome for fighting acne. If even the lowest concentrations of Retin-A (aka tretinoin cream - avoid the gel form; too drying) feel too harsh, a similar prescription that is much gentler, called Differin (adapalene) gel, is available in the US (there's an additional variation out there now called EpiDuo, which is adapalene gel mixed w/benzoyl peroxide. My experiences w/benzoyl peroxide have always been shitty - it's very irritating to the skin, but some people can handle it. I'd try the Differin [just plain adapalene] 1st). I used that when I had mild-moderate acne as a teenager (mostly blackheads) in tandem w/the skincare products below with great success (acne randomly popped back into my life in my mid 20s & I was given stronger meds, but the Differin worked great in the past before my adult acne).

I forgot to mention that Retin-A alternative to [MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] in my other post. :doh:

A regular skincare routine that includes: 1.) cleansing, 2.) using a gentle toner, 3.) applying a topical treatment (anti-acne product, suncreen, etc) & 4.) moisturizing is super important for clearing acne & balancing out your skin. Also little things like changing your pillowcase once a week, wiping your cell phone w/an antibacterial wipe once a day, & avoiding touching your face aside from during your routine (& NEVER trying to pop things) can work wonders.


I posted in another thread about acne/skin care routines here; it's pretty indepth, and it may prove useful. http://www.typologycentral.com/foru...-products-thread-post2509453.html#post2509453

You don't even have to read the whole thing, just skim. The 3 or 4 products I mention in that post that include pictures would be ideal over-the-counter solutions for acne. You can find them at any drugstore or order them online.

Hope this helps.
 

kyuuei

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[MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION] is definitely the best source of info on the forum for good quality and cheap products. (Also, I think I am going to try to talk to my doctor about that defferin stuff Lexi, and if that doesn't work out well then I'm just going to have to face facts that I'll need Retin-A the rest of my life. I think my face is starting to become immune to that neutrogena day moisturizer already.)


It is REALLY hard not to try starting new things all at once, but try to take it one step at a time. Use a google calendar app or something like it and plug in 2-4 week step-downs. The best habits are free ones really... you can start with actively working on not touching your face, or putting your phone directly to it. (I got a great but stupid looking thing for $1 from a flea market that's basically a giant old 90's phone with a headphone jack that has helped me to keep from smushing my phone to my face while in the car). Start to pin your hair away from your face, and wash your pillowcases (or, be lazy like me and have 2-3 pillowcases and just rotate them and wash them all at once), and clean your phones and objects you touch. Also, the face is impossible not to touch.. I find I just got into the habit of washing my hands before I touch my face and it helps a lot. Genuinely good hand washing helps a TON and is the cheapest health habit you can get yourself into. When I became a nurse I started washing my hands no shy of approximately 100-175 times a day during my shift. I didn't really adjust my face-to-hand ratio and my break outs definitely decreased. So, I say instead of trying to fight it entirely, just try your best and wash your hands for the rest.

Then find something you like that exfoliates. Lexi mentioned a CVS brand scrub she likes. Even though it harbors bacteria, I like to use cheap walmart microfiber cloths as they are the only things I've found that scrub all the junk off of my face without completely irritating my skin.. and it's cheaper than having yet another product to lug around, and I can use the cloths for my body if I start having oil on my shoulders, or neck, or back.. so I just bought 7-10 bar cloths and I use it once and throw it in the whites to bleach/wash with my other whites.

Then get a decent oil-absorbing mask (my personal recommendation is the Zinc and Sulphur masque Zinc and Sulphur Masque - balance acne prone and oily skin - $24.95 from here because it's cheap, lasts a long time, and works super well) and do your normal routine + use this mask each evening for a couple weeks to help calm your skin down.. so you only end up needing it once a week. When my skin gets out of hand (like when my routine gets messed up, or I have a particularly stressful totm for whatever lame reason my body thinks of) this has worked. I learned it from this lady on youtube and I really like her videos... 2:12 and on..


Then get a gentle cleanser and wash your face with it twice a day. I save these areas until last because these things are what tend to mess your skin up. You know your baseline. You know how you react to things. (Also, I might add, while the mask might irritate and need changing, the cleansers, moisturizers, and medicines are usually the ones that need tweaking the most.. so starting with those things above for a baseline is best.) I really did use plain soap on my face for a long time because my face was so oily.. when I am compliant with my masque routine of 1-2x a week though, the gentle face cleansers do work. It takes getting used to to not feel squeaky clean (which is as deliciously bad as an 800 calorie coffee abomination from starbucks) I found. The biore balancing cleanser suggested by Lexi has been really amazing, and although I wish it was more portable, it definitely gets the job done.

Then move to the moisturizer which I think the skin gets more finnicky about because based on the weather, the place you live, and all of that it changes. I found that the humidity here was even worse than my old house's, and so a lightweight moisturizer is more than enough. I also find when I add straight Retin-A I needed so much more moisturizer just to keep my lips and face from peeling like crazy. The moisturizers and the medicines are what need to played with the most.. so you really need your baseline (the cleanser and up) to be solid first so you know where you're at, what you look like there, and if it truly improves or not. Sort of a vicious do-it-right-or-do-it-1000000-times thing. So, I'd identify a lightweight (like the C&C touch of moisture moisturizing gel), a medium weight (like Neutrogena Retin-A infused/equate version of this day cream or the Neutrogena rapid clear lotion), and a heavyweight one (Lexi recently recommended a heavier moisturizer) and have all three at your disposal as you need them. It's easy to put on a light weight, feel your skin dry and go back and put on a medium weight.. and when you know all three introduced to your skin don't break you out it's alright to move on.

After all of that, you'll know how your skin functions as a unit. When everything is solid (or as solid as life allows), you'll know things. I didn't know I broke out more during TTOTM until I did all of this. I never healed old break outs, so it just looked like I broke out all month long all year long. I also thought I had combination skin--but nope, I have oily skin I was just drying it out with stuff. My skin was not perfect, and still broke out, but it did improve vastly and it wasn't so embarrassing .. and break outs still happened like in an instant when I deviate from my routine. Like scary fast. 26 hours and I have a massive zit on my nose fast. Or my cheek just grew a boil somehow even though I haven't had a cystic acne episode in years. It happens.

I'm FINALLY (about 8-12 months later) able to go to the doctor and ask for a medicine. I did it all the wrong way the first time around.. and I've been back tracking to fix it since then. Turns out a lot of my problems were being caused by bad habits, and while my acne isn't fixed, it is easier for me to treat now. I know if 6-8 weeks later there's no change that it is the medicine.. not that I used medicine + some weird face mask or some new moisturizer.

I've been going bananas trying to get this program set up like this.. and this was the best I came up with, and it really did work. It sucked, but it worked.

The health and beauty thread (beast though it is) has lots of recommendations for cleansers and moisturizers.

Also, for blackheads.. The only true thing I ever have found that gets rid of existing ones is extraction from a good dermatologist or licensed professional that rocks at doing those sort of things. You can prevent new ones, but the existing ones will just stay buried in the skin and no amount of sticky paper or cheap black-head-scrubs will get rid of them. They only seem to pluck out the tiny not-as-bad ones + scrape the surface off of deep ones. So once you have a routine established well, it'd be best then to go back in and get rid of black heads with some professional help.

Good luck, sorry it's so long! TLDR: Listen to Lexicon, watch that girl's video in particular, and don't try any of that nonsense like oil pulling (if it doesn't work for you you'll regret it for months) and lemons-and-sugar-on-your-face-stuff.
 

Showbread

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I'm 23 and my acne is pretty much worse than it's ever been. I get little white heads and clack heads pretty much all the time, and around my period I get nasty cystic ones around my period.

I've tried basically everything over the counter from natural remedies to Proactive, none of it worked. The only way I've been able to get mine under control has been with a dermatologist. I've also taken minocycline or doxycycline for probably 5-6 years all together, which helped a lot. But, my derm wants me off of antibiotics, so I've recently switched to spironolactone. It blocks androgen receptors, specifically in skin. It's worked really well so far! I had a little bit of breakout with PMS, but I also use Differin (topical) and that took care of it. I'm a big fan of both so far.
 

Caoimhin

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Thanks, guys. I've just been looking around for the best solution, and it's a little overwhelming because of all the options. I'm just going to find the best face wash first, because currently I just drench my face in water twice a day and be done with it, so... :shrug:

Might be good to use soap, or something similar that's easy on your skin in conjunction with the water.
Warm water also tend to open up the pores, while cold water tend to close them. Warm water and soap
should help a lot.

Do you eat a lot of cheese, or other products high in fat content? Such food can cause more acne than
if you would eat less fatty food. Something that could be good to consider.

Hope you manage to keep them at bay!
 

magpie

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At night when I shower I use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and in the morning before I put on my make up I wipe my face with Simple Sensitive Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes.

I don't have bad acne but I have fairly large pores so I don't know how effective my methods are.

Edit: This sounds like a really bad commercial.
 

StrawberryJam

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Thanks, guys. I've just been looking around for the best solution, and it's a little overwhelming because of all the options. I'm just going to find the best face wash first, because currently I just drench my face in water twice a day and be done with it, so... :shrug:

Hi, my daughter has the same problems too! Well, she tried all sorts of facial wash but it didn't worked, so we just consulted a skin specialist to give her some advice and prescriptions according to her skin type. One best soap that her doctor recommends was "Dove". But, I suggest that you try to see your dermatologist or a skin doctor also to be very sure.
 

Lia_kat

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I've suffered from acne all of my life. The last few months have been wonderful though. I've been using lemon juice (from the lemon) before I go to sleep. It usually gets rid of my zits in about 2-3 days, less if they are smaller. Just make sure you don't go out in the sun after applying.
I also drink lots of water, eat plenty of seafood, fruits, vegetables, and use a simple cleanser morning and night (Cetaphil is great) as well as a moistourizer with sun screen.
 
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