Hey guys! Sorry for the long intro, but I feel like I need to explain everything in order to get proper advice:

So, I'm pretty new to the Regimen, and I'm still working a lot of the details out. I've always had a few breakouts here and there since I was 16, which I used to use a drying lotion on. I also used to use a lot of comedogenic liquid foundations back then (potential cause of acne?). Now I'm 19, and I've had pretty bad comedonal acne for almost a year. It felt like it came out of nowhere, although I have some suspicions (makeup, previous veganism, vegetarianism, history of eating disorder, who knows). I went to a dermatologist, who at first prescribed Doxycycline (antibiotic), BP (Acanya), and Adapalene (Differin). This calmed my skin down a bit, but I was still breaking out pretty consistently. I was also going in for microdermabrasion treatments monthly, which again, sort of helped but didn't stop the breakouts.

I then started to go off of the Doxycycline, and my skin remained the same. After still little improvement, my dermatologist switched me from Adapalene over to Tretinoin (Retin A cream), mostly because I didn't want to go for microdermabrasion treatments anymore (they were too harsh and expensive). Because of this, he prescribed me something stronger. I used this at night and the Acanya in the morning. I also made sure I was using a non-comedogenic face wash and moisturizer. I was still wearing makeup (Bare Minerals powder SPF 20).

This helped a bit also, but I was impatient with the results. I stopped using my medications altogether a couple of months ago and tried just washing my face and moisturizing. I thought maybe I was doing too much to my skin. I also started going on a combination birth control pill (Sronyx). My skin started looking better, until I broke out again. So, desperate, I decided to begin the Regimen.

To be honest, I only started doing the Regimen for a week or so until I started to tamper with it a bit. I found my old Acanya bottle and started using it with Alba Botanica Even Advanced face wash and the same brand of night cream as a moisturizer (not sure if a night cream is appropriate but it seemed to work). During the day, instead of wearing powder makeup, I switched to Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 25. My skin started to look better, although it was pretty rough and flaky. There was also a good amount of redness, but my breakouts were clearing! I was still afraid of not fighting my acne from the inside though, so I picked up the Tretinoin again at night.

Last week, I ran out of my BP, and my skin broke out pretty badly with just the Tretinoin at night. I scrambled to buy Neutrogena On The Spot treatment (BP 2.5% cream), which I started using a few days ago. My skin is starting to get better again, although today it's pretty red and feels like it's burning. I also stopped wearing the tinted moisturizer (DONE with makeup every day) and am using the night cream as a moisturizer until I get Dan's Regimen, which I just ordered online because I'm sick of experimenting with drugstore products. It should arrive in a couple of days.

SO, I'm really nervous about this treatment. I really want to find something that's going to finally work, and I'm wondering if the BP/Retin A combo will do the trick. I'm worried about the Retin A being unnecessary though. Could it do damage to my skin if it's too harsh? Should I drop it and just stick with Dan's Regimen?

Your advice is much appreicated! Feel free to ask any followup questions/request pictures.

-Liz

Hello hello!

Being on the regimen for about 9 weeks, and prior to being on it I was on Retin-a for about 5 months total (which did not work for me at all)... my suggestion to you would be to just stick with the regimen.. Retin-a by itself is extremely irritating, and so is the regimen. The goal of the regimen is to try and irritate your skin as little as possible.. the idea being that acne is formed from bacteria and irritation.. so you use the BP to fight bacteria, and you go easy on your skin to avoid irritation.

I think you should just stick with the regimen, and after about 6 weeks or when your skin is more used to it you can then incorporate Dans AHA.. this will help a lot with comedonal acne and isn't near as irritating as Retin-a.

Also what you should do for the really dry irritated skin is add jojoba oil to your moisturizer, I was personally surprised how well it worked for dryness and flakes!

Seriously, if you stick with it I'm almost sure you'll see awesome results!

Good luck, and if you have any other questions feel free to send me a message (:

Hey guys! Sorry for the long intro, but I feel like I need to explain everything in order to get proper advice:

So, I'm pretty new to the Regimen, and I'm still working a lot of the details out. I've always had a few breakouts here and there since I was 16, which I used to use a drying lotion on. I also used to use a lot of comedogenic liquid foundations back then (potential cause of acne?). Now I'm 19, and I've had pretty bad comedonal acne for almost a year. It felt like it came out of nowhere, although I have some suspicions (makeup, previous veganism, vegetarianism, history of eating disorder, who knows). I went to a dermatologist, who at first prescribed Doxycycline (antibiotic), BP (Acanya), and Adapalene (Differin). This calmed my skin down a bit, but I was still breaking out pretty consistently. I was also going in for microdermabrasion treatments monthly, which again, sort of helped but didn't stop the breakouts.

I then started to go off of the Doxycycline, and my skin remained the same. After still little improvement, my dermatologist switched me from Adapalene over to Tretinoin (Retin A cream), mostly because I didn't want to go for microdermabrasion treatments anymore (they were too harsh and expensive). Because of this, he prescribed me something stronger. I used this at night and the Acanya in the morning. I also made sure I was using a non-comedogenic face wash and moisturizer. I was still wearing makeup (Bare Minerals powder SPF 20).

This helped a bit also, but I was impatient with the results. I stopped using my medications altogether a couple of months ago and tried just washing my face and moisturizing. I thought maybe I was doing too much to my skin. I also started going on a combination birth control pill (Sronyx). My skin started looking better, until I broke out again. So, desperate, I decided to begin the Regimen.

To be honest, I only started doing the Regimen for a week or so until I started to tamper with it a bit. I found my old Acanya bottle and started using it with Alba Botanica Even Advanced face wash and the same brand of night cream as a moisturizer (not sure if a night cream is appropriate but it seemed to work). During the day, instead of wearing powder makeup, I switched to Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 25. My skin started to look better, although it was pretty rough and flaky. There was also a good amount of redness, but my breakouts were clearing! I was still afraid of not fighting my acne from the inside though, so I picked up the Tretinoin again at night.

Last week, I ran out of my BP, and my skin broke out pretty badly with just the Tretinoin at night. I scrambled to buy Neutrogena On The Spot treatment (BP 2.5% cream), which I started using a few days ago. My skin is starting to get better again, although today it's pretty red and feels like it's burning. I also stopped wearing the tinted moisturizer (DONE with makeup every day) and am using the night cream as a moisturizer until I get Dan's Regimen, which I just ordered online because I'm sick of experimenting with drugstore products. It should arrive in a couple of days.

SO, I'm really nervous about this treatment. I really want to find something that's going to finally work, and I'm wondering if the BP/Retin A combo will do the trick. I'm worried about the Retin A being unnecessary though. Could it do damage to my skin if it's too harsh? Should I drop it and just stick with Dan's Regimen?

Your advice is much appreicated! Feel free to ask any followup questions/request pictures.

-Liz

Hello hello!

Being on the regimen for about 9 weeks, and prior to being on it I was on Retin-a for about 5 months total (which did not work for me at all)... my suggestion to you would be to just stick with the regimen.. Retin-a by itself is extremely irritating, and so is the regimen. The goal of the regimen is to try and irritate your skin as little as possible.. the idea being that acne is formed from bacteria and irritation.. so you use the BP to fight bacteria, and you go easy on your skin to avoid irritation.

I think you should just stick with the regimen, and after about 6 weeks or when your skin is more used to it you can then incorporate Dans AHA.. this will help a lot with comedonal acne and isn't near as irritating as Retin-a.

Also what you should do for the really dry irritated skin is add jojoba oil to your moisturizer, I was personally surprised how well it worked for dryness and flakes!

Seriously, if you stick with it I'm almost sure you'll see awesome results!

Good luck, and if you have any other questions feel free to send me a message (:

Hey! Thanks for the advice, I'll start it without the Retin A and just use the BP at night for the first week. Do you increase the amount of BP every week?

Also, I'm assuming Dan's jojoba oil is the best available; I can't even seem to find it anywhere haha.

Start with a really small amount "pea sized" and work your way up to 2 pumps of dans bp or 2 fingers length store bought BP, it should take you about 4-6 weeks to get up to the full amount, but listen to your skin. It's normal for it to feel a irritated, but you don't want to go overboard with it.

I found my Jojoba oil in the health food section at the grocery store, but Dan's jojoba oil was cheaper, and the bottle was a little bigger.. I guess I was just to impatient to bother with getting it shipped ahaha.

Take a look at this link http://www.acne.org/regimen and scroll down to "Dosage chart" It will show you pictures of how much you should be using, and generally what to expect in terms of increasing the BP amount.

Good luck with the regimen, and if you have any other questions feel free to ask! (:

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Fabian has a point, retin a or any retinoid will take months to work. I was on a low dose accutane course (only 10mg per day) and it took me about 8-9 months before I could say my face is clear. So on a topical retinoid I would say it is very much possible to break up to 6 months and it does not mean its not working. it does but very, very slowly. But the end results are worth the wait, plus when you've been on it for a year your skin will have adapted to the retinoid so you wont get the excessive peeling and redness anymore.

You may read this and think what I've got to wait nearly a year for this to work??! but i will say the end results are very much worth it, so don't give up

Thanks for your opinions! I'm on the Regimen now, and if I feel that I need to return to a retinoid then I will, or I'll use one afterwards to diminish redness if AHA doesn't help I just feel like right now Tretinoin it's too harsh on my sensitive skin. There might be another retin a treatment that isn't as intense.

I have been on retinoids for the past 4 months (retin a and differin). After 2 months of hellish purging they cleared me up like 95%, but I still have a few clogged pores that come and go. I was wondering if continual retinoid use will always causes clogs to some extent because it is continually exfoliating and drying the skin. I used to have a lot less clogged pores and I only used differin as a spot treatment, which I know is not how it is prescribed, but it worked that way for me for years. Does anyone else have any experience with long term retinoid use?