Hey everybody. I'm going to Burning Man in about three weeks, and I'm wondering if anyone can share skincare tips for a week to ten days in the desert.

Black Rock City's climate is notoriously severe -- people recommend stuffing vaseline in your nose to prevent nosebleeds.

So, I'm worried the dry climate will break me out or make my skin flake over -- the latter happened several months ago, when I spent a few days in Arizona, just a couple months after I'd incorporated Retin-A into my nightly regimen. I've been back to Arizona since and instead used it maybe every other day, which seemed to help (and/or my skin simply became acccustomed to the Retin-A).

Here's some background on my skin condition and my treatment:

Skin condition

• I started dealing with very severe cystic acne about a year ago. I had two patches of cysts on either side of my forehead. Several cysts essentially formed one giant, ugly red blob on both the right and left sides.
• Since then, my skin's gotten better every month. I still break out, but usually just small pustules or whiteheads. I've gotten two or three cysts in the last couple weeks, probably due to an inordinate amount of stress (one of my best friends passed away, and I'm currently looking for a job).
• Generally I'm dry around the mouth and a little oily elsewhere. I think I've found a good balance for moisture -- I just apply lotion around my mouth, which helps a lot for dryness and to prevent breakouts in that area.

Treatment

Morning

• Warm compress for 5 minutes to remove dirt and open up my pores
• Lotion around mouth and chin.
• BP (10%) all over face and neck
• Aqua Glycolic on active pimples (usually have three or four pimples)
• Sunscreen lotion all over face and neck

Afternoon

• Warm compress for 10 minutes + shower
• Lotion around mouth and chin
• [sometimes] BP on active pimples

Evening

• Lotion on mouth and red marks
• Retin-A (0.01%) all over face and neck

Thanks!