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acne anyone?
I have ACNE! I always have and I feel like I always will. Anyone else I can commiserate with? I usually don't get it on my face anymore (I was quite a pizza face as a teen though) and tend to just get it on my shoulders. Sometimes my neck. The strange thing is--it comes in cycles. For my wedding (thank god) I had no acne whatsoever. Now, I have acne all over my shoulders, just in time for spaghetti strap weather 
The only thing I've tried in the past that has worked somewhat was Proactiv solution--but it's frankly just too expensive. (wtf is up with that? It's $49.99 in Canada and only $19.99 in the US--even though it's been in this country for at LEAST 15 years, and the Canadian dollar is stronger than the US dollar). I refuse to be robbed.
How do you deal with your acne? I was hoping that--at 28--I would have outgrown this by now.
Re: acne anyone?
I'm in a similar boat, never had it until I was 21, but now I'm covered. It's mostly my face, which is a wreck, and my decolletage.... driving me crazy. Oddly enough, the only thing besides accutane that's worked for me is facials. I know they do body facials, maybe you could try that? I don't imagine that would be much cheaper than proactiv though.
Mine were about $150.00 a pop, with a tip, every 6 weeks or so, plus an at home regime which worked really well. Got me in perfect condition for the wedding and after, and then it went downhill again when I got laid off. I'm currently using Neutrogena grapefruit blackhead eliminating wash, which seems to be drying a lot of it out, and then Cereve lotion (which is less goopy then Cetaphil and seems to eff with my face less.)
I'm hoping it goes away soon. Can you just buy the Proactive shower gel? I dont know if they've made that available in Canada yet, if not, can you ship to someone in the US and have them ship to you?
I'd honestly be too embarrassed to ask my MIL to buy the showergel. I was thinking I might call the company and b!tch at them until they offer it to me for 19.99. I doubt that will work, but maybe.
I was using Pan Oxyl shower wash and body bar. You can find it at Walmart or a store like it. Now we recently found out that I am pregnant and I can't use them! My acne has come on double time now!!
I've had it since I was a teen, and I'll be 36 next month. I finally went to the dermatologist to get it under control before the wedding last year. Is that a possibility? If it's hormonal acne (which, if you've had it forever it probably is), then OTC stuff probably won't do much. I'm currently on a steroid and I have a cream that I use once a day, along with a benzoyl peroxide wash in the shower.
FWIW, Proactiv didn't do anything except dry my skin out. Murad worked better, but eventually even that stopped working as well.
I have always had acne also. I tried proacitve and like Erica, all it did was dry my face out and make it worse. I have a friend that uses Murad and she loves it, I have never tried it. I use BeautiControl (which is an at home party company) I have used their acne line for about 6+ years and I love it. I switch things up depending on the season, I make sure I give my self extra moisture in the winter (use the regular moisturizer) and less in the summer (use the acne moisturizer).
I would also be happy to send you proactiv from here in the states.
Adding to this, I really hated the way some of the Proactive stuff smelled. I found using Cetaphil helped mine go down, as did using my Clarisonic brush a few times a week. Also, age helps.
Between 30 and 31 I've seen quite a bit of my acne diminish... Still get the occasional zit on my face, but my back and chest used to break out a lot and only get the odd one every few months now.
Thanks for the offer, but don't these bottles come in a sort of subscription? Like they automatically come to your home every thirty or sixty days or something?
At least that's the way it was when I was a kid.
This Murad people are talking about. I've never heard about it before, but it's apparently available in Toronto. I might check it out there, (unless that, too, has been ridiculously marked up).
Some of the simple things that I've found has helped my face acne, is changing my pillow cases every three nights. I only get the odd hormonal pimple now once a month. I guess it pays to have a super clean surface if you're pressing your face against it for up to 10 hours every night!
I've actually heard that apple cider vinegar works well. You can either use it as a tonic, or apply it directly to your skin. Here's some info.
I also used to use tea tree oil for spot treatments and had moderate success with that. Honestly, this vinegar idea I'm going to give a try before anything else. I'm extremely weary of a lot of acne products that contain some scary ingredients that not only harm the environment, but are potentially harmful to us as well. For example, I purchased a simple Vichy brand astringent toner last week, and when I got home I decided to check the ingredients. It contained coal tar (carcinogenic), and PEG (which can contain carcinogenic ingredients). We have to use gloves when we use PEG in the lab, and yet, I'm rubbing it on my face. Great.
Mine comes in cycles. I'm 28 as well, and yeah, aren't we supposed to be done with this?!
I *just* purchased The Body Shop's tea tree oil cleanser set, to we'll see how that goes.
Have you looked at eBay? You could get the one time delivery from there (rather than the auto-renew thing from the Proactiv website. There has to be a reputable seller that will send it to Canada.
ETA: oh yeah, ebay.com (didn't check ebay.ca) has 1300+ listings that include the word "Proactiv" in the title. Then you can try it out, without the steep $50 price tag.
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So I wouldn't recommend it if you have sensitive skin!
Wonderful timing on this post because I have two HUGE like almost cystic, pimples right now on my cheek.
I've suffered for years from acne. Since I was a teen and now 24 (25 next week). Luckfully I didn't have any issues for the wedding. I did fake-bake tanning bed and that honestly seems to help.
For my chest/arms/back, I changed my routinue this summer per rec of some websites and a woman at the makeup counter (lol). Wash/condition and completely rinse out your hair before washing your body (also I'd recommend switching to sulfate-free shampoo; the stuff with sulfate supposedly known for pore-clogging. I saw a difference when I switched), after your hair, then wash your problem areas to ensure no shampoo/cond. is left to clog pores. I also swear by Clinique's Acne Body Spray. I spray it on my chest/back once I'm out of the shower and towel dried. It was discontiued last year, but I found it at cosmetic outlets, however, it looks like it's available again this year, although it's not on Clinique's website... Here's a link.
For my face, I've tried a variety of things....I've never done the Proactiv route because my skin dries out easily. However, a woman on the Money board rec'd "AcneFree" as a less expensive alternative to Proactive. It's $19.99 (for full size bottles), has the same ingrediants, and is available at US Target.
When I was younger my mom took me to a holistic doctor for the acne. From her rec, I used the process: wash face w/face wash (I used Clinique's bar soap, but not the acne line), warm 1/4 cup condensed milk (liquid) in microwave for 15-30 sec, apply to face with cotton ball and let dry, remove with cotton ball dosed in Everclear (alcohol) and moisturize. I've thought about using this method again, however, now I think my skin is to sensitive for the Everclear.
I currently just use Clinique's Acne face soap in a bar form, but I'm still getting a few tiny pimples and larger ones around my Aunt Flo.
I really need to get to a derm!
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I've been having a lot of issues recently too - it's nice to know I'm not alone.
I think it's because I went off hormonal BC and that's been messing with my skin. I've also been upping my time spent exercising and that's causing me to break out majorly on my chest, back and shoulders. Perfect timing right?
I use cliniques 3 step system for my face. I'm actually going to the store today to pick up some neutrogena body wash and a back scrubber thing - I'm hoping that using an actual scrub brush in the shower will help with my back and chest. we'll see.
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I have been using Cetaphil for almost 15 years exclusively. My face was really bad as a teen, I was at the dermatologist regularly. We tried a bunch of other treatments (including creams & pills), but washing twice a day with Cetaphil turned out to be the long term solution.
DH breaks out a lot on his back and stomach in the summer. When flare ups start we use a benzoyl peroxide or salicyclic acid gel/cream on the affected areas a few times a week. It helps prevent more from "popping up". We also discovered Neutrogena has a salicylic acid body spray. We have a bottle to try this summer.
Burt's Bees has this really great tea tree oil treatment that seemed to work pretty well for me.
Megan & Chris
Here is one more thing that works wonders and clears them up within a day or two of using them...and it's a concealer as well. Not sure why I didn't think to suggest this before, since it's what I use now for spot treating:
http://www.amazon.com/Bare-Escentuals-RareMineralsTM-Blemish-Therapy/dp/B0014WJO96
Megan & Chris
I've never had acne bad but still get a couple pimples on my face throughout the week. I find that Clean & Clear Morning Burst facial scrub works really well and it's cheap.
Also, if you are trying to dry one or two pimples out, try putting a little toothpaste on it. I know that sounds weird, but it works to dry them out and shrink them.