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Skin Care Regimen for acne


WTMCassandra
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Hi, ladies,

 

I have silently followed some discussions on the board about this issue. Currently, my almost 16yo is concerned about her acne and wants to deal with it. Unfortunately, the things we have tried have either been ineffective or have caused an allergic reaction (significant redness and puffiness lasting more than 24 hrs). Here is what we have tried:

 

1. Neutrogena Foam--ineffective

2. Clean and Clear Advantage Mark Treatment--ineffective

3. Clean and Clear 4-hr vanishing cream--somewhat effective but not enough

4. DDF Benzoyl Peroxide Gel 5%--allergic reaction

 

Recently, she heard a pitch from a former Mary Kay salesman for the Mary Kay line of skin care regimen materials. Currently, I think my daughter sees this as The. Solution. I'm not so sure. And it would be an expensive experiment.

 

I'm not sure that her acne is bad enough to warrant a trip to the dermatologist, but I'm wondering if her tendency to be sensitive to products puts us over the edge. I do have a couple of photos I'm willing to share via PM/email if someone thinks that would help. How does one determine if one's skin is "bad enough" to warrant a dermatologist?

 

Also, in addition to Mary Kay, I know there are other skin care regimens out there. I would like to keep it to something doable and not too complex, or I'm concerned that she might have trouble following through. (I don't blame her--I don't really have a skin care regimen either.) What is out there, and what is good?

 

This is really bothering her and she wants to take action. Any ideas?

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I am not a great fan of Dr. Oz - something about him just bugs me. But....he's always on the tv screens in the lobby of son's gym so I watch when I wait for my son to come out....anyways, Dr. Oz suggested product called "Acne Free". It costs around $20 and consists of three tiny bottles - but they last my 16 year old son around 2 months. He has "normal" teenage acne and it works great! I got it at Target and also at my grocery store. We've used it for around 6 months. it does have the benzoyl peroxide in one of the bottles - but it is so gentle that it doesn't irritate my son's excema or sensitive skin at all.

 

Good luck,

Myra

Edited by Myra
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I have acne still (stupid PCOS!!!!! :angry: ) I find plain soap or Clearasil work for me. Anything else doesnt. Even certain Clearasil products dont work (IE: The pads, the soap bar)- only the wipes and cream work.

 

Also I have found if i wear my hair down a lot i get broken out on my chin and side of my face near my ears. Thats another reason I dont have short bangs- my face gets broken out above my eye brows. Thats something to consider too.

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...

I'm not sure that her acne is bad enough to warrant a trip to the dermatologist, but I'm wondering if her tendency to be sensitive to products puts us over the edge....How does one determine if one's skin is "bad enough" to warrant a dermatologist?

...

My sensitive skin is prone to acne breakouts, especially from the "wrong" product. A really book that I highly recommend is Breaking Out: A Woman's Guide to Coping with Acne at Any Age.

 

The scarring from acne can be worse than the breakouts. Plus, if she's breaking out now she likely has a number of clogged pores that haven't yet flared up but that might. If it bothers her and you can afford it, it may be worth seeing a dermatalogist. Another option you might try is finding someone at a good salon who specializes in sensitive skin with acne. They might be able to direct her to the right products.

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My sensitive skin is prone to acne breakouts, especially from the "wrong" product. A really book that I highly recommend is Breaking Out: A Woman's Guide to Coping with Acne at Any Age.

 

The scarring from acne can be worse than the breakouts. Plus, if she's breaking out now she likely has a number of clogged pores that haven't yet flared up but that might. If it bothers her and you can afford it, it may be worth seeing a dermatalogist. Another option you might try is finding someone at a good salon who specializes in sensitive skin with acne. They might be able to direct her to the right products.

 

What frustrates me is that at a given salon, people will tout their pet products. I'm hoping for a more objective approach.

 

Thanks for the book recommendation!

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Molly has the same problem. We just started with Clinique's 3 step acne system on Sunday--- hopefully it'll work, but things seem to have not gotten better yet. I'm glad I bought the one month trial package. The woman did say it takes two weeks to see results, so we're hoping. Poor kid. She also started taking zinc at the recommendation of the Hive.

 

astrid

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My younger sister had severe acne as a teenager. She'd tried everything in the store and NOTHING worked. As a last resort, my mom saw an infomercial on ProActive. It did WONDERS!!!

 

WARNING!!! It does tell you on the package that the acne WILL get a little worse the first few days you use it because it works from the inside out. Kind of like a "detox" for your skin. My sister's face was extremely red for about 2 - 3 days. After the redness went down, there was a marked improvement in her skin. Never completely went away, but MUCH better!!

 

Hope you find something that works!

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1. Neutrogena Foam--ineffective

2. Clean and Clear Advantage Mark Treatment--ineffective

3. Clean and Clear 4-hr vanishing cream--somewhat effective but not enough

4. DDF Benzoyl Peroxide Gel 5%--allergic reaction

 

Recently, she heard a pitch from a former Mary Kay salesman for the Mary Kay line of skin care regimen materials. Currently, I think my daughter sees this as The. Solution. I'm not so sure. And it would be an expensive experiment.

 

My young teen daughter trialed a number of similar products without good results but she's done really well with the Mary Kay Velocity line. It was pricey to trial because you don't know the outcome, but I think it's reasonably priced. She has beautiful skin and I'm glad to get her started on a good skincare routine.

 

I have good luck with Clinique. Two of my kids haven't had good results with OTC products and needed a derm visit.

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Goatsmilk soap works best for me, but any natural one should do. If you try the clay mask, I'd seriously consider ordering a bag of either french green or rhassoul clay from Mountain Rose Herbs. I think I spent $9 on a lb of french green that will probably last me a year.

I'd bet the spinning brush is what's making the big difference. So many people SWEAR by their Clairsonic. Olay has a much cheaper version.

 

The Mary Kay two piece (cleanser + moisturizer) for teens is nice though.

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If you have health insurance, I'd suggest the dermatologist.

 

My son had partial precocious puberty which included scarring acne. It wasn't all over his face, but it was leaving scars, so the pediatrician referred us to the dermatologist.

 

He now uses Retin A and a topical antibiotic. It is simple, quick, and extremely effective. His acne is virtually gone as are his scars. With my insurance, I spend about $15 twice a year.

 

Those dermatologists know their stuff. I bet you'll save time and money by taking your daughter in. Good luck!

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Hi, ladies,

 

I have silently followed some discussions on the board about this issue. Currently, my almost 16yo is concerned about her acne and wants to deal with it. Unfortunately, the things we have tried have either been ineffective or have caused an allergic reaction (significant redness and puffiness lasting more than 24 hrs). Here is what we have tried:

 

1. Neutrogena Foam--ineffective

2. Clean and Clear Advantage Mark Treatment--ineffective

3. Clean and Clear 4-hr vanishing cream--somewhat effective but not enough

4. DDF Benzoyl Peroxide Gel 5%--allergic reaction

 

Recently, she heard a pitch from a former Mary Kay salesman for the Mary Kay line of skin care regimen materials. Currently, I think my daughter sees this as The. Solution. I'm not so sure. And it would be an expensive experiment.

 

I'm not sure that her acne is bad enough to warrant a trip to the dermatologist, but I'm wondering if her tendency to be sensitive to products puts us over the edge. I do have a couple of photos I'm willing to share via PM/email if someone thinks that would help. How does one determine if one's skin is "bad enough" to warrant a dermatologist?

 

Also, in addition to Mary Kay, I know there are other skin care regimens out there. I would like to keep it to something doable and not too complex, or I'm concerned that she might have trouble following through. (I don't blame her--I don't really have a skin care regimen either.) What is out there, and what is good?

 

This is really bothering her and she wants to take action. Any ideas?

We read a couple of years ago that Hydrogen peroxide -yep, just the stuff from the drug store for a couple of bucks- will reduce or eliminate acne. It works! It really works. My daughter would get zits for a couple of days around that time of the month, use it, and they would go away immediately. Now my son does it occasionally. He's still kind of young to have zits but gets one now and then.

 

It's cheap and worth a try! Wish someone had told ME this when I was 15, and spent loads of money going to an acne doc and getting light treatments and taking antibiotics. Big mistake.

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We have tried a number of things for dd12 - we gave them a fair trial of about 6 weeks but the only thing that has worked is Proactiv. We even tried the ingredients from proactive - benx prox I think - and they did not work in the stuff I bought from the store but definately have in the Proactiv. Her skin now is not perfect but so much better. We tried the Mary Kay ?Vitality - didn't work for her but my nephew had good luck with it. I think different things work for different people - you have to keep trying until you hit the right one.

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Heads up on the zinc. I actually bought some, after reading about it here, but never gave it to my son. When I googled zinc, many search results were coming back with 'zinc to increase testosterone', 'zinc to increase libido', and 'zinc to increase :tongue_smilie:' on body building sites. I don't want to give my 12 yo, in the throes of puberty, something that can increase hormones ;).

 

WebMD gives the Tolerable Upper Intake Levels here:

 

The Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL) of zinc for people who are not receiving zinc under medical supervision: Infants birth to 6 months, 4 mg/day; 7 to 12 months, 5 mg/day; children 1 to 3 years, 7 mg/day; 4 to 8 years, 12 mg/day; 9 to 13 years, 23 mg/day; 14 to 18 years (including pregnancy and lactation), 34 mg/day; adults 19 years and older (including pregnancy and lactation), 40 mg/day.
I'm sure, given the dosing chart above, it can be safely used, but my son's acne is not bad enough that I want to mess with it. We've had decent results with Dove soap and store-brand (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.) cleansing pads with salicylic acid.
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  • 2 years later...
Guest SunitaAbnave

You should try Evergel 90 by Prakruti JiyoFresh. It fights acne/pimples, skin darkening, and dry skin. It is an ayurvedic medicine hence, you can easily adopt in your daily skin care regime without worrying about side-effects.

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Acne Free and Proactiv both worked well for me.  Acne Free is at Walmart and about half the price, and really seems about the same as Proactive.

 

I used to use peroxide on acne--Paula Begoun recommended it (and she has great skin care products too)-but then she stopped recommending it; it was damaging to skin in some way??

 

I never had terrible acne, but constant small breakouts, and I was glad that my mom took me to a dermatologist and we knocked it out in college with an antibiotic and a topcial gel--and THEN I stopped taking the meds and did home treatments.  It gave me a lot more confidence.

 

I also wear my hair up--no more forehead and jawline breakouts, now just chin mostly, ugh.  I think it's hormones :)

 

I STILL break out now as a 40-something though, but the Acne Free and Proactiv are too harsh.  I'm dabbling in tea tree oil now to try to find a solution.  Will have to read some of the threads linked in here.

 

B

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I still, at 34, use the MK Velocity wash and moisturizer and then spot-treet with their peroxide gel. Everything else I tried always dried out my skin too much or was way too greasy. Probably once a year I talk myself into trying something else for a month and it's always a disaster.

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I've had acne issues my entire life.  At 33, I still have to fight with it and keep up with it.  My issues are mostly cystic type acne.  I use the Neutrogena Acne kit (this does have a tube of benzoyl peroxide, but it doesn't irritate my skin unless I wait too long to moisturize after using it), Clean and Clear sensitive skin toner/astringent, Mario Badescu buffering lotion, Clean and Clear gel moisturizer and Mario Badescu Drying Mask and Drying Lotion as alternating spot treatment overnight.  I also use the Drying Mask on my problem areas to prevent problems a couple of times a week.  I drink lots of water and avoid processed sugar as much as I can.  I definitely notice a difference when I slack in those areas.  This doesn't keep all the breakouts away, but this is the system I've found that works the absolute best.  Oh and for some reason, when I take a multi-vitamin, I break out more....who knows. Hope that helps. Acne is no fun. :/  If you need more info on any of the products or want more info on the order in which I do my routine just let me know. :)

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