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[Clarabumps]

I've been on many an acid toner thread in the past and I'm all about the good skincare regime but I feel it's just not enough anymore. I'm having monthly breakouts around my chin area and I finally went to the doctor and told her I couldn't have anymore anti biotics and I wanted a topical retinoid. I now am the proud owner of a tube of Differin gel. Woo hoo!!!

Is anyone else battling the curse of shit skin. I have no bloody wrinkles at 34 but a chin like Mount Vesuvius. So what has worked for everyone?what hasn't worked? Mainly just a support for those who are battling "the spots" bastards

Closer I'm going to try it on existing ones and see what happens. Don't fancy putting it all over my face...

Rosacea here, after years of reasonable skin (just massive chin spots that always coincided with ovulation) and a lovely CH based routine for my dry & dehydrated skin, post pregnancy I've cheeks covered in whiteheads with redness that could stop traffic.

Am 4 weeks into Rosex and if anything it's worse but promised doctor I'd persist for 2 months. About to try the Avene gentle cleanser but have no idea what else to use on sore, spotty, itchy skin

Rosacea here, after years of reasonable skin (just massive chin spots that always coincided with ovulation) and a lovely CH based routine for my dry & dehydrated skin, post pregnancy I've cheeks covered in whiteheads with redness that could stop traffic.

Am 4 weeks into Rosex and if anything it's worse but promised doctor I'd persist for 2 months. About to try the Avene gentle cleanser but have no idea what else to use on sore, spotty, itchy skin

Oh my, I never knew there were so many others suffering. I've had spots for 25 years and never met anyone with the same issues. I got tired of the prescription meds and amazingly found that since I started taking Turmeric for my knee issues (I'm 40), my skin has cleared! I tried it on a spot on my back (stress induced I think) and it reduced within hours. I was never a believer of home remedies but this really has worked. Wish I'd tried 25 years ago. Now I'm just dealing with a horrible atrophic red scar. Anyone had any success with atrophic scar treatment?

Closer and ginger I started by putting it on any spots. A small amount rubbed in in the morning, then a dollop at night. (God I looked delightful!).

I haven't had any spots now for 6 weeks(touch wood) and I just put a small amount on occasionally at night, as a preventative thing. Not sure if its does any good as a preventative thing, but it seems to be working so far.

Should have added, as a preventative thing I just put on my chin/spot prone area.

Sorry me again

I've just reread your post ginger and your quote about Sudacream being an effective preventative measure. Happy days!!

What works for me is nLite laser. I have PCOS so this has a big effect on my skin.

It's not cheap at £170 a go but it's worth every penny. Initially I needed three treatments a month apart and now i have six monthly top ups.

I get the odd spot, maybe once a month, but these are really easy to deal with and nothing like the ones I used to get which were painful and lasted weeks.

Sudocrem used to work for me but hasn't helped the cystic ones I started getting last year. I wish it still did something!

I've found that since following CH they're going quicker than they used to - anyone else find this? The big ones seem to come to a head quicker (lush), then go quicker. I also feel like the the skin where I don't have scarring looks sooo much better .

Definitely have less angry spots this morning after using that Neutrogena stuff. Hopefully it'll be better again tomorrow!

Creme do you mean Caroline Hirons by CH? Would you talk us through your routine?

Yep Caroline Hirons..

OK..AM:

Cleanse - Botanics Cream Cleanser and hot flannel (using this up as have just bought Body Shop Vit E cleanser recommended on here)
Tone - REN Clarimatte (tempted to try Pixiglow next)
Serum - I have Vichy Aqualia and Olay Illuminate. Using Olay at the mo hoping it'll help with the scarring as it's supposed to help even skin tone
I don't moisturise in the morning as I use Botanics BB Cream or Bourjois CC Cream if extra coverage is needed

PM:

Double cleanse - Botanics Make Remover, Botanics Cream Cleanser and hot flannel
Tone - REN Clarimatte
Serum - Vichy or Olay. Olay at the mo.
Moisturise - Botanics facial oil (also recommended on here!) and Astral. Have just bought Body Shop Drops of Youth mask to try but haven't used it yet.

Last night I skipped the Serum and used my Neutrogena rapid treatment stuff and the oil as per CH's cheat sheet. She recommends Aesop Control Gel but I don't have any!

My current issue is keeping my skin hydrated. Using Hydraluron at the moment, but have just had some pure hyaluronic acid delivered from SR Skincare and it is the same stuff. For about a fifth of the cost. Highly recommend! Thanks to CH I don't have too much excess oil or spots now, and she helped me realise I was dehydrated as well as greasy. Love her cheat sheets.

After over 20 years of acne and trying everything skin care based, diet based and prescription based (topical and multiple oral antibiotics) I'm now on day 26 of roaccutane. Last week I went through a horrible purge which left me with a face covered in sore weepy scabs that kept cracking open when I moved my face. Sudocrem has never worked for my acne in the past but in desperation I spent yesterday at home with a thick layer of it smothered over my face as a mask. It softened and lifted all but the newest of scabs and the zinc did a great job of healing the sore weeping skin underneath. Instead of my normal bright red scars that turn into patches of hyperpigmentation it has left me with ever so slightly pink new skin.

Would I incorporate it into my regular skincare routine? No, and I know CH is totally against it. Cicaplast is a more CH friendly healing option that contains zinc amongst other great ingredients, I'd ordered some but it hasn't arrived. But sudocrem as an emergency measure for healing scabbed spots that won't heal, absolutely!

I'll sign up - roseacea here.

Bookmarking, watching this thread with interest.

For the record, I'm mid-fifties (can hardly believe that myself, sigh) and always get breakouts yet ahead of a period.

If I'm eating well (plenty leafy green veg, good quality protein and avoiding sugar/anything processed) , they show up as a very small, red lump, which i think, only someone looking really closely would notice.

When i eat lots of sugar, dairy and wheat (or maybe its gluten), they swell i to very large, angry lumps with multiple white tops and are i possible to hide. At this stage, i haven't noticed any skincare regime making much difference. I use a very mild cleanser and lots of water. Oh, and drink lots of water helps the skin and helps me to avoid the nasties.

I've always had combination/oily skin, and lots of breakouts.
Used a variety of things in my teens like topical antibiotics, panoxyl cream and the contraceptive pill. The panoxyl was great for a while but dried my skin out a lot, and doesn't work anymore
I have a contraceptive implant now which is great for my periods but awful for my skin, I get breakouts everywhere now.
I use Lush cleansers, Dark Angels and Angels on Bare skin (alternating so I don't overexfoliate) and I use Grease Lightning when I get a breakout. Helps a bit but my skin's still not great.
Plus the skin around my eyes is awful, thin and I have wrinkles and I'm only 22

ImCatbug Have you tried the Herbalism cleanser from Lush? When I was a teenager it was literally the only thing that helped with my hormonal breakouts, and I had tried all sorts. The texture is the same as Angels on Bare skin, but it's green and unfortunately doesn't smell as nice!

I've been taking agnus castus for years now so I'm afraid I can't remember how long it took to see an improvement but I would guess that you would hopefully see it in a month or two.

Also, for those suffering from the type of rosacea that gives you red bumps (sore or not) I have found Savlon to work very well on soothing and clearing. I can't say whether all antiseptic creams would work as I have only every used Savlon in this regard. But this may help someone else out there!

Naboo I have, yeah. I sometimes get it instead of Angels on bare skin, they both work about the same for me. They minimise the breakouts a little but not entirely. Bloody contraceptive hormones

It is interesting how there are so many different solutions on here. I guess there isn't one solution but more trial and error to see what suits you.

As I have had great success with Panoxyl and had the ultimate compliment today. I started a new job a few weeks ago so they have only ever seen me without spots and someone told me I had great skin...that is just the best thing to hear when you have spent 20 years trying to hide huge red spots

Caroline Hirons is great but I have a personal issue which clouds matters and that it congested skin but one which is sensitive to fragrance and that means I'm quite severely allergic to many of the products that CH recommends. I get the whole cutting-up-onions-with-eyes-to-match and am therefore still trying to find stuff that works without nearly blinding me and leaving me with eyes like bulldog's bollocks look.

I've tried Bravura and kept it away from my eyes to no avail. Ditto the Bio-essence Hydra Tri-Action Aqua Droplet Sleeping Beauty Mask which is lovely stuff just not good for me.

I'm trying non-scented organic scene at the mo. Will report back I think as this is an area which many beauty bloggers don't cover.

spooky That's a brilliant compliment - I dream of that happening to me!

And Phalenopsis I feel for you That must be awful. I used to suffer with a watering eye but it stopped when I switched to cream eyeshadows so to continue to suffer must be a nightmare. Hope your have some luck with the new regime!

My skin looks better again this morning - the large ones have shrunk quite a lot the scarring is looking better. Quite pleased this morning actually Here's hoping I don't wake up tomorrow with new ones!

Have been trying the sudocrem tactic - does it turn anyone else's spots white?! Looked very weird the other morning when I had a healing spot with a white edge.

Also, how do you tell if your skin is less oily or just dehydrated? Have been using the LRP Effaclar Duo (brilliant stuff) but don't always feel I need moisturiser over it so have been skipping it. But then the sudocrem goes on at night and my face is still shiny from its industrial-level moisturising in the morning! Any tips?

Ginger, yes I got white bits around the edge, when this happened I feel the spot is healing, so started to put less sudacreme on and really rubbed it in.

Are you just putting Sudo on the spots or all over your face?