Help get my spotty face under control!

[Onedayinthesun]

I go away on holiday in 4 weeks and have broken out in the most horrendous boil type spots on my jaw line and chin.

Any recommended products to help clean my face and combat these hideous spots?

I'm 40, been under a fair amount of pressure home and work these past few weeks and my skin is paying for it...

I always swear by pears soap myself

La Roche Possay Effaclar duo system worked brilliantly for me. My skin is clear for the first time in about 10 years. I have the pack with the foaming face wash, toner and cream in (bought in Boots).
It did a pretty good job in 4 weeks for me, not completely clear but massively better.
I'm now 5 months in and it's almost perfect.

Thanks west....off to stalk Boots

Dani it's going to take more than pears to shift these buggers...

I've found that using the body shops tea tree foam cleanser with a little face scrub pad which was about £1 from superdrug has improved my skin enormously!

I would start with double cleansing, no using products with oil in them and use some glycolic/ salylicic acid toner. I spelt that all wrong but if you go onto the Amazing faces threads you will see loads of recommendations for products.

Effacer duo didn't really cut it for me.

I also use retin a but that is not a quick or easy process for most so not something to take lightly.

Do not put anything foaming on your face either. You want something like Super drug hot cloth cleanser. Foaming in not good for acne prone skin, or many people really, although of course some people tolerate it ok.

If you have the time I really suggest reading through the Amazing Faces threads. Amazing advice there and my cystic acne skin now looks the best it has ever looked.

U2 never heard of double cleansing? Will check out this thread you suggest. I'm using a body shop foaming cleanser! Why is foaming no good?

You need gel or cream with 5% benzoyl peroxide, then moisturize like crazy to stop your skin drying out. I haven't had a single spot since I started applying it every evening (but moisturize and cleanse twice a day as normal).

Double cleansing is where you wash your face twice with a cloth.

Once to remove make up and dirt and the second time you actually cleanse your skin. You cleanse once in the morning and twice at night.

This here is what a lot of us use.

www.superdrug.com/Superdrug/Superdrug-Hot-Cloth-Cleanser-With-Muslin-Cloth-150ml/p/516251?singleResultSearchPage=true#.VZ6-6HiRRS8

These are cheap but are really good.

www.superdrug.com/Clearasil/Clearasil-Ultra-Rapid-Action-Pads-x-65/p/143855#.VZ6_IniRRS8

They have salicylic acid in them which is great for spots.

These are good too... They have glycolic acid in which is also great for spots

www.superdrug.com/Skin-and-Hair/NipFab-Glycolic-Fix-Exfoliating-Facial-Pads-x60/p/685756#.VZ6_e3iRRS8

When not on retin I use the salicylic in the morning and glycolic at night. There are better acids out there but these are fine to start on, imo, unless you have a bigger budget.

Caroline Hirons who we talk about a lot on the Amazing Faces thread has this to say about foaming cleansers

As a rule - stay clear of 'foaming' on the bottle (there is the odd exception, but they are few and far between) - to get foam you need to use a surfactant - and a surfactant turns your skin alkaline. Alkaline skin is like a petri dish for bacteria. The irony being that so many cleansers pushed on to acne/combination skins are foaming. Naughty companies should know better.

www.carolinehirons.com/2011/07/cleansing-cheat-sheet.html

Have a read through her blog. She transformed my skin, with a lot of help from people here.

Also, if you do buy new products introduce one at a time so if you have a reaction you know what it is to.

I have tough skin so can tolerate quite a lot but my mum got a bit sore when she added the two acid toning pads straight away, so go easy if you are sensitive so your skin can adjust.

Thanks U2 for taking the trouble to post links, I'm feeling really down and need to sort this out. Never heard of all this stuff before, just looked for amazing faces but there was so much I didn't know where to start.
I will read this blog

Read her cheat sheets, it will make it all much easier to follow :)

I've been using Effaclar Duo since January and my skin is the best it has ever been. I am keen to try the hot cloth cleanser as well though.

I read on here about using boots marshmallow medicated foot cream apparently it works

I'd also recommend La Roche-Posay Targeted Breakout Corrector - Boots have some special offers on this brand at the moment.

Jan marini, check the reviews. Expensive but it will solve your problem

I have also recently started breaking out in painful boils on my chin after I came off the pill, chin spots are supposed to be hormonal, do you think something has triggered this for you?

My top tip - sudocrem! Smother it all over your spots, leave on for as long as possible (some people leave it on overnight and sleep on a towel but I can't relax with it on) and your spots will dry up. I promise this works, it's been a game changer for me.

Oneday I was all over the amazing faces thread when it started. It's been a revelation. Kundry and Bigbuttons changed my face!
I too have hormonal acne (and was on antibiotics for months).everytime I stopped the spots came back.
I followed Caroline h but prefer sam buntings acne advice!
I use cetaphil cleanser and cetaphil moisturiser. Super drug salicylic pads (better for spots than glycolic). I have also started using retin a.
Things are a million times better than they were but You have to stick with it. Cleansing morning and evening with lukewarm water and flannel (check out CH cleansing advice).
I have also swapped to a non comodegenic sunscreen factor 50 and tinted moisturiser!! I'm a total convert to skin care!

Didn't someone mention some sort of specific plaster for these types is spots which you wear overnight and it draws the yucky stuff out?

If they are those cyst type spots with no head, there was a thread on here about putting blister plasters on which draw out the puss over night. I think you can get cheap versions in morrisons.
I second Caroline's advice too, my skin is so amazing ive stopped wearing make up!!!
I'm 48

Good cross post there.

Oh my god this is a whole new world for me. I'm so exited to read all about amazing faces. Clearly I've not been looking after my skin right at all. The ugly boils are still here - going for a sauna today to help them along

Are they boils which dont have a head??
If so don't over stimulate your skin.
Essentially they a re caused by sensitivity to testosterone (we all have it)
This causes your sebaceous glands in the skin to produce lots of oil in response .The oil gets trapped if you have fine pores and acne bacteria love it.
Bingo big painful spots!
This is totally different(the opposite in fact)to pores clogged at the surface and you will makeit worse with using overzealous scribes,massaging etc.
Gentle double cleansing using a mild cleanser and warm clean flannel.
Acid tone gently.moisturize as needed.
Apply 5% bp cream as above (I use at night as it bleaches)
Th e y used to do a 2.5% cream which was brilliant but it's gone.
It will take ages to clear up but it will.

Yes pink ugly big red lumps, no head. Thank you for all the info I can't tell you what a revelation all this is for me.