Drying spots out

[LaundryQueenHatesBunfights]

I have really bad skin ATM

Currently on Dianette to try to sort it out but have some quite large bad spots right now.

Is there anything anyone would recommend to use on the actual spot to dry it out? Either things around the house or something you can buy?

La Roche posay do a spot cream in the effaclar range.

Do you have poly cystic ovary syndrome in they've put you on dianette?.

Blister plasters - either a small one or a normal one cut up - overnight.

I'm not sure fluffycloud I took it in 2012 and it worked a treat but have since had a baby and been bf but the GP let me try it again. The spots can be quite big and swollen and are often painful

Thanks margarita I'll try some of those

Liz Earle cleanse, tone and polish has been my skin saviour.

Way way back in the 1980s I read an interview in My Guy, Jackie, Look-in or similar trashy teen mag with Billy Idol. He suggested toothpaste for spots. It works!

I only ask because that's why they put me on it until it gave me focal migraines & I had to stop taking it.

I've found low carbing, Clinique take the day off balm, la Roche posay effaclar duo and spot cream to be really effective.

Except at Christmas when I forget how sugar affects me, eat loads of halva & break out in huge red spots that really hurt.

You might have a point about the sugar, I eat too much as it's an easy go to food when running around with toddler all day or when having a cuppa when he naps

It gave me migraines too last time but thankfully didn't need to be on it long. Haven't had any yet.

Bouncing I have some LE in the cupboard, I find it makes the rest of my skin look better but the spots are the same!

Toothpaste. Overnight.

Thanks everyone. Might try some toothpaste tonight. I feel it can't make them any worse!

My GP took it off me because she said the migraines were a stroke risk but this was about 12 years ago.

Sugar causes insulin surges which is an anabolic hormone, something like that anyway is why carbs affect skin so much & the anti androgen in dianette counteracts that.

Of course, I could be talking rubbish!.

Sudocrem! Honestly it is the best thing for spots ever! Put a towel on your pillow and slap it on like you would a face mask over night then wash what's left off in the morning.

I recommend a benzoyl peroxide cream applied all over your face every night. That will prevent spots forming and is the only thing that works for me. It will treat existing spots as well.

You need to buy it over the counter. Acnecide from Boots OTC or Superdrug is good. Start on a low concentration; ask for 5 or 10 %.

Alternatively, you can get a face cream on presecription. Differin Adapalene cream is very effective.

Fluffyclouds you sound like you know what you're talking about to me!

Thanks, tonight will try half face toothpaste, half face sudocreme

Will look into that too, Ilostit, thank you

Magnesium sulphate paste works wonders on my horrible boil like spots. Someone suggested it on here a few weeks ago for me. If you stick it on the minute it starts growing, they never get going properly

Another vote for blister hydrocolloid plasters. They drain anything "open" overnight - amazing if you've caught the head or accidentally popped. The pound shops often have them in packs called Acne Dotz.

Toothpaste, sudocream or blemish balm which primark do for 3 quid. If my skin has a flare up i use repose temple spa cream as my night cream and it calms eveything down. I have oily skin so get a lot of spots around hairline and chin areas. I use temple spa matte moisuriser during the day which doesnt clog my pores

Magnesium sulphate is good with a plaster over it, overnight.

Also, take Ibruprofen if you tolerate it, it can reduce swelling and maybe an anti histamine.

Two things that affect my skin - dairy and citrus. I'm OK with milk in tea now and then but if I suddenly start having cereal every day I get huge spots. I stopped eating citrus years ago as I heard it affected the skin. If I give in and have a few satsumas at Christmas it breaks out again. One now and then is OK, but I love them so would eat four a day, and that's too much.

I suffer from hormonal breakouts mainly around my mouth and chin. I too was on Dianette and did see an improvement, but got the implant and it flared up again. I've tried all sorts of products but the best results I've had is from using the boots essentials range (green bottles) cleansing lotion, toner, moisturiser x2 daily and occasionally the face mask. Cheap as chips so it's worth a try.

I am using a hydrocolloid plaster on a nasty spot at the moment. I am using one meant for cold sores but it is the perfect size for a spot!
It also stops you from constantly touching it!

Burt's bees herbal remedy roll-on stick is magical - it literally stops spots in their tracks if you use it when they are coming up or dries out large ones overnight - I always have at least two of them in.

Toothpaste please for the love of god no

I did that as a teenager - never again

It's an incredibly harsh abrasive and may well nuke the spot and the skin underneath and surrounding the spot leaving a mark of discolouration that lasts much longer than the spot ever did

I use aesop control gel

I couldn't explain why it's so much better than any other topical treatments I've tried (origins on the spot salicylic acid 2% gel, blob of benzoyl peroxide, sudocrem, neosporin etc), so consulted Dr Google to find out what's in it. Apparently "it contains vit c, niacinamide and salicylic acid but its in an aloe base so it calms, gets rid of the redness and hydrates – as opposed to harsher products designed to ‘dry-out’ spots. They don’t need drying out, they need nourishment."

Zaps spots but doesn't dry them out and leave the dreaded marks. I found it a proper game changer

Off to look for the Aesop gel

My skin is heaps better (was on dianette but migraines = taken off) but I've been hot cloth cleansing but the noticeable difference has come from the nip+fab dragons blood pads. They seem to smooth the skin out and reduce redness (& minimise my lines!) and the LRP effaclar duo twice a day.

I stopped using them for a few weeks and had awful breakout. Back on them....skin is better.

Maybtey low carving. I too am a sugar addict.

I use nail varnish remover (but am aware that will contentious with the beauty guru..)

(but aware that will be contentious with the beauty gurus)

The Aesop gel looks like it's £161 on Amazon.

Looking at the ingredients I doubt the vit c does anything as it's not stable so cannot be held in a gel. Probably the aloe is useful to reduce redness and swelling. So, just get some aloe from Holland and Barrett.