One of the worst lies ever told to a youngster is that acne goes away when you’re an adult. It didn’t for me and it doesn’t for a lot of people. I finally had the good sense to go to the dermatologist and do something about it. If you know me well, you know I like to put in a good word for products and people I like, so here’s what I like when it comes to skin care.
On my face, I use Benzaclin every morning. It’s basically a bleach cream that helps cut down on excess oil. I wait about 10 minutes and then put on moisturizer for the day. I have two favorites, Olay’s Complete and Aveeno Ultra-Calming Moisturizer. At night I wash my face and lightly apply moisturizer.
On my back and chest, I use Evoclin, a true breakthrough in acne treatment medication. Evoclin is delivered in a foam so it’s easy to apply, and it won’t bleach your hair or clothes. I also use a body wash in the shower, either Neutrogena’s Acne Body Wash or Brevoxly, a sudsing peroxide-based cream.
On a related note, I have recently discovered blotting sheets. These are now perhaps my favorite beauty product. I use Clean & Clear Oli Absorbing Sheets – they come sized for your purse and work wonders! If you have oily skin and haven’t tried these, go to the drugstore now and get some! Even with the acne medication and oil-free moisturizers I use, my face is quite oily by mid-afternoon. Blot your face with one of these sheets and you can go another 4 hours looking faboo!
I inherited cystic acne from my Dadd. I had awful oil bumps on my forehead in 9th grade. Went to the derm and got Tetracyclen antibiotics to take morning and night, Cleocin topical for the morning (good moisturizer) and Novacet for the evening (sulfer, glob some of that one a big zit at night and I swear to you it’s gone in the morning). It took care of it for a while but I grew a tolerance to it. They weened me off of it in 11th grade and I stayed clear til college. Then the acne just moved down my face. Next it showed up on my cheeks in the form of oily cysts. I have small scarring whereas my poor Dadd has very pitted scarring. Then a year or so went by and it was all over my chin and lips. Time for action and I was tired of toying with it. I begged the derm for Accutane. It dries up the sebum which is what acne bacteria feeds on. Accutane targets everything and I mean everything. Side effects are VERY dry skin and lips (I’m addicted to chapstick to this day), sensitivity to the sun, some ppl say depression but not for me, and it has a pharamceutical rating of X which means it can cause birth defects so they take your blood every month to make sure you’re not pregnant and you have to sign a waiver that you’ll use 2 forms of birth control. I was on it for 7 months and I RARELY get a zit now. If I do it’s totally period induced. It’s $600 a month though so if you ever decide to try it, you better have a stellar insurance program.
Comment by — March 18, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
And thus I stick with topical applications only. I also have polycystic ovaries, which tends to cause acne, too. How charming for me.
Comment by — March 18, 2007 @ 5:27 pm