current treatments for acne

My current skin care products specific for acne control. My skin tends to be pretty sensitive to things like benzoyl peroxide which I find extremely irritating. I tried the proactive route before, and although I loved the glycolic acid toner, the bp treatments made my skin red and irritated. I am on a couple of prescription medicaion, the differin gel and clindagel. However, I've found that if I get lazy with exfoliation, it can get pretty bad. I usually look for glycolic acid based cleansers and toners which help to get rid of some of the hyperpigmentation and keep some of the acne at bay.

Currently, I'm using a salicylic acid based cleanser in the morning with a buf puf for extra exfoliation. In the evenings, I use the DDF 10% glycolic acid toner to help remove residual makeup after I cleanse. I recently tried the avon microderm abrasion system which I find really helped with my skin. I'll try to do a separate review on this because I haven't seen too many reviews on this product in the past. In the two week "rest" period, I've definately noticed by skin is not looking it's very best.

Let me know if you've tried any treatments that have worked well for you.

a few words about acne

A few words about acne. I've never had a problem with acne throughout high school. I had the occasional breakouts now and then but never to the point that I would care to cover up blemishes or look for treatments for acne. Then college happened and I've never been the same again. I've been dealing with acne for the past 10 years, have tried multiple treatments, over the counter and prescription. I've been in out out of dermatologist's offices. I was on antibiotics for years at a time, which worked great for me but after a certain period of time, it always came back.

There is a certain mentality that comes about from having to deal with skin problems for such a long time. You become overly self conscious. You start to develop image distortion disorder, thinking that your skin is worse than it really is. You become super cautious about what you eat, what you do to your skin, what touches your skin, what products you use, how often you are in the sun, you get the idea...

Then there are the misconceptions out there about acne. Some people think it's a matter of how clean you are, whether you have a good "skin regimen", whether you eat a healthy diet, or whether you are slovenly. I find most people that have acne tend to be super ocd, are super clean, super careful about their skin care regimen and what they eat. However, the misconceptions are out there and, after a while, it does take a toll on one's self confidence.

I'm still dealing with it. I still have a problem with it. I keep some of it at bay with some products that I've found useful. But it's still a struggle.

So I decided to give it a try. I've never blogged before in my life and not quite sure how this will turn out but we'll give it a go.

I've been a youtube addict for a long time and find myself lingering in most of the beauty videos. I find that it's a great source for finding out new products to try and new techniques for makeup application. So this may be mostly a makeup blog but I'll add a few random things here and there. We'll see.