I've been away, busy with school and assorted things. But I'm back with a new topic of special interest: Acne.
I have struggled with acne since I was about 14. I am now 22 am still fighting acne. I have certainly had periods of clear skin and periods of really bad skin. For example, my freshman year of college my skin got worse than it ever had been before. I think a mix of greasy college food in addition to stress to do well in classes combined to have a net effect of really pronounced/red pimples that went deep. As soon as some pimples were eradicated, there were like another ten starting to blister up beneath the surface.
My breakouts persisted despite my twice daily face-washing regimen and usage of salicylic acid toners, benzoyl peroxide creams and other prescription face creams. At one point I was taking doxycycline antibiotics which is a slow-release antibiotic used to kill bacteria in your skin that cause things like lyme disease and is also used against a superbug that's known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, multi-drug resistant S. aureus or as many know it, MRSA. MRSA was a huge deal in hospitals and was usually the bacteria getting into open-wounds and causing all sorts of problems and potentially death when patients got home. It eventually makes its way into your blood stream and causes nasty things, and the drugs they give you to treat it usually make you feel weak. But there I go, getting off topic talking about MRSA when I'm really talking about acne.
Doxycycline seemed to work for a while. I was on 100 mg's taken once a day in capsule form at dinner time. I was using a face wash followed by 2.5% benzoyl peroxide gel in the mornings and at night I was using Differin which was a gel containing 0.1% adapalene which is a retinoid-like compound which is used to stop pimples from forming underneath the surface (info at pubmed). This new regimen worked for a while. Within the first week, my face got really red and overly dry and it looked like I recently had a chemical peel. Afterward, my face was perfectly clear and remained clear for a long time. The dermatologist I was saying suggested I stop taking it. I did and my face stayed clear for a while. I had minor breakouts here and there but on the whole things were going fine.
My breakouts got worse again and about the time I started school this semester I decided the medications weren't working as effectively as I wanted them to. I decided I'd start using Noxema products, so I bought a daily salicylic acid based face scrub and an antibacterial face-wash that had 0.3% triclosan which is supposed to help kill topical bacteria on the skin. They weren't doing the job completely, so I also bought a 10% benzoyl peroxide product from Clean&Clear and also bought 2% salicylic acid 2-in-1 Fight and Fade Gel by Neutrogena (a product that's supposed to help dry out pimples and reduce the appearance of acne scars). Needless to say, this combination of products wasn't really helping my skin all that much.
This Saturday my friend Meg and I went to the Providence Place Mall and were just checking things out, not really out to buy anything. We were randomly stopped by a merchant at one of the booths you pass while walking between stores. Specifically, this was the Deep Sea Cosmetics booth. And for those who don't know, Deep Sea Cosmetics is a company selling products made in Israel that uses water and minerals from the Dead Sea. The merchant was offering free samples and I figured why not, I like free things. So he hands me a small packet hand and body lotion and sees my friend paints her nails. He started asking why and suggested it's because she takes care of her nails when she probably didn't always do this. He was dead on and proceeds to show her a new product for nails that worked extremely well and sold her on it. He then looks at my face and realizes I have an acne problem. I allowed him to talk me into buying two products.
The product first is called the Dead Sea Regenerating Facial Cleanser. It's an exfoliating cleanser that has minerals from the Dead Sea in addition to apricot extracts that helps remove dead skin cells and is supposed to help speed up the skin regeneration process. You're supposed to use it twice daily. I started using this product Saturday night (10/09/10) and have used it morning and night since.
The second product is called Dead Sea Complicated Skin Resolution Mask. This product is a facial mask you leave on for ten minutes that's supposed to help remove dead skin cells and pull all the oils and bacteria to the surface of your skin. He made it as though this product is supposed to eliminate my acne for the rest of my life after using the product for about a month or so.
The merchant said this product was guaranteed and that if it doesn't work the way it's supposed to I get a refund, but that I was supposed to be professional about it and document the process with pictures. I am taking his suggestion.
Today I'm posting pictures that I took this afternoon of my face. You will see acne primarily on my forehead and temples. This is after one application of the Resolution Mask (10/09/10) and 4 uses of the Regenerating Facial Cleanser.
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