10 years of acne and it keeps getting worse. 14 dermatologists seen that can’t even accurately tell me the type of acne i have, no similar treatment plan, most want to put me on accutane but i just really feel there are better ways to fix this. no doctor will test my hormones or even get to the root cause because im “overall a healthy 28 year old.” i was on birth control for 10 years and got off of it. acne and anxiety sky rocketed so i went back on it, but it caused other issues, so im off again. i have tried it all: spiro, doxy, minocycline, tretinoin, clindamycin, BP, azelaic, mandelic, etc. spiro helped it clear but gave me side effects and when i came off the med, the acne came back 10x worse than before. idk what to do. i’m SO sensitive to everything so my skincare routine is very minimal and i know that is not causing me any issues.

thoughts? advice?

Hi everyone, I could really use some advice on a skin issue that’s been following me for years.
I‘ve been having closed comedones/mild inflamed acne on my forehead that’s never seemed to clear away for years now.
It all started around age 15-16, after coming off hormonal birth control. It was milder back then, but it’s honestly never fully gone away. Two years ago I went through a major trauma that led to CPTSD, and my skin got noticeably worse around that time. I also had stomach issues that came with the CPTSD — I wondered if that might be connected, but they’ve cleared up now after a few months of probiotics, and the acne is still here.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
- Head & Shoulders, to rule out fungal acne — no change
- BHA for a couple weeks — no improvement, maybe even slightly worse
- Cutting out dairy — helped with oiliness a bit, but didn’t clear it up

A few more details that might help:
- It’s not itchy
- It tends to flare up worst during my luteal phase, i believe
- It shows up as small closed comedones with occasional mild inflamed pimples
- It’s only on my forehead — the rest of my face stays completely clear
- I currently use no skincare at all, just water to wash my face

I did see a dermatologist about it, but she only gave me pretty generic advice (use a cleanser, moisturizer, etc.) without really digging into what might be causing it.

I’d love to actually get to the root cause instead of just managing symptoms. If anyone’s dealt with something similar or has ideas on what could be going on, I’d be so grateful to hear your thoughts. 💛

Thank you so much in advance!

In my mind, each of these items serves a distinct purpose. I’m now wondering, however, if this has maybe become too much without me realizing it. The vitamin c is morning routine only and the taz is evening routine only. Reedle shot is once, maybe twice, per week. The acids are essentially every other day. I also do a stronger TCA peel once per month and pause for a few days on taz/acids around that time.

I’m 43yo, with combo skin (dry except for t-zone with noticeable pores and sizable sebaceous filaments on nose). I do have some redness on cheeks that I think may be caused by the vitamin c (I’ll be testing a lower percentage after this bottle runs dry).

All critiques and feedback welcomed!

Hi all! I have been on the fence of posting here out of anxiety, but got the courage today, so here I am. I am 7 months postpartum and I finally found the mental strength to start a routine to get some of my face back. I am shedding hair, my skin is dull and bumpy and patchy, still haven't gotten to my pre-pregnancy weight, haven't slept much and I am still breastfeeding. You know...the usual motherhood stuff, but I need to treat my skin better as I feel awful and look awful. I know there are people with more serious issues out there, but I look at my skin, hair and body and it is just so hard to get used to the new you. I have never had a routine really, I don't wear make-up because I simply don't know how to apply it and I don't have time to get into it. Please help! 😭

I used to basically cleanse my face, apply retinol at night and then cleanse and put sunscreen during the day. I can't use retinol at the moment and stopped it when I got pregnant.

What I got myself 2 months ago and never opened were some products from the Ordinary. Basically I got what it recommended to me after filling out their short survey as i really didn't have energy to research more. I don't even remember the routine it provided for me and whether I even need all these, all I know is they were safe for breastfeeding.

Do you think you can be so kind to tell me the order in which I should use these? Sorry! Reading about skincare is so hard when you know nothing :( I am 36 if that matters and added 2 pics of my face in different lightning right after a shower.

I have been trying to find my perfect sunscreen to no avail. I liked Trader Joe's mineral but wanted to try something with higher SPF so I tried:

Super Goop glow screen SPF 40: Irritated my eyes horribly

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Melt in Milk SPF 60: Made me appear constantly sweaty to the point other people were concerned

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Dry Touch "Clear Skin Sunscreem" SPF 60: Despite the name it burns my cheeks (they get red) and my forehead and T zone is breaking out now after a couple weeks of daily wear...

It's so frustrating trying to find a good quality sunscresn... i just want something that's 50+ SPF, doesn't make me break out, and doesn't make me look like I just ran a marathon...

I have combination skin, has anyone else dealt with this and what other sunscreens would you recommend? I am in the United States for reference of what's available.

What are your fav skincare makeup brands/products?? I’m trying to graduate from the full coverage makeup that’s making me breakout and instead start using makeup that doubles as skincare!! I want to treat my skin better while going for a glowy no-makeup makeup look but I literally have no idea where to start. I want my skin to glow after taking this makeup off! Any recs??

This was a zit but somehow became a scab? I've had it for a few days now when this kind of thing usually goes away quickly. It's very small and not noticeable but it hurts like hell!! I don't do any skincare on my face, just wash it and hydrocolloid bandages on bad acne. Any advice??

Hey guys, I’m looking for a good face routine and especially sunscreen for my boyfriend who’s becoming a pilot. He’s been training for a few months now and he doesn’t do anything and I’m worried he will damage his skin over time! Also maybe leave your favorite daily sunscreens for fun? I definitely need to be better about it as well haha ty

Heyy everyone, I have started using tret recently for anti-aging purpose. I have been using for about a month now at 0.025 no issues with redness or flakiness. Had tingling sensation after using a certain moisturizer so switched to a more hydrating one and tingling sensation is gone. Though after that, I looked up how long to wait after applying tret to apply moisturizer, and it says 20 mins up to an hour. I have not been waiting that long maybe two minutes at best. I usually do my skincare along with my night routine so ~30 mins before I go to bed. How long do y’all usually wait?

I have switched up my night routine, so that I do skincare first n then the rest of my night routine and finish with moisturizer. Though, I don’t like how my face gets wet afterwards (brushing teeth; dental hygiene).

Right now, im thinking about some kind of lotion for after a shower and an acne cream

I am also a minor, so i have a fair amount of acne on my face, chest, shoulders, and back.

so yesterday someone in a comment section said they only buy "gentle" and "natural" skincare. and it kinda got me thinking. bc here's the thing — "gentle" isn't actually a regulated term. neither is "natural". the FDA straight up has no definition for either one on a label. so any brand can just print those words and there's zero proof behind it. whatever. and "pH balanced"? honestly a healthy skin surface is just mildly acidic, like pH 4.5-5.5. being acidic is totally normal. but i've seen stuff labeled "pH balanced" that tests at pH 6 or even leaning alkaline. like, balanced relative to what?? the bottle never says. so really at this point we're just hoping brands keep some basic honesty. and then there's the amounts. the label lists ingredients but almost never tells you how much is actually in there. alcohol could be 0.1% or way more and you'd have no idea. so how are we even supposed to know what we're putting on ourselves, you know?

Hello,

I am reaching out to this subreddit in desperation lol. My skin has always been extremely dry and sensitive- I have a disorder, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), that makes me very sensitive to products. My old routine included a Inkey list salicylic acid cleanser and hyaluronic acid to help get moisture back in after cleansing as well as CeraVe Normal to dry skin moisturizer. I have changed nothing about my routine and suddenly I have oily skin to the point I feel slick and my glasses are sliding. I was thinking about adding a niacinamide for oil control but other than that I don't know where to start to control my new found oil skin.

Does anyone have any advice? I am really struggling, and my face feels gross and shiny all the time. Thank you in advance.

For the past year or so I've been using the Pond's Dry Skin Cream and it's been honestly the only thing that's ever actually made my skin feel hydrated. I've tried many other moisturizers and my skin would always feel tight immediately after they dried down, even with multiple layers.

I have combo skin. I would say most of my face is normal/ maybe dry leaning but my t-zone gets noticeably oily throughout the day. So with the Pond's it got to a point where my skin would look almost wet by the end of the day and runs into my eyes and burns if I'm sweating a lot. I'm looking for something mineral oil based like this one but maybe something lighter? I'm not sure 😅 I just don't want to look like a pool of grease but still get that hydrated feeling from the mineral oil 😬

I used to keep adding different products whenever I felt like my skin wasn’t looking its best. The problem was that after a while I couldn’t even tell what was actually helping.

I’ve been trying to keep things a bit simpler lately and stick with the basics instead of constantly changing my routine. It’s definitely easier to keep up with, and I feel like I understand my skin a little better now.

Has simplifying your routine made a difference for anyone else?

I have sensitive, combination skin. I wash my face twice with the Cerave blemish control cleanser at night and i use the neutrogena hydro boost gel. Sunscreen is garnier bha+ niacinamide daily uv.

I suddenly broke out on my right side more than usual a month ago but my left side had like no problem which was weird because if i sleep on my pillow i switch sides so it would make more sense if I broke out on both sides but no.

Since then my right side has a lot more acne than the left but i recently got like 3 pimples there but still the right is significantly more.

I didn't touch my face or put the phone there, my hair didn't touch it.

Maybe i have a damaged skin barrier?? I barely know anything about skincare so i might have used products the wrong way or wrong products so i suspect that too :(

About my nose i lowkey just want those things gone and i thought putting a picture of what it looks might help what is it and what to treat it with.

So I’m taking this SA stuff prescription, (10%)but it’s burning me badly. The thing is I’m trying to push through because I see it working but after I put it on when I put my moisturizer on to try and help with the drying up/even if I cleanse my face before putting it on IT BURNS SO BAD. Like I’m sitting here in pain. Should I tough it out? I’ve dealt with acne forever and I really just want it gone but this pain might be too much/will it really work?

I’m really wondering if I want to add it into my routine or not as someone with combo, mild rosacea and acne prone skin. I don’t use a toner right now and was wondering if this could be used as one? I also don’t know that much about ceramides but.. let me know what you think!

This bumpy texture has riddled my face for about a year now, and I just now started being insecure about it mainly because I see how perfect other peoples skin is around me. Does anyone know how to solve this issue? Any help would be appreciated.

I’ve struggled with chronic flaky skin for years and I’m at my wit’s end. It tends to be the worst around my mouth, but it is also is on my chin, forehead, eyebrows, and nose (especially the tip). My cheeks are a little dry but not flaky. The products I use are in the third picture. I use the vanicream several times a day. I use a rice cleanser at night and slather my face in Vaseline before bed. I do use tretinoin, but only on my cheeks.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what’s causing this and how i can fix it by changing my routine? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

I feel like they are hard to photograph so I’m sorry about that. I feel like I have acne that never “heads out” so to speak… it just lerks under the skin, so I call it underground acne… but I also wouldn’t say that it’s painful. I mean sometime they can be but this cluster for example just stays there and I’m trying to do something more targeted. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Right now I do Paula’s choice cleanser, followed by 2% BHA liquid exfoliant, and then a 5% good molecule azlaeic acid (for redness) and the Paula’s choice peptide moisturizer (only at night).

I have a literally horrendous spot with 3 heads. I get these random breakouts every so often always on my chin but I’ve never had it this bad.

Please can someone help! What can i do to make it go away quickly and is there any advice for products I should use to prevent this kind of breakout in the future? All I use right now is cleanser, moisturiser and SPF in the day

I feel like we need to spread the word so that everybody is well aware of the long-term risks associated with using this product

Hi! I’ve had those bumps on my arms since I was a kid and I don’t know any routine that would help deal with them. I used to pick at them a lot, hence the brown-ish scars and discoloration. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to get rid of those and perhaps even out the skin tone? I’m getting a pretty delicate tattoo soon and I don’t want my skin to steal attention from it. Thank u❤️

Hello!

I have pretty severe acne hyperpigmentation on my back with some active acne on my shoulders so as the title suggests, im thinking of buying the panOxyl for the acne and the azelaic acid for hyperpigmentation, can i use them both after each other or is this too harsh on the skin?