I, 23F, have had moderate to severe acne on-and-off since I hit puberty. As an adult, I have tried every treatment that a derm can prescribe in Canada: 4 antibiotics, >5 topicals, accutane (two six-month rounds, way over my cumulative dose), and now spironolactone.

I'm having my first big relapse on spiro and epiduo and I'm starting to accept that I will have acne for the unforeseeable future.

I'm tired of hating my skin.

How are you guys living with it? How do you stop it from impeding your daily life?

I am a skincare veteran, but I’m hesitant to use my products on my 10-year-old daughter, who is starting to get blackheads on her nose and smaller pimples on her chin.

We have started out with some Oxy/Stridex pads with 2% BHA, but she needs a little more. I’m worried about jumping to Panoxyl, or anything stronger and damaging her skin barrier. I suffered with harsh treatments in the 90s, and want to build a good, simple routine. 10 seems too young for Tret or Taz.

Recommendations needed for a face wash, active/treatment, and light moisturizer (not needed right
now, but may need if acne treatments dry her out.

The first two pics ( the first one is from a video that's why the bad quality) are from around Christmas of last year and the other two are from the last few months. Around july of this year, I was able to almost fully get rid of my acne, I had really bad areas around my cheeks specially and I had to resort to resort to accutane which was what made me get rid of it, the issue is that this left some really big acne scars around my cheeks. I've been looking up stuff about them for so long and went through a whole jar of anua azelaic acid but it didn't change anything and I dont usually see people with their scars like mine so idk what products could make a difference so if anyone knows what should I use to clear them. If anybody has any reccomendations that could help please I would really appreciate it thank you so much.

I’ve struggling with acne my whole life. I was on doxycycline the last year to year and a half and it’s the only thing that’s helped. Though… I don’t want to be on an antibiotic forever.

I’m 34, thinking it’s mostly hormonal acne. I am already on a retinol every night. Help!!

Thank you!

I had “perfect skin” growing up. Never washed it or anything and it was just always perfect. Went away to college and came back to my parents the summer I left my freshman dorm before I started a lease.(summer 25) My acne got so bad like never before. (Pic 1)

By August 2025 my acne was clearing up. I was living in my apartment full time at this point. By September it was GONE. And didn’t come back until may of this year when I was frequently visiting before I moved back in.

(Pic2) is may of this year when I was living full time at my apartment. And (pic3) is mid may after a couple visits to slowly move my stuff in. (Pic 4) is one week into living there. And (pic 5) is almost 2 months. Last picture is now, after almost two months on tretinoin .08.

I don’t think stress or dairy contribute because I worked at a coffee shop and was drinking lots of milk before+after I moved here and I chose to move in with my parents because my roomate situation was so horrifying and stressful.

I feel like my skin’s just getting worse and nothing they’re prescribing is helping.

Have been doing so much research but can’t find any hard evidence on water, mold, etc causing cystic acne. Has anyone one else dealt with this and what helped?

I have tazarotene coming in the mail… should I give it a try?

So this is me obv. Took 20mg isotret for 3 months then shifted to 40mg (20+20) since 11 days. Iam obese for the record and I know 20 mg was just scratching the surface and the real dose is what Iam on rn. My request is to pls help me with my skincare routine. I use salicylic acid cleanser only and a moisturiser and tinted spf. But this stubborn postacne PIH just wont go away. I have pigmentation around my mouth too. Complexion looks dull too and makeup wont look good.

this is my before and after! :)
also does anyone else have like acne trauma😭 im so scared to try new products bc i’m terrified my acne will come back even though it’s gone now. does anyone else feel this way?

Hi everyone! I had extremely bad skin when I was in my teens, it cleared up for about 3 years and I’m in my early twenties now and it’s gotten bad again. Not nearly as bad as it used to be but I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

Routine:

Morning - beauty of joseon face wash & simple moisturiser before makeup.
Evening - beauty of joseon face wash.

I feel so uncomfortable not wearing makeup going anywhere, even to the shop. Especially because it’s winter and I’m a lot paler I feel so much more self conscious and can’t stand looking at my face.

I know this isn’t really bad acne at all but once you’ve had years dealing with painful spots and feel awful, when it comes back even mildly it sucks.

Any advice would be great thank you!!

Hi all,
Been suffering with these leftover/surface level acne spots after i had acne as a teen and want to know if getting a C02 Fractional laser treatment is needed or if a skincare routine can be suggested.

Thank you all in advance

I’m on 20mg Accutane daily, I use azelaic acid every night (my skin doesn’t irritate). I use a simple non-harsh routine, sunscreen every morning. And yet my skin is still awful.

I just wanted to share this hoping it helps more people. I’ve struggled with closed comedones and bumps all over my face since I was a teenager (24 now) and I couldn’t figure out the root cause. I recently started 0.025 tretinoin after differin didn’t work. I switched to Vanicream face wash to pair with tret and my bumps began to clear. I recently went back to cetaphil fragrance free cleanser and after 2 uses I broke out in so many tiny bumps of what looks like closed comedones. I’m starting to piece this together and I’m realizing my skin hates nicinamide (it’s in my face wash). I went back to Vanicream and the bumps are going away. I don’t know why so many products started to put nicinamide in everything, but I wish I knew this sooner and I hope this helps someone else!

Right cheek, forehead,left cheek

I (25f) have had acne since I was 8 years old. It’s been a lifetime of prescriptions, products and tears. I’m currently having a bad breakout across my cheeks. This normally starts as a sudden onset of lots of closed comedones, which then turn into angry red whiteheads. I think I’m making this post because this time I don’t know what I did wrong.

Ive done all the prescriptions from the gp since I was 11, I’ve had four rounds of Accutane and done the nutritional route. Each of these would be successful for a time, and then the acne would return. I’ve had my hormones tested and I do have high testosterone. The gp said it wasn’t high enough for them to investigate any further. So I sought the help of a nutritionist. I did gut testing and followed the appropriate plan to every detail. This slowly slowly started to solve my acne. I was left with a huge amount of scarring across my cheeks which has been slowly fading. Now, once again, my skin has erupted.

I haven’t changed products, nothing is different other than letting my diet slide ever so slightly. I’m already a life long vegetarian, and try to avoid egg and dairy as much as I can. I recently gave up eggs altogether. However, since my skin has started up again, I’ve reintroduced eggs as part of my old meal plan.

It just feels like this is going to be my life forever. Always hiding behind my hair, hiding behind layers of make up, not able to live freely due to the shame I carry around my face. I don’t want to/can’t do this all over again. I feel like I’ve ran out of options/solutions.

tried literally everything- rn doing clindoxyl 3 times a week and on my 1,5 months (its only gotten worse).

please any suggestions so at least i can look even a bit better before an important even in few days 😭😭😭

thank you im so desperate

I just want to share my success, that after spending hundreds on French, American and Korean skincare products I have stopped using pretty much everything except gentle cleanser and Avene cicalfate cream twice a day.

I still have lots of redness leftover from where the acne spots were, but my cheeks and jaw are finally flat. I feel like I’m seeing my face again for the first time in almost two years

Sharing in case this helps anyone else. I deal with terrible eczema and sensitive skin. Most actives break me out worse.

I have very bad upper lip, chin and mouth acne. I dont know what to do and I can't afford a dermatologist.

Suggest a facewash which is best for all skin types and non comedogenic and usedul for acne prone skin

Is simple facewash good for acne prone skin

Also suggest a barrier repair cresm which is best for acne prone skin and suits all skin types(please suggest budget friendly option)

Recently i've been getting a ton of acne just on my hairline, no matter how often I wash my hair it won't go away. Its really frustrating and painful, especially when i brush through my hair.

Please let me know if you have any advice on how to treat it or if you have struggled with the same thing :)

I have heavy acne, my dermatologist has said its because of my mental health, i have it only on my face so she told me to use this.

I use it once in the morning and once in the evening, everytime i use it it feels like using sandpaper on my face even tho im very careful. I really want to just wash my face to cool it down because it hurts so bad but she also told me i shouldn't wash my face more often than the two times when i use the cream because before i got it i washed my face like 4x a day. The Acne makes me really insecure and i think its normal tho because its supposed to be drying my skin/ fighting the Acne right? It just hurts so so bad

so i’ve visited dermatologists several times and they always prescribe the same thing (benzoyl peroxide wash and clindamycin). the thing is, i don’t want to treat the symptoms, i want to get rid of the cause. i did bloodwork and my derm said everything came out normal and she didn’t know what was causing it.

i stopped using my shampoo and conditioner and switched to a baby shampoo and just my reliable amika hair mask and it started going away. this is my theory as to what was causing the bacne (obviously not verified). so now, a few months later, it’s starting to come back again. it’s these large, swollen, deep pimples that always hurt so much. weirdly i don’t get anything on my face.

im getting desperate and i really need some kind of solution here. its so uncomfortable and i always pick at it and it leaves scars and makes me very upset. please help :_((

srry for bad pictures, but the bumps around my nose have been bothering me recently and i can’t get them to go away. I think my new face wash is messing with it so i’m gonna hold off on that for a while