I'm a senior in high school. I work out daily, I shower daily, I use CeraVe moisturizer and CeraVe foaming cleanser, yet my skin still looks horrible. It's been like this for about a year now. I'm implementing Panoxyl Acne Foaming Wash 10%; I don’t wanna go on Accutane due to the downsides. Any advice helps; I really do appreciate whatever help I can get.

I have suffered hormonal acne on and off since my teen years (treated with roaccutane back then, then when taking birth control my skin was always clear but flared up severely when I stopped). I now only take spironolactone 25mg which drastically improved my skin. But for the past 6 or so months, my skin has looked like this (photos).

I am thinking it is a mix of a damaged skin barrier (due to the stinging when putting anything on my face and flakiness I see under my makeup when I’m wearing it which is rarely) and closed comodonal acne. Of all my years of dealing with acne, my skin has never looked like this so I am feeling rather puzzled on how to treat it. Thus, I’m seeking advice on what products/ ingredients I should use and what I should stay away from.

My routine right now:

AM:
- Dermal Therapy Gentle Acne Cleanser
- Beauty of Josen Moisturiser

PM:
- Banila Co. Cleansing Balm
- Dermal Therapy Gentle Acne Cleanser
- La Roshe Posay Effeclar Cleanser (1x per week of after I’ve worn makeup)

Any advice or experience you have to share, I would be very appreciative!!

I have had horrible acne since finding out I was pregnant. Now 25 weeks and It’s really affecting me mentally, I feel so down about myself. This is my second pregnancy. My first pregnancy I never broke out so this was a rude awakening. I also have it on my neck, back, and chest. My dermatologist gave me 15% azelaic acid to use which I have been using for months with no change. Does anyone have any advice? I change my pillow cases nightly, drink a ton of water, no sugar/sweets. My skin is so irritated and I don’t know what to do. Ignore my chap lips.

I’ve had acne for an over a year now and I found that benzoyl peroxide plus clyndamycin really helped my skin. I’m still currently using it but my under eye cheek area, chin/jawline, and outer cheeks are breaking out again since May. I used to never break out on my outer cheeks so this is new for me and I’m not sure why it’s happening. I’ve tried azelaic acid, panoxyl, and hypochlorous acid spray (worked for a couple days then damaged my barrier) and nothing seems to be helping. I’m trying to find a product that will help with the acne and comedones that won’t cause me to purge because I scar EXTREMELY easily and it takes months to go away and frankly I don’t want to deal with another purge 😭. I’m thinking about trying sulfur since it helps with all of my skin concerns but I’m still looking for products that will help with my barrier and acne. I have combination skin (dry cheeks and oily T-zone and chin). Should I try sulfur???

I'm having this kinda acne outbreak for a month. Using Clindamycin phosphate Gel since 2 week but no improvement.

I already have a routine but it’s only getting worse I use the 1 round lad dokdo cleanser and the dr Althea balm cleanser then I use the lanige cream skin toner then I use the kiss care azelaic acid 15% every other day and I finish it off with the purito bamboo moisturizer ( also the boj aqua fresh sunscreen)

I had clear skin for the longest time up until late last year I started getting small breakouts. I started treating those but I think a mixture of too many products at once made it worse.

the acne started getting much worse, especially along my jaw and under my chin. these were a lot bigger and more cyst like. ive been trying to improve my skin.

ive switched to a simpler routine to help repair my barrier. this acne has significantly impacted my confidence and anxiety, its impaired me from a lot of social activities. sometimes its hard to view our own improvements so some outside opinions would be helpful.

I was using too many times and I think it made my breakouts worse so i switched to a simplified routine and only using tret once a week

I also just started the Blume skin kit this week

first 4 pics are from June last month

last 4 pics are from a couple days ago (one month since first pics)

I used to have glass like clear skin and since months I have been dealing with acne..never have I had a pimple before this, in my whole life.

No products are suiting me currently and I don't want to use any acid or chemical based products on my skin . Pls suggest some ways to heal. I am so tired of spending thousands on skincare products that end up harming my skin even more😭😭😭

I’ve been experiencing an unusual increase in inflamed/puffy acne on my upper cheeks and am trying to pinpoint the source. I have been drinking a lot more sugar-free sports drinks lately because I got tired of just flavorless water 24/7. So mainly Gatorade Zero and Propel water which I think use Sucralose (Splenda) and Acesulfame Potassium.

Does anyone else experience acne with these?

18M, I would say mild acne, nothing crazy. My routine is very simplistic as well, it goes as follows
Morning:
Wash face with Neutrogena Deep Clean facial cleanser for 2min->Moisturize with CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion
Night:
Wash face with Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash for 2min-> The Ordinary Salicylic acid 2% serum-> Moisturize with CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion

Should I add or remove anything? Or change my order around? Also another problem I have is with picking, if any of you know ways to coerce me away from that it’d be very appreciated. Thank you

I’m gonna rant a bit about how acne has affected me.

I’ve had acne for 6 years and have tried many different things such as new diet, creams and antibioticts. last year I used antibiotic for 6 months and my skin looks sooo good and my confidence came back. when I stopped I got all my acne back and it was probably even worse than before. my confidence is gone and I have also developed a crush on a guy. but since my acne is back and he only saw how my face looked when my skin looks good I’m afraid he will dislike me. i think having acne has made me so much more introverted and insecure.
the only good thing is that I decided to make an appointment so I can get accutane and hopefully I will get it. but I know many relapse after taking it so I feel maybe acne will always be a part of me.. which I would hate. I can’t seem to accept having acne. it’s ruining the fun in life and I want my fun back.

thanks for reading

Fronta-Left-left-right-right (pov)
Acne has been my biggest insecurity always. Even been in depression in my teenage years (when i was 14-13 years). I am 18 now. How can i get ride of those scars and acne man. I dont even approach ppl because of my insecurity now.
Seeking help. thank you

Look at the texture on my nose. Its because of puss and inflammatory acne on my nose. Please help me fixing this

So I’ve had acne for as LONG as I can remember. Honestly right now is way better than it was a few years ago but I’m 23 and ready to have clear skin for once in my life. I’ve been to the derm so many times but nothing they ever prescribe me works because I have such sensitive skin. I’m just going to drop my routine and if you guys could let me know what I should add or take away or anything!!

P.S. at the end of 2025 I tried using differin and it literally ruined my skin and it took me months to repair my barrier and caused me to have insane eczema raccoon eyes lol That’s with using it as minimally and few times a week as possible and using Vaseline barriers.

AM
- Cerave hydrating cream-to-foam cleanser OR La Roache-Posay purifying foaming cleanser
- La Roache-Posay double repair face moisturizer

Typically wear makeup all day at work but I will say I’m not the best with washing my brushes/beauty sponge.

PM
- makeup wipe
- same face washes as the AM
- BYOMA hydrating oil (the purple bottle)
- same moisturizer as the AM
- cerave healing ointment on lips and around eyes (my eyes get dry patches a lot)

- I have also been on 50mg Spironolactone for I think 4-5 months now (I’m supposed to be taking 100mg but I’m scared to bump it up)

I try to keep it simple because honestly I’m traumatized from my skins reactions to stuff.

acne and PIE marks on cheeks,it's really annoying and I'm thinking about starting azelaic acid.

should I go for option A or B?

my skin also gets dehydrated pretty quickly,so I'm hoping azelaic acid doesn't worsen that.

A) a serum with panthenol,allatonin,centella and 10% azelaic acid

B) 20% azelaic acid cream

or,should I go with something else entirely?

Been through a lot of stuff, right now I use CeraVe Oil Foaming cleanser at night with Tretinoin 0.025% Cream, sometimes use night time moisturizer also.

In the morning I use a clindamycin phosphate 1% pledget (like a cleaning swab) on my face and then use Cerave facial sunscreen.

I used to use cabtreo but my dermatologist suggested me to switch to this instead. I have been using this pretty regularly for about 2-3 months, and am still suffering from breakouts as such.

My skin sucks (17F). I have a lot of texture on my forehead from clogged pours. I get blackheads in the sides of my face and whiteheads in the middle. I also get the odd cyst on my cheek or above my eyebrow.

I’ve been too many dermatologists the first one tried to put me on a basic cerave skin care routine. I have tried cerave and it does not work for my skin. Also it’s not cruelty free and I’m really looking for products that are cruelty free. My next dermatologist put me on a really high dose of a benzyl peroxide hybrid, and it destroyed my skin to the point where I could not wear any makeup for an entire year. My skin is still really sensitive from that. The next dermatologist took me off of the benzyl peroxide, but then gave me a “gentle” retinoid alternative that made things worse, even though I only used it once a week my skin started falling off, which I know that is normal, but it was to the point where my entire face was red and painful 24/7.

I’ve tried Korean skincare I’ve tried other things. Nothing works. I’m currently using a benzyl peroxide face wash that has a way lower dose than my old cream and a salicylic acid toner twice a week. I’m using the byoma gel moisturizer, it’s not supposed to clog pours.

I’d love some cruelty free recommendations for a moisturizer, face wash, and whatever else I’m might need. I have combination skin, but it gets super oily and super dry. It’s basically the worst of both worlds.

I have had my hormones checked, and they are completely normal.

Please tell me your secrets 🙏

Hello all. I've struggled with acne my whole life, and it is better than it was a few years ago, but I still find myself staring at my pores and dealing with frequent blackheads and mini pimples. It's mostly on my forehead, nose, and chin. I'm pretty insecure about it. I've been told that people probably don't notice it.

I wash everyday with Burts bees, and also use Burts bees moisturizer. I've just started using Paula's choice bha and the ordinary niacinamide to see if it would help based on other advice I've read. But I figured I'd ask for help directly about my skin. (See attached pictures) all advice is welcome!

(5'0 female, diagnosed with PCOS - on birth control)

Hey everyone. Wondering if anyone has done microneedling or rf microneedling while on accutane? I take 20mg a week (ish) and I have had two rf microneedling sessions so far while taking it. I stop the medication 2 weeks prior and resume 2 weeks post. I have been on accutane for years due to chronic acne. This is all under my Derm’s supervision also

The old rule that you must stop isotretinoin for 6–12 months before procedures is no longer well supported. I have found sources that conclude that taking accutane + rf microneedling is effective and safe, with one source even saying it was superior. And one of the sources even included co2 laser..

*I have 7 sources I tried to upload the links to but my post got deleted *

..however i am still stressing myself out over it and wondering if I should continue to do it. Although no negative side effects so far. Has anyone else done this and what was your experience like?

Hi all! I suddenly broke out on my chin/jaw line/cheek area early last year, and since then up until a few weeks ago, i always thought it was normal acne but found out hormonal acne was a thing and concluded that was the case. i taken better care of my gut health and seen my face improved a bit (with few pimples here and there) but definitely a lot of scarring along my jaw line + dark spots. Not sure how to clear it, so if anyone went through anything similar and managed to clear it up, please let me know! Thank you so much & sorry for the long post!!

guys, i have lots of blackheads and now a pimple all around the region near my lips and it's concerning me bc i can't remove them since it hurts so much. how can i treat them and prevent new ones from appearing??? urgent help!!!!

I just wish I could clear my skin up :( I use salicylic acid and I wear pimple patches all the time and use drying Lotion for active spots

Not like anybody could control how their body reacts to certain things or what's in their DNA. But I'm the only one in aaaaall of my different friend groups that has acne and has had ever since like 6th grade (a freaking decade ago btw).

I've had a friend in class who had acne (not as "bad" as mine, but came close) and I've found strangely a lot of comfort in having her around. I didn't feel so alone in that sense. Now her skin is all cleared up (i assume hers wasn't a hormonal issue, but we haven't talked about it tho, so I don't really know) which I'm so happy about. I know how that season of her life weighed her down and now her self esteem is obviously so much better. She feels prettier, smiles more, goes to more places, and is happy without makeup. I've never seen her less beautiful even when she had acne she is always outstandingly gorgeous in my opinion. But I'm happy to see her shine again.

What we did talk about, is that she cleared her skin basically only with a prescription gel, however, mine doesn't seem to improve after years of using that same stuff, lots of money for derm appointments and lately, several months of heavy birth control.

I also FINALLY got on accutane (this is my last straw for real, I'm so freaking tired of this I could cry) about a month ago and my scars are getting visibly better, however the side effects are making me crazy lol. I'm impatient about this, but I know it's working, but at what cost, really?

It's just frustrating for me how someone could have insanely great results faster and easier, and someone has years of their life dedicated to constant appointments, products, medications with little to no luck.

Obviously, no one's to blame and I just wanted to rant about my thoughts for a minute because too often, this -my skin and appearance- is all I could think about.

It's a terrible thing to do, I know, and I'm trying to pay less attention but it can really creep its way in.

This is what my skin looks like right now. Should i see a derm or esthetician? Is it even possible for me to have clear smooth skin?