**avabeth, ** I feel your pain. If it weren’t for various chemical interventions, I’d have zits and gray hair at the SAME TIME! (The premature gray is hereditary; I had my first few at age 18, and I’m 34 now.)
Things that help the zits: water, lots of fresh veggies, and I swear by Kiss My Face facial soap. It’s pretty cheap, maybe $4 for a bottle which lasts several months if I only use it on my face, and it’s all natural and smells nice. It’s not medicated, but something about the formula seems to work for me. All the medicated stuff makes me itch, even if I follow it up with moisturizer.
You really should go see a doctor. I’m still going through the teenage round of this crap. When it started, I went to see a dermetologist. He put me on some meds that helped mildly and then told me that that was as good as it was going to get. My face was still, at the time, covered in pimples. One day when I had my dermetologist appoinment, I saw a different doctor that worked with him instead of him. She changed my treatment and now my face is almost totally clear. Basically, the moral of this story is that if you didn’t like the first doc, you should definately see another one.
That being said, I’ve found that Mary Kay makes some good acne fighting stuff.
Avabeth, my sister ordered that product “Proactive” from the television and it cleared her skin up! I was shocked! Her skin was really, really bad…It couldn’t hurt to try it - and they have a money back guarantee! I’m sure they have a website if you look on Google…Good luck!!
I was getting cyclic zits into my twenties, too. At around age 27, I went to see a dermatologist who confirmed that zits (as opposed to deep, cystic acne) are caused by one thing: Dirt, oil, dead skin cells. As an alternative to expensive drug treatment, he suggested the following: 70% Isopropyl alcohol and a mild exfoliant.
So I bought me a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a jar of NeoStrata, an 8% alpha-hydroxy cream which is also a moisturizer.
I am telling you that this stuff works. The alcohol is harsh, but it kills bacteria and strips away oil. The NeoStrata puts the moisture back on and starts eating away those dead skin cells.
Within a month I had glowing, to-die-for skin and ten years later, I still do.
I kid you not, people have stared at me and commented on my skin. When I started using it I didn’t have or care about wrinkles, but it does seem to have helped keep the fine lines down also.
I use the alcohol at night before bed only: Wash face with mild soap, followed by alcohol-cotton pad, quick swipe over the T-zone, and jawline followed by the NeoStrata cream. My regular mild soap in the shower in the morning, followed by the cream. After a few days you will notice skin shedding, carefully use a facecloth to aid the process if you want. Be gentle.
That’s it. The cream is about 30 bucks for a small jar, lasts me about six weeks. Rubbing alcohol is about 70 cents for 500 mil, lasts me at least 6 months.
Shana posted:
Avabeth, my sister ordered that product “Proactive” from the television and it cleared her skin up! I was shocked! Her skin was really, really bad…It couldn’t hurt to try it - and they have a money back guarantee! I’m sure they have a website if you look on Google…Good luck!!
Look at the active ingredient in Proactiv. It’s merely benzoyl peroxide, the same stuff you can get in all the other over-the-counter acne products for much much cheaper.
I’m telling you Retin-A is the way to go! Go to your dermatologist.
Shana posted:
Avabeth, my sister ordered that product “Proactive” from the television and it cleared her skin up! I was shocked! Her skin was really, really bad…It couldn’t hurt to try it - and they have a money back guarantee! I’m sure they have a website if you look on Google…Good luck!!
Look at the active ingredient in Proactiv. It’s merely benzoyl peroxide, the same stuff you can get in all the other over-the-counter acne products for much much cheaper.
I’m telling you Retin-A is the way to go! Go to your dermatologist.