My skin sucks!

[Blondtgr]

Heh, okay...so I'm extremely pale and I get zits pretty darn often, it's not fun. I've gotten a lot better at covering them up, but I don't want to have to do that anymore. I've been using Biotherm cleanser(which really isn't great) and then some Peter Thomas Roth products. Due to the success I've had from the Peter Thomas Roth masque I use(theraputic sulfur), I want to try a cleanser by them. Unfortunately, their cleansers are extremely expensive, and I know they'll last quite a while, but being a poor college student...I'm really frugal. I want to buy either the Medicated BPO 5% or 10%, but I'm not sure which one. I don't want to irritate my skin, but I want a product that works. I don't have severe acne by any means, I just want it to go away as much as possible. Which would you recommend?

Also, would this be too harsh for a daytime and night time cleanser?

Another question, I have some really annoying blackheads I can't seem to get rid of. I'll get of a few and they'll come back. Any tips? they aren't very noticable, they just really bother me.

Thanks guys!

 

[girl_geek]

I have no idea about the products you are asking about, but I just wanted to say I have some acne info in my notepad! A lot of tips about prevention....

Does BPO stand for benzoyl peroxide? If that's the case, 10% benzoyl peroxide creams are the ONLY medicine I've tried that's dried out my skin, and I have very oily skin and have tried several prescription and non-prescription creams! However, I have been using Neutrogenia's On-the-Spot Treatment (only $5!) which is 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, and it has done a good job of clearing up *most* of my acne without drying out my skin. I apply it all over my face at night as a preventative measure. Prescription products are still the best for me, but I thought I would try saving money by using drugstore products.... Maybe after I graduate I'll go back to prescriptions!

I'm not too sure about the blackheads, though, I don't have much of a problem with them...

 

[Blondtgr]

Originally Posted by girl_geek I have no idea about the products you are asking about, but I just wanted to say I have some acne info in my notepad! A lot of tips about prevention....
Does BPO stand for benzoyl peroxide? If that's the case, 10% benzoyl peroxide creams are the ONLY medicine I've tried that's dried out my skin, and I have very oily skin and have tried several prescription and non-prescription creams! However, I have been using Neutrogenia's On-the-Spot Treatment (only $5!) which is 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, and it has done a good job of clearing up *most* of my acne without drying out my skin. I apply it all over my face at night as a preventative measure. Prescription products are still the best for me, but I thought I would try saving money by using drugstore products.... Maybe after I graduate I'll go back to prescriptions!

I'm not too sure about the blackheads, though, I don't have much of a problem with them...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it stands for Benzoyl Peroxide because here's the information on it(it's the same for 10%):"Medicated BPO 5% Acne Wash contains benzoyl peroxide for mild to moderate facial acne or acne of the back, chest, shoulders, and arms. This creamy cleanser kills bacteria on contact, clears up acne blemishes, and helps prevent the appearance of new blemishes. Good for the treatment and control of acne."

 

[karrieann]

Hi Carolyn,

I use a line of products that are handmade and sold on ebay. I was checking out her things the other day and I see that she is adding new products including an acne cleanser and toner. These are set to debut on Nov. 1.

Her prices are terrific! The most expensive item she has up now is $22 for two full size DMAE serums. Toners sell for $5! She combines shipping and her store says something about free shipping for the holidays. I have posted about this line before you can check out. I am totally in love with her DMAE line!!! Her feedback in 100% positive and she has lots of repeat customers including myself.

I obviously have no experience with her acne treatment line as it is yet to be released but I am excited about several of the new products listed. DMAE masque, pumpkin peel and potent cellulite treatment! I'll be first in line to purchase these!!!!

http://stores.ebay.com/Bizzi-Lisa-the-FacenBody-Collection

 

[girl_geek]

I haven't seen benzoyl peroxide in a cleanser before... maybe you could use a higher percentage in a cleanser because most of it will rinse off? You may want to start with the 5% to be safe though!

 

[K*O*]

Originally Posted by Blondtgr Heh, okay...so I'm extremely pale and I get zits pretty darn often, it's not fun. I've gotten a lot better at covering them up, but I don't want to have to do that anymore. I've been using Biotherm cleanser(which really isn't great) and then some Peter Thomas Roth products. Due to the success I've had from the Peter Thomas Roth masque I use(theraputic sulfur), I want to try a cleanser by them. Unfortunately, their cleansers are extremely expensive, and I know they'll last quite a while, but being a poor college student...I'm really frugal. I want to buy either the Medicated BPO 5% or 10%, but I'm not sure which one. I don't want to irritate my skin, but I want a product that works. I don't have severe acne by any means, I just want it to go away as much as possible. Which would you recommend? Also, would this be too harsh for a daytime and night time cleanser?

Another question, I have some really annoying blackheads I can't seem to get rid of. I'll get of a few and they'll come back. Any tips? they aren't very noticable, they just really bother me.

Thanks guys!

I know where you're coming from girl...been thru it....most have,....Trust me ...It's just a passing thing...just gotta deal w/it unfortunately & make the best of it...my skin NOW, has been the BEST its ever been & I'm now 51...& I've been thru the Wars!!!
Basically, what it comes down to...is TIME....you'll will out grow this hurdle., so don't waste your money on expensive crap that says it will do WONDERS., etc...It NEVER does.....It's your own body chemistry and age doing this to you....It'll pass - the witch of it all is....You just gotta deal w/it for the time being...I know it sounds so COLD...but, there's really nothing more you can really do....its just your age, and the cycle its gotta run....

When I was your age, believe me I didn't even wanna leave the house with that face...but thru the years.....it does get better!!... At least you got something hopeful to look forward to...You'll be fine....then you can look back & laugh at it!!! And I'm sure most women my age (on this board) will agree. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.... Just takes TIME, unfortunately

 

[girl_geek]

Originally Posted by K*O* I know where you're coming from girl...been thru it....most have,....Trust me ...It's just a passing thing...just gotta deal w/it unfortunately & make the best of it...my skin NOW, has been the BEST its ever been & I'm now 51...& I've been thru the Wars!!!
Basically, what it comes down to...is TIME....you'll will out grow this hurdle., so don't waste your money on expensive crap that says it will do WONDERS., etc...It NEVER does.....It's your own body chemistry and age doing this to you....It'll pass - the witch of it all is....You just gotta deal w/it for the time being...I know it sounds so COLD...but, there's really nothing more you can really do....its just your age, and the cycle its gotta run....

When I was your age, believe me I didn't even wanna leave the house with that face...but thru the years.....it does get better!!... At least you got something hopeful to look forward to...You'll be fine....then you can look back & laugh at it!!! And I'm sure most women my age (on this board) will agree. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.... Just takes TIME, unfortunately

I don't know, Karen, I have tried products that did wonders for my skin! While my skin is always oily no matter what I use, when I use no products (or ineffictive products) my acne is terrible -- I have patches of tiny zits in big clusters (of like 10-20 zits!) all over my forehead, and lots of random zits all over the rest of my face, including several large ugly ones. But after a few years of experimenting with prescriptions with my doctor, I found two (Clindagel and Tazorac) that when used together, almost completely cleared up my acne -- I normally had 0-2 tiny zits at once and they were always easy to hide with mu! It was awesome, I never even thought about my acne, though I still worried about shiny skin. I didn't even have to worry about acne at my wedding which was great!
However I know I haven't grown out of it, because when I quit the prescriptions to save money and switched to some milder drugstore products about a year ago, those big clusters of zits came back and I looked just like I did when I was 14.

I added the benzoyl peroxide cream to my routine and it has cleared up most of them, but I still have a few more zits at a time than I do with the prescriptions.

Now I will agree that most of the time, if two products have the same active ingredient in the same amount, they will work about the same regardless of price. Of course sometimes your skin may react in unexpected ways to inactive ingredients, but most of the time, it's not worth it to spend more money on the same active ingredient.

Those are just my personal experiences.... hope you can find something that works for you!

If you have insurance, try talking to a dermatologist, he will probably be able to give you the best advice and work with you to find the best medicine for your skin!

 

[jennyb]

Yay!!!! I'm so happy, my bf's stupid computer is finally letting me respond to you! Anyways, first thing, I would def. stop using the Biotherm cleanser, and if you didn't get it too long ago, I would even return it. I went through a Biotherm stage a couple months ago and I'm over it (Except, I still love this one lip gloss they carry-- prob. one of my favorites-- and also the hydra detox eye gel). Anyways, again, I bought this moisturizing matifying melting fluid, a trial size cleanser, the Forget It concealer, and the sense matte foundation. A couple weeks after trying all this stuff I had the worst breakout on my cheek and a little bit on my other (I only use foundation on my cheeks mainly to balance out my complexion)!!!! My skin was pretty dang good before this, so, I decided to give up all these products, and I will never try their stuff on my face again!!!! I'm not sure which thing was the culprit, and I don't want to point fingers, but I seriously would be scared if I had to use those products again. Anyways, enough about Biotherm. I would def. not get the 10% bp. There is scientific evidence that even 2.5% bp works just as well as 10%, and is not at all as drying and irritating!!!! The Neutrogena on the spot treatment 2.5% bp that girl geek recc. is great. I think if you want to get rid of the breakout as fast as possible, the most effective treatment I have found is Clearasil Acne Crisis Clear Up 10% BP. I would apply this on specific spots you have problems with, and then switch to a 2.5 or 5% bp when it's better. THe only thing about the Clearasil, is it' s super hard to find, but it seriously works! My skin, knock on wood, is practically back to normal now, nock on a lot of wood, but I think I brought it upon myself by trying out 5 million products and a lot of them were very expensive!!!! I think I should have never tried the Biotherm on my face, and also I gave into the hype of this mask (which I should have never done), the dr. hauska rejuvenating mask, which is at Sephora, and is $50!!!!!!!!!!! NOw I have gone back to this Paula's choice cleanser, which I surprisingly like a lot, this neutrogena daily blackhead eliminating scrub (which I actually love, and I usually don't get along with Neut. cleansers), and bp (sometimes 2.5, and sometimes 5%, and when I realllllly need it 10%. So, I know I wrote a novel now, but basically, don't do what I did, and spend a crap load of money on products, only so it could make your skin that isn't even bad at all, worse!!!!! Oh, and about the blackhead thing, I actually like ddf's 10% glycolic tonic, which is expensive, but, So far I have not had any yucky results from it.

 

[jennyb]

oh, and one more thing, I promise!!!! I know everyone varies with products, so just remember this is what worked for me

. Also, I forgot to tell you, that besides the fact that the 2.5 and 5% bp are supposively just as effective as the 10% bp according to scientific evidence, blah blah blah--- I can tell you first hand, that bp is very drying and it can make your face look like one big flake!!!!! So I seriously would only use the lower percentages b/c if you make your face too dry you can make everything much worse. I read somewhere that the reason why most brands only carry 10% bp, is because that is the max. percentage that drugstore brands can make of bp ( before it would be considered an rx) and people believe that the stronger the better so they buy the 10% like crazy (not the 5%, etc), so basically it's all about profit. I hope that made sense. But it makes sense to me

. ok, bye again.

 

[Blondtgr]

Originally Posted by jennyb oh, and one more thing, I promise!!!! I know everyone varies with products, so just remember this is what worked for me

. Also, I forgot to tell you, that besides the fact that the 2.5 and 5% bp are supposively just as effective as the 10% bp according to scientific evidence, blah blah blah--- I can tell you first hand, that bp is very drying and it can make your face look like one big flake!!!!! So I seriously would only use the lower percentages b/c if you make your face too dry you can make everything much worse. I read somewhere that the reason why most brands only carry 10% bp, is because that is the max. percentage that drugstore brands can make of bp ( before it would be considered an rx) and people believe that the stronger the better so they buy the 10% like crazy (not the 5%, etc), so basically it's all about profit. I hope that made sense. But it makes sense to me

. ok, bye again. So do you think the 5% would be better? I don't have severe acne, so that's what I was thinking. I definitely DON'T want to make my face very dry, I'm in a pretty dry climate right now, and that would not be good.

 

[jennyb]

i am 100% positive that you should use the 5%!!!!! Trust me, especially with a dry climate, your skin will get super dry, especially at first.

 

[mechelw]

definitely go for the 5%. a cleanser should be as soothing and gentle as possible! you can always use other treatments but the cleanser is just that, for cleansing. as for biotherm... the first time i started getting interested in skin care was my sophomore year in high school. i had started getting self conscious about my acne & was after something to fix it. this is the beginning of my skin-obsession. i had used proactive for about a year or two but it wasn't working out so well. it did work in the beginning... but it plateau-ed & i still had acne & it was extremely irritating to me. [i still use the proactive glycolic toner tho] i read in a magazine about what models, yes models

[ooooo lala, i was excited then], used & one of them used the biosource biotherm line. i got the biosource foaming cleanser & biosource scrub and they were NOT bad. ever since then my skin has only gotten better, not worse. even though i don't use it anymore, [i use philosophy purity made simple & hope in a jar both verry good] i liked biotherm at the time. i have always wanted perfect acne-free skin like all the other girls, skin that i didn't have to constantly worry about & cover up so i went on to many different products. i did just order biotherm's aquasource non-stop gel moisturizer tho because i loved the sample and i am looking for day time moisturizer with zero grease [another obsessive thing i know]. just my 2 cents =]

 

[mechelw]

& also... another thing i have been having great luck with is the aspirin mask/scrub. being a college student, it is so exciting finding something that works so well & is so cheap!! i had to pass it on. maybe you should use a gentler, more moisturizing cleanser [like your biotherm?] that doesn't strip your skin like BP might do, and try the aspirin mask, scrub gently, & then moisturize. you can also spot treat a pimple over night with the aspirin & it DOES shrink quite well.

 

[aditi009]

Hi I've just joint this site and am reading a few reviews here-

I feel acne and skin disorders like that have a great deal to do with what one consumes. I for one, have seen a direct relation with my eating eggs and zits! (I get tension-pressure zits-sparse but irritating.) The same applies for when I drink on an empty stomach- acidity, and when I eat lots of chocolates. But on the whole, instead of avoiding what I like to eat I control it- making sure I don't go hungry, and eat fruits as soon as I wake up in the morning. This was my mother's idea actually, but I followed it religiously for 2-3 weeks and my skin looks absolutely flawless!

I'm not sure if you could get hold of 'neem' tablets, but it's very good for health in general, a blood purifier and a natural anti oxidant, and wonderful therapy for beautiful skin! It's easily available in India.

 

[robinm]

I have had blackheads and acne for about the last 15 years

.

I tried proactiv and acne free but they tore my skin up, and $$$!

I found acne.org and there is a "regimen" posted there. So far it's been great! The blackheads on my nose are almost totally gone and I can't remember the last breakout I had. It was a rough first couple of weeks with the dryness from the BP but now it's not a problem! And it's real cheap

.

 

[dbrown82]

www.platinumskincare.com/

 

[jessica9]

i gotta agree with kim about the glycolic acid! it seriously does get rid of blackheads and shrinks the pores! i do a 30% peel every week and you seriously will notice a huge dramatic improvement in your skin in less than three weeks!

i used to spend a lot on cleansers until i finally decided to take the advice of my dermatologist. now i just use johnson & johnson's purpose cleanser day and night, and it works really well for me. all you need is a gentle cleanser. although it is a nice to think you can clean your face and wash away the acne, the acne ingredients in cleansers rarely have time to work, and they just end up irritating your skin.

another thing i like is neutrogena clear pore night treatment. it is just salicylic acid, and i used it in high school and loved it, broke out and decided to try it again. now i love it 10 years later and use it a couple times a week. also good for blackheads. if you want to try a really inexpensive routine, this could work for you.