ive been suffering with acne for about 3 years now but only in the last two years have it played such a big part in my life. i first went to the docs in october 2001 and he gave me tetra something which i was on for 6 months then he puts me on erythromycin for 3 months. They didnt work so i was put on retin a lotion while i waited for a derm appointment. The retin a worked ok and cleared out alot of stuff from my skin. Then the derm put me on differin gel 0.1 a bha cleanser and dalacin t antibiotic solution. After using that combination for way too long i ditched the dalacin and just used the diff and cleanser and added olive oil to my regimen for blackheads (this really helped i think). But my skin would be so unbareably dry however i knew differin was helping because i didnt get any whiteheads but got clogged pores and blackheads. So i thought maybe thats cos my skin was so dry and that it was producing more oil so then i tried dans regimen which was a disaster. Oxy on the spot is soooo greasy. After that i did nothing i used my cleanser and just spot treated with BP and although my skin appeared better lookin my pores started to clog etc and was breaking out on the chin where i never used to get outbreaks. That was about 2 weeks ago so now i am back on differin which is getting crap out my pores again that has accumilated while i was on BP and doing nothing and will continue with it until i find somethin else to use? Do any of you guys have any suggestions? SHould i go and get retin A in a gel form seeing as the lotion was about the best thing ive used?
What i have used so far - quinoderm, tetracycline, erythrmocin, clearisil pads, clearasil complete, oxy face wash, oxy on the spot, retin a lotion, acnisal, differin, dalacin t.
Type of acne - main problem is blackheads and clogged pores, occasional whitehead plus im a compulsive picker which makes things a million times worse.
for black heads..queen julene mint mask a couple times a week, i used it and it works great for blackheads, alot of people on this board swear(or swore) by it.
The queen helene mask is a pretty basic clay mask, it won't remove blackheads. It will help to eliminate some excess oil, but it won't help the already existing blackheads. scientifically speaking, it is not possible. blackheads must be manually removed. if it were my skin, i would :
1. start using a mild creamy cleanser to wash my face
2. Start using a glycolic or salicylic night treatment to disolve the intercellular lipids and remove the dead surface cells.
3. After about 2 weeks I would get a facial and tell the esthetician to focus on extraction.
4. I would also drink as much water as possible and try to get a facial every month.
my story - pls help 
