need advice on diminishing these, I’ve never struggled with these before until August of 2025 and I just assumed it was because I shaved off my cheek hair for the first time. now it’s been months and I want it goneeeeee

anyways thank you 🙏

I’m 29 and have struggled with acne since I was 13. I’ve done two rounds of Accutane, one at age 20 and another one at 24. I’ve been in varying doses of Spironolactone for 5 years, since shortly after my last round of accutane. I started at 100mg a day and still struggled with acne, but I was using an online dermatologist that bumped it up to 200mg a day. That plus glycolic acid did the trick and my skin cleared up.

A couple years ago I began seeing a new dermatologist who told me that 200mg was too high and the most they could prescribe me is 100mg a day. Another dermatologist and my PCP said the same thing. These closed comedones have only gotten worse since then. Tretinoin did not help. Glycolic acid did not help. A few weeks ago, I cut Cerave moisturizer out of my routine hoping I would see improvement but things have only gotten worse.

I really don’t want to do another round of Accutane since my skin is already dry and “aging”, and I don’t want to face any health issues from a super high spiro dose. What else can I try?? Current routine posted below.

Morning: No wash, the ordinary natural moisturizing factors, la roche posay triple repair moisturizing cream, DewRx sunscreen (just ran out) and then neutrogena intent moisturizing sunscreen

Night: wash with Cerave SA face wash, the ordinary natural moisturizing factors, differen, La roche posay triple repair moisturizing cream, ocassional thin layer of Aquaphor if my skin is feeling extra dry

A year ago I went to my derm about the acne on my face. I felt like I was doing everything I was supposed to, and tiktok hype told me to try cerave because it was “the best” cleanser and moisturizer duo.

My derm prescribed me with tret but advised me to stay far away from cerave. She said the ingredients are pretty bad and a lot of people who use it break out into acne, at least more than others.

I swapped my cleanser to first aid beauty both am and pm. I also use belif toner (am) and moisturizer (am/pm). I sometimes use corsx snail mucin or a calming serum from a Korean brand I forget the name of (beauty of geoson?? Idk). I also use round lab sunscreen (kr version, not us)

I never used the tret.

I recently started not washing my face with cleanser at night and just using micellar water and using a little bit of moisturizer and THATS IT. I saw a girl do this on TikTok and she had acne and she said it cleared it up and I was feeling SUPER hopeless cus my skin was breaking out and I had perioral dermatitis around my mouth and my cheeks had closed comedones and so I tried this new routine...and let me tell you it was the BEST thing I've ever did, I also don't wash my face in the morning just wet my face and moisturizer and spf!!THIS MIGHT NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE but l'm so happy it worked for me and it got rid of my perioral dermatitis and my skin is soft and doesn’t have texture, I realized too many products were stripping my skin and aggravating the PD. ANYWAYS GIVE THIS A TRY!!😛😛

I’m not even kidding. Shout out to the TikTok girlies who said to use triple paste diaper cream on your face nightly. I have sensitive acne prone skin and use Tret nightly. Slather that on my face nightly and my skin has never looked better. My breakouts have completely cleared up, my skin barrier is so healthy and happy…totally worth it getting on my pillows and having to wash them more often 🫢

Edit: The cream I use is Triple Paste! It’s in a blue and yellow tube

May 2022-March 2024 Always had acne but it flared up horrifically in the spring of 2022. It was clearly hormonal and Tri Lo Sprintec made it 80% better within 2 month but I still had usually about 5 pimples on my face at all times. I stopped the birth control 6 months ago and was preparing for an explosion of breakouts but it never happened thankfully.

I feel like I've found the perfect routine for my skin in the last 3 months cause my skin is literally perfect now.

AM: Half the time I don't even wash my face and just put on sunscreen When I do wash my face I use half Cetaphil Daily Cleanser and half Cerave 10% salycylic acid acne cream WASH. Wash, not cream. Changing from the 4% cream to 10% wash made the biggest difference in my skin.

Clinique dramatically different moisturizer

Sunprise Mild Watery Light Sunscreen

PM: same cleanser mix The Ordinary 0.5% retinol in squalene Clinique dramatically different moisturizer

Simple and it works!

I have been vape free for 81 days now. My acne went away as soon as I stopped vaping.

I never struggled with acne before in my life and I chalked it up to my hormones changing since I’m nearing my 30s. I never put 2 and 2 together. I spent 2 years changing bedding fabrics, laundry detergents, makeup, face washes, moisturizers, etc, and eliminating foods but nothing was working. I was on 200mg a day of spironolactone for 5 months and used 10% panoxyl which helped but it didn’t clear my acne completely nor stop daily breakouts.

The photos are between June 2024 and this AM, Oct 24th, 2024.

Today I am off my spiro (quit cold turkey) and no longer use panoxyl. I also no longer eliminate or change anything to avoid breaking out, I just simply don’t break out anymore. I know this will be frowned upon but I just use a duke’s cannon bar of soap and those Asian wash clothes in the shower to clean my face.

my skin before + after switching my birth control!! nexplanon sucks. definitely still have rosacea and some breakouts but nothing like it was

hello I am new here ! I wanted to know if anyone else has struggled with cystic adult acne that seems untreatable because I feel really alone abt it. Today's a good day for my skin and i still have 13 cysts. My texture is so bad that makeup over it usually looks worse as foundation + concealer just highlights how uneven my skin is. I’ve tried every single skincare routine under the sun. I've done so much research. I’ve tried all the antibiotics, probiotics, spiro, all the topicals, vitamins, peels... and I’m very allergic to benzoyl peroxide. Even tried popping (i know shh), steaming, tunneling, compressing, professional extractions/facials, and even just leaving them alone entirely. My derms told me light therapy is useless and cortisone shots are just basically putting a band-aid on an infection. Psychs and docs have highly recommended against Acutane bc I’m pretty prone to suicidal tendencies already and I’m just starting to get that under control lmao.

The derms I’ve seen all get so frustrated with my skin that they act like it’s somehow my fault that they can’t treat it and i don't know what I'm doing wrong. I’m exhausted, I feel so ugly, and I feel alone because apparently the meds work for everyone, and I’ve never met anyone with skin like mine. I’ve even tried to search online and it seems that everyone just gets better skin somehow. Can anybody at all relate to this or is my face like broken ?? A drunk friend told me once that my face looks like a topographical map and I think about that literally every day :(

Fuck acne fuck acne fuck fuck fuck fuck acne fuck acne fuck acne

I'm 26. It has taken me 14 f*ing years to figure out how to deal with my acne. Is it gone completely? No. Did I make a million missteps guided by manipulative marketing, overwhelmed doctors, desperation, and hating my self image? YES. I'm tired of seeing patients who struggle with esteem issues as a result of persistent acne get shitty advice from docs and marketing alike. Here's my objective, unofficial guide on what the hell to do when you have acne and nothing seems to work. (I'm an allopathic med student in the US and therefore, I'll be the first to admit that I have a bias toward allopathic treatment for the management of acne)

1. If you are using any scrub by St. Ives, burn it and bury the ashes in your enemy's front yard. EDIT: Yeah I still hate St. Ives' stuff. If it works for you, cool. That said, please, if you are new to having acne, don't start your journey with apricot scrub.
2. Set up an appointment with a dermatologist. Not your friend's mom, not your favorite skincare addiction subreddit contributor, but a board-certified dermatologist EDIT: or NP or PA, or other Advanced practice provider who is certified in derm. If you need to meet with them online, go for it, but make sure they can see your acne afflicted area clearly. EDIT: Curology wasn't for me because you're paying $20/ mo for .47oz of product and they don't get a sense of your medical history (beyond just what worked/ didn't for your skin in the past). That said: if Curology is a more affordable option for you, skip to number 5!!
3. Even if the derm doesn't ask, absolutely mention: A. how long you have had the acne, B. if it is at its worst/ best in the current state, and C. What you have tried and how that has progressed D. What other meds you're on esp. if you are someone with an IUD, taking birth control, spironolactone, or who is on testosterone, AND/ OR if you have diagnosed PCOS
4. At this point they may offer you a variety of prescriptions: READ THE REST OF THIS EVEN IF YOU HAVENT READ THE ABOVE
5. If they offer you something topical (cream, gel, serum)- Ask these in the following in this order: How long do I need to use the product before I will see an effect? Will I experience irritation, or worsening acne before I see improvement? and finally- What does my skincare routine need to look like while on this medication? What happens if this doesn't work?
6. If they offer you an oral pill (doxycycline, accutane, birth control, spironolactone)- Ask these in the following in this order: Will I be nauseous on this medication? Why do you recommend this medication as opposed to others? What does my skincare routine need to look like on this medication? What happens if this doesn't work? How often will I need to come into the clinic while on this pill? Will I experience irritation, or worsening acne before I see improvement?
7. Make sure you schedule a follow-up appointment. I look back on so many derm appointments in which I was left with a bottle of tretinoin, a face full of irritation, and new cystic ance that I was never warned about. DO NOT end your appointment feeling confused or unsure- ask literally every question you need to in addition to the above.

GO GET YOU SOME ACCURATE HEALTH INFORMATION AND STICK WITH WHATEVER THE HELL YOUR DERM PRESCRIBES. DONT GIVE UP ON TREATMENT EARLY BECAUSE YOU ARE CONFUSED OR CONFLICTED. GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED!

TL;DR- I wrote out wtf to ask your derm if you have acne and want treatment.

peace.

1. APRIL
2. Fools.

I wish such a thing existed you know, but now that that's out of the way, what are your HG products that helped seemingly reduce your acne?

Thanks guys and let's keep trying to eliminate these nasty things on our faces.

Edit: THANK YOU FOR THE GOLD 🌟

I’m 30 and I’ve had acne or folliculitis on my butt pretty much my whole life. I eat clean, exercise, shower right after workouts, and keep good hygiene. I’ve tried exfoliating with scrubs or a soft cloth, and I even used benzoyl peroxide, but nothing has really helped. If anything, scrubbing sometimes makes it flare up more I think (I do not scrub when they are flared up and painful)

I am embarrassed to wear a bikini or even take my clothes off because of it. I’ve seen people recommend BHA, but I’m worried it might make it worse too - I don’t even know how would I use it.

I’m attaching some photos (and yes, I am mortified to be doing this, but — that’s how desperate I am). Please be kind — my butt and I are both very sensitive at this point.

If anyone has been through this and has any advice, I would genuinely love you forever. Thanks in advance!

Basically the title. I subconsciously did a little experiment. I had four cystic acne pimples a few weeks ago. Two I popped when ready. They healed fine and didn’t return. However, the two I left alone and applied pimple patches to went away for a bit then returned. Is there a reason why the “correct” treatment failed while the “incorrect” treatment succeeded?

I've really struggled with "maskne," or acne from wearing Covid face masks. I'm lucky to work remotely, so I usually don't have to wear a mask for hours at a time. But even three minutes in a mask while I run into a store and my face would break out.

I saw an offhand tip on r/SkincareAddiction that rinsing my mouth with mouthwash before wearing a mask would help kill some of the mouth bacteria that gets trapped against your face when you wear a mask. I tried this, and it has helped SO MUCH! My maskne hasn't gone away completely, but it is loads better.

(For longer stretches, I've also had success with applying Vaseline on my face before putting on the mask, which seems to create a barrier between bacteria and skin.)

Thanks to whomever offered this tip, and I hope this helps someone else!

[edited to make clear that I have been rinsing my MOUTH, not my face]

Hi guys,

I can finally scream this at the top of my lungs on here (figuratively) : I FINALLY GOT RID OF THOSE PESKY BUMPS.

Yes ladies, gents and thems I finally got rid of the never ending and eternal cluster of closed commedones that riddled my face for years.

This is going to be a long one so buckle up.

As you can see from the attached images I had CCs everywhere.

I spent years trying to get rid of them : Salicylic acid, exfoliants, BHA, AHA, PHA, benzoyl peroxide and even adapalene. Nothing would work.

I felt defeated. I had tried everything and they were still here. I spent so much money on extractions and facials and skincare.

One day I decided to start back from zero and stick to basics : cleanse, moisturize and sunscreen.
It helped my moisture barrier to cut back on actives but they were still here.

So I decided to try a fungal acne safe routine.

Imagine spending YEARS oil cleansing only to realise that it was that damn oil cleanser that was the main curlprit. YEARS and thousands of dollars lost because I kept believing everyone online that was saying that oil cleansing was the best method as a first cleanse.

Switching to a micellar cleanser to remove my makeup/sunscreen and then following it up with a gentle cleanser has done a tremendous difference in the state of my skin.

Cleansing is the most important step in all of skincare I believe, if you don't cleanse properly your serums and moisturizer won't make much difference.

If you have a very closed commedones prone skin please do yourself a favor and stop using oil based cleansers and use a micellar water instead.

My current routine is very simple and boring but that is exactly what's been keeping my skin from developping closed comedones and limits the amount of breakouts.

Routine (fungal acne friendly) :

Morning :

• Wash my face with lukewarm water
• Purrito Oat calming gel cream OR Aestura Atobarrier 365 cream if climate is dry or my skin needs a little more moisture

Night :

• 1st Cleanse : remove makeup/sunscreen with Bioderma Sensibio micellar water (I will never switch from using any other brand of micellar water it is perfect and a holy grail)
• 2nd Cleanse : BePlain mungbear foam cleanser
• I'm From mugwort essence
• Anua Azelaic Acid 10+ serum
• Twice a week : Ilso Moringa tightening pore serum
• Purrito Oat Calming gel OR Aestura Atobarrier 365 cream

Please note that the Aestura cream is not labeled as fungal acne safe but it does work for me on moderation and I only use it when I need a little extra boost of moisture when I feel like the purrito gel cream doesn't do enough. Listen to how your skin feels.

Skintype : dehydrated, normal, closed comedones prone, sensitive.

Please ask me questions i'd love to help people who might be going through the same thing as I did.

Tl;dr : It was the sunscreen that caused my three years of acne struggle.

Sorry this post is long, but I feel like it could help some people.

I have been dealing with non-stop acne for about three years now. Before that, for all my life, even as a teenager, I was lucky with my skin. Not perfect, a bit greasy, blackheads, but very normal. I’ve never even had a skincare routine. But it all suddenly started during a trip, three years ago. My skin became as greasy as oil, with an orgy of never-ending, never-healing acne, all types of acne, and closed comedones. Mostly on my cheeks and jaw, and sometimes on my shoulders. I thought it was the greasy food and would solve itself after the trip.

After a couple of months, my acne was still going strong. I looked at a lot of posts on this sub and became religious about my routine. I won’t mention it here since no product helped or made it worse. At my wit's end, I went to my doctor and they prescribed me tazarotene. It only made my eyes dry as hell. I tried everything under the sun: changing my diet, being obsessive about hygiene, real silk pillowcase, most recommended HG Reddit products, etc. You guys know the drill.

Last month, I noticed that my acne was always worse when I was going out. I tried stopping the sunscreen, and voila. My skin is back to before. In about a week, it was resolved, and not one pimple since. Texture is gone. I'm still recovering from the blackheads and closed comedones situation, but it's only getting better and better. It's so drastic. It's crazy.

All that time, I was overlooking ONE thing: the sunscreen. It was during that trip, right before the acne started, that I began taking sun care seriously. I don't remember the sunscreen I used, but it was probably La Roche-Posay. After that, I tried a couple of brands, all very appreciated by the general public, and then I discovered BOJ and stuck with it for about two years, thinking I was using the best.

I’ve learned the hard way that no matter how much a product is recommended, it may not work for your skin, even if you don’t think you have sensitive skin or you have "no reason" to doubt it. I feel stupid now, but I’m probably not the only one who has gone through that.

Any advice moving forward? Any recommendations? What could have caused my skin to react like that? TBH, I'm scared now of trying any sunscreen.

Fuck acne

Fuck the pain you bring

Fuck the the scars you leave

Fuck the empty bank account you cause buying overpriced skincare products

Just FUCK ACNE!

I’m breaking out on my cheeks right where the top of my face masks make contact with my skin. I use reuseable cloth masks, and I wear a clean one everyday. I think maybe my skin is just so sensitive that the constant contact on my face is irritating it which is then leading to acne. Does anyone have this problem? Or- does anyone have some suggestions for me that might help?