Skin trouble!

I have severe acne on my face, back and chest so know how you feel. I've exhausted all pills, creams, scrubs etc but I am trying one last method of tea tree scrub with a different contraceptive pill supposedly linked to clearing skin....

If that fails I will be going through with using Roaccutane. It's got loads of bad side effects but I'm past caring now. I hate my skin so much.

Doctor for acne medication?

Regular professional facials?

No make up at all?

Also isn't exfoliating quite bad for acne? I'm sure I read that somewhere. Something like don't over exfoliate as it can cause the sebum to go a bit mad. Twice a week might be a bit much. Always best to get pro/medical advice though if you have sensitive patches.

Ive heard exfoliating is bad for acne too. I'd cut it out and see how that helps

Have you tried Quinoderm? Its only £3 from pharmacy and specifically for acne.

Hi

My skin use to be like yours. I am taking Vitamin B 100 time release which has cleared my face up a lot and actually works, after the amount of money I have paid out on creams, lotions and tablets, I would highly recommend this.

This other solution may sound silly but it works ! If and when you get bad patches of acne - mix some porridge oats into a little bit of milk (to make into a paste) and stick on the inflamed area / where the acne is. You will find it will hydrate that specific area, and will heal (without leaving scars) !

You may find that your exfoliating too much once every other week, or once a month if you've got sensitive / acne prone skin.

What cleanser are you using? and how often do you wear make up?

The reason I am asking is that "sensitive" cleansers may still be a little harsh for your skin, and especially if your doing morning and evening - my doctor recommended that I only used a cleaner in the evening to give the body time to repair, as the more your protecting your skin, the more sensitive it will get !

Have a look at Trish McEvoy - although expensive her products work. May be worth using her products a month up to your wedding, as I usually suffer with red patches and scars her products help the skin.

Bare minerals make up believe it or not can also aggravate your skin ! I didn't know this until I had a bad day with my acne.

No matter what although your cleansing, wearing make up and exfoliating - your still putting chemicals on your face and by the looks of it a little more than what you should do. With sensitive skin you want to use natural products not keep chucking everything on your face. This is the worst !.... Keep drinking lots of water as this will help. Don't forget that when you start something new, keep at it for a good month, as you won't start seeing the results straight away, as your body needs time to settle and let the products work.

I hope I have given you some options to try, sensitive skin is a nightmare let alone acne prone skin !

I don't have any skin tips I'm afraid but my MUA did a blog post on this. If it will help reassure you take a look:

http://lucyjaynemakeup.co.uk/blog/bad-skin-on-the-wedding-day-eeeek/

I went on Roaccutane in March and my skin was completely and utterly flawless on my wedding day in August.

I was going to work a few weeks before the wedding and a girl stopped me and asked me what foundation I was wearing as my skin looked so flawless. I did have on my Estee Lauder Double Wear as usual but those of you with bad skin will understand why I hugged this stranger on the spot, in the middle of waterloo station.

I tried everything. In the end, I got a referal to a dermatologist through a private doctor. I was not messed around like you usually are with all the 'oh just try this one last miracle cream that stinks and takes the dye out of your pillow etc etc'. She tried me on the Dianette pill for 12 weeks and nothing happened, so they refered me straight away and I left the first dermo's appointment with a prescription for Roaccutane.

Yes my lips were dry. I did not care. Within about 2 weeks, the horrible sore cysts on my chin had GONE and all the marks were getting a chance to fade a bit. I used a very gentle face wash called Cetaphil which gets your makeup off but is good for dry skin, and I used the oil free No.7 day and night moisturiser, and the Hemp limp balm from Body Shop on Funky's recommendation.

I am 34. I cannot believe I suffered for so long. The dry skin side effects are not nice but I would do it again no problem and it is manageable. they do put the frighteners on you about getting preggers - it is a serious risk and you really mustn't, but again it is short term.

Here is me on my wedding day. You will all appreciate that there are no photos of me without make-up, concealer and powder from before!

I cannot tell you how nice it is to be spot free. I am amazed by the number of people who spontaneously comment on my skin now.

Can I also just say though that when I had my make up trial, I had only been on the treatment a week or two and still had a lot of marks and red patches and some little 'dents' and big pores but by the time she'd finished with me you would never know, so please do not worry, make up artists are AMAZING!

Just wanted to say you looked absolutely gorgeous! Your skin looks perfect! I know how it feels to be covered in acne as I have said and it really is so so so upsetting and a real confidence breaker. If this pill i'm on now doesn't do anything in the 3 month trial I'm on I will definitely be going for Roaccutane. It seems to have quite a high chance of working and in my opinion any dry skin is worth it if it gets rid of horrible acne!

Thank you guys for all your hints and tips, however crazy some of them sound!

Oddly enough, I seem to find that if I don't exfoliate, my skin seems to get worse? Not sure if it's cause my skin gets clogged up and then gets worse or what, but maybe I will try and just do it once or twice every couple of weeks. I use cetaphil cleanser (only recently started using it) and it already seems to be helping my skin

When I was much younger I used Zineryt and panoxyl (on prescription), but someone I know used quinoderm and she must have had some sort of reaction to it, but her face went bright red all over, and took a while to go down!

I do wear make up everyday, but I try and avoid liquid foundation, as these seem to make my skin look more oily and cakey, and sometimes makes my skin worse. I have been using bare minerals for a while, and I think it has made my skin better, but I still seem to get random outbreaks that go out of control I wish I could go to work without make-up on but my self esteem took such a massive hit at school when my acne first started, that I daren't go anywhere without at least a little bit of foundation! My skin isn't as bad as needing to use Roaccutane ( I work in a pharmacy, so I know how bad your skin needs to be before doctors put you on that stuff) I just wonder whether my contraceptive implant could have something to do with it? I have had it in for about 18 months am really considering having it out soon, as seem to be getting very irregular and long periods with it. Maybe this is what is making my skin worse? Who knows?!

Either way, I am hoping that I have decided to sort itout early enough, and hope that my make up artist is able to cover up any unfortunate blemishes on the big day!

Hiya, i am in a very similar situation and the same age so have lost hope that they are teenage spots! I only use 'simple' brand products beause they contain nothing too harsh on my skin, there are maybe other products that would do the same but i would rather stick to what i know with that, when i was a teenager using every spot cure under the sun a beautician told me it was all too harsh and making it worse so advised simple so i have stuck with that since! If i stay anywhere other than home, i take simple face wipes and use them before and after showering, using a pool etc as a change of water makes my skin flare up. The implant made mine worse, i have just changed again and this pill seems to be stopping anything new, but i only changed last week!

I'm getting married in August 2014 too and have already started trying to sort my skin out now. I went for a facial and took their recommendation for skin care and it seems to working well. I would deffinately recommend seeing a skin care specialist so your not stressed for the big day. It's helping me.

Hi,

I would recommend liz earle cleanse and polish or elemis. A course of elemis Bliss capsules in the week run up to the wedding would be good too.

Lynne

I am trying hard to get my skin good too - I have finally found something for my coldsores (I used to suffer so badly, especially when stressed) So now I am focusing on the spots I get, I get them on my chest, back and face and as I am wearing a strapless dress on my big day I really want this sorted. I know sudocream helps dry them out over night as I have recently been trying this. I am forcing myself to drink lots of water too. I have under the skin spots and under a bright light it's shocking (but then again we're our own worst critic aren't we)

Let's hope we all look and feel amazing come our wedding day

I'm not too bad but i suffer from breakouts all the time. everyone right about over exfoliating, its a no-no. your ripping up the skin then if you itch it later your spreading the bacteria around (i keep itching my back, trying to stop that!) Tea tree oil is good for drying out the bacteria and oily areas (dont use neet! it'll burn!), witchhazel brings down inflammation and redness and lavender oil soothes

also i avoid foundation from my daily use. pure and simple it clogs pores, doesn't allow the skin to breath. drink lots of water, green tea, nut and berries are good for your skin, actually just general healthy eating helps. refined sugars causes skin problems too