My Acne Story- How I permanently got rid of my acne

My journey with acne primarily started when I was almost 19, finishing my teen years, unlike most people who go through the acne phase somewhere between 13-18 and by the time they finish school, they have clear skin.  When I started getting severe acne, everyone I knew had already passed that stage so I was the weird-o at University with adult acne. To be honest, I would have preferred this nightmare during my teen years rather than later because then at least I would have known that it was purely hormonal. I never till this date determined what the true cause was and I don't even care any more. I am just glad its over.

I am now 23, with flawless clear skin and I couldn't be happier. Acne is never fun, specially cystic acne, which I had. Mainly because apart from being incredibly hideous looking, it is also very painful. So my first point of call was to start using some cover up, because lets face it, I was not going to walk out everyday with a face full of red spots. This is when I first used make up and mind you, it was not by choice. Step 2, I made an appointment with the GP to get my skin condition looked at. I was put on external medication. This is prescription only. (Eryacne gel and Differin). It did set me back a couple hundred dollars but I was hoping it would be the end of this. It did bring my acne down about 30%, but then it stopped working.

Over the next few years, I tried all the home remedies you can find on the internet. Lemon, honey, aspirin, apple cider vinegar but nothing worked. I also tried various different face washes, moisturisers, toners and face masks hoping it would make it better but I think I know better now, that the more you keep "poking" your skin with new products, the more it will get irritated. Your skin care should be very simple and basic.I also tried going on "The pill" has helped a lot of people clear their skin because it balances your hormones and if hormone imbalance is what is causing you to break out, this should fix your problem. However, I was on the pill for over a year, it helped my skin a little but I gained about 5 kilos (one of the side effects) and my skin wasn't getting any better, so eventually I gave that up.

About a year ago, my flat mate started a medication called accutane and her skin was getting better. Although acccutane is unpopular for some side effects so I thought I would chat to a dermatologist and see if I could get my doubts cleared. I made an appointment, and researched all the questions I wanted to ask. The damage was 200$ for my first appointment but I was trying to be positive. I cleared all my doubts, the dermatologist advised that it was definitely something I should consider and I can help my skin- for good. The serious side effects were for less than 0.5% cases and these were mere claims. The non-serious side effects was mainly dry skin and chapped lips. I was ready to take a chance and get on the medication.

I was put on 20 mg tablet for the first 2 months and 30 mg for the next  6  months. I saw my dermatologist thrice in 8 months. The tablets cost me about 120$ for the course of 2 months. Plus, all additional dermatologist visits were 175$. I also had to do an initial blood test to make sure I was healthy enough to take this medication. This is strict prescription only medicine, so obviously consult your dermatologist and make sure you clear everything before considering this. After 8 months of this, my skin was completely clear. So clear that I have received numerous compliments on how good my skin goods. I never thought I would ever hear that. I had quite oily skin, but now my skin is normal. It neither gets too oily nor dry. My skin was on the dryer side when I was on the medication and my lips got quite chapped too. But that's a tiny side effect you need to put up with for the cost of good looking skin. I cannot tell you how happy I am when I looked at my clear non-makeup face.

I walk out without makeup almost everyday now and I use very minimal products. My skin care is very simple- I used a QV facewash- it is cheap, dermatologist recommended and very gentle. I ocasionally tone with diluted apple cider vinegar and to moisturise, I use a couple drops of Rosehip oil and Aveeno moisturiser. I do an oil cleanse one a week to exfoliate . I will do a detailed skin care article in a next couple weeks :)

In conclusion, I would recommend this to everyone who has tried everything under the sun but are still fighting acne- I feel your pain, I really do, but hang in there. Good luck and please let me know if this helps you at all or if you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them.

Luck and Love,
Niki


Oh and low and behold, even though I never wanted to take any pictures of my bad skin, I found a before picture and of course- the after picture. No make up in both.
P.S My acne was way worse than it is in the before picture