Day 22/23: Enemy Dossier

Two people commented on Friday's post about the technical term for the sort of acne I have. While I have some true "whiteheads," I also have pustules as well, which, according to Acne.org, are "inflamed, and appears as a red circle with a white or yellow center. Pustules are your garden variety zit." (Wikipedia doesn't have a very "user friendly" description of the various forms of "cutaneous conditions."

I know the bastard at the corner of my lips is a pustule, and the activity on my chin consists of a whitehead which hopefully won't get lonely before I destroy him. On the evening of the 22nd, I followed the strict instructions of the Regimen and put BP all over my face instead of just on the trouble spots. In the morning, I just did the trouble spots. I think I may adopt this as a regular M.O.

I only have four active spots that I am aware of. The enemy is dwindling. Preliminary research has me confident that a few rounds of microdermabrasion will work to get the scars on my cheeks to fade. I'm not sure how much it costs (other than the vague "a significant amount"), but I seem to remember a local salon that offered it. If I do it at a dermatologist, I'm not sure what the cost difference would be, and there is also the beauty academy option. Then again, letting "trainees" drop the proverbial H-bomb on my acne might not be the smartest of ideas.

Day 21: Back in Radio Contact

It's been ten days since I posted. Vacation and all that. I have altered the Regimen so that I am only putting the BP on trouble spots rather than all over my face. It's working in that my face isn't as nearly as flakey-dry as it was, and I feel better. I do have some new zits (white suckers - I'm not sure what the technical name is), but hopefully they'll go away soon.

My plan is to look into microdermabrasion once I don't have any "active" zits to take care of the scarring on my cheeks. Those spots have got to go - even foundation doesn't entirely cover them up. Thankfully, they're just marks and not the "pot holes on your face" kind.

Day 11: The Desert Campaign

One of the biggest things with The Regimen is to not skip any days or any steps.

I skipped last night.

But I have a good excuse for being AWOL.

See, one of the rules in The Regimen is to do the AM and PM steps 10-12 hours apart. It was after midnight on Day 9/10 when I did the PM step for day 9, so I couldn't do the AM steps when I woke up. And in order to get myself back on track, I'm doing the AM steps for Day 11. Why didn't I do the PM steps at 8 PM on Day 10? I don't have a good answer for that. But I didn't.

Anyway.

My skin is dry. Really dry. I'm putting on a good amount of moisturizer, but I can still see my skin flaking. Like today around noon - around 5 hours after the AM treatment - my skin felt dry and looked dry. Even now, sitting here while the moisturizer absorbs into my skin, there's a stinging dryness.

But the acne on my cheeks has cleared up some, and so has the stuff on my forehead. So I'm not sure. Trade-off, maybe?

Day 9/10: Taking the Hill

On the evening of Day 8, I started The Regimen. As instructed, I didn’t use the full amount of Benzoyl Peroxide, so as to get my face used to it. I’m sure I used a little more than the “initial dosage” suggests, but it took that much to cover all my problem areas. I don’t know if it’s because I was already using Clean and Clear’s product, or if the life of this round of zits was already coming to a close, but I am noticing clearer skin.

One of the biggest difference between The Regimen and any other treatment I have used is the fact that with The Regimen, you don’t rinse off the BP. The BP isn’t in the cleanser. The cleansing of your skin is keep separate from the treatment of your acne, which I really like and which makes sense when you think about how acne forms.

My skin is still very dry. So dry that I tried to take pictures of how dry it was, but my camera’s resolution isn’t good enough to really capture it. So, as an example of how dry my skin is, I submit my hand, circa 7:45 AM today:

That’s right. My hand is so dry that it cracks and scabs.

That’s winter in the High Plains for you.

Day Eight: Shellshock

So yesterday, day 7, I didn't do any evening treatment. Not because of how dry my skin was, or the stinging, or anything else like that. I didn't do it because I a co-worker and Facebook buddy and all around amazing individual pointed me to the Regimen on Acne.org.

I was blown away.

I've been washing my face, scrubbing my face, incorrectly for years.

My own worst enemy in this war on acne just might be me.

So here I sit, debating whether to print out the Regimen's product guide and try to navigate the skin care aisle of the Health and Beauty section of either Wal-Mart or Target, or shell out the $40 to buy Daniel Kern's products.

To be honest? I'm leaning toward Daniel. Why? He isn't a huge company that rakes in thousands of dollars with every tormented squeal of teenage pain and every wrathful growl of adult anguish. He sells his products to support Acne.org and help people who have suffered, as he has, at the end of Johnson & Johnson's carrot-on-a-stick of relief.

Also, he sells his product in an airline approved travel size.

Yeah, I'm kind of petty.

Day Six/Seven: Oil

The only MMORPG I have ever played is Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. In it, one of the significant parts of Realm vs. Realm play are keep sieges. One of the staple dangers when taking a keep is the oil.

Thursdays are knit-night, and so rather than sit at home and write a blog post, I hung out with friends. When the topic of conversation came around to my acne, they - like all friends - had lots of advice. My skin is very dry, but then again, it's January in the high plains. Anyway, the fact that I touch my face a significant amount during the day - even with dry/lotioned hands - and my hair and glasses may be transferring oil onto my face (see all those blemishes at my temples?) could be a strong contributing factor to my acne.

The game plan? To keep my hair back and off my face and make an effort not to touch my face. Habit-breaking is always hard, but I've got to give it a shot.

This morning, I only did the cleanser. But as I sit here writing this, my skin feels dry. Before i leave for work, I'll put the moisturizer on and try to find a headband to keep my bangs back and off my face.

Also - doctor's appointment. Not dermatologist. Just a doctor. It's been three years.

Day Five: One Man Down

On the left, you have a picture of me this morning. On the right, a picture of me last night. I daresay, it's getting worse, not better. Also, there is a new blemish on the right side of my face, below my lip. I don't know what to call that part of my face. It's not cheek. It's not chin. It's...weird.

I have noticed that, for the last two days my skin has burned. I only apply it to my cheeks, but it got to the point where I dreaded putting it on my skin. So as of tonight, I won't be using it in the evening - just in the morning.

Tomorrow, I plan on looking up the differences between Clean and Clear and products like Neutrogena Skin ID and Proactiv. I mean, I picked up Clean and Clear off the shelf for...well, I can't really give a good reason other than that the way it was presented on the packaging sounded promising. But products like Skin ID and Proactive have ad campaigns and such. So what do they do that Clean and Clear doesn't? Let's face it - there are only a handful of medications approved by the FDA for acne treatment.

Also, after tonight's treatment? My face is RED. I can't get a good picture of it, but believe me. It's like I'm blushing for no reason - all on my cheeks, chin, and forehead.

Day Four: Static

The pictures I took this morning are really bad. I mean, not in the sense that my acne has gotten worse (I can't really tell if it's changed at all, but the zit in my forehead seems to be waning). They're bad in the sense that I starting running water in the shower before I took the pictures, and my camera lens fogged up. So I'll take pictures tonight before the "PM" regimen. In the meantime, have a video! A...really boring video. Of my face.

The water-drinking has continued into today, but I cheated and had a cup of coffee and one of those "on the go" bottles of orange juice before I cracked open my sports bottle 'o H₂0. I'm tempted to try a multivitamin, for the benefits of both being healthier in general as well as potentially battling my acne. I guess, in the grand metaphor of it all, a vitamin is something to boost the morale of the troops.

I have to travel soon, and I've started thinking about how I'll pack. I wanted to just carry-on, but with the Clean and Clear kit, I'll have to check - unless I want to spend another $26 and buy a second kit when I get to where I'm going. It made me wonder about the potential racket the over the counter acne medication manufacturers have got going on. You never see anything in "convenient travel sizes" or anything, but hell - wouldn't that be helpful if they did market a version of their treatments that way? You can just see it now, can't you? "Pick up this handy-dandy, quart-sized, clear bag with a zipper-top that comes with your favorite acne regimen!" They already have an iron grip on the pricing for their product - countless people who are just as desperate as I am will try anything and pay anything to try and get rid of their acne.

I guess it just goes to show you that they're not in it to increase convenience.

Day Three: Floodgates?

There doesn't seem to me to be that much of a change so far. I'm starting to do some research on adult acne, and one of the articles I've come across in my preliminary Google search says drinking 8 glasses of water a day will help clear up acne scars. I know that a fair number of the marks on my cheeks are scars from past battles, so I'll try the water. I know I don't drink enough water.

8 glasses is nearly 2 liters. Holy monkeys. Here goes nothing.

Maybe when all this is over I'll tackle the bags under my eyes.

Also, for my own petty edification, here's a picture where I don't look like I just crawled out of bed and want to murder someone:

See? I'm really not that atrocious! I just hate my acne.

Day Two: Examining the Ammo

Not much change, then again, it's only day two. I woke up around 11 AM, so I didn't take pictures/apply treatment until close to noon. Biorhythms and schedule have to have something to do with skin health, I'm just not sure what. Anyway, once I get back into my regular, not-holiday schedule, things may change.

Also, wtf is up with my expression in the photo today? Given, I was struggling with my wonky tripod to get the zoom right. Maybe that's it.

The reviews for this product on the Clean and Clear website claim that they saw results (including "completely clear" within one week of use. Part of this project is to not only wage war on my own acne, but to hold products like Clean and Clear accountable. We've all seen the ads with the before and after photos, but how much of that is Photoshop'd?

With this morning came the "AM" application of the Breakout Erasing Cleanser, the Daily Protecting Moisturizer SPF 15, and the Mark Erasing Spot Treatment. The active ingredient in the cleanzer is 10% Benzoyl Peroxide. In the spot treatment and the Nightly mark Clearing Lotion it is Sallicylic Acid - 2% in the spot treatment and 1% in the night stuff.

My skin felt kind of minty after the cleanser, and as I sit typing this, I have a similar "tightness" feeling. I don't know how long it will last, but it feels like it's working. Who knows? Maybe this whole thing will be over in a week.

If only it were that easy.

Day One: An Introduction

A lot of people make New Year's Resolutions to lose weight or be more active. I've only made one resolution for 2011: to get rid of my acne. I'd thought that by age 25, my high school acne would be gone. Sure, I have periods of time during which my acne is worse than others, but it doesn't seem to be linked to stress or other hormonal factors.

My acne is waging war on me. It's time I fight back.

So here's the plan. Every day in 2011, I'll take at least picture of my face. This is to keep a visual record of various acne treatments. I plan on putting as many of them to the test as needed to

win this war.

The first weapon I have in my arsenal is the Clean & Clear Advantage 2 in 1 Acne and Mark Eraser Kit.

I began this routine with the "PM" combination

as described in the packaging, which consists of the cleanser, the night-time acne/mark eraser, and the general acne/mark eraser. After applying the last treatment, little pills of I'm-not-sure-what came off my cheeks, where my acne is the worst. My skin feels tight and slightly warm and kind of minty. We'll see how it looks in the morning before I apply the AM set, which replaces the night-time eraser with a moisturizer.

Since I'm chronicling this endeavor in blog form, comments and tips are appreciated. I've been battling this off and on for over a decade, and 2011 is the year I'll win.

On a happier note, I hope you enjoy my duckie shower curtain.