Has anyone tried the at home Microdermabrasion Kits?. Nuetrogena
has one in the stores for about $35.00. I am tempted to give it a
try but don’t want to waste my money on something that may not work
or make my skin worse. I have very oily skin with lots of
blackheads, whiteheads, some acne scars, large pores and breakouts.
Thanks for any advise that may be out there 
Cindy
I had it many many years ago when I was suffering from severe acne, I
suppose soon after it had first become available. I had excellent
results, although when I first started taking it, the acne got ALOT
worse for couple of weeks or so. After some weeks, I think, my face
cleared completely and it stayed that way for probably few years,
even tho I had stopped ALL treatment. Since then, unfortunately the
acne has come and gone. My doctor is not keen on roaccutane so will
not refer me to have it again so I have had to have antibiotics from
time to time. I am now trying N-lite laser treatment together with
professional facials/peels - so far I have been able to cut down on
the antibiotics but not too sure about N-lite, it is very expensive
and taken a while to get the (apparent) benefits. Having said all
this, my acne is fairly mild these days, not severe so I am probably
aiming high, ie for blemish-free skin 
Thanks, Rob
I was on accutane for 4 months last year and the only regret I had
was I wish I had done it years ago. I tried everything and nothing
worked except for accutane and been clear since. It gave me my life
back.
So I’ll start by saying that I had REALLY bad acne for 5 years, 8
months of which I was on highest strength Accutane, and Proactiv is
the ONLY thing that worked for me.
I had oily skin, and about 40 blemishes at a time!
I tried Proactiv, and like everyone else, I’m sure, found it
extremely drying. I couldn’t even wear make up, as it would peel
off, and I wasn’t about to leave the house without make up!!
So, here’s what I did. I went to the Body Shop, and got some really
THICK Body Butter. The best one to use, I found, is Brazillian Nut
for dry skin. It’s really inexpensive ($7 a jar), and you can put it
on after you use the Proactiv instead of your regular moisturizer.
Proactiv not only dries your skin on contact, but it also prevents
(more…)
Acne.org has a regimen for acne. I tried it out for 3 weeks using
their benzoyl peroxide acne gel. The site advocates a large amount of
benzoyl peroxide, and for 3 weeks, I used a large amount on my face
every night. I got paranoid of how much BP I was using and quit after
3 weeks. But now, one month after I quit, my face has become insanely
oily. It shines excessively and when I touch it, my hand gets all oily
too. It was never like this. Did the BP adversely affect my skin? I’m
very scared now that the BP ruined my skin permanently. Will it ever
go back to the matte appearance it was before?
I’m debating whether or not to go on this powerful drug, but was
wondering if anyone out there has had any experience with it?
thanks!
Hi Claire,
I have done Laser skin resurfacing myself, and I can only recommend
it to you. But beware, after your skin has healed, and the redness
has vanished (which all in all took about 6 months), you will feel
like living in heaven, for some time. Now, after 3 years, I find
myself in a much stronger position, but my own standards have risen
as well. You get used to the improvement of your scarring, and the
despair will slowly creep in again (although it may not be as bad as
before, because people won’t notice your scars as much as before the
operation).
But as Nietzsche once said: "What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger."
Cheers,
(more…)
Good Morning,
I recently received some really helpful information that I wanted to pass along
to the group It was published by Dr. Ruthie Harper a board certified medical
internist and creator of NuVANTE a skincare product line. There is a newsletter
that comes out monthly and when I find helpful information I’ll pass it along to
the group. I know there was a question a while back about whiteheads. Hope it
helps…
Why do I keep getting whiteheads even though I clean my face every day?
We found out that proper exfoliation prevents Milia, those annoying little bumps
that appear as whiteheads below the surface of the skin that never seem to go
away. And unfortunately, cleanliness isn’t the problem - milia form because of
the skin’s inability to naturally exfoliate. When the skin cells do not
exfoliate, they form tiny cysts that appear like white beads and become trapped
(more…)
Hi All,
It has been some time now since I posted but I am really happy to
say that I have managed to get funding for my facial acne scarring
to be treated with laser resurfacing. It was a real ordeal that
took about eight months or so, five committees sat to assess my case
and I had to see a liaison psychiatrist twice for him to assess
whether I had been adversely affected by this.
I have heard varying reports about the success of laser treatment, I
guess that the response can be quite variable from one person to the
next. Anyway at least I have a shot at it now and will post about
my results when it happens, which won’t be any time soon as it all
takes a long time to get through the system.
If you remember back there was a site given that has an acne skin
care program that is all natural and botanical. I decided to give
it a try, and ordered from there. I have been using it for a week,
and the results are GREAT!
I just wanted to let you all know that. I definitely recommend it!
The website is www.naturalskinandhealthcare.myarbonne.com
This stuff is great, and I am thrilled that my face is getting so
clear!
Jessica