Honestly, being 100% clear after having cystic acne for a while, it’s best to attack the situation through topical prescribed by a dermatologist. I’ve tried neutrogena’s system, clean and clear, and pro active; neither of them are anything to jump up and down about, that’s for sure. And pro active just sucks all together. But I use retina-a .1%, industrial strength, and 1% clindamycin. If you can’t tolerate retin a, then either down grade to a lower percentage, or get on different. But the retina-a is about 40$ a tube without insurance (for the generic), and I pay 30$ a tube with insurance. It takes about three to six months, but it’s so worth it. Talk to your dermatologist about your acne, don’t dance around it with these “miracle cures” and systems. They are a complete WASTE, of money.

Face cack, have a wonderful day.

I’m a 53 years old science teacher and the old saw that “you’ll grow out of this” didn’t come true for me.

As you can imagine I’ve tried EVERYTHING! Expensive prescriptions, peels, sun lamp (back in the day)and all the “acne treatment du jour” regimes. (clearasil, zenmed, proactiv, benza’somethin’, Retin A)

What works for me? Both old fashioned common sense and a new natural “probiotic” product. I’m in to probiotic foods – so I checked online to see if probiotics were used in skin remedies. Wow! Amazing.

1. plenty of sleep, water,limit “white” foods and sugar foods (darn)
2. exercise
3. work on stress reduction (ha ha!)
4. Equilibrium Pro-biotic Rejuvenating Mist – it turns out acne is all about a bacterial imbalance on your skin. You need the right amount of good bacteria. A green product – no harsh chemicals- made Chrisal.

Just google Chrisal California and you’ll find them. I’m too lazy to look up the address.

Good luck, this is the best my skin has looked since childhood.I don’t know how it does it – but it reduces fine lines and evens out blotchiness too.

I had really bad acne for quite some time. Changed my diet to limit processed foods and sugars, gentle cleansing regime, drink lots of water, get a little bit of sun every day and exercise for at least 30 minutes every day. If you are a female, try Brenda or Juliet contraceptive pill perhaps? As sometimes breakouts are due to hormones and not your gut. Before you get duped by Chris Gibson and his “miraculous” remedies, perhaps just take a look at your diet and cleansing routine? My skin has started looking 100 times better just by following the routine described above. I tried proactiv and all the other skin care products aggressively marketed, just hoping for a change. Now, my skin is better than ever and my wallet isn’t as light either.

Understanding Inflammation

Inflammation is a response which is provided by the immune system, in an attempt to defend the body against infection. It causes pain, swelling and redness, though in acne it is usually the redness which mainly affects people who are suffering with it.

The main problem which acne sufferers face with inflammation is the fact that it can leave scarring. In many people with sever acne, the inflammation is so severe that it does leave quite a lot of scarring and that can have a really bad impact on the person suffering from acne. So if you do have bad acne inflammation, what exactly can you do about it?

Preventing Inflammation

Now whilst the body causes inflammation in an attempt to protect itself, it does not unfortunately look good. Also, whilst inflammation will not necessarily leave you with acne scarring, there is a chance that it will and so preventing it from occurring in the first place is often a good idea.

One of the main ways in which you can decrease inflammation, is through taking in more anti oxidants into the body. Antioxidants are found in various foods and they help to protect the body against all kinds of health problems. The acne vitamins which you should mainly focus on increasing are Vitamin A, C and E as they help to reduce free radical damage and also reduce the appearance of inflammation.

Another main cause of inflammation around acne pimples is through you touching them. Most people are brought up to believe that squeezing spots will help to get rid of them, but in fact it can make the problem a whole lot worse. By squeezing or touching acne lesions, it often irritates them even more and causes inflammation. So even if the sight of your pimples is really annoying you, avoid touching them at all costs, otherwise you could end up making the problem worse.

Ensure that all excess oil is removed from your skin. If your pores stay clogged then the inflammation will continue to be a problem, so it is better to cleanse your skin and stop any excess oils from building up. You can get clay masks which are really good at soaking up excess oils, or using a mild cleanser twice daily will also really help.

Overall inflammation can be caused by a number of factors but it can be prevented if you take certain precautions. Increasing antioxidants, not picking or touching your spots and removing excess oil from the skin will all help to reduce the amount of inflammation that your acne causes. So, if you were wondering why inflammation occurs when you have acne, hopefully now you will have a better idea of how to recognize it and how to prevent it too.

I tried many types of moisturizers (including oil-free type) but my face is somewhat oily, and they make me break out. I kept looking because my forehead and the sides of my face get dry (especially during winter), and I absolutely have to use a moisturizer.

I was pretty happy when I found the Made from Earth Rosehip & Hibiscus Face Serum and I have continued to use it for at least two years now. It really works, and I love it! I do not break out from using it, plus it is a perfect moisturizer. The best thing about its also is that it is chemical free and organic…plus it firms the skin also!

I guess it was all the chemicals in skin care products that was making me break out all these years. The sides of my face no longer itch during the winter, and the chemical free with anti-wrinkle formula is ideal for me, because I turned 49 this year! I looked at other moisturizers but have never found one that has both benefits together. You can kind them in Whole Food Stores, or at madefromearth.com

The only real fool proof way to get rid of acne and stay free is exercising, eating the right foods, and intake of omega 3,6, and 9 fatty oil. I was actually looking for a way to lower my body fat and bought a book called burned the fat feed the muscle not only is it a book on how to lower your body fat but when you follow the book you’ll notice your acne disappearing as well. As I was saying I was only looking for a book on how to lower my body fat percentage but I also suffer from acne ever since i was a freshmen in HS to my 20’s after following the book not only did I lower my body fat percentage but I also got rid of my acne. A double whammy. Just google it find the book and follow through and take action and you’ll see what I mean.

One of the most recited marketing mantras of all time is that “people won’t pay for prevention”.  I’ve been to marketing seminars that focus exclusively on how to extract the most amount of money out of consumers like you (and me) and when the speaker was asked to distill his core message down to a single bullet point this is what he said:

“Fat people want to pop a pill, go to bed fat, and wake up skinny”

Now he was using the weight loss market as an example, but according to him this principle universally applies to all markets.  What he means is that people are only interested in quick fixes that don’t involve them having to lift a finger.

As much as I hate to admit it, and as much as I dislike the crass way the speaker described what people really want, I can’t argue with him.  Take a look at all those infomercials that promise instant weight loss, a photographic memory overnight, millions of dollar working just 2 hours a week.  These things have been around for decades and when one fizzles out another one comes along and makes the same claim and people trip over themselves to buy it.

There’s a couple books out their that I consider to be the acne version of a get-rich-quick scheme.  They make big bold claims, and promise instant results, but like most things that sound too good to be true, don’t deliver on their promise.

The lesson here is that there are acne books out their that give good advice, but if you find one who’s claims sound too good to be true don’t waste your money.