I’ve had issues with acne since starting college (which was in 2007) and only finally has it died down a bit due to some treatment. Before college, I used to get a zit every now and then on my chin, cheeks, or forehead, but once I went to college, my acne got worse and worse where the pimples never went away and I finally understood what “pizza face” meant. I’m not sure what triggered the increase in pimples and why it never stopped. I’m from California and I thought that maybe moving the Massachusetts and the weather there had something to do with it, but then when I moved back to California for a year and a half, I still had acne. During my year and a half, I did live in Korea for a month or so and surprisingly enough, my face got loads better, which is why I joke that everyone gets prettier and thinner when they go to Korea. I graduated college,my face never got better, and I was super scared of going to a dermatologist that I never went. My mom’s friend recommended me clindamycin phosophate, which has absolutely saved me. My face looked like the Appalachian Mountains but now the bumps have died down for the most part; however, what I wasn’t prepared for was all the scarring. My face has so many red spots, purple spots, craters, and what appears to be enlarged/stretched out pores that my face went from “pizza face” to “crater face”. I was so glad that my face has “flattened” down but that brought on a whole set of other problems with my skin.

I decided that taking pictures would best document my journey to lessen the appearance of these scars. Right now I’m sampling a bunch of products and figured that taking pictures would help me decide which product works best and stick to that. I’m also listing all the products that I’m using to complement the pictures.

Things to note: I’m trying to get rid of all the facial cleansers I have bought. During college, I used Neutrogena’s Oil-Free Acne Stress Control Power-Clear Scrub and Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub. Used both for 5-6 years and they barely did anything. You’d think that I’d give up on those products after using it for 5-6 years but I kept buying it because I’m a dolt (and also because compared to all other products, the pink grapefruit worked just a touch). I’ve also tried other methods during my college years that others have suggested, such as using regular face wash, exfoliating almost every day, using normal bar soap, washing my face no more than once a day and to not wash if I could help it (that one was hard), and using Cetaphil’s Daily Facial Cleanser. During the time when I used clindamycin phosphate, I used Missha’s Creamy Latte Strawberry Cleansing Foam and noticed that my face was still red, thus I tried Beyond’s Moisturizing Facial Foam Moisturizing Recipe with Honey, Oat, and Olive because I figured that the Beyond face wash might be “more gentle” due to all the ~natural stuff~ (hahahaaaaa). Well, the Beyond face wash was AMAZING and it really helped lessen the redness and I noticed that my zits started to go away faster after I started using that wash. If I could continue to use any face wash from the ones I have used, I would use the Beyond one but the thing is, I can’t find it anywhere in America. I now use clindamycin phosphate for spot treatment and stopped applying it on all the places I used to have acne because it stopped doing anything. It still works wonderfully on areas with an actual pimple on it. I’ve moved on to lighteners and spot reducers in hopes that it’ll lessen the appearance of my scars. I’ve started using Peter Thomas Roth’s Camu Camu Power C x30 Vitamin C Brightening Serum on April 13, 2014.

Other products that I’ve used before clindamycin phosphate came to save the day (aka products that also didn’t work):
-Aveeno Ultra Calming Foaming Cleanser
-Clean & Clear Morning Burst Facial Scrub (Never used this stuff until the day I got to Massachusetts… and then my skin just went downhill from there.)
-Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturizer
-up & up Action Moisturizer
-St. Ives Apricot Scrub
-Neutrogena Oil-Free Anti-Acne Moisturizer
-Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion
-Clean & Clear Blackhead Eraser Scrub (This REALLY didn’t work. I still have some left that I need to use up.)

If any readers out there have any suggestions, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SUGGEST! I was also supposed to see a dermatologist last month or so but it didn’t work out, oops! Gotta get on top of that.

All pictures are taken right after I’ve woken up without washing my face. My face looks so much better in pictures than what it looks like in real life. My camera and my cellphone camera can’t pick up all the details :(

Click here for pictorial acne diary: April 28, 2014-May 4, 2014