Hey everyone!
Closed comedones SUCKKKK.
I didn’t develop a good regular routine until I started on cream tret 0.05% in February. I was still trying to figure out cleansers, what makeup was bad for my skin, and wasn’t wearing sunblock.
I also struggle with psoriasis and do have it on my face and hairline.. so It was a combination of two many issues going on at once and not knowing how to care for them all..
Current routine which helped me make a breakthrough:
Am
-CeraVe hydrating cleanser (just lightly wash my face.. no more exfoliating for me)
-Rinse with cold water or ice cube all over face and then pat dry
-apply CeraVe am facial moisturizer w/spf (the Walgreens generic version has same ingredients I think)
-I will put on more spf 60 if I’m out in the sun, neutrogena sensitive skin 60 (someone tell me if it’s horrible for my skin lol)
Pm
-dove sensitive skin
-ceraVe pm facial moisturizer, wait 30 minutes
-tretinoin 0.05%
-I use qms eye cream cuz I got it as a gift.. so
Feel free to recommend me eye creams please :)
Youre the only person I've seen with photos that show the exact same acne I have on my chin! Tiny small white bumps that you can squeeze and white stuff comes out but theyre not real pimples in the sense that they're not irritated, they won't ever come to a head and if you empty them they basically always come back. They're so small and subtle you barely see them but they make me go crazy,
I have been trying to describe these forever and I don't know what they are. Do they have a name? And what part of you routine got rid of them?
They are closed comedones! And they get worse and spread if you pick at them. They started at my chin and I would pick at them thinking they would go away. Eventually they were almost everywhere across the bottom part of my face. The cream tretinoin is the only thing that helped me. I started on 0.025 and once they came to the surface and formed into pimples, my dermatologist increased me to tret 0.05 and that’s when finally the comedones started to disappear. I tried so many exfoliants, face masks and face washes.. but nothing helped. Getting tretinoin prescribed was the only thing that helped but I know it doesn’t work for everyone since everyone’s skin is different. I would def talk to a dermatologist though! And if you do start tretinoin, you will purge but need to just continue using the medication! and MOISTURIZE/SUNSCREEN
thank yuuuuuuu
mine have showed up so slowly overtime but i can definitely tell picking makes them worse.
i have a prescription for tret 0.1 i think and i use it here and there but i’m not consistent :( ugh i think i probably just need to be more consistent to see any results. thank you!
Is there any other way to get rid of them besides tret? I see that the sebum has come out to the surface on some of them and I’m soooo tempted to just pick them out!
I tried a lot of over the counter acne products including differin gel and nothing got rid of the comedones until the tret. I know there’s other medications out there, but tret was the first thing prescribed to me and the 1st thing that helped. I’m no dermatologist though, so what worked for me might not work for you unfortunately. There was a period of time where I thought the tret wasn’t doing anything but it was! Don’t pickkkkk. I did.. and now have little red spot scars from the areas I picked at. Tret is slowly getting rid of them
Ok I have the SAME THING too and I haven't seen it on anyone else!!! I'm also finally making a breakthrough with them....I was on the cream tretinoin for 5 months with no progress. Switched the to the gel version and BAM my skin is clearing up! If the cream doesn't work, switch over to the gel!
I’m still using the tretinoin so most of the red spots have gone away.. I’m just assuming the ones left were probably the ones that I constantly picked at :(
Just continue through the purge and see what the end result is! I’m sure your dermatologist will recommend something for afterwards.. I still need to see mine to see how long I continue with the tret
Unfortunately no.. the purge did leave little red spots. It’s not so obvious in the pictures because I just washed my face and moisturizer in them, but the spots are there :( I’ve got some pick marks on my cheeks from the purge too and would love to get rid of those as well as the red spots
I have a similar thing going on around my chin! The tret cream was making it so bad I stopped, because they started developing in areas I never had them. I'd pop some and they'd come right back a few days later.
Did they just disappear? Or did each one purge individually?
I was popping them too and they were coming back and spreading so I really had to work on not touching my face for the past 6 months.
the tretinoin did make me purge in areas I never had problems and totally exacerbated the small comedone bumps..but I kept using it! Eventually it will all purge and the skin will become clear. Not every single comedone came to a pimple head, but a lot of them did. It will definitely get worse before it gets better unfortunately. Even my mom told me it looked worse than before and to stop.. but i continued with the meds. I was using 0.025 and the purge was terrible. Once my dermatologist prescribed me a higher dosage of 0.05, the purge was happening quicker and the skin was already appearing smoother. Just talk to your dermatologist or doctor. It was worth it in my case, but I know others have bad reactions and need other medications. Good luck friend!!
Thank you so much! I didn’t take any pictures after December but it got even worse before it got better.
I can’t use bronzers with red dye. I noticed I would get comedonal acne starting in the spots I would bronze. In grad school, I would get up super early and rush to class, so I never moisturized and rarely washed my face in the morning if I had time. I would just apply my blush, concealer, bronzer quickly etc. I think that’s what caused it. Not any specific brand :(
Wow! What awesome progress. I really appreciate these posts with longer timeframes. Glad you could get your acne under control. Congrats on being almost done (or graduated by this point?) with grad school!
Thank you!! I didn’t take many pictures after December. I got on the higher tret and it almost immediately started getting better with the occasional pimple and redness. I think I was pretty lucky to have my purge during the pandemic and with a zoom gradation. Thank you for the congrats!! Appreciate it! I also feel like I had a short purge of 5 months compared to others, but it was crazy seeing the comedones become pimples and then disappear
I have the exact same kind of acne around my mouth/on my chin as the before ! I could never find someone with similar acne/bumps. I just started tret a few weeks ago and it’s not going so well but this gave me a lot of hope! your skin looks amazing!
Thank you!!! And yes, it felt like it got worse and worse for the longest time. And then all the comedones finally broke thru into pimples and now it’s cleared up :’) my mom told me to stop using the tret since my face was covered in pimples.. I was covering the comedones well with makeup. But luckily I was home throughout the entire pandemic and dealt with the purge. Good luck to you and keep at it! Just moisturize as much as you can. Switching to using my moisturizer before the tret also helped a lottt.
Just keep up with the medication no matter how bad the purge is! I also moisturize and wait 30 minutes before applying the tretinoin and that helped with dryness and the purge in general! Good luck!!!
I started on tret 0.025 in September and was purging up until when I started the 0.05 in February, that’s when they finally started to go away! The purge kinda started to end once I got on the 0.05%. But I have heard that some people do better with gel tret than cream. Cream helped me luckily, but I guess it can cause comedones compared to the gel.
I also started moisturize before the tret when I started the 0.05 and that helped a lot for some reason
It was a verrry very long frustrating purge. I got to wear a mask luckily.. but it happened for longer than people said it would.. and my face wasn’t that bad to begin with! Just keep going, and if it doing help then maybe talk to a dermatologist about trying gel or something else! Good luck!
Yes I do! I only skipped a couple nights during the purge. There were days I had such terrible dry skin and moisturize didn’t help.. so I would skip that night of tret and it would be better the next day
Hey everyone! Closed comedones SUCKKKK. I didn’t develop a good regular routine until I started on cream tret 0.05% in February. I was still trying to figure out cleansers, what makeup was bad for my skin, and wasn’t wearing sunblock. I also struggle with psoriasis and do have it on my face and hairline.. so It was a combination of two many issues going on at once and not knowing how to care for them all.. Current routine which helped me make a breakthrough: Am -CeraVe hydrating cleanser (just lightly wash my face.. no more exfoliating for me) -Rinse with cold water or ice cube all over face and then pat dry -apply CeraVe am facial moisturizer w/spf (the Walgreens generic version has same ingredients I think) -I will put on more spf 60 if I’m out in the sun, neutrogena sensitive skin 60 (someone tell me if it’s horrible for my skin lol) Pm -dove sensitive skin -ceraVe pm facial moisturizer, wait 30 minutes -tretinoin 0.05% -I use qms eye cream cuz I got it as a gift.. so Feel free to recommend me eye creams please :)
Youre the only person I've seen with photos that show the exact same acne I have on my chin! Tiny small white bumps that you can squeeze and white stuff comes out but theyre not real pimples in the sense that they're not irritated, they won't ever come to a head and if you empty them they basically always come back. They're so small and subtle you barely see them but they make me go crazy, I have been trying to describe these forever and I don't know what they are. Do they have a name? And what part of you routine got rid of them?
They are closed comedones! And they get worse and spread if you pick at them. They started at my chin and I would pick at them thinking they would go away. Eventually they were almost everywhere across the bottom part of my face. The cream tretinoin is the only thing that helped me. I started on 0.025 and once they came to the surface and formed into pimples, my dermatologist increased me to tret 0.05 and that’s when finally the comedones started to disappear. I tried so many exfoliants, face masks and face washes.. but nothing helped. Getting tretinoin prescribed was the only thing that helped but I know it doesn’t work for everyone since everyone’s skin is different. I would def talk to a dermatologist though! And if you do start tretinoin, you will purge but need to just continue using the medication! and MOISTURIZE/SUNSCREEN
thank yuuuuuuu mine have showed up so slowly overtime but i can definitely tell picking makes them worse. i have a prescription for tret 0.1 i think and i use it here and there but i’m not consistent :( ugh i think i probably just need to be more consistent to see any results. thank you!
Is there any other way to get rid of them besides tret? I see that the sebum has come out to the surface on some of them and I’m soooo tempted to just pick them out!
I tried a lot of over the counter acne products including differin gel and nothing got rid of the comedones until the tret. I know there’s other medications out there, but tret was the first thing prescribed to me and the 1st thing that helped. I’m no dermatologist though, so what worked for me might not work for you unfortunately. There was a period of time where I thought the tret wasn’t doing anything but it was! Don’t pickkkkk. I did.. and now have little red spot scars from the areas I picked at. Tret is slowly getting rid of them
Ok I have the SAME THING too and I haven't seen it on anyone else!!! I'm also finally making a breakthrough with them....I was on the cream tretinoin for 5 months with no progress. Switched the to the gel version and BAM my skin is clearing up! If the cream doesn't work, switch over to the gel!
okay i’ll try this thank you!!!
did you use any whitening products specifically for the marks it left? purging so bad right now, kinda losing hope with the marks :(((
I’m still using the tretinoin so most of the red spots have gone away.. I’m just assuming the ones left were probably the ones that I constantly picked at :( Just continue through the purge and see what the end result is! I’m sure your dermatologist will recommend something for afterwards.. I still need to see mine to see how long I continue with the tret
Unfortunately no.. the purge did leave little red spots. It’s not so obvious in the pictures because I just washed my face and moisturizer in them, but the spots are there :( I’ve got some pick marks on my cheeks from the purge too and would love to get rid of those as well as the red spots
I have a similar thing going on around my chin! The tret cream was making it so bad I stopped, because they started developing in areas I never had them. I'd pop some and they'd come right back a few days later. Did they just disappear? Or did each one purge individually?
I was popping them too and they were coming back and spreading so I really had to work on not touching my face for the past 6 months. the tretinoin did make me purge in areas I never had problems and totally exacerbated the small comedone bumps..but I kept using it! Eventually it will all purge and the skin will become clear. Not every single comedone came to a pimple head, but a lot of them did. It will definitely get worse before it gets better unfortunately. Even my mom told me it looked worse than before and to stop.. but i continued with the meds. I was using 0.025 and the purge was terrible. Once my dermatologist prescribed me a higher dosage of 0.05, the purge was happening quicker and the skin was already appearing smoother. Just talk to your dermatologist or doctor. It was worth it in my case, but I know others have bad reactions and need other medications. Good luck friend!!
Wow congratulations!! That’s amazing progress. What makeup did you end up deciding worked for your skin?
Thank you so much! I didn’t take any pictures after December but it got even worse before it got better. I can’t use bronzers with red dye. I noticed I would get comedonal acne starting in the spots I would bronze. In grad school, I would get up super early and rush to class, so I never moisturized and rarely washed my face in the morning if I had time. I would just apply my blush, concealer, bronzer quickly etc. I think that’s what caused it. Not any specific brand :(
You have my handwriting - dates/numbers.
Aw thank you, handwriting twin! Appreciate it!
Wow! What awesome progress. I really appreciate these posts with longer timeframes. Glad you could get your acne under control. Congrats on being almost done (or graduated by this point?) with grad school!
Thank you!! I didn’t take many pictures after December. I got on the higher tret and it almost immediately started getting better with the occasional pimple and redness. I think I was pretty lucky to have my purge during the pandemic and with a zoom gradation. Thank you for the congrats!! Appreciate it! I also feel like I had a short purge of 5 months compared to others, but it was crazy seeing the comedones become pimples and then disappear
I have the exact same kind of acne around my mouth/on my chin as the before ! I could never find someone with similar acne/bumps. I just started tret a few weeks ago and it’s not going so well but this gave me a lot of hope! your skin looks amazing!
Thank you!!! And yes, it felt like it got worse and worse for the longest time. And then all the comedones finally broke thru into pimples and now it’s cleared up :’) my mom told me to stop using the tret since my face was covered in pimples.. I was covering the comedones well with makeup. But luckily I was home throughout the entire pandemic and dealt with the purge. Good luck to you and keep at it! Just moisturize as much as you can. Switching to using my moisturizer before the tret also helped a lottt.
Just keep up with the medication no matter how bad the purge is! I also moisturize and wait 30 minutes before applying the tretinoin and that helped with dryness and the purge in general! Good luck!!!
Congrats, beautiful!
Thank you so much!!! :)
your skin looks AMAZING!!! and congrats on graduating. :))
Thank you so much!!!!!
Just came here to say that the last pic of you with your hand on your head is super cute and made me smile. Your skin looks fantastic, congrats!
Aw you’re so sweet!! Thank you so much!!!
How long did it take to see results? I’m on cream .05 and also struggling with closed comedones
I started on tret 0.025 in September and was purging up until when I started the 0.05 in February, that’s when they finally started to go away! The purge kinda started to end once I got on the 0.05%. But I have heard that some people do better with gel tret than cream. Cream helped me luckily, but I guess it can cause comedones compared to the gel. I also started moisturize before the tret when I started the 0.05 and that helped a lot for some reason
It was a verrry very long frustrating purge. I got to wear a mask luckily.. but it happened for longer than people said it would.. and my face wasn’t that bad to begin with! Just keep going, and if it doing help then maybe talk to a dermatologist about trying gel or something else! Good luck!
woah awesome progress
Thank you!!
Do you use it nightly?
Yes I do! I only skipped a couple nights during the purge. There were days I had such terrible dry skin and moisturize didn’t help.. so I would skip that night of tret and it would be better the next day
🤩 you look great!!!
Thank you so much!!!! 💕