SOS: Help with acne!

Clindamycin lotion mixed with some raw jojoba oil... honestly, I wouldn't say it did much
but it’s still a better option than taking pills.

Help me...
My skin is an absolute disaster right now. I’ve cycled through basically every cream under the sun, but nothing actually works. Every time I catch my reflection, I just lose it—I can't stop obsessing until these stupid things on my face are gone. On top of the breakouts, I’ve got these nasty scabs everywhere from when I inevitably pick at them.
Look, I know the golden rule is "don't touch your face," but how am I supposed to actually follow that advice when it's driving me insane???
Someone please give me a real solution before I lose my mind... It feels like the older I get, the worse it gets. I really thought this was just a teenage phase that would vanish after high school, but here I am at 25 and it's getting even more intense!!!
Thanks!!

What have you been using? Did you ever see a dermatologist??

If you haven't yet, I highly recommend it! I've been fighting this acne battle for years, and I'm 24 now.

I personally used the La Roche-Posay gel and fluid along with some clindamycin, and honestly, it was a lifesaver. I used to have such nasty breakouts on my forehead, chin, and above my lip—it was awful. Every single morning I’d wake up to at least one new pimple, sometimes even 2 or 3 of those super painful, red, inflamed ones.

Right now, I don't have A SINGLE ONE... just some scarring left behind, which I'm hoping to fix soon too!

One more huge tip: try to touch your face AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE... I know from experience, no matter how much a breakout bugs you, just leave it alone! Our hands are always dirty; they can never be truly clean, and we all end up touching our faces constantly.

I'm telling you this from experience because whenever I picked at my skin, things just got worse and worse. Now, I don't touch anything. If a breakout pops up before my period, I just apply my products and let it be—it usually clears up on its own!

Seriously, people, when are you going to realize that treating acne is about what’s happening inside your body, not just what you smear on your face? It took me forever to wrap my head around this, but once I finally understood the connection, everything changed. I don't feel like writing a whole manifesto here, but do yourselves a favor: look into how androgen hormones interact with free radicals and how your liver processes them, and how that all ties back to breakouts. If you actually do the homework and commit to a real lifestyle shift, you can expect those breakouts to start clearing up in about a month. Good luck.

Glycolic acid at 50-60% once a week
Higee cleanser used 3x daily
Clindamycin applied 2x daily
La Roche-Posay cream applied 2x daily (for now)
PanOxyl gel 10% once at night

It seems to be working so far... (after 3 months of treatment)

The scarring has faded slightly and the acne breakouts have decreased...

Try washing your face with some sage tea. If you have a spare minute, throw some cold compresses made from the same stuff on your face too... it actually worked for me—it calms everything down and takes the redness away. Honestly, there's zero downside to trying it 🙂. I’m still dealing with breakouts, but at least my skin isn't constantly inflamed. As far as moisturizers go, the only thing that doesn't wreck my skin is Aquaphor. Everything else just irritates me way too much, and I really need to put *something* on my face to stay hydrated. Acne totally sucks -.-

Oh, and I totally forgot to mention plantain tea 🙂