Skin Help Please!

I have PCOS and my hormonal acne at 27 is worse than anything I ever experienced as a teen. I’ve had cystic acne that’s sooo painful and my skin just generally is red and blotchy. Balance by Alani Nu is truly the only thing that’s helped me. I always feel like an infomercial when I talk about it, but I’m really passionate because it’s helped me with so much more than just my complexion, but that’s for another post. They post tons of before and after pics on their Instagram and you can also see reviews on their website.

I haven’t taken a proper after picture, but I found a couple of photos that really show the difference. The first photo is in September ‘18 before I started Balance, it’s really unflattering and embarrassing but oh well, and the second is in January of ‘19. I’m only wearing blush and mascara in the second photo which was unheard of for me. Hopefully these aren’t huge because I’m posting from the app.

Not sure there is much to be done for the scarring, but for ongoing breakouts, have you tried a hormonal birth control? That might do the trick.

View Quoted Comment

I grew up with cystic acne, and took accutane in high school which helped with a lot. I took the depo birth control shot for a few months and it's like a lot of my acne came back. Not cystic still, but the normal acne (that sucked since I had figured out how to get it go away). So they are supplements? Which ones do you take? I'm hesitant to add a ton of supplements, I already take a pre-natal & a biotin collagen hair supplement. I know biotin can cause acne so I'm considering stopping that though.

I also go to a dermatologist. Retinoids didn't work for me at first either, but they switched me to a higher percentage and it worked better. The best thing I've ever used on my face though was a Clarisonic. It has helped with smoothing out my skin and preventing breakouts.

View Quoted Comment

I'm on the pill, unfortunately depo caused my acne to get way worse so I'm hesitant to change that at all or do anything more temporary than the pill!

View Quoted Comment

Yeah I really did try! I tried one and she did almost nothing, then I went to another 4 times in the past year, and she really wasn't willing to do more than "try retinA once a week" "try retinA everyday" "try this face wash" but nothing that actually helped and I was getting tired of paying copays for someone who saw me for 5 minutes and prescribed exactly what my primary did so I just ended up going to medical spas that recommended actual treatments. Clarisonic, the face brush? I actually have a face brush, I've just never used it. What do you use it with and how often do you use it?

View Quoted Comment This is the one that I take. I’m not huge on taking supplements either, but I figured what I’m using on the outside isn’t working, I needed to fix something inside. I was hesitant before trying it, but I looked into all of the ingredients and figured I would give it a shot.
https://www.alaninu.com/products/essentials-balance

View Quoted Comment

How soon after trying it did you notice a difference? What do you do externally with skin care in addition to these?

I know lots of people throw shade at Mary Kay, but it’s seriously done wonders for my skin. I use the Timewise line (cleanser, day/night creams, eye cream) and rotate through the microdermabrasion/pore minimizing serum, moisturizing gel mask, and vitamin c serum + activating squares at night too. I know they also have an acne line!

View Quoted Comment

Great! I think having a consistent routine will help too, regardless. I just jump from product to product because there are so many out there. Do you know what is in the microderm or pore minimizing serum? How often do you mask and use the vitamin C serum and microderm/pore serum?

View Quoted Comment Honestly, my skin got worse for probably two or three weeks before I saw any improvement. I know that it was my hormones trying to balance out, but it wasn’t fun. After that few weeks it cleared up pretty quickly. I use neutrogena oil free face wash and Garnier micellar water twice a day and a St. Ives moisturizer once a day, I’m not sure what the name is.

View Quoted Comment

Yeah I'm used to that, that happens after my facials. I was hoping that would happen with Curology but it's been 2 months now. I did google it and did see a lot of PCOS forums come up, but I will look into it further for me anyway!

View Quoted Comment Oh my gosh, yes! Being super consistent is so important. If I miss a day of washing my face, I definitely notice a difference.

I’m not sure of the ingredients off the top of my head but I’ll look when I get home!

I rotate through the mask, microdermabrasion and pore minimizer, and vitamin c serum throughout the week. So I use each product 2-3 times per week

View Quoted Comment

Great, thank you!

View Quoted Comment I use a generic Retin-A once a day and finacea foam twice a day. The Clarisonic face brush was very expensive but it works way better than the face brush I bought at the drug store. It vibrates very fast, so it doesn't spin at all. It literally shakes the dirt out of your skin. I use it twice a day for about a minute. Between the Clarisonic which is a very gentle exfoliator and the retina my scars from acne have started to go away.

Honestly the only things that will help get rid of pitting is microneedling with PRP and/or fillers. And maybe some other procedures I don’t know about. But creams and facials will do nothing for deep scars.

View Quoted Comment

RetinA seems to help with my breakouts after I get them, but really doesn't prevent them. I've used it as a spot treatment & all over face nightly treatment, it never helped with uneven skin, acne scarring, preventing breakouts, or blackheads. It helped with breakouts after they happened so I use it then, but I'm hoping to overall improve my skin. I'll look into Clarisonic, it is pretty expensive but it would be great if it worked!

View Quoted Comment

So is that what that is called, on my face? Pitting? I have been debating microneedling, but I will schedule some now. I've always been hesistant on fillers but I'll ask during my appointment!

View Quoted Comment Mary Kay’s acne line literally changed my life! I had been on prescription meds for years and sometimes my skin was ok but sometimes it would flare up again even with the meds. I’ve been using the Mary Kay acne line religiously (twice a day every day since July) and my skin is the clearest it’s been in YEARS. I still get breakouts sometimes but it’s always just like 1 or 2 now....... I don’t have full-on “acne” anymore which is a dream come true!