Posted: 2/8/2007 10:48:59 AM EDT
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I'm 27 and I just can’t get my face to stay healthy-looking. My facial skin is always dry and spotted with at least a dozen pimples give or take another dozen, depending if I’m having a “good week” or a bad week. I’m a late bloomer when comes to facial hair and I struggle with moderate acne. Seems no matter what facial product and cleansing routine I try, my face always has about a dozen or so pimples and/or blemish marks that slowly reappear in new spots on my face whenever one spot heals. Forehead, cheeks, nose, jaw, neck –always on the FACE!! --the rest of my body has acne-free, healthy skin. I still can't grow a beard or anything close to it. If I go 5 days without shaving, I will have a pathetically sparse patch of beard on my chin and above my upper lip. I will have a bunch of random whiskers around my outer jaw and cheeks –but nothing close to a man’s beard. My dad, uncles, grandpas were skinny guys like me --all beardless until their early 20's. Now, here's my current routine: I shower once a day, in the morning. I shave my whole face after I get out of the shower, even though it is not really needed – I just don’t want any random whiskers appearing. I use a Gillette Mach 3 & Gillette Multicare fragrance-free shave gel. After shaving, I splash ice cold water on my face to cool it down. I dry it with a towel (I have a fresh towel every 2-3 days). I don't use aftershave, since it irritates my skin and makes the acne worse. I wash my face about once every 3-4 days with Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash. This seems to work the best at keeping my acne at a minimum level, but it's far froma cure and I just want to find something that will make my face clear completely! I have tried ProActiv Solution (didn’t work, dries my skin out too much) and Clearasil in every form. I’ve tried just about every foaming cleaser, topical gel, cream, liquid all the acne stuff. Nothing seems to work and all this stuff dries out my face. (My skin is very dry to begin with.) I tried using various skin lotions on my face, but they seem to make my face moisten just fine, but they cause more acne to occur. Does anyone have any recommendations on something I can try to keep my face healthy and acne free? Thanks, AE |
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Go here and follow the directions on this guy's website It also helps if you buy and use his products. I had the same problem in my mid-20s and I started following his regimen and have been 99% blemish free ever since starting the regimen in mid-2001. His "Regiment Gel" is much better than anything I've ever bought in stores and 1 4oz tube lasts me a full month. Not bad for $8.50/tube. |
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Tried any All Natural products? All the shit you listed is a Chemical Bath for your face  There's a poster (Sarge1119?) here on the boards that (wife) owns Balmy Bars. All Natural skin care products. Awesome products and great people to boot. We've been using there products (soaps, cleanses, scrubs) for going on a year now. My skin saw immediate improvements. My wife claimed the same. We use the soap for the entire family including our kids. We don't mind spending a little extra for a superior (IMO) product. I recommed it highly and at the very least visit their website and read up a little. IIRC ALL their products are ALL Natural. |
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Are you using extremely hot water to wash your face? Hot water opens the poors, so you should use the hottest water you can stand, and then wash. I'm like you, but I'm 36 and I don't have the "dozen pimple problem." Sensitive skin, sparse facial growth, patchy beard, and I do get pimples. I found that the hotter the water, the better the clean. Oh, and ALWAYS take a shower after work, before bed! Even if you have a cushy office job or are a college student, you still collect dirt during the day. At least wash your face directly before bed, but doing both is best as the steam from the shower will open the pores. |
Actually, since it's an equation, it's correct both ways. Unless you mean (more acne) = (less sex), Well, let's see here... If: (more acne) = (less sex), We've all heard "less is more," so let's just change (less) to (more) So: (more acne) = (more sex) Therefore, we can divide both sides of the equation by (more) So: (acne) = (sex). Dammit, and here's me washing my face every day! Edit: to the OP, I actually have pretty severe acne myself often, but I've found washing my face every day with the yellow Dial bars and Neutrogena oil-free acne wash has almost cleared it up. I also got a similar effect from a Clearasil 3-step product, but I forget the name of it and it's much more expensive. Also, since I've started exercising more often, it seems to have cleared up a little more, but I can't say for sure that's correlated. |
damn you 
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Get this: Cetaphil Trust me. Make sure it's the blue bar, and not the "antibacterial" version. It has no soaps, chemicals, perfumes, etc, etc, to irritate the skin, yet it leaves your face feeling clean. I know it says "for dry skin", but it works beautifully on oily skins. Use it for a couple weeks, and if that doesn't work, you may need tetracycline. So many of these facial washes, including neutragena, are still quite irritating to people with sensitive skin. Of the normal soaps, Dove is OK, but it still sucks. Ivory is terrible. ETA: Also, anything that causes flushing may exacerbate the problem: extremes of heat AND cold, wind, high exertion levels, hot beverages and certain alcohols (especially dark whiskys, red wine. White wine, gin and vodka are less of a problem). |
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here's some more of my mind over matter drivel but How stressed are you day to day? In the past during a particularly stressful time, I'd break out something awful. Problem was, I was stressed, get pimples, stress over pimples, get more pimples, ad infinitum... I stopped using all the facial crap (most of which is nothing but alcohol, hence the dry skin) developed a routine where I washed my face twice a day whether it needed it or not. And stopped "sweating" the acne... Once I slowed myself down a bit, learned to develop routines to handle my work load, the acne went away  |
+1 Don't be gross. |
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Too much showering is bad: It adds irritation and heat (flushing). Many people make the mistake of over-washing. I agree stress is often a culprit. I once saw a study that compared the incidence of acne between normal high schools and those new age ones without exams. The exam (stress)-free ones had a MUCH lower incidence. But stress can be a little harder to correct than my other suggestions. |
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Why not also examine your intake of foods & liquids known to worsen the situation? Thst way, along with improving facial hygeine, a close family member was able to improve the situation enough to stop going to the dermatologist and stop using medicine, including the topical stuff. Also working up a sweat every day helps. I think, as long as you shower afterward. And try the advice of the poster below, or else WHILE showering. The residue from the barbasol will get rinsed better than if you shave afterward. Change to a fresh face towel and washcloth THAT NO ONE ELSE USES every day or two. |
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When I was a teen, I used lye soap (home made). Worked like a charm. I'm kind of in the same boat as you are, beard wise. I can't grow a respectable beard (I get this from my mom's side). On the other hand, the men on my mom's side don't get their first grey hairs until well after 50, and none of them are balding. So I look at it as giving up some on my face, to keep it on my head. It's a tradeoff.  Seriously, think about it. Every hairy guy I know ends up going bald. Guys that can't grow a respectable beard? Full head of hair till death. Ever seen a Cherokee with a receeding hairline? I rest my case. 
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You used lye soap on your face? And you still have a face? You are one tough arfcommer! |
he'd be tougher if he could grow a beard  rob (slightly balding) 78 |
Yup. Rub it in a wash cloth first and use it on your face. Easy does it.  It worked really well. It dried the shit out of my face, but it worked. |
| Wash your face with apricot scrub from swiss ives, and splash really cold water afterwards... worked wonders for me in my teen years. The key is to end every shower and facial wash with really cold water to close the pores and invigorate circulation of blood and oxygen to the skin! |
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If your face is always dry and peeling, you should see a dermatologist. I've got dermatitis on my face and sometimes scalp. Multiple docs can't figure out what triggers it, but they have methods to control the peeling (steroids, face washes, and oil-free lotions). |
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I recently made the switch from replaceable multi-blade wonder razors to a good ole straight razor just out of curiosity. I instanly noticed that the red bumps and irritation I normally got from shaving on my neck dissapeared. I realize that my situation and yours are a little different, but this may help some. My fiance also battles her tempermental skin, and switching to all natural products has helped her a lot |
I think you're definitely right about the hair thing... My grandpa grows a weak beard, but he's got a full head of hair! Thanks for your responses everybody! I got some new ideas now on things I can change-up and try that I have not tried before. Arfcom rules! |
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Believe it or not, stress is a huge factor. Do you get stressed or nervous alot? How's your diet? Drink enough water? An obvious suggestion that is worth a try is a dermatologist. Antibiotics combined with certain topicals they have can really help. May not be an attractive option, but it's something that I know works. My brother has a problem, and antibiotics helped significantly. At one point he did get sick of taking them and stopped. The problem did come back but not as bad as when he was younger. He took antibiotics every day for a LONG time. Your problem is a very frustrating one, I know. I am almost 20 years older than you and still deal with it to one degree or another. Best of luck. |
Same here. Amazing how it seems to solve the problem permanently. Still get a zit once in a while, but dabbing some clearsil on once in a while beats washing your face daily, stridex pads, and cream, with no results.
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I think this is because if you don't cut with a stick type razor at the right angle to your beard hair direction, or you use one that is too dull, it will basically pull the hair out instead of cutting it. Then you get ingrown hairs. Same thing happens to me. |