the blog

Mini-skirts & Microphones

Chemical Peel + Meds: How I’m Clearing Up My Adult Acne

Beauty, Life

CATEGORY

Jun 17, 2018

POSTED

I really wish that title read, “How I cleared up my adult acne,” but the process to getting back to my smooth, clear skin is still ongoing.

Still, there has been great progress over the past few weeks and I wanted to share this for anyone who’s going through this uber annoying and depressing situation. I’ve had great skin all my life, but recently things took a turn for the worse and over the past six months, I’ve been battling adult acne: cystic pimples, severe hyperpigmentation, inflammation, redness, extreme scarring and coarse skin.

I’d gotten so self conscious and ashamed of it, I found it hard to look people straight in the face. I was forced to wear makeup in the gym and every two minutes found myself running to the bathroom to make sure it wasn’t draining down my neck. Doing my job became so hard; being a TV personality, my makeup artist took so long covering my spots, concealing the breakouts and trying to make me feel pretty.

After changing my diet, trying a million over the counter products, switching out my hair products, bed sheets, makeup brushes and facial cleansers; I finally decided to make a visit to see a doctor, a general practitioner.

He suspected issues with my thyroid and a possible hormonal imbalance and initially put me on antibiotics, estrogen tablets, selenium and magnesium. After four weeks, the breakouts got worse.

I then made a trip to my gynaecologist to further look into these horomonal imbalance claims. She put me on a stronger dose of the antibiotic, Retin-A and birth control and then advised me to pay a visit to a dermatologist who also prescribed medication.

Here’s (just about) everything I’m using to clear up my acne! 

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE THAT EVERYTHING LISTED WAS PRESCRIBED BY MY DOCTORS. SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION AND ADVICE BEFORE ADDING ANY OF THESE TO YOUR SKINCARE REGIMEN. I CAN’T SAY THAT THESE WILL WORK FOR YOU BUT I’M SHARING WHAT’S WORKING FOR ME! 

Retin-A: This thing is magic! It worked so fast in helping to reduce the inflammation, redness and soreness caused by those monster pimples! If I popped one, it literally tore my skin creating these nasty lesions. Retin-A is not to be used by pregnant women, or women looking to pregnant so I was advised to ONLY use it in the affected areas and to clear up acne lesions.

acne cream

Doxycycline antibiotic: These little blue pills helped to attack whatever was causing my acne from the inside. I took two pills daily and did realise that when I ran out of my pack, the pimples came back with the quickness!

acne medication

Indoxyl antibiotic:  While the doxycycline was working on the inside to clear up bacteria, germs and whatever other little monsters were contributing to my acne, Indoxyl was doing the same on the outside. It made my skin feel a little dry so I applied moisturizer to my skin to loosen it up.

Kate Somerville Eradikate acne treatment: So I have to thank the lady in Sephora for this one! She overheard me talking to my sister about my acne woes and chimed in with a suggestion! She recommended trying the new acne treatment that everyone was raving about. I told her I was so tired of trying new things and not getting results. Well I bought a bottle and tried it and let me tell you…MAGIC! Take a Q-tip sink straight to the bottom of the bottle, dab the pink solution to the pimple and watch it almost disappear overnight! P.S. Don’t shake the bottle, it’s supposed to look like two separate liquids. P.P.S. I accidentally shook the bottle! 🙁

kate somerville acne medication

Hydroquinone: I was constantly on the hunt for a dark spot remover. I tried natural remedies like tumeric, aloe vera (which I love) and even a brown sugar mask, everything worked so slowly. My dermatologist prescribed this to me in the lowest dosage, but it works like a dream! My spots have significantly lightened and are fading beautifully.

After getting into a consistent flow of using these products I made an appointment for my first chemical peel! You can see the before, during and after of that process in my YouTube video!

With the combination of these products and my chemical peel, my skin is finally on the mend! It looks great but feels even better! Anyone suffering with adult acne? How are you coping?

Chemical Peel + Meds: How I’m Clearing Up My Adult Acne

  1. Latara Evans says:

    I enjoyed this article.My 15 uear old teenager suffers from severe acne and uses the same regiment however the antibiotics causrs depressiom and I found that he was already pre disposed and going throigh it. I discontinued it for a while.But since its summer and I can watch him more closely I will resume it.

    P.S Get your liber tested regularly acne medication ,long term use affects it adversely.

    • ianthia says:

      Thanks so much for reading! I hope he’s getting better and the acne is now under control. I didn’t realise how serious acne is and how it’s sometimes a telltale signs of more serious issues. Will definitely keep my eyes peeled!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let's be friends on Instagram!

@iamianthia