Hello! Short time lurker, first time poster!
Around the beginning of the year I started to get horrible acne/bumps/redness on my cheeks. This was incredibly unusual for me as I’ve always had quite clear and even skin, however around that same time I (stupidly) decided to use castor oil on my face because that was being touted as a glowy skin secret :(
I went from clear even skin to horrible texture, redness and bumps.
I started working on fixing it by going down the path of acne products and skin barrier repair. I tried a lotttt of products in the last 4 months and I found not much was working for me.
Around 2 weeks ago I stumbled onto this sub and I started seeing a lot of photos of people with skin that looked similar to mine! At the same time I had seen a post about ACV helping to clear up acne so on a whim I decided to use it one night (diluted!!!) when I woke up the next morning the redness had halved! I used ACV nightly for around 1 week and saw some decent results (used a product with The Mother in it and used 1 teaspoon ACV to 4 teaspoons water)
I continued researching this sub and on Monday 27/04 I bought Nizoral 1% and used it that night. I used that for 4 nights until 01/05 and my bumps and redness have almost all but cleared up! I still have a bit to go and I notice that by night time the redness comes back slightly however the difference has been quite immediate!
My current routine:
AM: absolutely nothing I leave my face alone
PM: cetaphil gentle cleanser followed by one night of ACV and next night Nizoral (leaving it on for no longer than a minute) I use the tiniest amount Bioderma cream as the Nizoral is quite drying
*note: the photos aren’t in the same lighting so I know that can create some differences in appearance (last two photos taken 02/05 - 6 days after starting Nizoral treatment)
I’m going to continue using this routine and hope I continue to see improvement but I wanted to thank you all for your advice, your recommendations and also just being a place for people to come and feel seen and heard!