Suddenly cystic acne

[Anonymous]

I have ALWAYS had perfect skin. I never washed my face and strangers would literally stop me in grocery stores asking about my routine (“I wash it sometimes with oil of Olay?”)

not that I’m caring my my skin and spending money on it I am breaking out badly! I love the look of my skin but I am getting painful under the skin breakouts along my ears, jawline and the middle of my cheeks. My skin looks great outside of that!

I just bought salicylic acid and the peel from the Ordinary. Hoping it will help. Any thoughts? I get nervous cause my skin had been very sensitive in the past. 

[SporkGoddess]

Jawline cystic acne is incredibly common with hormonal issues, I'd go to thr doctor to check for underlying reasons this popped up. I used to have clear skin until my hormones went wacky. Nothing I tried helped- benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, so many different soaps and creams, oils.... nothing helped until I got my hormones in check. The Ordinary has a niacinamide and zinc serum that helps keep my acne in check(along with medication to correct hormonal imbalances). I highly recommend it. I even have rosacea and it was gentle enough for me. It stung a little when my face was at it's worst, but it only lasted a few days and gradually lessened. My face (other than minor rosacea redness) is back to being clear! Good luck!

[thenewerme]

hello I had bad acne. I dont really know if they have it here in sephora. but you know it really works it is called acne.org . I literally used everything I could thought of just to make myself better again. Then I found it on May 2017.then started using it. they have instructions/directuons to follow, you just have to be patient after 1 month of following it, you will see a big difference. I am still using it tho because I am afraid to go back to those feeling I had when i got breakouts. If we havesensitive skin we need maintenance. I hope I can help you. I can post my past photos but I am afraid people would use it as meme. hahaha!

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry to hear that! This has happened to me recently, too, and I've gained a new appreciation for how much having acne can hurt someone's self esteem. I think for me at least it's from drinking less water than I used to and eating foods with DHA. For whatever reason, DHA supplements break me out around my chin and the stuff gets added to foods like milk and chicken nuggets.

Product wise, Fresh's umbrian clay toner, mask and cleansing bar are all really effective for calming the skin. They are sooooo expensive, though.  If I had the money, I would use all 3, but I just got the toner again. That was something I regret taking out of my skincare routine and may have been preventing the acne I see now.

[Brutalitops]

@Anonymous Literally exactly the same. Never any real skin problems outside of a stray zit here or there and then BAM! Horrid cystic acne all along my Jawline basically the second I turned 25. It is definitely hormonal, probably some shift going on as you get older, a lot of people apparently experience this in their late 20s. For me it is definitely brought on by stress but it can get little flare ups from other stuff like my period or when I switched birth control pills also. Since it's been about a year now I'm hoping it will settle out soon but I guess we'll see 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Cyncynn]

@Brutalitops 

the hormonal acne struggle is so real. stress definitely makes it worse now that you mention. After I stopped eating dairy I noticed some improvement, but had a very, very bad bout in the past few weeks with all the stress from moving across country (and eating some dairy here and there too). 

[Brutalitops]

@Cyncynn yeah it sucks hard, especially since stress is bound to happen. I wish there were some magic cream or whatever to fix it but my purchase history clearly proves living right is the only option 😂 Dairy doesn't seem to make a difference for me, thank my lucky stars, but I also may not have ever paid attention to it

[SimonMurray]

Maybe try Differen? It’s a very nice and affordable acne treatment.

[hobsond]

I was having this problem and it seems it was Stevia. If you have changed to a different sweetener or changed anything else in your diet it could possibly be it too.

[Anonymous]

Wow thanks for the suggestion. I've never suspected stevia, but now I will look at it more closely. Diet makes a huge difference for my skin. 

[Cyncynn]

@Anonymous Jawline usually indicates that breakout might related to hormones? Were you on the pill and recently stopped taking it by any chance? 

[Anonymous]

Haven’t been on the pill in a while but I’ve always had major fluctuations in my hormones. Definitely could be a culprit. 

[melissabt]

@Anonymous,

I had this happen too! I agree that the cellphone might be causing breakouts, especially if it is on one side your face. I also started to wash my pillow cases more often and I noticed less breakouts.

[Anonymous]

It is on the side I prefer to sleep on so I will get on a better pillow washing regimen. 

[l8totheparty]

Ok, take out everything you added, back to your basics you *know* work- your oil of olay, and reintroduce items one by one for at least a week (better for 2) before adding a new one, and I bet you will find your culprit(s). @Anonymous 

I also recommend creating an excel spreadsheet of items and their ingredients.  It is easy to cross-reference then for ingredients causing reactions. 

[Elleday]

Are you sanitizing your phone regularly? These areas may be breaking out because your phone isn’t clean. Any recent changes in your skincare routine, diet, stress levels or relocation? Sometimes water quality from once place to the next can affect your skin. I have a water softener in my house. We went away for a week and the place where we stayed had well water, it smelled and tasted awful and made my skin break out like crazy.

[Elleday]

Are you sanitizing your phone regularly? These areas may be breaking out because your phone isn’t clean. Any recent changes in your skincare routine, diet, stress levels or relocation? Sometimes water quality from once place to the next can affect your skin. I have a water softener in my house. We went away for a week and the place where we stayed had well water, it smelled and tasted awful and made my skin break out like crazy.