Today’s post is brought to you by a very special guest, my sister Madi. She struggled with acne for awhile and finally found a routine that cleared up her skin. She’s here today to share it with you!
I started my Accutane journey in September 2017. For those who don’t know, Accutane is a prescription vitamin A derivative that treats moderate to severe acne. It is an oral medication that you take for anywhere from 15-30 weeks depending on the severity of your acne. I didn’t have the worst skin in the world, but it was something I really wanted to fix. I got a lot of cystic acne on my cheeks and chin. It was very painful, lasts forever, and can be very hard on your skin. I also had a lot of milia on my forehead, which is impossible to clear. I did a lot of different treatments before I decided to go on Accutane. I tried facials, chemical peels, laser treatments, antibiotics, and other acne medication. They helped for a short time, which was nice, but they weren’t helping my acne go away and stay away. Obviously, Accutane isn’t a miracle and can’t make all of your acne go away forever. My doctor decided that it was likely the only thing that would help clear up my skin. I am currently on my sixth and final month of Accutane. Throughout this journey, I feel like I have learned a lot of tips on how to make this process a little easier. I did a lot of research before I started Accutane and didn’t really find the answers I needed, so I wanted to help others out who might be in the same position.
I also think it’s important to note that if you are not on/do not want to be on Accutane, this post contains a ton of helpful info for clearing up acne. My sister Jordan is not on Accutane and these tips have helped her skin tremendously.
My #1 Accutane Tip
MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE. You always hear the horror stories of lips and face skin peeling off but I think the prep before starting Accutane can help avoid peeling skin, or at least decrease it. Obviously, everyone has different skin types and different reactions from this medication, but this is what really helped me. I started putting tons of lotion and chapstick on the month before I started. I truly believe that helped my skin and lips a ton. I still had dry skin and lips during Accutane because it’s impossible to avoid that completely, but the prep made it not so bad. My lips barely peeled. Every one in a while, the corners of my lips would crack. To help this, I would put triple antibiotic ointment on the corners of my lips at night and in the morning. I had chapstick everywhere; The pocket of my jacket, my backpack, my desk, and my nightstand. Everywhere. My lips definitely felt like they were burning when I didn’t have chapstick on. You want to make sure you have some with you all the time, especially if you live in cooler climates!
Night Routine
Taking care of your skin gets a lot easier and has a lot fewer steps than before. Every morning and night I use my Fresh toner. This product is amazing! It is definitely one of my holy grails and I will continue to use it long after Accutane is done. I applied this with a cotton round in the morning before my makeup and at night after I washed my face.
At night, I wash my face with my Cetaphil cleanser. You want to make sure you are using gentle products on your skin since it becomes more sensitive and dry on Accutane. I would use my Foreo to wash my face with that cleanser two to three times a week. I didn’t use my Foreo every day because I didn’t want to dry my skin out even more.
Another one of my holy grail products that I will use for the rest of my life is the Fresh Sugar Face Polish. Your skin can feel kind of gross from all the lotion so it is important to exfoliate your dry skin. It is very easy to over-exfoliate your face though, and that can be bad. With this product, it’s almost impossible to do that. It is made with natural ingredients and sugar so it dissolves by itself so you can’t over-exfoliate, which is amazing. Afterwards, your skin feels so smooth and fresh. I usually did this two to three times a week or more depending on how dry or gross my face felt.
A few times a week I would also exfoliate my lips with the Fresh Sugar Lip Polish. This makes your lips feel really good and helps get all the dead skin off and rejuvenates them. After all of these steps, I would apply my Fresh toner like I talked about above.
Moisturizers
The last thing I would do was apply lotion. I used and tried a TON of different lotions throughout this process. If my skin was superrrr dry I would apply Vaseline to my face. Yep, Vaseline. I’m sure you’re thinking “That’s so thick, wouldn’t it break you out?!” According to their website it is non-comedogenic and I would agree. It really locked the moisture into my skin and made it feel less dry. Just some tips for sleeping with Vaseline on your face: it makes grease stains all over your pillow, so I would put a towel over my pillow case. It also got in my hair a lot and made it look super greasy. To help with that, I would recommend showering in the morning or wearing a silk shower cap to sleep in so your hair is all covered. Other overnight face masks I use are the GlamGlow ThirstyMud and Origins Drink Up. I always put lotion under those masks as well. I used and purchased a lot of different lotions. I switch up my lotions at night but I definitely only use one or two different ones under my makeup. I know it’s difficult to find good lotions to buy, so hopefully my reviews on them can help you! I’ll be reviewing them below on a 10 point basis on how well they worked.
Cerave Moisturizing Lotion: 8/10
I really like this one. It is super affordable and it makes my skin feel really cool and refreshed. I really recommend this one and it is a good one to use under your makeup. I use this every night and morning and if I wasn’t wearing makeup I would apply it throughout the day as well.
Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Face Cream: 7/10
This is the lotion I used under my makeup right when I started this journey. I liked it for the most part but occasionally it would rub off and leave little flaky things on my skin. I’m not sure if it was because I was applying too much or from my makeup brushes/sponge or what but other than that I liked it! I would totally recommend this for night use or if you weren’t planning to wear makeup that day. It makes your face feel super cool and it smells really good. This is one of the lotions I still use at night.
True Cream Aqua Bomb: 9/10
I absolutely love this product. I had gotten a sample in my Sephora Play! Box and used it so quick I had to go buy the full size. The way this makes your skin feel is amazing. It cools your face and feels so refreshing. I love how it feels so light and not heavy but it is still so moisturizing. It absorbs so fast and looks very good under makeup too. Everyone needs to try this moisturizer! It is definitely a holy grail. I applied this lotion in the morning and at night and throughout the day if I wasn’t wearing makeup.
It Cosmetics Secret Sauce: 8/10
I use this product mainly at night. It feels super nice and refreshing. I feel like it gives my skin the moisture it needs and makes it feel super hydrated without being thick and heavy. I have only good things to say about it. It soaks in really fast so it is super nice to apply under makeup as well.
First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream: 5/10
This one was not one of my favorites when I was in the midst of things. It didn’t really feel like it was moisturizing my skin at all. It also kind of left a filmy feeling on my face which I didn’t like. Now that my skin isn’t as dry, it is a good everyday lotion and I would recommend it for that. I would not recommend it when you are in the middle of acne treatment. It was okay under makeup. I feel neutral about it – I didn’t really feel like it did anything good or bad.
Glamglow Matte Moisturizer: 10/10
I cannot say enough good things about this product!! It is AMAZING! I swear when I apply it under my makeup it makes it look flawless and not dry at all. It is also amazing to wear during the day, not just at night. Since it’s matte, it doesn’t make your skin look shiny, which I really liked. I would 100% recommend this product mainly in the morning and throughout the day.
The moral of the story is that there are tons of great moisturizers out there. Whichever one you choose, make sure to use it religiously. There’s nothing worse than skin so dry it feels tight and peels off in chunks. Not only does moisturized skin feel better, it will help keep your acne at bay and makeup application will be much smoother!
Accutane Side Effects:
Accutane has a lot of side effects. I didn’t experience a ton of them, which was a bonus. Some of the ones I did experience were dry skin and lips, bloody noses, cracking in the corners of my lips, dry scalp, and breakouts. I live in a colder climate so I wasn’t that surprised about the bloody noses. I tend to get them in the winter anyways so it wasn’t anything new. The breakouts were extremely tough. I didn’t have the worst skin in the world prior to going on Accutane. I had never experienced acne as bad as when I was on Accutane. It sounds counterproductive. Why would I go on an acne medicine if it makes my acne worse? Before your acne can get better, your skin has to “purge” out all of the acne that you have under the surface by making it become visible. I got a lot of cystic acne throughout the “purging” parts which I wasn’t that surprised about.
Anyone who has cystic acne MUST buy THIS product! It is amazing! I have already repurchased it two times. The first time I purchased it was prior to going on Accutane. If you have cystic acne, you know how long it sticks around. If you have never experienced it, take my word for it. Cystic acne is terrible. It literally sticks around for weeks. Yes, weeks. I found this product online and was a little skeptical before I tried it since cystic acne is very hard to treat and get rid of. But let me tell you, I am so happy I found this product. I am not even kidding when I say that it made cystic pimples go away in two days! Two days!! It cut the length of time I had them in thirds! I couldn’t even believe it. Truly a miracle. I used to put it on the spots where I would get them every night since I knew they would eventually pop up in those spots again. When I was on Accutane, I would only apply it when I felt one coming since I didn’t want to dry out my skin too much. I’m sure you are dying to know what this product I’ve been raving about is called. It is the Renee Rouleau Anti-Cystic Acne Treatment. I promise if you have cystic acne you will NOT regret buying this. One thing that did change is my breakouts went away very fast. Prior to this, they stuck around for a while. During Accutane, they probably took a max of three days to go away.
Another side effect of Accutane is dry scalp. As far as this goes, I was actually really happy about it. Before, my hair would get greasy very fast. Now it is normal and I can go a week without having to wash it. For me personally, I really liked this.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post and that it was helpful. Remember that even though acne feels like the end of the world, it is not forever. As cliche as it sounds, you are beautiful the way you are and acne does not define you.
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Leave a comment below sharing your acne journey and skincare tips!
