Peels...are they good for your skin?

Recently, I decided to get a facial. A peel was included with the facial. Got the peel and guess what happened to me!?! I broke out in 6 cysts and now have non cystic acne where I have never gotten them before (jawline, and forehead). My husband said it's a coincidence but I don't know. It's strange that I got this acne after my peel. I have waited a month and they haven't gone away.
I am serisously thinking I got the acne from the peel but I don't know for sure. I have decided to get another peel to see if that is what is causing my acne. If I break out more, then I know where the acne came from.
I recently gave up dairy and switch to Almond milk. This was around the same time I got my peel so I thought it was the Almond milk that made me break out. I have given up Almond milk and I am now drinking soy milk.
I know we all react differently to certain things so something that makes one person break out will not affect someone else but I am going to test out my peel theory (it's not like my skin is perfect anyway so a few more zits isn't going to make a difference) and post an update. I'll let you know how it turns out. Hopefully I am wrong and I won't break out again. I get my facial with a peel on Monday. Wish me Luck!

The update to this horrendous story has been posted. 

Dermarolling between Dermarolls

I decided to lightly dermaroll my skin last night. Normally, I do a hard roll every 6 weeks (when I'm not breaking out) that's it but I know Dr. Fernandes sent his patients home with a dermaroller (with shorter needles) so that they could roll at home to help with product penetration. Well, that's what I always wanted to do but I didn't have the money to purchase a whole set of rollers so I just did my one roll ever 6 weeks.
I have been getting such terrible breakouts and it's happening all the time. I have so many new scars (indented and red marks). It's so depressing. I apply vitamin C serum and vitamin E and A daily to help my skin heal but come on we all know that our skin is a very strong barrier and nothing is getting through that! I'm basically throwing away money each time I apply my special serums and lotions!
So, the last time I rolled, I waited about a week and I lightly rolled and the applied my products. I decided to lightly roll last night. I may have rolled harder than I realized because my face was all red and it stung when I applied my vitamin C and E. I woke up this morning with my skin stinging and when I went for a jog the sweat on my face stung my face.
I really need to invest in a new roller with short needles. I don't want to destroy the collagen my skin is producing.
I'll let you know if my light rolls are helping the new scars heal faster. I'm going to do it once a week. I am also considering doing single needling. I am not familiar with that process but there a few scars I always seem to miss when I roll.

My dermarolling experience

A couple of people I know have asked why am I blogging about things other than dermarolling. Isn't this supposed to be a blog about dermarolling? Yes it is but you can not dermaroll unless your skin is clear. You can roll the areas where there are no breakouts but you should never, never, never roll over skin with acne (cystic or non cystic), or over any open sores. You'll spread the bacteria and make your skin much worse.
My problem is the area I need to roll is also the area that keeps breaking out. My left side keeps getting new cysts so it's been almost impossible to roll that side. I have rolled the other side and now my face looks a little lopsided (wrinkles on the right side have improved while the left side is very noticeable). This is something new that I just noticed. I guess it just takes wrinkles awhile to "heal." Even though I hate having a lopsided face, I love that I can actually see the difference the dermarolling has made. In previous posts, I wrote that I didn't think dermarolling helped wrinkles but I was wrong. It works but it takes time. Just like it takes time for scars to fill in. 
Back to what I was saying in the beginning of this post....I blog about other things such as products I have used and professional treatments because those are things I have used to help clear my skin. Clear skins equals to being able to dermaroll! I post my honest opinions (whether it's positive or negative)and tell you what has worked for me. Like I've said so many times before, we are all different so something that worked for me may not work for you or vise versa. I'll try anything and if it doesn't work I move on to something else.
Right now, I am working on getting rid of one pimple that won't go away. It's very fleshy and there's nothing inside of it. As soon as it's gone, I'm rolling like a crazy nut!
Thanks for reading my blog! I have a couple of new products I want to blog about that I think could help you. My skin is clearing up thanks to one of these products. I just used something else yesterday so I'll report on the results in a few days. Stay tuned! :)

Apple Cider Vinegar Cystic Acne Results with photos

I thought I'd share a couple of before and after pictures of what Apple Cider Vinegar did to my 3 cysts! Yep, it ZAP them off my face. There is one small bump left from a fleshy cyst I have. It is not like the any of the other cysts I have ever had. This is a very soft cyst with nothing inside. I have no idea how to get rid of it but ACV did shrink it.

The first 2 pictures are of my cysts before I applied ACV:

 This is what my skin looked like a few days later! Amazing, right!?!

It's been over 2 years since I've posted these results. Check out the update I posted.

Do hot compresses really help Cystic Acne?

Apple Cider Vinegar works

As you all know, I have recently started using Apple Cider Vinegar to get rid of my cystic acne. It totally works (look at my before and after pictures)on hard cysts! I got another cyst on my chin and it was BIG! I applied ACV twice the first day (undiluted) and woke up the next morning with a little bump. I applied some more the next night and I woke up with nothing! NADA! It was gone. Then I got another cyst on the bridge of my nose so I applied ACV and guess what!?! 2 days later it was gone. It takes 2 days for it to work on me which is fine. Sometimes those things would stick around for a month or more AND they'd scar! None of these new cysts with the short life span has scarred (what I mean by scarred is indented scars). I do have some red marks left on the bridge of my nose and the other 3 cysts I had before also left red marks but they aren't bad.

Do hot compresses work on cystic acne?

I have one cyst that is fleshy and unlike any cyst I have ever had. It's very soft but there's nothing inside of it and it won't go away. ACV helped shrink it ALOT but there's a little bump AND it's very red. I decided to try a home remedy I read about online: hot compresses supposedly help break up the material inside the cysts.
Well, THAT did not work at all! All it did was make me look like a clown. I started off with warm water because I read that hot water could cause bacteria to multiply. Who knows but I didn't want to take the chance. The warm compresses weren't working (I tried it for 2 days). So, I decided to warm up the water a little more and boy was that a BIG mistake. My whole face turned red.
Look at the picture! ALL that redness wasn't there until I applied the hot compress so please be careful! Luckily, 3 hours later the redness went away but what a pain in the butt! And I had to go out looking like that!

Honestly, I don't think warm or hot compresses work to break up the stuff inside the cyst. It sure didn't work for me! I won't be trying that again! If you try it, then do it when you don't have to leave your house that way if it turns out the way mine did you could at least wait it out until the redness goes away.

I so desperately want that fleshy cyst to go away (it's the dark red mark) so that I can finally dermaroll that side of my face. If anybody has any suggestions on what I can do, please message me or post a comment with advice!

Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar for cystic acne

I think I may have found something that works for me. I'm still on the fence about this one because I just started this yesterday but it worked. It may be a one time thing so I need to try this a few more times to make sure.

Apple Cider Vinegar for cystic acne 

The other day I was doing research and I came across a ton of reviews about Apple Cider Vinegar. About 90% of the reviews I read were positive but there were a few negative reviews. I am super desperate and I'm willing to try anything (as long as it's affordable) at this point so off I raced to the nearest health food store and purchased some Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar. This is brand is supposed to be the best because it's Organic, Raw, Unfiltered, with the 'Mother'. If it's been processed, I read it doesn't work.
The moment I came home, I applied the Apple Cider Vinegar to my cysts. Most people dilute it because it's super strong but I didn't do that. I poured a little bit into the cap, dipped in a Q-tip and applied it to my cysts. It didn't sting or burn me at all (I read that it stings but I felt nothing). The first time I left it on my skin for about 10 minutes and then rinsed and noticed that some of the redness around the cysts had subsided (at the end of the day). This morning I woke up and my cysts were still there so I was super disappointed BUT the redness had subsided some more. I told myself that if anything at least it helped with the blotchiness.  It also made one cyst come to a head so I poked a small hole in the tip and drained it. It's almost the end of the day here and 2 of my big cysts have decreased in size by at least 90%. They are still there but they are super duper tiny bumps! I am so excited (knock on wood...don't want to jinx myself). The cyst that I drained is very small too but there's a scab since I poked a hole. The other one that won't go away is still there. No change or anything. :( except that it's not red anymore so at least it's not as noticeable. 

Do a patch test first

I am no expert and just started using this stuff yesterday but I would recommend that you test a small spot before you apply it to your face. Everybody's skin reacts differently so make sure you don't get a reaction before you try it. I read about a lady who broke out badly after using ACV and someone else burned her skin. Luckily, that did not happen to me probably because my skin has become so tough thanks to dermarolling.

Look online for recipes but be careful

If you need to, dilute it. There are tons of recipes online. Just do a search. 
Some people ingest it (2 tbs a day, I think). Do a search for recipes. Some people add tea, others add it to water, while others add in a whole bunch of stuff like honey and cinnamon. 
I will update with results once I try it on a few more cysts (when they come out). 

UPDATE: APPLE CIDER VINEGAR RESULTS WITH PICTURES

Does Tea Tree Oil get rid of cystic acne

I have been trying to find something to help get rid of or at least reduce the size of the cysts I get. Every time a scar fills in, a new one takes its place. It is so frustrating!
I tried Mandelic Acid (25%) and it helped the non cystic acne but didn't really help my cysts. It shrunk them but I got a new one and it did nothing for it.

 My experience with tea tree oil

I have been reading a lot about Tea Tree oil and how it has helped a lot of people get rid of their cysts. I have been trying it and it hasn't done a thing for me. I tried it without diluting it and it was too strong and inflamed my skin (thankfully I spot treated) so then I diluted it by mixing it with some lotion but the smell was too much for me. Even so, I continued using it for about a week and nothing. The cysts are still there.
I popped a zit (I never learn) and became inflamed and it left a little hole so I put neosporin on it. By the next day, most of the redness was gone. I also applied it to my cyst and it helped with the redness. It's still red but not as bad so I will be using neosporin whenever I get inflammation.

Light Dermarolling for product penatration

Oh, I dermarolled again today but very lightly. I don't have a smaller roller only the 1.5mm so that's what I used but it was super light. I just wanted something to help with product penetration. I seemed to have some extra wrinkles in my smile line (only on one side) and my face looks a little lopsided. I haven't had much luck with dermarolling wrinkles away but it doesn't hurt to keep trying.

Anyway, to get back to what I was talking about before, Tea Tree Oil has not helped my cystic acne. Maybe it will help yours. Doesn't hurt to try. 

Dermarolling #7

I finally rolled again! It's been a long time and boy did it hurt! lol I had to roll around the 2 cysts I have but the odd thing was they got all wrinkley like I punctured them but I didn't roll on them. Strange.
I have new scars and in my experience dermarolling doesn't help with new scars but I am desperate and will do whatever I can do at least minimize their appearance.
I rolled really hard this time...I was as dripping with blood. I only rolled my forehead, the smile lines and the area on the sides of my mouth. After I was done, I washed my face and applied Vitamin C serum and Vitamin A.
Updates to come once the swelling has gone down.

Mandelic Acid final review

I used Mandelic Acid 3 times and it did help with the redness inside of my indented scars. The cyst I had shriveled up and then came back as a fleshy bump.:( I was so sad. It did help a small cyst I had but it's still there. I just shrunk to half its size.
The conclusion I have come to is that Mandelic acid works wonderful on non cystic acne and will completely dry it up. I have a few zits and Mandelic Acid zapped those suckers quick! The peel did not really help my cysts. Sure, it shrunk them but they are still there.  I am so bummed.
It is also very drying so I have decided that I will continue to use this peel but only as a spot treatment on my non cystic acne.
Oh it also helped some wrinkles on my forhead. Not all of them are gone and you can see them but they have softened ALOT! 
I was really hoping this would be the answer to my cystic acne problem but the search continues....

Mandelic Acid Peel and PMD update

I thought I would post a quick update on the Mandelic Acid Peel and PMD.

Cyst and skin update

The cyst that was shriveling up is still there but much smaller. I can not wait for it to be gone. It looks weird. I had another cyst that was smaller before I applied the Mandelic Acid on it and it is almost gone. You can't even see it. Also, all the little zits I had dried up and are gone. Pores are smaller in some areas BUT I noticed that my scars look bigger...like they stretched out. I don't know if the Mandelic Acid caused it or if it was the PMD but there is definitely a difference in my scars and it's not good at all. :(

New Scars?

I have been so depressed these past couple of days and I have become obsessed with the mirror. I also noticed new scars..long ones. I think it could have been caused by the PMD. I used the coarse disks (I worked my way up to the roughest disks) and I think that is what caused the scars. I have wide long scar on my forehead, one long underneath my eye (where the pmd pulled some skin off) and one wide scar on both sides of my mouth (right smack in the middle of my smile lines so it looks like a big fat wrinkle). *The scar in my smile line disappeared right after I applied the acid peel but came back a few days later. 
 
I can not wait to go back to dermarolling but I have to wait until my cyst goes away. I am hoping for this weekend. If not, I will have to roll around the cyst. Dermarolling is definitely better than the PMD that's for sure.
I will keep you updated!

Dermarolling pictures online

I was looking around online and keep coming across pictures of people who have supposedly dermarolled their scars, or wrinkles away. The problem is I see those same pictures on so many different websites advertising microdermabrasion, laser, chemical peels, etc. It's so sad that people  (and businesses) can go so low as to claim that those were results from a procedure they performed when in reality they stole the picture from someone online. So sad...

Mandelic Update...again! It's good news so read, read, read!

 I posted about how I used Mandelic acid to help get rid of my cysts. It helped with the inflammation and then yesterday the tip was white. So, I do what I always do and squeezed it. Big mistake. It is still tender so nothing came out and the area became inflamed again. BADLY inflamed.

Goodbye cysts

I didn't know what to do and I was desperate so I spot treated again. Since I was spot treating the red inflamed cyst, I decided to spot treat the other one (which had gone down alot by that time). I was a little nervous about spot treating so soon after just using the peel but I was desperate.
The Redness went away on the one I picked at AND today it is shriveling up! I am not joking! It feels like a prune...it's so strange. The other cyst is almost completely flat but I can still feel it a little but you can hardly see it. I totally LOVE mandelic acid
AND another thing I noticed...my little new scars are almost gone. The area where they were peeled a little and now they are smooth. There's still scars but most of them of leveled out. How crazy is that?
Will update more when I see more changes!

25% Mandelic Acid update and PMD microdermabrasion

25% Mandelic Acid Update

First of all, I'd like to give you an update on what the Mandelic Acid has done to my cysts. The day after I did the peel, I woke up with 2 cysts. One was already there but it was small. By the next day, it was huge, red and painful. So, I spot treated the cysts with Mandelic acid and waited. Sadly, it did not make them shrivel up like I read about. They did not disappear. I still have 2 big ones. What it did do was made the inflammation go down ALOT! The redness is still there but not as bad. There is a 70% improvement. It also helped with the pain I was getting from the cyst. Pain is 100% gone!

PMD- Home Microdermabrasion

Okay sooooo I got a little impatient and the day after I did the peel I used my PMD on a small section on my face. The result wasn't good at all. I got burned and it sucked some skin off. By the following morning, the area was blistering! It has taken a few days but the redness is going away and I am now getting a big scab on my face. Take it from me, DO NOT DO Microdermabrasion after a peel even if it's a light one! I knew better but I couldn't wait. Oh well. Luckily, it looks like it won't scar. Will update you on that.

25% Mandelic Acid

I applied the 25% Mandelic Acid last night and I am sooo Happy I purchased this stuff. It's too soon to tell so I don't want to get too excited but omg I'm excited about this stuff.

How I applied the 25% Mandelic Acid

What I did was I washed my face with face wash, dried it off  then cleaned it again with alcohol and rinsed it off. Patted my skin dry and applied the peel with a q-tip. The consistency was pretty watery so be careful not to let it drip all over you.
The peel came with very clear instructions. Start at the forehead and go back and forth with the q-tip until you've done your entire face. I also did my neck for the fun of it. :) I set my timer on and waited 4 minutes (I didn't have the timer set when I started applying the peel). Instructions say to wait 2-5 minutes then rinse.
I didn't feel any burning sensation but I hear that's normal since this peel is so gentle. I did, however, feel some itchiness towards the end of my wait. Once time was up, I rinsed my face off and then decided to hop into the shower so I soaped my face while I was in there. My package came with a free sample of Aloe vera jelly so I applied it to my skin after my shower.

Results

My skin was a little red afterward but not bad. A sunspot I have not been able to get rid of (even after spending a few hundred dollars on professional microdermabrasion) flaked off. Not all of it but a little section. The other parts of the sunspots were really flaky last night but when I woke up the flakiness was gone but sunspots are still there. :( I am pretty sure a few more peels will get rid of them. Super excited about that! Wrinkles and fine lines were still very visible.
I woke up and the first thing I did was look in the mirror . I noticed that the lines on my forehead have softened ALOT. They are really deep so I wasn't expecting much but I am actually happy with the way they are right now. 
What really amazed me was I have this scar near my mouth...a little lower actually that is in line with my smile line so everytime I smile I look like a puppet on one side. I HATE that so I rarely smile especially in pictures. Guess what? The sucker is gone! Totally gone! I keep smiling in the mirror because I can't believe it's not there anymore. I hope that it doesn't come back. I'll take the wrinkles and red marks back if it means that I won't get the scar back. This could be a fluke so I don't want to get anybody excited but I couldn't wait to update. I will take pictures in about a week or so to show results. Oh and my skin is super smooth...as smooth as a baby's butt. whoohoo. I am loving this stuff.

PMD microdermabrasion and Acne Scar Update

I haven't posted in quite awhile mostly because I have been having such terrible cystic acne breakouts. I have not been able to roll at all. My skin is full of new scars. FORTUNATELY, the dermaroller has done it's job and has fixed all the old small scars except for the line scar I mentioned before and one other old one that has filled in alot but it's still there (but you can only see it if I stretch my skin). All the other scars: GONE! They are filled in! I am so happy about that.

PMD Home Microdermabrasion Machine Mini Review

My problem is that I keep getting more scars thanks to my cystic acne problem. I've been searching for that miracle product that will at least reduce the amount of acne I get around my mouth. I purchased a PMD (personal microdermabrasion machine) for about $179 about a month ago and have done about 5 treatments with the light disk. You have options: light, medium or coarse disks. The kit comes with the light and medium disks and they are only good for about 3 uses. I started off with the light one and didn't see a difference in my skin. My husband says my skin looked younger but I don't see that. :( I moved on to the medium disk and that was okay but still no major difference. I ended up purchasing the coarse disks and tried it last week. OMG it is super rough but I felt that one. I put too much pressure and scratched my skin up in some areas and it left some marks but I felt it work AND a sunspot I have peeled off a little bit. Not all of it but some did come off. So, next time I use it I will have to be more careful. I will go into more detail about it later but I just wanted to share what I am using along with the dermaroller. By the way, I did not run the machine over my cysts or the areas healing. I don't want to scar my skin anymore. Right now, the cysts are gone but the scar are still healing.
Here is what the box looks like:

 Here the little machine with some of the disks:

New Product I am trying: 25% Mandelic Acid Peel

Okay so I found another product that I think you all might be interested in. I was looking through Makeup Artists Choice website. I was thinking of doing a chemical peel to help with the red marks when I came across something called a Mandelic Acid Peel. According to the website, it helps with fine lines, hyperpigmentation and ACNE...INCLUDING CYSTIC ACNE!!!! I did some research and read a ton of raving reviews about this stuff. People say it kills off the cyst!!! I was so excited and after 2 days of research ordered the peel. It was on sale so paid a total of $17 with shipping so I got a good deal. I got the 25% Mandelic Acid peel. Regular Price is 15.95 for a 1 oz. bottle (I got a $5 discount) but you can also purchase a sample size for $3.50.
I ordered mine on May 16, 2013 and got it today (May 18th). Talk about fast delivery! I am giving it a try tonight. I took before pics and will post before and after pictures once I am done. I hear it takes a few peels before you see results so I may wait a few weeks before I post the pictures. This peel is gentle enough to use once a week for 2 weeks and then you can use it every 4 days. I am super excited! I will keep you all updated.
I am definitely NOT giving up the dermaroller! I will roll again very soon. It really works for me so can't give that baby up!

Dermarolling Update

My last post was quite a while ago. I haven't been able to roll since the last time because my skin has been breaking out so much. I am hoping it will be clear in a week or 2 so that I can FINALLY roll again. In a way, I think it's a good thing I've waited. I've heard of people who have rolled consistently every 6 weeks for months and months and then take a long break (like 6-8 months) to give their skin time to repair itself.

A Few Updates

The weird overgrowth of skin that I posted about shriveled up and flaked off! It was such a weird experience and one that really scared the heck out of me! Luckily, it's gone but I have been having lots of breakouts in that area ( which is normal for me) .

A long time ago (I don't remember how long ago) I got brave and rolled my forehead and mentioned that I wouldn't do it anymore. I have noticed that the lines on my forehead have definitely softened ALOT. So much that I am going to dermaroll my entire forehead again. I don't think I took before pictures when I rolled my forehead the first time but I will this time and I'll post the results. I'm really excited about that.

As for all the other scars that I had, a lot of them filled in but there's so many new ones so it's hard to tell much of anything. I am getting so tired of this...I get rid of scars and then I end up breaking out again and more scars form. It's so frustrating. My only consolation is that I know if I hadn't been rolling those scars away I'd have way more and my skin would look even worse. Quite honestly, even with the new scars, my skin doesn't look as bad as it did before I rolled.