Adventures in Acne

I know I haven’t posted here in forever, but I wanted to update anyone who is looking through archived posts and wondering what they can expect once they’ve been off accutane for a while. 

My skin has definitely regressed somewhat, although it isn’t remotely as bad at it was before I started accutane. I have small breakouts, my skin would never be considered “great” by any account, however it is manageable. Frankly, my senior year of college has made me lazy when it comes to taking care of myself, something I’m actively trying to change, so I’m sure if I were doing what I needed to as far as drinking water, changing my pillow case often, refilling medication prescriptions, etc, my skin would look even better than it does. I’m not trying to make it sound like my story wasn’t a success; I still look 85% better than I ever had before accutane. It was a life changer. Still totally recommend it for anyone who is reading this and on the fence. 

My takeaway 3 years out: accutane can give you a fantastic head start to clear skin, BUT you must take advantage of that start by doing everything you can to keep the progress accutane helps you make. 

Hello there! 

I experienced redness after showers or after scratching my face/chest. Other than that, not too much from what I remember. If you’re not sure if it’s normal, I would ask your doctor! 

So I don’t understand how tumblr works anymore because it won’t let me post captions under each individual photo. Sorry about that. 

This is a review of my first time using Indian Healing Clay, a product which you’ve probably heard of if you spend as much time obsessively searching for skin products on the internet as I do. This product has 4.5 stars on Amazon with over 4,000 reviews, which is rare. The 1 pound jar only cost $9, and I’m pretty sure it’ll last me at least 6 months, if not longer. 

I followed the directions on the back and combined equal parts clay and apple cider vinegar to create a paste. Then, I pinned my hair up really, reeeeally well and slathered it on. The first thing I noticed was how quickly it started drying out. I had to add a few drops of water as I put it on to keep it pasty. 

Once my face was covered, I let it sit for 25 minutes. According to the jar, this is about as long as you should let it stay on. If you are on Accutane currently, I would NOT suggest doing this. For real. After the first 10 minutes, things started heating up. Literally. It felt like my face was 5 feet from a campfire. Not a completely unpleasant feeling, but not really comfortable either. It pulled tighter than any other mask I’ve ever used. 

At around the 20 minute mark, my face started pulsating. It was a bizarre feeling. It wasn’t quite painful, but it was getting there. 

I had originally planned to wash it off in the sink, but it was quickly becoming apparent that that was not going to work out, so I hopped in the shower instead. It took some finger nails to get the initial layer of clay off, but a gentle wipe with a washcloth took care of the rest. 

When I got out of the shower, my face looked like it does in the last photo. Like I’ve gotten the worst sunburn of my life! I was expecting this, though, because other reviewers had the same experience.

It’s been about an hour since I rinsed the mask off and moisturized... I’m impressed. My skin feels incredibly smooth. There’s not too much difference in the clogged pores that are on my face, but it’s only been one use, so there’s time. It did bring up a tiny little whitehead that I hadn’t seen before, so that’s impressive. I’ll definitely be using this a few times a week, maybe even nightly as a spot treatment for my back. 

Ok so I'm suddenly seeing all of these messages that somehow slipped by me before. I am so sorry for not responding sooner!