Accutane Skin Regimen

Hello dears!

I've struggled with acne on and off again ever since middle school. I've tried over the counter products, Asian medicinal lotions, and I've been to the dermatologist twice. Starting around September of last year, I started to get large patches of deep, painful cystic acne that would last for weeks on end. I had been to the dermatologist before with limited success, but I decided to go again because I didn't want my skin to undergo anymore trauma and damage. After a couple rounds of creams and antibiotics, my dermatologist put me on Accutane.

For those of you who have been on this medication, you know how serious and how potent it really is. It works by shrinking your sebaceous (oil) glands to a pre-pubescent size, according to my dermatologist. Because it's so potent, It has tons of potential side effects, ranging from joint pain and nausea to depression and possible birth defects (but they have plenty of precautions in place to prevent any possible pregnancy while you're on the drug). The most prevalent side effect is extremely dry skin and lips. I'm starting my third month of Accutane now and I wanted share the skincare regimen that has helped curb most of the dryness in my skin.

Cleansing:

Morning: I wash my face with lukewarm water and the Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser. Even though it's made for normal to oily skin, I find that it is very gentle and does not strip my skin at all. I follow that with moisturization, sun protection, and then my makeup for the day. 
Night: For eye makeup removal, I've been using the Maybelline Clean Express Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover. You can see my full review here. For face makeup removal, I use the Bioderma Sebium H2O cleansing water. I find that this gets off most of my base makeup without stripping my skin and it serves as the first cleaning of my face at night. Then I wash my face with the Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser. I usually just use my hands for this, but if my skin is feel extra blocked, I will use either my orange silicon facial scrubber or my Clarisonic Mia, depending on how clogged my skin feels. On days when my skin feels extra dehydrated, I will skip the Bioderma and use the Cetaphil first to get my makeup off. Then I will use a combination of olive oil and vitamin E oil (in the pink bottle) to wash my face. I take a dime size amount, rub it into my skin, and then steam it off with a towel soaked in hot water. I find this really works to combat dry skin. 

Moisture:

Morning: After my Cetaphil wash, I will take about 2 droplets of the Now Rose Hip Seed Oil on my fingertips and gently, but thoroughly pat that into my skin. This oil is seriously amazing. It moisturizes so well and also has helped some of my acne scars fade. Then I will use the Cerave AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion, which also doubles as my sun protection on cloudy days. This lotion is affordable and it contains a lot of high end ingredients like hyaluronic acid, which is great for dry skin.

Night: I repeat my morning regime and replace the Cerave AM with the Cerave PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion. After I shower, I will use the Cerave Moisturizing Cream on my body to keep the dry skin and rashes at bay. 

Morning: On sunny days, I use the Shiseido Urban Environment UV Protection Cream over my moisturizer. It's just a really great sunscreen that's not too greasy and does a good job of protecting your face from the sun. To touch up during the day, I use the Peter Thomas Roth Oily Problem Skin Instant Mineral sunscreen. It's a powder sunscreen so it can go over your makeup with ease during the day. 

One of my biggest issues is dry lips. If I don't keep my lips moisturized at all times, they get eczema and these water bubbles start popping up. It's an extremely uncomfortable situation so I try to avoid that all costs. It seems that my lips are allergic to Aquaphor as it only makes the bubbles multiply. So I stick to Vaseline. The biggest size is for my bathroom and the smaller ones are for my purses. It does a great job of retaining the moisture in my lips. It is very slick and shiny, so if you're a guy, I would try to use as little as possible. As a girl, I don't mind too much; I'd rather have overly shiny lips than bubbled ones.

I hope that this was helpful to those of you who are having troubles while on Accutane. It is a very harsh drug, but I have loved the results so far. Good luck!

Love,

Katie