The Regimen Kit 8 oz. - Acne.org Complete 3 Step Acne Treatment Kit

Quick summary: This is FANTASTIC. The only line of skin care that has worked for my skin. I can't believe I'm really acne-free. Here's the detailed version:I'm a 33-year-old mother of 3 with pale, sensitive, oily, and acne-prone skin. I have had acne since I was a teenager. It's been bad. The one thing that worked for me was Aldactone. I used the as prescribed by a dermatologist along with birth control pills, as recommended. This was fantastic for my skin, but I don't like taking hormones or medicine in general. Obviously, they weren't an option when my husband and I decided to start a family. My acne came back with a vengeance. It was definitely hormonal with heavy whitehead breakouts monthly and zits all the time. The scarring was bad. Since my teenage years, I have tried probably close to a hundred different products without success, including Proactiv, Aveeno, Olay, Salacylic Acid, Retin-A, Clearasil, and Oxy clean, & Neutragena.I came across these products (from Dan's Clear Skin Regimen CSR at Acne.org) a long time ago, but didn't try them. About 6 months ago, I decided to give it a go. I bought the Cleanser, Treatment & Moisturizer, & Jojoba oil to start, and decided to wait on the AHA+ as recommended. Also, I knew the AHA+ contained glycolic acid, which I thought my skin didn't like. (Based on other products with that ingredient.) So, I started the regimen following the application techniques that Dan recommends in his videos.FIRST MONTH - starting with small amount of treatment & slowly ramping it up -Morning: Cleanser, Olay Complete Moisturizer SPF 15 (w/ 2 drops of Jojoba oil), Avon Mineral Make-upEvening: Cleanser (wait 15 mins- this is key!), Treatment (again wait 15 mins), Moisturizer mixed with a few drops of Jojoba oil.Findings: I found that I didn't use as much moisturizer as Dan recommends when I mixed it with the oil. I think the oil really helped the flakes in the beginning. My face definitely dried out with fewer zits, but my pores felt clogged still and I still had a few zits pretty much all the time this first month.SECOND MONTH - added AHA+Morning: Cleanser, Olay Complete Moisturizer SPF 15 (w/ 2 drops of Jojoba oil), Avon Mineral Make-upEvening: Cleanser (wait 15 mins), Treatment (again wait 15 mins), AHA+, Moisturizer mixed with a few drops of Jojoba oil.Findings: I WAS IN PAIN!!! The AHA+ stung so bad, I thought I would cry. I toughed it out for about 2 weeks until I decided to try it in the morning instead. That helped SO much! (see below for routine). I think the stinging came from mixing the BP and AHA.REVISED MONTHS 2-4 - Treatment at night & AHA+ in the morningMorning: Cleanser, AHA+, Olay Complete Moisturizer, Avon Mineral Make-upEvening: Cleanser, Treatment, Moisturizer mixed with a few drops of Jojoba oil.Findings: I gradually saw my skin getting so clear, and no stinging!! I do have very sensitive skin. I used this regimen for a couple months, and it got to where I would have only 1 or 2 zits per month! Those zits would leave bad scars, which would make my skin look like I had more zits than I did. During the next month, I got lazy and stopped always waiting 15 minutes in between cleansing/treatment/moisturizing, & once I realized that the timing was key, went back to this final (and my current) regimen below.TODAY'S REGIMEN (about 8 months after I started the CSR)Morning: Cleanser, AHA+ (I skip this if I know I'm going to spend a lot of time outside), Olay Complete Moisturizer (I skip this if I know I'll be inside all day), Avon Mineral Make-up (optional, yay!)Evening: Cleanser (wait 15 mins- this is key!), Treatment (again wait 15 mins), Moisturizer without Jojoba oil anymore--I don't need it!Findings: I just can't believe that I finally have clear skin! I occasionally get an itty bitty zit, but it has been a couple months since that happened & it cleared up really fast with no scarring! My scars are fading, too. I'm just so excited about the CSR--and I hardly ever write reviews!Here are my final thoughts on each of the products:THE LINE AS A WHOLE: I love that it has the best ingredients, that it avoids fragrances and other irritating ingredients. I also like that Dan cares about limiting packaging and keeping the costs low!CLEANSER: Love, Love, Love! It reminds me of all the good things about Cetaphil, but it actually FEELS like you're getting your face clean. I love how it bubbles up--unlike Cetaphil. Doesn't leave my skin overly dryTREATMENT: Glides on easy. I don't actually use as much as Dan recommends, but that works for me. I use about the size of the top part of my index finger only once a day. I definitely wait until my face is totally dry after cleansing before applying. This DOES bleach fabrics, so I always take a white pillowcase with me when traveling to avoid bleaching someone else's pillowcase!MOISTURIZER: This has taken me longer to love. I think I was using too much for my face early on, but Dan DOES recommend using a lot! It doesn't soak in quickly, which is the main reason I didn't like it at first. I've learned to really like it and my face definitely looks more vibrant in the morning when I use it the night before. I only use this at night since I find it to be a little too oily looking under make-up. I will keep buying it, but it lasts forever!AHA+: Like I said above, this stung SO bad at first when I was applying right after the BP. Once I applied it on its own after cleansing, it hardly stings at all. Now I LOVE this! This is the key to my face now looking totally polished. It cleared up the flakes from the BP right away, and now I have such smooth, even, bright, and glowing skin. Yes, this sounds so cheesy, and when people would say this before, I never believed it could happen to ME! I really think my emerging wrinkles are lessoned, too. Perhaps it's even fading my scars?!?!JOJOBA OIL: This worked well in the first month when I wasn't using the AHA+ to minimize the flakes. I really didn't like the packaging because it leaked oil all over my counter, and I'm glad I don't have to use it anymore!Seriously, I want to tell everyone how well this worked for me, but I'm shy and don't want to make people with acne feel awkward by telling them to their faces. So, here is my review after months of totally clear skin: wow.

As you can see from the photo I have moderate cystic acne with bad scarring.After the many interventions, over the counter (Neutrogena, murad etc.), birth control, a 10% BP solution, all sorts of serums, dermatologist prescribed meds, nothing has resolved my acne. I tried the Korean Skincare routine which made my non acne affected skin greatly improve in texture and overall health, but did not touch the stubborn acne.The photos are from the morning after my first application, days 34, 62, and 100 after the morning routine when my skin is as bad as it gets (sorry for the bad lighting).Within one night of using it, my cystic acne started turning into whiteheads which is very uncommon for my skin. This appears to be a repeating event where any red bumps that start to surface inevitably are turning into whiteheads that eventually burst with the lightest of touch. I used neosporin - I find it helps with the scarring and inflammation. I can have eczema patches around my eyes or ears if they get too dry so I have to keep the BP at least 1 inch away from those areas (sometimes the BP migrates with the lotion so be careful there).I started this regimen in late summer so the first week my skin burned anytime I went outdoors hence the sunblock (I really like the Neutrogena daily moisturizer with spf 30). If you can avoid wearing makeup or at the very least only use eye makeup for the first week, I highly recommend doing so. If not, use moisturizing foundations etc. stay away from matte finishes because it will severely dry out your skin and flake. I was able to go back to my matte makeup ~2 weeks in, but not every day or I get flaky.Application: Be diligent on washing your hands (~30sec) any time before touching your face - with that here is my routine. As I mentioned I had great results with the K Skincare routine so I weaved my serums and toners into this routine. I only recommend keeping what you already know works great for you. If wearing makeup, I use a cotton ball with remover (the wipes ended up being too rough). Make sure you get it all off because this face wash is far too gentle to remove make up. I let my skin dry ~10 minutes, wash my hands, and apply my klairs toner. Let that dry ~5 min, wash hands, and then apply my essence. I let this dry for 15 minutes, wash hands, and then apply BP (avoiding eyes and ears). I let this dry for 15 minutes, wash my hands, apply my vita C serum and lotion to areas without BP. Then I start to apply to areas with BP, being careful to not let it migrate. I have also found if the BP gets on my neck, it gives me a light red rash. It took me two weeks before I felt comfortable with using the BP 2x/day and I stopped increasing the amount after about a nickel sized drop. I didn't want to have a terrible reaction to the BP so I took my time and let my skin adjust. I still have a red tint to my skin, light sunburn type, but really is only noticeable under bright fluorescents. The BP is very harsh and drying on your skin, but if you're like me and very desperate for a resolution, this system works.I give every skin care routine 3-4 months to control my acne. At first I did not like the lotion that came with this product as it really did not do a great job and definitely could not stand up to winter use. Winter for me consists of 15-35 F so I purchased the jojoba oil from the same manufacturer as the price was competitive compared to other, similar products on amazon. I used it as the company instructed, mixing 5 drops into my lotion step, but had okay results. I got a separate clear plastic bottle to mix them (lotion and oil) and had vast improvements. I think my skin needed more so I mixed them to a consistency where if I flip the bottle upside down, the mixture will fairly rapidly fall. This keep my skin hydrated in the single digits days we've been getting with zero flakes. If you have dry skin, buy the oil! It really will save you on going through the itchy, red, flaky period and BONUS it's great to put on chapped lips before bed during winter monthsFrom my photos, this system obviously works! I did go through the "it gets worse, before getting better" period but at around two months in I had a lot of improvement that only continued. At 100 days in I maybe get one blemish per month and it will go away within a week. When wearing just a foundation (no concealer) my skin looks amazing and you can't even really see my discoloration or scarring. I would 10/10 recommend this to anyone who suffers as I did (finally past tense) from acne.Goodluck and Cheers!