First of all, I cannot believe it’s been almost four years since I finished my Accutane treatment. I would say for a good 2.5-3 years my skin was awesome. I barely had breakouts and I rarely felt the need to wear foundation. However, over the last year, that is no longer true. Here is my skin (no makeup – just moisturizer) from Wednesday while I was sitting in traffic doing the opposite of admiring my skin:
It’s bumpy. It’s red. It’s embarrassing. It’s in a condition I never wanted to experience again. I’m 27. How can I still have the skin of a teenager? I never expected to be almost 30 and still dealing with that same acne I had at 12 years old. Normally my skin isn’t too bad in the summer but here we are mid-July and I look like a pepperoni pizza. I normally go makeup-free more often than not in the warmer months so it just adds another level of frustration when I feel the need to cover up to avoid people seeing my real skin.
I’m not going to lie- I don’t really know what to do. I’ve been trying different toners for my skin pre-moisturizer. Ive been using neutral skincare- Cetaphil and Olay with SPF. I’ve been trying different topicals like Zapzyt and CVS-brand drying lotion (knock-off of Mario Badescu). I’ve been trying different pimple patches like Mighty Patch and Truly Gone. So far, the Truly Gone and drying lotion work best and unfortunately, I need to use them almost every night.
Again, I’m not really sure what to do. I don’t think doing another round of Accutane is worth it if three years later I’ll have shitty skin again. Part of me feels like such a fraud! I documented my Accutane journey so heavily and swore by the results. I admitted the horrible thoughts, back pain, monthly blood work, thousands of dollars spent, and chapped skin were all worth it. But being where I am today, I’m not sure I still believe that.
So many people reached out to me about my Accutane journey that I feel like I owe it to them to be transparent about my skin today. It’s a huge bummer and I just hope others have real long-lasting results or at least major permanent improvements after their experience. I will say my dark spots have majorly improved but my breakouts are very similar to my pre-Accutane skin.
If anyone has any recommendations on where to go from here, I’m all ears! I think I’ll start by checking in with my dermatologist and see what my options are!
Sarcastically Callie 