A is for Acne • The ABC's of Beauty

My Story

Let's start out with the most glamorous, shall we? There's nothing like reminiscing over blemish nightmares together! Acne sucks, whether it's hormonal acne, bacterial acne, or where-the-heck-did-that-come-from acne. What works for one person, is a total flop for another, and if we're being honest, most products are just a total flop all together.

I've always gotten zits on my face, but compared to some, I've gotten off really easy. My real acne struggles were on my back. Bacne. Even now the word makes me cringe.

Now let's be clear. I didn't get little "blemishes" on my back. I had large painful cystic acne spots that lasted for weeks on end, sometimes twenty + at a time. Obviously, this was just awesome for my self-esteem as a teenager.

I tried every product at the drugstore and nothing helped. Though to be fair, nothing made it worse either. Acne just became a part of me. It became "No thanks," when invited to swimming parties, and it became keeping my distance when hugging, so that no one would feel the ridges on my back through a thin t-shirt in the summer.

Luckily that all changed during my summer in France. 20 years old and still fairly vulnerable on the self confidence front, I had just started dating Monsieur Right, who lived about 10 minutes from the beach. I wanted a solution quickly.

Figuring that I had nothing to lose but a little pocket money, I went down to my local pharmacy where I tried to explain just how large and gross my bacne was in broken French.

.:Pause here to imagine the miming and creative adjectives:.

The Pharmacist's Solution

• Shower daily
• Wash the whole back area with Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel by La Roche Posay
• Dry the area really well
• Apply Avène's TriAcnéal to the area three times a week
If your skin tolerates the TriAcnéal, you can increase to a daily application.
• Wear loose clothing made from materials that breathe easily, like cotton
• Wear loads of sunscreen on any exposed skin to prevent scarring

She confidently promised me that my Bacne would clear up completely within two weeks. I just smiled, nodded my head, and thought, "Righhhttt...".

I'm not a medical professional, so I won't bore you with my theories on why this combo worked so well on my severe cystic acne. All I can tell you is that is worked for me - within two weeks! After I cleared up the initial batch of acne,  I did need to keep washing with the Effaclar daily. But I only used the TriAcnéal to occasionally spot treat. No more Bacne!

Miracle.

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If anyone else has written a post about Acne recently or wants to write one within the next week or so feel free to link it up below in the comments.

Also, if anyone else has a product or technique like this that they swear by for zapping zits, please share!