The Beautiful Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge

Like myself, many of you may have watched the Royal wedding today. As Kate Middleton walked through the abbey I was in awe of her beauty! (Picture below borrowed from the BBC)

Her dress was magnificent, as was her skin. She is a naturally beautiful woman and apparently swears by a particular brand to keep her skin looking its best!

I found this on Elle News (http://www.elleuk.com/news/beauty-news/elle-reveals-kate-middleton-s-skin-and-hair-secrets):

"Kate has been using Karin Herzog's Oxygen Face Cream, £36 and Vita-A-Kombi 3, from £21.50, on any blemishes. Both creams contain a small percentage of oxygen (2% and 3% respectively) that detoxes the complexion and regulates the skin's oil production."

If it's good enough for a princess, it's good enough for me! I will definately be purchasing some of Karin Herzog's products from: http://www.shop.karinherzog.co.uk/prodtype.asp?CAT_ID=121

Make-up artists around the world were also quick to praise Kate's elegant yet natural look as "simple and outstandingly beautiful" showing that less can definately be more when it comes to dressing up for a special occasion!

Kate Middleton is without a doubt my new "skinspiration"!

- Natalie

Dangers of Acne Medication

I saw an article about a girl who had died from a deep vein thromobosis reportedly caused by the acne medication she had been prescribed:

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/861941-teenager-died-from-deep-vein-thrombosis-after-taking-acne-pill

Regardless of it's purpose, medication will always come with risks and side effects. When you are precribed a new set of tablets or a different treatment make sure that you read the detailed description of what the drug can do, and if any side effects do occur then you should contact your doctor and seek advice!

I went to the doctor this afternoon to get a new prescription of Oxytetracycline and my doctor mentioned the side effects and I thought "I've heard all this before bla bla bla" but then I remembered the article above and thought "well actually, there's every chance that I could be the one suffering from serious side effects".

As annoying as it may be to hear the same speech every time you go to the doctor and have the same questions asked, they do it with the best intentions: to protect you!

I would also like to point out the dangers of buying acne medication online: I've been there, times when I have wanted a quick solution and considered buying tablets off a site that claims the treatment is "100% effective". We don't know what these medications are made with and we do not know the risks; the people selling these drugs do not care about our safety, they're just trying to get money off vulnerable people. If you are even thinking of buying anything online you should consult your doctor first and get his/her opinion, and if they disagree then ask them what they would recommend!

Did you know that most medication sold online is made using cheap and deadly products such as rat poison or cement mix?

Think of the risks and remember that if you ever feel like your medication is affecting you badly it is important to consult a doctor ASAP!

- Natalie

After Roaccutane!

When I was taking R I was convinced that it would clear up all my acne and I would never get another spot again... I stopped taking it in September and still get regular break outs now.

As I keep saying, I never knew of anyone who had ever taken R so there was nobody to give me advice or prepare me for what would happen. I went on websites like http://www.reclaimyourskin.co.uk/ and it seemed that everybody who kept a diary on there wrote that after they finished their course of tablets their skin stayed clear, so I assumed that my skin would do the same!

Although R helps hinder acne it doesn't stop it completely, I suppose nothing can. Regular break-outs are common after the treatment but I still panic every time I do and think that the tablets didn't work, sometimes my skin looks bad but even at its worst it still looks better than it used to.

Tomorrow I am going to my GP to ask for a prescription of anti-biotics to take in correspondence with my microdermabrasion treatments, I'll let you know if they make a difference! That would be my advice to anyone who is worried that their Roaccutane treatment didn't work, see your doctor and ask for a mild prescription to help continuously control sebum production in the skin. Also, don't stop with your facial routine after you have finished with R! Continue washing, moisturising, and devoting the same attention to your skin as you did before because then you will be aware of any changes to the skin!

But yes, the moral of the story is that while most people will have a high success rate with R other people (like myself) will still suffer from acne but to a lesser degree than before! Don't worry though, I won't give up until I find a treatment I am 100% satisfied with!

- Natalie

Before and After

I'm going to talk you through my daily facial routine, telling you what products I use on a day-to-day basis!

This picture was taken yesterday night after I had taken all my make-up off:

I use the Dermalogica range for normal-oily skin; I use the special cleansing gel followed by the skin prep scrub
I then use the multi-active toner on my face and neck and apply the active moist moisturiser to the same areas to combat hydration so that the skin stops producing as much oil!

I then use Bobbi Brown's Vitamin Enriched Face Base which contains shea butter, vitamins A, C, E, and carrot! It locks in moisture and stops my foundations absorbing into the skin.

I have recently started applying a layer of Mattify! Ultra (Mattify cosmetics), which is a translucent powder that absorbs oil and is supposed to keep make-up looking "fresh" but I haven't been using it long enough to judge this yet. I apply that before and after my foundation.

The foundation I am currently using is Dermalogica's Treatment Foundation in colour 1. It contains antioxidant vitamins which help protect the skin from moisture loss. There are only 8 shades in this foundation but suprisingly #1 is an exact match for my pale skin!
Another foundation I often use is Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation in "soft ivory", it really does give flawless coverage but I started using Dermalogica when my skin started getting too oily. Laura Mercier also do an oil-free foundation that I am definately going to try because the foundations are amazing at hiding flaws!

I use MAC Studio Finish Concealer in shade NW15 on red blemishes as again it matches my skin tone and you can build it up to add more coverage.

I then add Benefit's Dandelion Blush to the apples of my cheeks which is a lovely light pink and apply my powder afterwards so that the blush looks more natural.

I swear by MAC Mineralze Skin Finish Powder in "light"; it is a mineral powder so it gives full coverage but allows the skin to breathe! I tend to apply a lot of this and keep one in my bag to use during the day (if my face starts to look to oily). I also keep Bobbi Brown Blotting Sheets in my bag to use on my T-zone.
I use Benefit's Lemon aid on my eye lids as an eye shadow primer which takes the redness out of eye lids.

I then use Keihl's lip balm in "vanilla" which stops my lips from going dry.

If there are still blemishes showing I use Benefit's "Hello Flawless" which is amazing and covers any imprefections! Unfortunately, all the shades in this particular make-up have yellowish undertones that make my skin look orange. Benefit do not tend to cater for paler skin so I use it in "shell" and use MAC mineral powder over the top to keep it as close to my natural skin colour as possible!

I then use MAC Fix + which you spray over the top of make-up to fix it in place!

and then I look a tiny bit more presentable:

Excuse the peculiarity of my posing!
They are the basics that I use everyday, and it doesn't take me as long as you might think! After that I will add mascara, eye shadow, lipstick etc but the ones listed above are my necessities for hiding acne!

- Natalie

N-Lite Laser

I had laser treatment done when my face was at its worst; I had cysts covering my cheeks and chin, they were so painful that I couldn't sleep on my face and my pillows were always full of blood. I had been having the microdermabrasion but the aesthetician convinced me to try the laser treatment as it was more effective than the microdermabrasion on severe acne and scarring.

The laser kills and reduces the bacteria in the skin and works beneath the surface without damaging the outer layer.

I was nervous as I didn't know what to expect at all! I was given a pair of blacked-out goggles to wear to shield my eyes from the laser and sat in a chair that made me feel like I was at the dentist.

The aesthetician has a "pen" that they use to point the laser into the areas that require treatment; as I said, my skin was extremely infected when I had the treatment done and I found it very uncomfortable. It felt as though someone was pricking me with a hot pin, the same feeling you get if you flick yourself with an elastic band, and in the more infected areas the laser felt hotter!

I have quite a high pain threshold when it comes to my skin as I want desperately for my skin to be clear, but throughout the treatment I was willing it to be over!

It lasted longer than the microdermabrasion, about 30 minutes in total, and at the end I was given the usual instructions (to wear spf and stay out of direct sunlight etc). My face was red and there was some dark red marks where the laser had penetrated the skin but I was told that they would fade quickly (which they did).

I asked whether every laser treatment was that uncomfortable and the aesthetician told me that it depends on how badly infected the area is as the pain is reflective on the amount of bacteria needing to be removed.

Laser treatment has a higher proven success rate than microdermabrasion as it can reach beyond where microdermabrasion can! You can't have the laser treatment done while you are taking R as it can causing bruising and tearing of the skin.

I found the picture above on google, but that is how N-Lite laser treatment is performed. The screen behind the aesthetician is used to change the strength of the laser and the applicator is applied to the skin so that the laser can penetrate the surface easily.

Don't let me put you off by saying that I found it uncomfortable; everybody reacts to treatments differently! And as the old saying goes "beauty is pain"!

- Natalie

Glycolic peel

Much like the Power Pumpkin peel, a Glycolic peel works to resurface the skin to get rid of any scarring and reduce acne!

The strength of the peel can be changed depending on the severity of your condition, as can the time that the peel is left of the skin. Glycolic peel is actually one of the milder peels you can have and can therefore have it done every 2-3 weeks, there are "deep" peels for the absolute worst cases of acne but you can only have those done once in your life due to the severity of the peel and you would have to be under anesthetic.

As it is a mild peel the side effects aren't too bad: redness and dryness of the skin, and light sensitivity. You can apply make-up straight after it (though I never did).

As the peel is applied your skin should feel tingly, the more it tingles the deeper it is working! There should be no discomfort, and afterwards an spf mosturiser is applied to soothe the skin!

Peels usually work deeper than microdermabrasion which takes away the top layer of skin, if you want to have one done but can't decide I recommend visiting either your GP or a trained professional who can give you all the details and help you make a decision!


- Natalie

Power Pumpkin Peel

I'm not going to lie, peels can sting. But my theory is that if you can feel it burn that means it's doing it's job (tip- this theory only works if you are having treatment done by a professional! If you are doing something to your skin at home that is burning you may be doing more harm than good!)

I used to have Power Pumpkin Peels (or "pumpkin power" as I called them until I googled it and was proved wrong...)
The peel is used to descrease the amount of existing acne and helps to prevent future breakouts.

The one used on me was very strong and the strength was increased each time so that the results would be more beneficial. I remember it smelling quite peculiar aswell...

The peel is applied just like a cleanser, massaged into the skin, and then left to absorb for a short while. They then wash it off and a protective spf mosturiser is applied!
The peel can leave your face looking red as it works to remove the top layer of skin; I never put make-up on after having any treatments (as I feel as though I'm re-blocking my pores) so I found it extremely embarassing to walk through the streets of Manchester with a bright red face to get back to my car!
Your skin will probably also become quite dry as the skins surface re-forms and it is recommended you stay out of the sun as your skin will naturally have become more sensitive during the treatment.

The Power Pumpkin Peel is part of the DermaQuest skin range http://www.dermaquestinc.com/ I had mine done at the Skin Health Spa in Manchester.

- Natalie

Microdermabrasion

Professional microdermabrasion gently resurfaces the outer layers of the skin, removing damaged cells and stimulating the skin's natural cell regenerating process; it works by buffing away the outer layer of skin using tiny, rough particles.

They use a wand applicator that feels like a tiny suction, they run it over your skin (concentrating on the worst areas) and let the particles remove the surface layer.

It is good for acne because it helps to remove the debris that block the pores; it is best used with anti-biotics or creams to help combat the production of acne as microdermabrasion will have no effect of the skins sebum production!

As I said in a previous post, I had lots of lumps under the skin on my forehead that were noticable all the time (especially on pictures); after a couple of treatments the microdermabrasion was able to effectively remove the lumps which were cause by deep blockages in the pores!

It's not painful, and the microdermabrasion machines have different settings depending on the sensitivity of the skin! I have never asked them to stop because it was uncomfortable, I actually find it quite therapeutic!

I have always had mine done at http://www.skinhealthspa.com/ who are extremely professional and very kind! I used to always get nervous about taking my make-up off in front of people but they're so helpful and understanding that there's no reason to feel embarassed at all. They also do free consultations so even if you're just curious about how the treatment works it is worth seeking their professional advice.

You should probably wait 2 weeks between each session to allow the skin to heal, and afterwards your skin will go very red and probably dry as it regrows.

Right now I'm having it done to remove scars from my cheeks caused by acne and I can really see the difference; before, my cheeks were bright red and the scars could be seen under make-up but now you can barely see them when my skin is bare!

Professional treatments can be expensive but you can now buy microdermabrasion creams and face washes from stores and pharmacies! They contain tiny granules which again work to buff the surface of the skin, much like a facial scrub, but the granules are stronger to scrub deeper and help clreas the pores!

- Natalie

Clinique

Although they wear lab coats the people working behind the counter at Clinique tend to not know what they're talking about; I've purchased expensive products on their advice that make my skin worse!
Clinique skin care products are ultimately very stripping as they contain a high percentage of salicylic acid, that's the tingly sensation you can feel on the skin if you use their cleansers.
Clinique is ultimately a cosmetic brand and therefore their skincase range is not dermatologically tested on skin like ours!

Their 3 step range for normal to oily skin made my skin a lot worse as it's made to remove all the oil from the skin (if you read my post about oily skin you will remember that in doing this the skin has to create more ol to counteract it). This made my acne much worse!

I still use their Vitamin C Lip Smoothies but I refuse to use their skin care products anymore!! Tip- Don't trust every one in a lab coat!

- Natalie

Tip for dry lips!

Here's a tip to remove dry skin from your lips:

Buy a toothbrush for babies and use it to gently rub scrub the lips; the bristles on a babies toothbrush are softer than an adults and therefore don't aggravate the lips. But don't scrub too hard because it will cause the lips to bleed!

After you've removed the dry skin apply some lip balm to your lips to keep them nourished!

- Natalie

Dry lips

Today I purchased Kiehls lip balm in Vanilla; I couldn't recommend it highly enough, I didn't have to re-apply it for 4 hours!
They come in a variety of flavours;vanilla, coconut, mango, and cranberry (and there are unflavoured balms aswell).
It cost £9.50 but I've been looking for a balm to keep my lips nourished since I was taking R and I only wish that I had found it when I was still taking my tablets!

When I was on R I used Dermalogica's Climate Lip Control which worked for me and I still use now, and I also used Carmex lip balm for a while but I didn't like the taste!

People have also highly recommended Burt's Bees lip balm but that is not something I have tried myself.

I have a habit of buying nearly everything recommended to me until I find a product I am 100% satisfied with!

- Natalie

Oily skin

Now that I have stopped taking R my skin has become extremely oily!
I've changed my make-up, my cleansers, my toners, nothing worked!
My mum went into Urban Retreat in Harvey Nichols and the man behind the counter told her I needed to get face washes WITHOUT salicylic acid in them.

The salicylic acid tries to stop the skin from producing oil, so in turn the skin produces more oil to combat it! I was purposely buying products with salicylic acid because I was trying to control my acne breakouts, unfortunately this has made my skin worse!!!

If you're having the same problem I highly recommend Dermalogica products for normal-oily skin, that's what I'm using at the moment and my skin has rapidly stopped producing as much oil. I always keep blotting sheets in my bag though, just incase my skin starts to look oily throughout the day. The blotting sheets I use are Bobbi Brown but you can buy them from most pharmacies as well!

- Natalie

My face in 2007 (a month later)

This was taken exactly a month after the first picture!
Notice the change in skin condition, it is much oilier than on the first picture.
you can see the chest has now been affected and the acne on the chin looks redder and more aggressive. You might also notice that unlike some peoples acne, mine always remained in the same places and didn't clear up. This is why I tried so many different treatments. Again, if you enlarge the picture you can see the texture of the skin is still lumpy which was an indication that there was more infection under the surface of the skin which meant that new spots would be emerging constantly.

This picture is hideous, is it not?
And ignore the ear rings please. What was I thinking?!

- Natalie

My face in 2007

The only reason I've covered my eyes is because they looked very sad!
I was 17 here, so this was a year after I started college.
As you can see there is a lot of superficial acne close to the surface and if you look at my forehead the surface is bumpy, that is because there was a lot of infected bacteria under the skin that hadn't become either blackheads or whiteheads. If you touched my forehead you could feel the lumps under the skin, the microdermabrasion helped to control that!
Around the chin the acne is very aggressive; the spots were usually "open" so it often couldn't be covered properly with make-up as they would weep.
On this picture my skin was quite dry, today my skin is extremely oily and I'm still trying to find products to control that properly!

Taking pictures is a good way to monitor your skins improvement! And please don't steal my pictures, they are quite embarassing!

- Natalie

My skin

This post gets quite depressing but I thought it might be helpful to see how other people cope with suffering from acne and then you can compare your own experiences to someone elses (mine!)

I've never had perfect skin; in high school I used to look at everyones faces and be jealous because nobody else seemed to have bad skin. Even the girls who were considered "fat" or "geeky" had nice skin so it made me upset when I thought about what people would say about me behind my back. This is when I started wearing make-up.

I remember being in dance class and having a conversation about appearances with some of the other girls and one said "Zahira [one of our class mates] is so ugly! She's got loads of spots, it's disgusting" and I froze; my skin was just as bad as Zahira's but I covered mine with foundation and concealer. I was mortified and I became more and more self conscious, I didn't want people calling me ugly!

By the time I started college in 2008 the acne had spread to my back, shoulders, and chest. This is when I started going to my GP and was prescribed creams and anti-biotics which had no effect.
I was wearing more and more make-up to cover the spots but I didn't know how to apply make-up also my skin is very pale so the majority of make-up I had made my face look orange and inadvertently made me stand out more.

I started getting large, painful cysts on my chin that were dry and couldn't be covered up with make-up so there was no way of hiding them. I used to pretend to be sick or beg my mum to let me have the day off because I was too embarassed to be seen. I went into college one day with one of these cysts on my chin and nobody seemed to notice so it made me feel more confident about myself.... until lunch time. The night before there had been a programme on TV about a man with a giant tumour on his face that looked like a "second head"; at lunchtime, a boy that I barely knew came over to me and said "What the hell is that on your face? Is it a tumour? Oh yeah, I saw you on TV last night! I thought they got rid of it?"
I was mortified.
Everybody heard and started looking at me and at my skin to see what he was talking about, so I just laughed it off and pretended I thought it was funny but I was devestated.
(Me and my sister were having lunch in town a couple of weeks ago and I told her this story for the first time, 3 years after it happened, and I started crying. I couldn't help myself! It affected me so much that to even discuss it makes me cry!)

After that, I walked around college with my folder in front of my face. If anyone looked at me funny I would pretend to chew the corners of the folder. I walked around looking at the floor so that nobody could see my face properly, and kept my hair down so that I could hide my face in classes.

I was miserable, I felt lonely and depressed and didn't understand why I was so ugly.

My mum realised how I felt and showed me a web-site she'd come across for the Skin Health Spa in Manchester. They specialised in aesthetic and cosmetic procedures to help diminish the effects of skin problems such as acne. We read about the different treatments and booked a consultation and ended up having sessions of microdermabrasion.

I noticed the difference straight away, my face was smoother and all the bumps underneath my skin that were noticeable even with make-up were gone! I kept having the treatment and eventually when my sessions came to an end I was happier with the way I looked. Happier, but not happy. I still thought my skin was bad.

I survived though, until I went to university.

I moved into university accomodation and was looking forward to a new experience but in my second year everything went wrong. My skin got so much worse!

• I wouldn't leave my room without make-up
• If I had taken my make-up off I wouldn't open the door to anyone, not even my best friend
• If my skin was especially bad, I wouldn't leave my room at all
• I couldn't talk to anyone because if they looked at me I thought they were looking at my face and would notice how ugly I was.

In the end I couldn't live there any more. I hated myself and the way I looked so much that I locked myself away in my room and hid from everyone.
I eventually moved home and that made me feel safer but I still didn't want to take off my make-up because I didn't want my family to think I was ugly.

I woke up one morning to get ready for my part time job, looked in the mirror and froze. My face had puffed up and it was covered in giant cysts. The spots on my cheeks were so big if I faced forward you could see them jutting off the side of my face. There wasn't a section uncovered.
I went to my mum's room where my mum, brother, and sister were sitting and hung around the doorway to see if they noticed, they all tried to tell me I looked fine but I didn't. I went to my room, sat in front of the mirror, and cried, I mean properly cried. Nothing anyone said helped.
(I nearly started crying as I wrote that! That was my lowest point so far, I hated myself)

Even though I was a mess my mum still made me go to work, she said I couldn't let acne stop me from continuing my life. I tried to hide my face with my hair but all day I wanted to cry because I knew that people were looking at me. In all honesty, it was probably my attitude and demeanour they were noticing more than anything! But in my head everybody was looking at me and judging me.

I couldn't sleep on my face, it was too painful and every morning when I woke up my pillow would be covered in blood from where I'd aggravated different spots in my sleep. I went back to the Skin Health Spa who were so comforting and didn't make me feel ugly at all. They even gave me free samples of facial cleansers! I had more microdermabrasion and tried the laser treatment but it was around this time that my mum found out about Roaccutane and I knew that if anything was going to make my acne disappear it would be that!

So there's a bit of background history on me and my skin!  I've got some pictures of my face that I took in '07, '08, and '09 so I'll put some up so you can see! I didn't take a picture of my skin at my lowest point, I didn't particularly want a record of that memory, but I wish I had! I would have loved to compare my skin then to how I look now!

- Natalie

Roaccutane (part 3)

So we're all aware of what R is now and what it does, aren't we?

I started taking R on the 9th February 2010 and throughout the time I was taking it I kept a diary of my experiences. I'm going to show you a few extracts regarding the side effects that I had:

"...so far all it has done has make me ache, especially my chest. Sometimes it feels like I can't breathe properly and it can be painful, but it's generally not too unbearable." 21st April, 2010

I only had muscle and joint ache properly for the first month or so, occasionally after that my leg would hurt but my assumption is that it stopped after my body adapted to the drug.

"excessive sweating is embrassing." 30th April

I was stating the obvious with that point there, wasn't I? Yes, I did start sweating excessively. There are deodrants and roll-ons you can get to combat this; I used Driclor which is very, very itchy (and can burn incessantly if you have shaved your arm pits the day you decide to wear it!)

"I am so incredibly itchy! Especially my legs!" 17th May

At first I thought I was having a reaction to the R but the doctor told me this is common aswell. You can buy creams from the pharamcy to soothe the itching which tended to work for me, but quite often my legs were red raw from where I would scratch them incessantly.

"Lips are very dry, they bleed often."

The most common side effect. My lips, nose, face, and arms were extremely dry and I had to moisturise daily. I never really used lip balm before but I was carrying it around in my pocket and using it every 10 minutes or so!

"I have noticed it takes longer for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but maybe i'm just being silly." 30th May

This is one of the more uncommon side effects and at first I though I was being silly but I started counting how long it took me to adjust to the dark and it could be upto 15/20 seconds which is way longer than it was before R. Thankfully I adjust at a normal speed now that I've stopped taking it, no need to worry!

"So tired all the time these days..." 8th June

I had a nap practically everyday, I constantly felt drained!

I started seeing results after about 3 months. I'd notice that a patch of skin would be clear, but then the next day new spots would have formed and it did that until very near the end. The worst was when acne emerged on my neck and ear lobes! I didn't know you could get acne on your ears!!!!!

I would highly recommend keeping a diary, I felt like I had no one to talk to about how I felt! My diary was my release and re-reading it makes me so glad I kept it because I can see how I honestly felt at that point in time!

- Natalie

Roaccutane (part 2)

Do we all know what Roaccutane is/does? I'll give a brief explanation just so you know what I'm talking about!

It comes in tablet form, like the one above, and in a variety of different dosages.
The dosage the doctor gives you is dependent on your weight; I weigh around 8 stone so the maximum dosage they gave me was 50 mg.
They usually prescribe it for 6 months in total; after 6 months, if you and the doctor feel like there hasn't been significant progress, they can continue for another couple of months. Also, if you decide after a year or so that it has come back you can talk to your doctor about restarting the treatment.
My dosages were as follows:

• 1st month: 20mg
• 2nd month: 40mg
• 3rd month: 40mg
• 4th month: 50mg
• 5th month: 50mg
• 6th month: 50mg

Roaccutane contains Isotretinoin (R is the brand name of the capsules I was taking) which works like the other treatments I mentioned previously in reducing the sebum levels produced, but is very strong and has serious side effects.

Some of them aren't as common as the others, here is a list of the common ones:

• Dryness: skin, lips, eye lids, almost everywhere will dry up because the R is basically stopping the production of oil in the skin so pores don't get blocked by excess sebum!
• Aches/pains: muscles and joints might occasionally ache and the doctors recommend you don't excercise vigorously (which wasn't a problem for me!)
• Hair loss/thinning: but by stopping the amount of oil being produced by the body your hair should also stop being greasy while taking R.
• Mood changes: At every doctors visit your dermatologist will ask you if you have had any serious mood changes. Depression and suicidal tendencies are the most serious side effect of R so it is vital that all mood changes are monitored.

Other symptoms include; headaches, tiredness, eye problems, jaundice, with each packet of R that you get there will be a list of all the side effects in the box along with a percentage of how common they are. I had quite a few of the side effects, but I tried not to let them bother me because my goal has always been to get acne free skin!!!

I'll tell you about my personal symptoms in the next post and you can compare your own to mine, sometimes when you're not sure of what is normal and what isn't you tend to panic. But never fear, if you have any questions just let me know! Or ask a professional doctor, I don't have all the answers but they do!

- Natalie

Roaccutane (part 1)

I'd spent 4 years trying various treatments my GP recommended that were having no effect at all. My mother used to spend hours trawling the internet looking for different treatments we could try, this is how we came across Roaccutane.

In all my life I have never met anyone who suffers from acne to the same degree as me or heard of anyone who had taken R. I'm actually surprised at how many forums there are dedicated to it on the internet beause until just over a year ago I knew nothing about it!

To be prescribed R you have to be recommended to a dermatologist by your GP, so the next day I booked an appointment to see my doctor who agreed that I had exhausted all other treatments (at this point I'd even been having microderm, laser and peels- which I'll talk about another time) and that this was my last option.

Your GP has to write a letter to a dermatologist giving them your medical history (regarding the treatments you have undergone for acne) and then they make an appointment for you, they have to agree that this is the final option. So I eventually got an appointment.... for 4 months later. I was miserable, I was finally going to get a treatment that I actually believed could work and I still had to wait so long for it to start. As you can imagine I was a bit impatient and wanted it over with!

Now I know everyone won't have the option to do this but my mother saw how depressed I was getting and she decided we should go private. 3 weeks later I was on my way to see a dermatologist at the Alexandra Hospital, Cheadle.

I can't comprehend how I felt walking into the hospital, I thought that was it; I'd get the tablets and I'd have clear beautiful skin!!
..... No.

Like I said, I didn't know what to expect because I didn't know of anyone who had ever taken it. Dr Lear, my dermatologist, explained all the side effects and the process to me and then sent me away to make an appointment for a months time. In order to take R you have to have blood tests every month to check that your cholesterol and liver function don't change, girls have to take the contraceptive pill and have monthly pregnancy tests done at your GP to make sure you don't get pregnant (R can severely damage the foetus) and it doesn't mater if you aren't sexually active; I wasn't.

I walked out of that hospital trying not to cry because I'd convinced myself that it would all happen so fast; I'd walk in and get the tablets there and then. Unfortunately acne treament is a long process, nothing happens overnight. Not even when your taking R, infact with R everything gets a lot worse before it gets better.

Anyway, I went home and cried. Then in that week I had my blood tests and started taking Dianette (contraceptive pill) and every day my mum would ring the hospital to see if anybody had cancelled their appointment and there was an earlier slot we could attend; there was!!!!

3 weeks later (instead of 4) we went back to the hospital; Dr Lear checked my blood test results, weighed me, and prescribed me a months worth of 20mg R (they can only prescribe a month at a time because you need to return monthly with a new set of blood tests).

That is how I started taking R, mostly thanks to my mother who I am unequivocally indebted to for evething she has done to help and support me.

If you're thinking about taking R or are about to, remember; it takes a long time but you have to peresevere because the results will be worth it!!!

I'll talk about the the side effects on a different post and if you have any questions regarding anything I wrote about let me know! And I'll also give a bit of a background history on my skin to make you feel a bit better about your own.

- Natalie

The first step to clear skin!

Acne treatment can be a loooooong process! I've had it for about five years and I'm still undergoing treatment.
We all know there are different levels of severity when it comes to acne; you could be one of the lucky ones who can go to the shops and buy a bottle of neutrogena and it clears up straight away, but if you're like me chances are that you're spending endless amounts of money on brand name products that don't work.
Products like neutrogena, clean and clear and freederm are made for superficial acne (spots close to the surface of the skin that clear up within a day or so) so if you have a more severe case then these products are probably not going to work at all. Personally, I found they were a waste of money!

If nothing seems to be working, the best thing and first thing you should do is visit your GP. Your doctor can prescribe you medications and cream which will basically kill that bacteria in the pores.
There are a number of things they can prescribe and it's worth trying them out before you move onto the more serious treatments.
Here's a list of things your doctor can prescribe:

• The contraceptive pill: For girls, of course. It doesn't matter if you're sexually active or not, the contraceptive pill contains hormones that help lessen the amount of sebum the sebaceous glands produce (and for the record, if you do end up having to take Roaccutane, all girls have to simultaneously take the contraceptive pill to make sure you don't get pregnant regardless of whether you are sexually active).
• Tretinoin cream/gel/lotion: contains vitamin A (just like Roaccutane, but very mild) which helps to remove dead skin cells that might be blocking your pores.
• Antibiotics: This can be in cream form like benzoyl peroxide or in tablet form. The tablets are usually prescribed for more aggressive types and you are usually given a 6 month prescription. With most creams and gels you get a 3 month prescription.

None of these worked for me, but they did for my brother! Everybody responds differently to different treatments so don't refuse to try something because your friend told you it didn't work! And it doesn't matter if you think that your acne isn't "serious" enough for a doctors visit; don't think like that, you'll make yourself miserable and doctors are there to help!
You have to have tried every treatment before you can start taking Roaccutane so it's worth going to see if any of the milder treatments work for you, Roaccutane is always the last resort in acne management (in the UK atleast, if they have different methods of prescription in any other countries please let me know!)

I'll talk in depth about my experiences with Roaccutane another day.

I know that visiting your doctor can be a little bit daunting or embarassing but they know what they're doing and can offer you a range of products that might just make the difference!
My mum went with me to every doctors appointment, if you have a parent or friend who is willing to do the same take them with you because you might feel less nervous that way!
Infact, my mum told me to call this post "Step 1: Moaning to your mother until she takes you to the doctor."

- Natalie

What is acne?

Just incase you were unsure, here's the short version of how "spots" are formed:

Oil from the sebaceous gland (called sebum) gets blocked and becomes infected. If the pore opens, the sebum oxidises and turns a brown colour: we call this a blackhead. Blackheads are not dirt and cannot be scrubbed away! They can however be extracted by a blackhead remover stick that can be found in most pharmacies. If you're going to do some extractions make sure you have clean hands because otherwise the infection will spread and will probably end up looking worse than before.

Same goes for whiteheads! Except they are "white" because they remain under the skin.

If there is a break in the follicular wall (where the sebum gets blocked) this causes the more severe acne types such as; cysts and nodules.

If you do have the more severe forms my advice would be to not squeeze them or try extraction. I used to get them on my chin and by messing with them I would just create a scab and the infection would worsen, making the cyst bigger than it already was! (One of my worst experiences in life was when a boy in college asked if I had a tumour on my chin.... I sincerely hope that never happens to you!)

Tomorrow I'll write about some of the treatments but I just thought it might be helpful if we got the sciencey bit out of the way first so we're all on the same page!

- Natalie

Welcome!

Hello and thanks for reading my new blog!

The reason I decided to do this is because I have suffered from severe acne since I was 15 and for the past five years I've wished that there had been someone there to help me and give me advice when I needed it.
I've gone through so many different treatments, spent hundereds of pounds on beauty products that didn't work, and spent the majority of my time completely miserable because I felt as though nobody else understood what I was going through!
It doesn't matter if you have a mild case of acne or a severe form that leaves you with scars (like what I had) because what most people don't understand is that acne can affect you mentally and leave you feeling depressed. I'm here to help and hope that even if you find that nothing I write helps, you will take solace in the fact that there are other people going through the same thing even if it doesn't feel like it!

I'll update this blog as often as I can with tips about different treatments, make-up brands, and facial products and I am very excited about sharing what I know!

- Natalie