6 weeks Roaccutane (Accutane/Isotretinoin) free

Thought I would do a little update for you now it has been about 6 weeks since finishing my Roaccutane. This seems to be the agreed amount of time that the drug takes to clear from the body (although some of the side effects can last much longer, all of it has been metabolised and cleared now).

Skin dryness
Dryness has almost completely gone. My lips were back to normal by week 2 and any dry patches of skin from using products that were too strong have now completely gone. My skin is still combination.

Skin reactivity
The ferocity to which my skin reacts to products seems much reduced. My tolerance to retinols and acids has definitely increased.
I have not noticed and increase chance of burning from the sun, however I am being VERY careful - hat, sunglasses and SPF 50.

Joints
Knee pain has almost completely gone. I was lucky to never suffer from back pain but did have a significant amount of neck and shoulder pain and this reduced a lot, especially between weeks 4 and 6. My foot and ankle pain/ache is the only thing that is remaining but that has also reduced significantly.

Spots
I got my first spot around 4 weeks after being off Roaccutane. Turns out I was also due on my period! This came and went within a few days. Panic over. The issue with Roaccutane now is that people are put on it for much less severe acne than they were 10 years ago. If you have full face, severe, cystic acne, then an improvement for you will be much different to someone who gets 5 or 6 spots a month.
Because the 5-6 spots a month group are now being put on Roaccutane, the expectations for an "acne cure" are much higher, but this is not the reality. You will still get spots however they should be less frequent and less severe. 


The pictures below are me now. No make up. No filter (as always).

As those who work in hospital or in a dental surgery will know, there is no more honest, or less flattering light, than what they use in a dental surgery or hospital. I thought this would be a good light to show you my skin because you will see it, warts (/scars) and all. 

My skin care routine

AM

1.       Non foaming cleanser (I used antibacterial, anti acne, anti anything good for the skin    cleansers for years until a dermatologist told me this is the worst thing you can do!) I use Cereve hydrating cleanser, or cetaphil. Both super cheap from Boots
2.       Hyaluronic acid serum – I use the one from - The Ordinary hyaluronic acid and B5 serum  
3.       La roche posay effaclar duo plus – this has salicylic acid, niacinamide and benzoyl        peroxide which are the 3 best acne and pigment fighting ingredients
4.       Skinoren 20% azelaic acid cream - just around my chin and lips where I have comedones and pigmentation
5.       Oil free moisturiser – this is key. I have a post on my blog about my faves and I tend to rotate between them. I mix this with the ordinary 100% L ascorbic acid powder (which is pure vitamin c). This will work on the marks left behind by the spots, it also acts as a bit of a skin protector from UV
6.       SPF in summer (if you spend any amount of time outdoors or in the car in daylight you will need this year round, I spend most my time in a basement of a hospital with no natural daylight). I’m trying a few new ones out at the moment and will be doing a blog post soon

PM:

1    

1.        Cereve cleanser with my Foreo Luna mini
2.        AHA/BHA toner (unless I am about to follow with a stronger retinol) 
3.        Niacinamide serum (I love The Ordinary 10% niacinamide and zinc serum )
4.        Oil free moisturiser if I am using a higher strength retinol to buffer
5.        Retinol. I have a post on my blog (the “wait that line wasn’t there yesterday) with my       favourites. I had to drop down the The Ordinary Granactive retinoid 2% due to my skin    reactivity but am now up to 0.5% retinol in Neostrata Retinol NAG

The Ordinary product review. Nothing ordinary about it.

I genuinely believe this is the best range I have ever tried. The carrier systems and feel of the products may not be the most sophisticated but I love them as:

 1) you know what concentration the active ingredients in (which quite frankly is the only bit of the product I care about)

2) the active ingredients are in a stable form – you can find plenty of products on the high street with active ingredients such as vitamin c (cough Aldi cough), but as soon as you mix them with water the ingredient is no longer active and effective

3) the packaging is appropriate for the product i.e. dark glass for vitamin c products to avoid UV oxidation AND mostly recyclable due to the use of glass vs plastic

4) they are mega affordable so if you skin does not agree with a certain ingredient you have only lost a fiver

I have tried A LOT of products from the range so will do a quick rundown of my favourites, and some that I have used but may not be repurchasing

Product	Pros - Why I liked it	Cons
Hyaluronic acid and B5 serum	Cheapest way to get good quality hyaluronic acid into the skin	It is a bit sticky. This is not a problem if you only layer a moisturiser over, but I have found if you layer it over niacinamide or use a vitamin c powder mixed with the moisturiser it will causing some pilling
Ascorbyl Glucoside Solution 12%  Ethylated Ascorbic Acid 15% Solution	Pleasant to use, no stinging, no grittiness so good to apply makeup over. Dark bottle to avoid oxidation	I did not really see any results from either of these products so swapped to a higher concentration
Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate Solution 20% in Vitamin F	Feels lovely to apply.	Oil base so this was donated to my mum who has a drier and non acne prone skin
Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%	Great for resurfacing and brightening	Doesn’t feel great to apply, gritty. This does go after 5/10 mins as it absorbs and warms to the skin, but you would probably want a primer if applying foundation over
100% L-Ascorbic Acid Powder	This is my current form of vitamin C. You can make it as potent or diluted as you like. Minimal tingling. No gritty feeling.	I find it works better mixed with a moisturiser vs a serum as sometimes it does not dissolve fully in a serum and leaves white patches on the skin. The problem completely disappeared when I mixed with moisturiser.
Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion	Lovely product. Lovely lightweight serum, did not cause any peeling or irritation. I did not even need to use a moisturiser over this	None I prefer this formulation to the Granactive Retinoid 2% in Squalane
Granactive Retinoid 5% in Squalane	Great product, you skin feels like silk in the morning.	This caused absolutely no irritation or breakouts on my skin however I had to switch to oil free products for my comedones, so this got moved to use on my neck only. My neck cannot seem to tolerate the higher strength retinols that I use on my face, so this is perfect
AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution	This may well be my favourite product from the range. The concentration of the acids is great and is the highest performing mask of this kind that I have tried. Glass skin ahoy	It burns and tingles. Beware if a first-time user of acids. Start with leaving it on for just 2 minutes and work up slowly. When you’re mad like me, you can even run your foreo over it at the end of the 10 mins to activate it further
2% Salicylic acid serum	2% is the percentage you need for it to have a true pore cleaning effect, so this is perfect	I prefer my la roche posay effaclar duo as it provides the triple spot fighting whammy with salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide and niacinamide so I stick with this to avoid having to apply 10 different products
100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil	Lovely texture, absorbs quite quickly but can also be layered to do a massage or for a healing boost. I had a burn from a product (too strong a retinol) on my neck and this was the only thing that solved it and stopped it being sore and itchy. If you do not have any pore blockage issues this would be great to use on the face too	Doesn’t smell great, which actually is fine by me because I do not want added fragrance in my products.
Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA	Lovely simple moisturiser. No oil, no fragrance. Great for cuticles and nails too (tip from Mr Truaxe himself)	None
Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%	Great concentration of the actives. The added zinc is also great for my acne prone skin. No irritation	If you layer this under hyaluronic acid, make sure you only use a small amount of the niacinamide otherwise the hyaluronic can leave little white patches, however these disappear as soon as you layer over a moisturiser.
Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG	If you are at all prone to puffiness – going through a break up, massive Chinese food binge – slap this on the night before and again in the morning and it’ll disappear. The other wonderful benefit of this product is it can be mixed into other things. For example, when I’m on a real summer kick, after dry body brushing my legs (which I do daily) I mix a good squirt of the caffeine solution into my body cream and slather on for some skin firming action	This is drying (it’s kind of the point of the product) so I apply this onto clean, dry skin, let it absorb for a couple of minutes while I brush my teeth etc then layer my eye cream or moisturiser over the top
Lactic Acid 10% + HA	Lovely texture, easily absorbed, good resurfacing	For some reason this worsened my acne. I am lactose intolerant but that is a digestive thing so shouldn’t have affected the skin but either way, I stopped using this and donated.

In summary, my must haves are the aha bha peel, the caffeine solution, vitamin c powder and niacinamide. For beginners, I would definitely get the hyaluronic acid serum and the retinoids.