[itsmyname]

So I'm a male, of dark complexion, in my early twenties. I still suffer from acne breakouts, and the pimples leave behind dark scars, which has really affected my self esteem to be honest. I was looking at old photos of me and seeing how clear my skin used to be really makes me feel sad

Ontop of that due to my hayfever and itching of the eyes I have dark circles around my eyes too, and when I mean dark I mean really dark, combined with acne scars is not really a good look.

I've tried Palmers Cocoa Butter, didn't really do much, neither did Bio Oil

Is there anything else that I could try, something that actually works and would get rid of these scars and blemishes?

[Formerly Helpful_C]

Lemon juice from a fresh lemon.

Squeeze it into a bowl and dab onto your face. I won't lie, it does sting.

After covering your face with the lemon juice, leave it for 15 minutes and just wash your face with warm water.

Caveat:

Skin areas treated with lemon juice may become photosensitive. Applying sunscreen before sun exposure is advisable. Lemon juice may cause a slight red appearance in the skin. If the skin area becomes inflamed or irritated, wash off immediately and seek medical treatment if the symptoms do not subside.

[Aspiringlawstudent]

Laser skin resurfacing. It's not cheap, but it seems far more effective than using any sort of cream or lotion that I've ever heard of.

If it's really bad, you could consider a chemical peel.

Most Harley Street practices offer these sort of treatments at relatively affordable prices (you're not going to need to remortgage the house or anything - just save up for a few months).

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about: http://www.theprivateclinic.co.uk/tr...ts/acne-scars/

[itsmyname]

(Original post by Formerly Helpful_C)
Lemon juice from a fresh lemon.

Squeeze it into a bowl and dab onto your face. I won't lie, it does sting.

After covering your face with the lemon juice, leave it for 15 minutes and just wash your face with warm water.

Caveat:

Skin areas treated with lemon juice may become photosensitive. Applying sunscreen before sun exposure is advisable. Lemon juice may cause a slight red appearance in the skin. If the skin area becomes inflamed or irritated, wash off immediately and seek medical treatment if the symptoms do not subside.

Tried that before, didn't do much LoL

(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
Laser skin resurfacing. It's not cheap, but it seems far more effective than using any sort of cream or lotion that I've ever heard of.

If it's really bad, you could consider a chemical peel.

Most Harley Street practices offer these sort of treatments at relatively affordable prices (you're not going to need to remortgage the house or anything - just save up for a few months).

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about: http://www.theprivateclinic.co.uk/tr...ts/acne-scars/

Not looking at anything as expensive as laser treatment or anything which requires a medical procedure.

Anyone know (ladies) know of this clinique stuff?

[Hunny1234]

[QUOTE=Formerly Helpful_C;38869919]Lemon juice from a fresh lemon.

Squeeze it into a bowl and dab onto your face. I won't lie, it does sting.

After covering your face with the lemon juice, leave it for 15 minutes and just wash your face with warm water.


Hey how many times should this be done to see effective results?
Thanks


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[Formerly Helpful_C]

(Original post by Hunny1234)

Hey how many times should this be done to see effective results?
Thanks


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

I saw the redness lighten after around a week. However, this coincided with a huge improvement of the area. So, I don't want to promise the world to you.

Sleep, water - to stay hydrated - and lemon juice should give you the best results.

[Formerly Helpful_C]

(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
Laser skin resurfacing. It's not cheap, but it seems far more effective than using any sort of cream or lotion that I've ever heard of.

If it's really bad, you could consider a chemical peel.

Most Harley Street practices offer these sort of treatments at relatively affordable prices (you're not going to need to remortgage the house or anything - just save up for a few months).

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about: http://www.theprivateclinic.co.uk/tr...ts/acne-scars/

The results are not worth anywhere near £500.

The skin will heal by itself and the scars will fade.

[Aspiringlawstudent]

(Original post by Formerly Helpful_C)
The results are not worth anywhere near £500.

The skin will heal by itself and the scars will fade.

On your first point, it may not be worth it to you but someone else might be perfectly happy to pay that. Value is subjective.

And secondly, are you a dermatologist? I don't think I've ever heard someone suggest that severe scarring would just go away of its own accord.

[No Future]

Tretinoin (topical acne treatment) treats acne, makes skin look better, clears pores and to some extent can slightly fade marks on the skin. It's prescription only, but I'd say worth a try before spending ££££ on laser treatments which could go wrong! Consider asking your GP, you may even be able to get a referral to a dermatologist.

I would be wary of putting lemon on your face and having extreme procedures.

The reason I suggest a prescription product, rather than say, Clinique is because the prescription product has undergone much more rigorous clinical trials and contains potent ingredients in sufficient concentrations that can't be sold OTC.

[itsmyname]

(Original post by No Future)
Tretinoin (topical acne treatment) treats acne, makes skin look better, clears pores and to some extent can slightly fade marks on the skin. It's prescription only, but I'd say worth a try before spending ££££ on laser treatments which could go wrong! Consider asking your GP, you may even be able to get a referral to a dermatologist.

I would be wary of putting lemon on your face and having extreme procedures.

The reason I suggest a prescription product, rather than say, Clinique is because the prescription product has undergone much more rigorous clinical trials and contains potent ingredients in sufficient concentrations that can't be sold OTC.

Thing is it's not the acne I have so much of a problem with, its the scars (getting treated for acne with tetralysal antibiotics), and i've heard horrible stuff about Tretinoin, causing more flare ups etc, and it's primarily used for acne rather than healing scars and blemishes.

[Chillywilly93]

cream that contains frankincense help, Neals garden do some good ones

putting honey on your face for 20 minutes then washing it off is very effective (was for me)

[Cherriesxo]

Go to Boots and buy something called 'Extremely Gentle Cleanser' by Avene. Seriously, I used to break out really bad until I used this. You need to buy cotton wool or something so that you can apply it to your face. It's around £8 I think

[Setrith]

To get rid of the acne itself I would recommend going to the doctor and getting them to refer you to the dermatologist, they'll give you some tablets/creams which work a million times better than any over the counter cream I've ever used. As for the scars, they generally do fade over time although may not go away completely depending on what type they are. Do you have small dents in your skin where the spots used to be or is it mainly red/pink marks without the dents? Personally I've found that exfoliating regularly helps remove them slightly for me.....and drink LOADS of water as well.

[kittyb99]

Try Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream. It's expensive at £25 a tube, but it got rid of a lumpy scar on the underneath of my chin (I had split my chin open snowboarding!). It could be worth giving that stuff a try. It lasts ages too- I'm still on my first tube!!! I hope you find something that works for you

[Next Persephone]

Hey I have really bad acne scars which have formed a big circle on my forehead and my doctor put me on tetralysal and duac gel to help with that and breakouts - have also got a dermatologist outpatient appointment.
Ive nearly finished the two month course and the scars have definately improved, albeit rather slowly.
I also use Clinique liquid facial soap extra mild -in my opinion its great at keeping your skin clear but wont really do much for the scars!!

Hope this helps

[Singing1]

Aloe Vera is great, my mum has the plant so I squeezed some juice out of it and put it on all my acne scars and they reduced quite a lot. It sounds bizarre but to my surprise it actually worked! I use that and tea tree oil and it helps a lot my sister also uses lemon juice on red spots and the circles under her eyes and that works too.

[Dmon1Unlimited]

(Original post by Formerly Helpful_C)
Lemon juice from a fresh lemon.

Squeeze it into a bowl and dab onto your face. I won't lie, it does sting.

After covering your face with the lemon juice, leave it for 15 minutes and just wash your face with warm water.

Caveat:

Skin areas treated with lemon juice may become photosensitive. Applying sunscreen before sun exposure is advisable. Lemon juice may cause a slight red appearance in the skin. If the skin area becomes inflamed or irritated, wash off immediately and seek medical treatment if the symptoms do not subside.

Isn't the stinging because of the lemon passing through the skin?

E.g. Dip your hand in lemon juice and nothing happens but dip your hand in where there is a cut on your palm and then it stings

[timeofflight]

(Original post by itsmyname)
So I'm a male, of dark complexion, in my early twenties. I still suffer from acne breakouts, and the pimples leave behind dark scars, which has really affected my self esteem to be honest. I was looking at old photos of me and seeing how clear my skin used to be really makes me feel sad

Ontop of that due to my hayfever and itching of the eyes I have dark circles around my eyes too, and when I mean dark I mean really dark, combined with acne scars is not really a good look.

I've tried Palmers Cocoa Butter, didn't really do much, neither did Bio Oil

Is there anything else that I could try, something that actually works and would get rid of these scars and blemishes?

When you say you have dark skin, how dark do you mean? When you say scars do you mean indentations or discolorations that are darker than your natural skin tone? If you have dark skin (darker than say MAC 6) with darker but not indented scaring then you might find hydroquinone useful. If the scars are indented then there is little that will help without a medical intervention. If you are lighter skinned or the blemishes are pink toned then you will have best luck with a regular AHA or BHA scrub and wearing SPF. This will also be a help if you have the dark type of discoloration.

[Snakefingers13]

Tetralysal will nail all but the most severe acne. Scars are a bitch, though. However, I find that reducing the redness of an area can help with the actual appearances of the scars.


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[Alleycat1986]

Listen to people when they say lemon juice works. Buy some fresh lemons. Wash you face at night with a gentle foaming cleanser ( i prefer clinique's mousse cleanser). Cut one in half and dampen a piece of cotton pad. Gently wipe the pad over your face in a circular motion. Do NOT wipe too hard or too long over any one place. You must gradually find out how sensitive your skin is to lemon. Do not rinse off! Leave it on overnight then wash it off and moisturise in the morning as usual. Don't bother using in the morning as you'll feel uncomfortable with it on. However, you may use it in the morning on days off, for example. You will feel a slight burn for a few seconds/mins but it will die down.

Also, it may make your skin dry so you may want to use a rich moisturiser if you don't already. I wold use olay's beauty fluid or another one of their moisturisers. I actually use clinique's dramatically different moisturising lotion and mix some aloe Vera gel from holland and Barretts because aloe Vera is regenerating and although the lotion is pricey, it gives a great glow to my skin. however if you're on a budget, olay is good and reasonably priced too.

now back to lemon juice - after the first night you should notice that your face is smoother, has a nice glow. After a few days it will begin to feel taught and the glow will improve. Many people report a fading a marks after just a couple of days too.

After a week you should see an overall lightening and brightening of your skin, very smooth feel and a key change in the lightening of marks. You will look fresher. The lightening will not be any more than the natural colour of your skin. All it will do is get rid of any built up tanning over the years as it exfoliates. THat it what the juice is - a very effective natural exfoliator.

try it! I used this for months years ago when my skin was really bad and it made my skin so beautiful it was unreal. After I was able to sustain good skin without using it because my acne cleared up. Now I have had another bout of bad skin I have gone back to lemon and the results are the same Just take it easy and don't overdo it (rub too hard and burn your skin) and you'll be fine.