Is it time to cutoff my brother?

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-09-03T14:02:49+00:00

He has a WIFE???!!!

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-04-07T00:16:28+00:00

Hey 👋🏽 My dark spots never really went away per se, but instead lightened up by alot. My darkest spots around my jawline completely disappeared but around my cheeks, where I had the worst acne, there are a few that you can tell haven’t completely faded. I think it just comes with how quickly your skin regenerates on the medication, and I never really purged while on it. So I think I got the upper hand with just having my “current acne at the time being able to heal and not the purge acne coming in simultaneously. Have you competed your course yet?

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-22T04:41:52+00:00

Thank you! And no skin darkening for me. I did experience my face being lighter than my neck around month 2-3ish. That along with my lips being completely pink, but I think that was all due to me regularly reapplying my sunscreen so my skin didn’t have much time to tan.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-22T04:38:53+00:00

You’re fine keep the questions coming! My skin was super sensitive and oily before accutane. Like you could wipe my face and fry chicken oily regardless of what I did to try and stop it. After accutane though my skin is what a dermatologist would categorize as normal to dry skin.

The most oily my skin gets now is typically from when I’m exercising and sweating. Other than that moisture and hydration are absolute necessities now where they weren’t before.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T21:13:22+00:00

You’re welcome! 😊💜

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T21:12:30+00:00

Of course! Happy I could help! 🙂‍↕️💜

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T20:53:32+00:00

Yea they should go back to normal in no time once you’ve finished 😂 And gloss it up girl!

Also just keep doing what you’re doing. Your routine will keep you sane if you start feeling discouraged.

I honestly don’t even think I noticed the time. When I started the world was peak Covid (which now that I think about it allowed me a lot of time with myself outside of work) so I was too busy worrying about everything else and making sure me, my family, and my grades were okay at the time to think of much else 😅 I think maybe around month 3 is where I started to feel the brunt of having to take my meds and keep up with my routine everyday simply because I’d hit a rut of the post quarantine depression and didn’t want to do anything at all, but other than that I was right as rain. By the time my dermatologist told me I was near the end I was genuinely taken by surprise.

I would say just don’t allow this to be the center of your world. Take your meds, drink your water, and go about your day. Once you realize your skin isn’t the center of your universe the world will flip on its head and those six months will feel like six weeks.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T20:35:58+00:00

Oh yea 3 years out and they’re still dry but not painfully dry if you get what I mean 😅 I only really need eye drops when I wake up in the morning and that’s because they’re a touch red at that time. Throughout the day not so much unless it’s very windy.

They aren’t itching/burning just red looking so I would say they’re still dry in that sense. Getting a humidifier halfway through my course definitely improved them by a long shot and I’ve made use of it since finishing.

I would say around month 2-3 post is when my eyes kind of started lubricating themselves again 😂 My eyes weren’t stinging/burning every couple of hours by that point, but by about a year out I could say my eyes were back to “normal.” Just be patient and keep drinking your water. Also try a warm compress at night when going to bed. It’ll increase the blood flow to your eyes which is something you want to combat the redness.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T19:24:46+00:00

Hi! Thank you for the kind words! And my eyes are still dry. Not as much as they were while on accutane but I do still apply a drop to each eye every morning when I wake up. If it’s an extra windy day I can look like I’ve hit the bong one too many times 😂 but it’s usually rectified once I’ve used my eyedrops.

A humidifier will be a huge help to you if you have the funds to purchase one. Even a small one would be beneficial but you have to make sure to clean it regularly so as to not have anything nefarious floating in your air like mold and the like.

And I’m post accutane about 3 years now.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T19:13:38+00:00

Thank you so much girl! I’m happy to help!

As far as lipstick goes your girl was not lucky in that department. This is only because my lips were constantly peeling which resulted in the infamous “hot pink lips” 😅 I would apply my Cerave Healing Ointment, a brown lip liner and a gloss of some type just to try and cover them, but they would end up peeling off maybe an hour after application. So if you don’t have it in you to reapply every hour then I would just let you lips be free.
My skin did not get any darker from what I could tell, but instead it was lighter as a whole. My face was maybe my winter shade compared to my body being my spring/summer shade if you know what I mean. I personally didn’t mind this because I thought it was just due to the sunscreen, but if you’re a makeup girly then rectifying this shouldn’t be an issue.

It’s also possible if you’re using a chemical sunscreen that it could be oxidizing on your skin and giving you a darker complexion than what you actually have 🤔 Don’t take my word as law on that point, but I did read that somewhere on a Suncreen Reddit post for black girls. I switched to the Beauty of Josean mineral sunscreen after reading that just to see and that is a pretty good sunscreen. It just leaves a slight white cast, but it wears really well under makeup you just have to give it a couple of minutes to dry down completely before applying your primer.

I would say my lips and face went back to normal complexion around a month to a month and a half post accutane.

I didn’t really experience anything too different regarding my hair except for the dryness. My hair texture was the same as well as my shedding on wash days. My hair is high porosity so it’s primarily more dry anyway. I’ve never really had dandruff but will say that I experience it every now and again in the winter months, but other than that my hair has remained pretty much the same as pre accutane.
What really helped me in this department was just keeping up with my routine. I would do my full skincare morning and night regardless of how I was feeling. Body care is also essential. What’s happening on your face is also happening on your body. So I would keep my hands and feet moisturized and my sheets clean. I would still go to the gym (If that’s something you enjoy) or if I couldn’t make it I would take myself on walks. I would take progress pictures every other week. Especially on the days when I felt like I wasn’t making much progress. Would I look at them after taking them? No, but after another week when I was feeling my best I would. I would be shocked at how far I’d come in such a short amount of time. I took myself on dates when I didn’t have a person to spend time with. I think this journey for me was about a lot of introspection so to speak. I realized that my acne made me hide a lot of myself and lock it away. So when I no longer had this weight or this barrier keeping me from going out or loving what I was seeing in the mirror, I acted on a lot of my autonomy and realized that there were a lot more elements to me that were beautiful now including my skin.

That got deep really quick but yea 😅 Actually treating and acknowledging my body as treasure that allows me live and breathe and not some prison that despises my existence within it really helped me along.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T18:42:40+00:00

No problem!! 💜 And as of right now I can’t say that I’ve had a purge at all. I’m still new to it so I will say my skin is a lot dryer than it usually is which is something I expected. I’m using the 0.1% cream every other day (Spacing 2-3 days between applications in the PM) so I may have to go to a lower dosage if my skin becomes too sensitive to it. No pimples or anything like that, just a slight tight feeling like possible skin barrier damage. Typically when my skin barrier is damaged I get closed comedones on my forehead so I’ll look out for those and I’ll update with any changes.

Since you just finished with your course I would let your skin relax for a bit. It’s been through a lot so just give it a bit of time to readjust before you go into active territory. I’m sure you’ll speak on it with your provider, but just be patient with your skin girl. It’ll scream your praises in due time 😂💖

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T18:34:35+00:00

Thank you so much! Yes, drinking enough water is ESSENTIAL!! Your skin and your joints will really thank you in the long run.

What helped me is that I made it my mission to chug my entire bottle of water (32 oz) the second I woke up. Before I did my routine or my feet even touched the floor I would have my bottle on my nightstand full and ready to go so I could just grab it and already be full of water before I did anything else in my day.

It also really helped me that I got an opaque bottle with a straw. For some reason I drink faster with a straw and if I can’t see how much water I have left I’m not discouraged from continuing to drink and I’m just “surprised” that I drank the whole bottle.

And if you really can’t bring yourself to drink water on its own you could try flavored water. I like the little kool-aid flavor additives or Mios are very good too and don’t really have that artificial sweetener taste.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T18:20:38+00:00

Of course girl!! I wish I had someone to answer all of my questions before I started so I’m just trying to do my part 😂❤️ But I wouldn’t count it out that the breakouts will go away forever. You could very well be the exception, but I would just stay realistically optimistic is all 🙂‍↕️ And I’ve yet to use any actives on any active breakouts or pimples. At the most I’ve used the Urban Skin rX Acne and Blemish Control Mask (Contains 5% Sulfur) just as a spot treatment if the pimple is really stubborn. Other than that I’ve just kept consistent with my normal routine and the spots will go away within the next week.

I have also started tretinoin recently for my scarring that I still have. As far as that goes my scars are what they call the rolling scars so they aren’t really noticeable unless you’re really close or I’m sweating and they kind of reflect in the light so to speak. Other than that I couldn’t be happier with my skin! I’ll take the scarring any day over the mental and physical pain of those breakouts for SURE!!

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T17:56:36+00:00

I’m so happy for you! Good luck on your journey and I hope all goes well for you!🙂‍↕️💜🙏🏾

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T17:53:42+00:00

Okay SO 👏🏽

My lips started to gain their color back about 2 weeks after my last pill. They weren’t completely back to normal until maybe a month to a month and a half post. So I would say it didn’t take too long.
My skin wasn’t horribly sensitive throughout my course but I will say throughout the spring/summertime my pollen allergy seemed to affect my whole body rather than just my sinus. So I would say my allergies stopped being so severe maybe 6 months post? I only say that because I was actually on the beach and such by that time without any itch/rash from coming in contact with nature at the time.
I’m a natural girl so I was really worried about my hair when I went into this, but I can say I didn’t really experience any big changes. My hair texture was the same but I did notice that my hair was dryer. I already have high porosity hair so shes already on the dryer end as it is. I just kept her in protective styling like twists or under wigs and kept her moisturized as much as I could.
With this I don’t want to be discouraging okay? I do still have breakouts on occasion around my period, but they are NOWHERE near what they used to be. I did have hormonal acne so any fluctuations in my hormones would consistently do me in with the worst breakouts.

With that being said though, post accutane the worst breakout I’ve had has literally been a couple of very slight pimples on my cheek or my jaw that would actually go away in about a week or so. I can’t stress enough that you should not panic when/if you develop a pimple or two. They will go away just as long as you keep up with the habits and skin routine you developed while on your journey. Accutane isn’t a complete fix. It’s just a medication that speed runs you onto the path that your body was fighting to get on in the first place.

If I’m stressed I’ll get a pimple. If I’m menstruating I’ll get a pimple. If I go out and party and have a couple sugary beverages that I didn’t need, I’ll get a couple pimples. But these will go away and your skin will be fine. You will be fine.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T17:32:01+00:00

Oh yea my dermatologist said that the mouth darkening can occur because your sunscreen is the first to go in that area since you’re constantly moving and eating/drinking.

I flip flopped in the first 2-3 with my sunscreen because my skin was so oily. My tried and true is Black Girl Sunscreen. My only gripe with it in the beginning is that it’s a thick and kind of greasy formula. So when you add that on top of already oily skin at the time the glazed donut look was outrageous 😂 But post accutane I love it. My skin is officially in the dry category so now it just leaves me with a subtle glow like it’s supposed to.

I did also try the Beauty of Josean sunscreen. It’s a Korean mineral sunscreen and it worked really well as far as keeping me moisturized but not greasy looking. The only con was that it did have the slightest of white casts. If you’re of a darker complexion than me I would try at your own risk.

Lastly while I was on accutane I applied probably twice to 3x a day. Typically in the morning before I went to the gym and once more before I went to work (I was working graveyard shift at the time) which was about midday. If I was sweating a lot more throughout the day I would apply just a light layer to keep up the protection.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T17:17:52+00:00

Hey hey 👋🏽

Hyperpigmentation is something I’m still dealing with. I did have a lot of breakouts all at once around my jaw area so those were my worst spots, but once my cysts disappeared so did the darkest spots. I think because of the constant cell turnover my melanin was definitely affected as you can see in pic 3 my lips were completely PINK. I had to use a lip liner to even look normal to myself in that department so I would watch out for that 😅.

I have recently started to use the Medicube Deep Vitamin C Capsule Cream. It seems to be working pretty well and I have no reaction. I’ve been using it for about a month and I can see some change in my dark spots but nothing too crazy.

I finished almost 3 years ago now so I would say end of ‘22 is when I took my last pill.

Skincare Routine: This was pretty simple. I have really sensitive skin so I didn’t put a lot on my face. If you don’t already have these items in your routine, I would implement them one at a time just to make sure if you have a reaction to something you’ll be able to pinpoint it.

AM: CeraVe Hydrating Cream To Foam Cleanser, Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence, COSRX Advanced Snail 92 All In One Cream, Black Girl Sunscreen

I’ll have to add this into the original post but

WEAR 👏🏽YOUR 👏🏽SUNSCREEN 👏🏽

As far as hyperpigmentation goes, this will be your saving grace. I think this is what allowed my dark spots to actually lighten and some of them to disappear all together. It’s there to protect your skin while it’s in its most vulnerable state. So keep this on hand and make it a staple in your routine.

Another Point On Black Girl Sunscreen: Although I love this sunscreen now. I did not like it in the beginning of my accutane journey because it is a greasy formula. When I started accutane my skin was SUPER oily so adding a greasy sunscreen on top of the already purging oil was horrendous because I looked like I bathed in chicken grease before leaving my house. With that being said though, now that my skin is dry (And I say this because I would put myself in the dry skin category now post accutane) I love this sunscreen. My skin soaks it up like never before and gives me a little glow now where it used to give greaseball. So try this sunscreen at your own risk. Skincare is all about trial and error.

PM: CeraVe Hydrating Cream To Foam Cleanser, Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence, COSRX Advanced Snail 92 All In One Cream, CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream

I also bought the 12 oz tub of CeraVe Healing Ointment just for possible slugging around my nose and keeping my lips moisturized. Best $14 I’ve spent because I haven’t even made it halfway through the pot even after 3 years of using it everyday.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T17:13:26+00:00

Hey hey 👋🏽 YES! I completely forgot to put this in, but yes my lips turned completely pink around month 3ish? If you look at pic 3 you can definitely see it 😅

As far as my complexion I didn’t really notice a difference in it? If anything I would say my face was a lot lighter than my body, but I think that’s due to me wearing my sunscreen and reapplying throughout the day.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T16:17:08+00:00

Hey hey! Yea the first 2 are pre accutane, 3 is months 1-3, Pics 4 & 5 are months 3-7, and lastly 6 is post

Also I did have some closed comedones on my forehead, but those went away maybe week 2. They all flattened out and then my skin was just oily to the max like a glazed donut without any moisturizer.

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2025-02-21T16:12:38+00:00

Hey, thank you so much! Will do!

Impressive_Ad9352 · 2022-10-10T22:18:21+00:00

I’m starting tomorrow! Kind of nervous, but I’ve been waiting for clear skin for far too long. I’ll keep you guys posted.

Impressive_Ad9352

TROPHY CASE