When I was vacationing in St. Barts, I ran out of my anti-fungal cream. I had a slight case of athletes foot. But, I knew that if I didn't get any medication for it while I was in the hot, humid weather of the Caribbean, the condition could become worse very fast.
There was a pharmacy on the island which was very close to the airport. So, I ran in there. I quickly realized it was more of a natural product pharmacy than a standard pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens. I started to panic. The manager calmed me down and said that he had a product which was better than what people use in the United States. That product is Nutribioitic Natural Body & Foot Powder. The active ingredients are Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) and tea tree oil.
It works amazingly well. In fact, it appears to work better than the CVS maximum strength anti-fungal cream that I relied heavily on until that point. And, it ends up being a lot cheaper.
Needless to say, I am never without this wonderful powder. It's also fantastic for minimizing chafing, and helping diaper rash to heal.
I grew up in the 70s. The pharmacy had only Clearasil and benzoyl peroxide products that you would put directly on acne. The benzoyl peroxide was only slightly better than the Clearasil. And, neither got rid of microcomedones fully to ensure you didn't ever break out with zits again.
There is no reason for anyone to have to live with acne today. There are a number of solutions available that will work. Several of these, however, are expensive. There is a way to get the same effect at a fraction of the cost. The key is to break the acne cycle so that it doesn't have the chance to form even microscopically.
During my teens, I had very light acne around my nose and on my chin. But, in my early 20s, I began to see this "adult" acne. It occurred much deeper in the skin and was very painful to the touch. It would also take many days to run its course. I decided to go to a dermatologist. The doctor put me on Desquam-x (prescription strength topical Benzoyl Peroxide) and Tetracycline. For one year, my skin was clear. But, right at the year mark, I had a bad flare-up. My medicine routine made no difference at all. The doctor doubled my Tetracycline dosage and said to "Try that." I did and it made little if any difference.
It was at this point that I decided to do some research to see if I could discover what was happening with my skin. I found this amazing little book called "Clear Skin". It explains scientifically what normal and oily skin are as well as what acne is and how you can interrupt the formation of it before you can see and feel it.
Bottom line, there is a way to manage and completely control your acne condition. And it's done microscopically. The method that is used is called "dry and peel". And essentially, when you can keep your skin pores clear and not clogged with oil, you will avoid a pre-acne condition (microcomedones) and therefore, you'll avoid getting acne again.
People with oily skin have one to two characteristics that cause them to run into skin problems (1) overly productive oil glands (2) much thicker oil (that regular cleansing products can't break up and remove sufficiently) than what other people produce.
Once you understand this, you can consider a wider spectrum of solutions, several of which, don't cost you a fortune to clear your skin and control your acne. If you want to try going a cheaper route, the only real challenge may be to correctly classify the oiliness of your skin, identify the right cleanser strength and the frequency of washings. Want more details? Click Here.
Get a copy of "Clear Skin" by Kenneth L. Flandermeyer MD. I think it's been out of print for a number of years. But, you ocassionally can find it at used book retailers and Amazon. At this writing, Amazon has three new copies of it (starting at $50.80!) and two "collectible" copies for $6.80. It's a paper back. So, I'd grab a less expensive one.
In the summer, I have to use the cleanser full strength twice a day in order to sufficiently break up the kind of oil that forms on my face. This regimen would cause too much irritation for anyone that does not have thick skin and oil. The cleanser's active ingredients are 2% sulfur and 2% salicylic acid.
These ingredients used to be in Fostex Medicated Cleansing Cream (no longer available). Fortunately, Sebulex which is technically a Medicated Dandruff Shampoo has these active ingredients. This product used to be stocked automatically at Walgreens and CVS. Here's an option for buying it online.
These days, we all need to pinch pennies and while the cost of Sebulex has probably doubled in 10 years, it is still only $12. Even using it full strength, this one bottle will last me 6 months. I buy two at the same time for one year and I have to pay $5.00 in shipping and handling. That's $29.00 a year, $2.42/month or 8 cents/day. If you instead use one of the newer products now available like Proactiv, assuming you'd get a monthly shipment and it's $19.99 plus $5 shipping and handling, it would be approximately $19.99 + 5= 24.99 mo x 12 = 299.88/year or 82 cents a day. That's 10 times as much money!
You have many choices today for keeping your skin clear and healthy. Just remember, despite all the fancy packaging and advertising out there, it does not have to cost you a fortune. If you want to try going a cheaper route, the only real challenge may be to correctly classify the oiliness of your skin, identify the right cleanser strength and the frequency of washings.