[Acne] Thanks Skincare Addiction! Years of persistent cystic acne are gone simply by eliminating the one product (Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash) in my routine that had never changed.

Beauty Tips For Body Care
I am a mid 40s male who has struggled with persistent cystic acne my entire life. As a generally low maintenance guy who has no interest in a skin care routine, years ago I finally found a regimen that somewhat worked and though, when compared to some of your routines, it was simple enough, it felt a burden to me. Basically it was NOFAW, Neutrogena Triple Action Toner, and enough benzoyle peroxide to destroy whatever shirt I was wearing in the morning then at night the same except swap BP with retinol. If I happened to have retin-a instead of retinol I could sometimes forego the BP in the mornings but I didn't always maintain a prescription.As I said, this worked well enough even if my shirt budget was through the roof. This was of course unless, god forbid, I should miss even a day in which case I got to look forward to the at least two weeks to a month it would take for two, three, or more painful cysts to slowly rise, pop, scab and heal.Then I found this sub. I began incorporating other products and routines (BHA, masks, etc) but I never changed my core routine. Though the breakouts became less frequent I was still burning through shirts and the routine was even more of a prison.That is when I found it. The comment that changed my life. One of you fine people mentioned that replacing NOFAW had solved a similar issue for them. That's when it clicked. I went out the next day and bought some Cetaphil (another amazing skincareaddiction suggestion.) The first day after making the switch I broke out in a flurry of tiny whiteheads that popped almost immediately. over the next couple of days, about 5 cysts even worse than normal began to rise. I almost panicked and reverted to my old ways but on your advice I rode it out. While it did take a while for the cysts to work through, no new ones formed and my skin is now clearer than it has ever been.Best of all however, I have been able to eliminate my routine entirely. No more BP, BHA, toner, masks, or any other hassles to deal with. Now I just was my face once or twice a day with Cetaphil and I'm done, though I'll probably still use the retinol or retin-a now and then just for the anti wrinkle benefits. I can definitely say Skincare Addiction has improved my life. Thank you all again and especially thank you to the user who showed me the light. I tried to find the thread to thank you personally but was unable.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by Philip_K_Fry