PCOS Acne: My 1.5-year skincare journey
Diagnosis:
Hi, I am a 23 year-old who has dealt with acne ever since I was 13. As the title suggests, I had PCOS and it went undiagnosed until early 2024, and the diagnosis hit me like a freight train. Suddenly, a lot of my life made sense. But I was lost at sea on how to deal with the symptoms, let alone find the root cause and try to heal that.
Starting Skincare:
But this blog is not about that. Like I said, I have had acne and dark spots caused by acne ever since I was 13 but I didn’t mind it, neither did it impact the quality of my life. My school classmates and friends were also going through puberty, and acne was quite common. I have always had oily skin so I thought acne was a consequence of that. But after I was diagnosed last year, I looked up everything possible and realized that acne of my scale — on forehead, entirety of both cheeks, jawline, chin, even neck and shoulders — is not quite common. So, I took another deep dive into skincare and came across Plix Life combos in May 2024. Honestly, those were helpful, not to a large extent but were definitely a starting step.
Dermatologist Visit:
I used the Pineapple De-pigmentation combo for nearly 6 months and saw my skin visibly brighten though the dark spots faded at the usual rate and new acne kept my skin from fully being clear. The results were quite impressive, so much so that people who met me during those periods thought I had gotten some facial done professionally. But I was getting increasingly frustrated with the constant torrent of new dark spots before the older ones faded and the dark spots didn’t fade completely leaving my skin unevenly toned. So, I went to visit a dermatologist near me, and she recommended Vitamin C serum from minimalist, glutathione tablets, Aziderm 10% and got me started on Tretinoin 0.025%.
Was this a game changer routine? Nope. The Vitamin C serum caused everything I layered on it to pill. I would apply sunscreen after applying Vitamin C serum and it would pill and I also realized that using it was causing my skin to look darker and dull, so I stopped that. Today, my routine is basic and looks like this
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A.M:
- Cleanser
- Aziderm 10%
- Moisturizer
- Sunscreen
P.M:
- Cleanser
- Tretinoin 0.025%
- Moisturizer
Again, not a game changer routine. I still have quite a few dark spots, uneven skin tone, and new acne. But over the past year and half, I have tried to come to terms with the fact that I may never have a skin that is flawless or evenly toned. Over this course of time, I have made multiple mistakes — one of them being trying to wash my face with detergent because I wanted to hold off on the oil production on my face for longer (100% not recommended), because that is how desperate I was. Some days are harder than others. But today, my neck is free of any dark spots, my shoulders have very minimal dark spots, my face is visibly brighter and the dark spots on my face are fewer. The point of this entire blog is to remind anyone who is reading this and also myself that while I may always try to have clear skin and lesser dark spots, I have come a long way and seeing even these results in a year feels worth it — considering the damage was caused over a decade and can’t be undone overnight.
Thank you for reading this if you are still here and if you have tips, please do let me know.
TL;DR: PCOS acne is stubborn and messy. Products helped, dermatologist interventions helped, but the biggest progress came from patience, acceptance, and consistent basic skincare.
Bye till then.
