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heychels , 21 Sep 2013

30 day no picking challenge

well, my face looks absolutely terrible right now... i'm taking 6 classes in college and take every ounce of stress out through picking my face. i have no confidence right now, i have to cake on makeup to look presentable, which is discouraging because i don't like looking completely unnatural. every since the age of 12-13 i've had consistent acne and unusually oily skin. i have had the following red/blue light treatments, dermabrasion, chemical peels, doxy/mino antibiotics, assortment of vitamins. the only thing i haven't tried was accutane, the reason being was the extravagant cost. my challenge i'm presenting does not show me results, i will in fact opt for accutane. (which my term recommended) i'm saddened that i've dodged several gatherings within the last 8-9 years do to this fucking acne. so here is to day 1, which shall start tomorrow since i picked my face plenty of times today. my regiment regarding cleansing is using the acne-free severe kit which has steps 1-4, to help dry up my acne and scaring (it has a retinol complex cream) i have had great success with it before, as long as i don't pick my face for no reason. i guess i can elaborate on my picking too, i pick no matter what.. whether my face is clear it is always short lived because i'm so used to picking that it becomes second nature. i do it consciously, unconsciously, boredom, etc. whatever life provides in the stress area, i take it out on my face. i'm assured it makes my depression worse and all around triggers other unnecessary mental issues. i plan on updating daily to provide a detailed description of how my face is doing without touching/picking. i'm going to give the full report of whats going on now 17 active pimples all over but majority are on my cheeks, lots of scarring and pink hyper-pigmentation, very oily skin. bleh D:
34 Answers
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toomuchpressure
September 27, 2013
Hello! I am so happy to see you are journaling on the skinpick forum! This is exactly what I started doing about a year ago...you can find my journals under the topic "commitment". I am so impressed. Keep up the good journaling. I would like to offer you some words...I want you to know that you can and will get through this! Kudos to you for making it 5 days without picking! What an accomplishment! Keep it up...if you backslide...do not be discouraged. Always remember how far you have come! :) I did some life-coaching with a woman named Annette Pasternak and she Really helped me come a long way. She helped me take control of my picking so it would stop controlling me! If you have any questions...feel free to email me carlypresher@yahoo.com or check out her page http://www.bfrbcoaching.com Have a beautiful day!
startingfresha…
September 27, 2013
hey there. im a college (or uni in australia) student too. i was in the same situation as you and had just had enough of picking and completely stopped. its been maybe 7 weeks since my last pick and my first post on this forum. i couldnt be happier and i know you can do it too! x
heychels
September 30, 2013
my skin broke out very bad on the left side around saturday, slept over my boyfriends apt and forgot my skin care stuff. i used HIS soap and HIS towel, my face got terrible by the end of sunday. i went in the bathroom and picked all my cysts on the left side, they were full of gunk. ugh. when i woke up today i felt so guilty and down in the dumps, my face was raw and lifeless compared to my progress i made. i'm going right back to what i was doing again and starting from square one, i feel very guilty and sad right now. i neglected my routine and did everything the opposite of what i was doing. OHHHHH, im pretty sure my face broke out because i used a new foundation and it immediately was causing havoc on my face. cutting that out, back to what i was doing last week.
rubberducke
October 01, 2013
I know exactly how you feel. Sometimes I go a few days or even weeks without picking, and I feel so confident and proud of myself and I think, I'm never doing that again. Then I inevitably start again. Relapsing after a long period of time is one of the worst feelings I associate with this. I feel like I've failed myself and everyone else I promised I would stop. But, we can't give up. Just keep trying.
SayNoToPicking
October 01, 2013
Thank you. Good luck to you too. There has never been a day since I was 12 or 13 that I have not picked at my skin. I also scratch, very badly. So I can't do either today. I've been awake for an hour. So far no picking or scratching.
heychels
October 02, 2013
tomorrow marks the day i stop picking again, i'm pretty upset about my skin right now. i'm just going to try and not think about how much the cysts hurt. :(
heychels
October 04, 2013
day 2 and no picking. i won't feel accomplished till i hit the week mark
valentine
October 05, 2013
Just wanted to wish you luck and encourage you to hang in there! Also, I did go on Accutane years ago and the results last a long time, even if you only take it for a few months, but ask your dermatologist about that. They have coupons for it too sometimes...
heychels
October 05, 2013
well i picked again, i'm too stressed out that i have can't even hold back.. i feel pathetic. my relationship is going down the gutter and school is wearing me out.
heychels
November 15, 2013
MY SKIN LOOKS THE WORST IT'S EVER BEEN, it's the only thing i think about "how can i cure this" "why me" "i look like shit" I'm sick of thinking of these things.. i've been picking my face steadily for 3 weeks and it's looking really tired/sore/discolored. i have really got to stop, even if my face is breaking out - picking isn't going to help it. i just need to remember i use this as a release for stress, ughk. so here i go again, #nopicking11/15 (picked today, so it's not like a i can start tonight)
heychels
November 15, 2013
also, my usual makeup seems to be breaking me out now which is disappointing and my face wash. maybe it's neither, perhaps it's just all stressed induced :( my cheeks are so clogged with white bumps, ughhhh. blackheads are all over my nose D: cysts are always active, I'm lucky at this point to not have one every 3-4 days. i think it's time for the dermatologist again. 100mg doxy and epiduo might alleviate this nasty disease

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