Hello to everyone! I've lurked on these forums on and off since I read the book about a year ago, but am finally joining and posting because I am desperate for some further guidance with regard to my skin!

When I first read the book, I was living in Michigan which tends to have dry winters and humid summers. I'd always known that I have sensitive skin, but was under the impression that I had oily skin until I read the book. When I took the quiz I was actually fairly shocked to find myself a (pretty high) type D. I'd figured all that flaking meant my acne products were deep cleaning like they should be!

I started on a DSNW regimen last winter and it worked well. (I was using the non-foaming Olay cleanser which is now discontinued along with L'Occitane shea butter lotion for day and the Atopalm at night.) My skin looked great! I switched "down" my lotion choice for summer (the humidity was helping me retain moisture) to Neutrogena Visibly Even or Aveeno Ultra Calming (depending on which was on sale). Things still seemed to be fine until...

My husband and I moved to Colorado in October. My skin has been completely haywire ever since and I'm back on the over-oil production leading to acne train. It sucks! It doesn't help that we've been struggling to make ends meet and pay off the move debt, so buying new high end products has been right out. My main problem area seems to be from the corners of my mouth down to my chin. I keep getting really painful, deep under the skin zits -- the kind that develop a pussy white head, but also have a hard, solid "root" clear underneath the puss. (Lovely images, I know, but try having them on your face! Not only are they unsightly, they HURT!)

I switched "down" to good old cetaphil at first, thinking it would be super gentle and non-drying. That resulted in blackheads around my lips and in the cleft of my chin. Since my Olay cleanser is discontinued, I read labels at the grocery store and finally decided on Aveeno Ultra Claming foaming cleanser. With that, I was getting pink, irritated skin and little pimples on my cheeks. So, next I tried Neutrogena Visibly Even cleanser. If anything, things have gotten worse. I'm 98% sure that the issue is that it's too drying/irritating for me, but I'm at a loss as for what to try now.

I'm still using up a bottle of Aveeno lotion, but plan to switch back to L'Occitane for day when that's gone. But the cleanser has me stumped. The La Roche Posay Toleriane Dermo-Cleanser is what's recommended, but it's pricey and I'm dubious of wipe-off cleansers. I wash my face in the shower, and I'm not sure how a wipe-off will work there, and I also worry about the blackheads coming back in my relatively-oily areas. The L'Occitane shea butter/cold cream soap might be an option, but I have a gut-reaction against using anything called "soap" on my face.

Ideas? Advice? Anyone else have skin like this in a "high desert" climate?...