Hi all

I'm finding my skin is starting to look worse than it ever has. I'm breaking out across my forehead and temple areas, getting more blackheads, getting lots of whiteheads and am looking quite blotchy and a little red, more so across my forehead but a little across my cheeks and nose as well.

I've been on Retin-A cream now for 10 weeks and for weeks 4-6 of that it seemed to be clearing my skin up. I've also tried using more "active" ingredients (both recommended products from the book and also recommended ingredients) and have started wearing moisturiser with sunscreen every day.

Despite (or perhaps because of) all this, my skin is looking really awful.

All of my life I've avoided sunscreens on my face, whether they be pure sunscreens or moisturisers with SPF. The reason for this was that they made me look like an oil slick within 30 minutes or so of application and I didn't like the feel on my skin.

Over the past couple of months I've been trying various moisturisers with SPF and also a couple of facial sunscreens, some with physical only filters, some with chemical only filters and some with both.

Every single one of these products has caused what I'd describe as a mild itching sensation on my face. The reaction to some is a little more than just a mild itch too and I've had to stop each one.

I'm also finding that none of the cleansers I've tried has really helped, and some have made my face much worse within a day or two of starting them. Again, I've stopped them.

I've changed cleansers several times (some with active ingredients, some quite bland), changed moisturisers/sunscreens etc.., and no matter what new product I try my skin still looks awful.

I don't want to keep changing products because that will obviously just make things worse, though it does get very tempting when you're not getting the results you want (and are looking worse than before you started).

I don't know whether this is still part of the normal purging from Retin-A (which I thought I went through about a month ago), a reaction to sunscreens or just sensitivity to the stronger products.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!