How to combat dryness while on isotretinoin, and other tips and tricks.
Hey there my name is rachel and i wanted to talk to you guys about how to survive accutane without suffering from all of the dryness that it causes accutane is known as isotrentinoin and i am not a doctor um that i wanted to share with you my experience and hopefully help some people out um it is known for curing acne which i am a mother of three in my 30s and i
Still struggle with acne and i tried everything under the sun and was excited to finally get rid of it i have been through one treatment um for about i think i went through maybe seven or eight months of treatment and it worked amazingly um i did start breaking out again a little bit um so we’re doing a second round and i started breaking out about three years
After i had finished that first treatment so i was so freeing to not struggle with acne but it is a tricky uh pill to take because it causes so many things um so many issues with your skin as far as dryness and things that you just need to watch out for so one thing to look out for that they warn you about is depression that it can cause it’s not something that’s
Common but it’s something that you need to look out for i personally am thankful i didn’t have any struggles with that but have someone be your lookout and just say hey if you notice that i’m acting different or you know i just seem more down on myself really struggling please be an advocate for me um my husband knew that going and he’s like all right i’m gonna look
Out for you and i’m already crazy you know but um i did not struggle with mood depression or side effects in that way so just something to be aware of um you cannot get pregnant on this pill because you will hurt your baby so um they tell you you have to be on two forms of birth control i’ve had a hysterectomy so i thankfully don’t have to worry about that but
Seriously it’s not something to joke around about it does cause damage um to your baby if you get pregnant while on this medication so please take that very seriously um i have my notes here so you’re just going to see me keep looking down here um you do have to take monthly blood tests to make sure that your liver is sorry liver is handling all of that okay um
With all the medication and everything um and you’ll meet with your doctor every month to go over your blood test results and see how you’re handling everything i live in colorado it is crazy dry here there’s like no humidity in the air so it’s really dry but i’m also doing this in winter which is extra dry so um a humidifier in your room is a big help at night if
You can do that drink lots of water you are super extra prone to the sun hurting you um for sunburn you’re just extra sensitive so if you’re going to be outside make sure you’re covered up make sure you’re using sunscreen if you’re doing it over the summer spring summer fall like warmer times when you’re out with short sleeves and stuff i if you if you know you’re
Gonna be outside all day just buy a really lightweight jacket to wear so you don’t have to worry so much about the sun i’m hurting your skin okay i’m gonna tell you the products i use i am not sponsored by anyone at all with these products these are just what i like no pressure you find what works for you but i just wanted to show you what i’m using because it’s
Been working really well for me um so i really encourage you not to skip a day of washing your face like at night when you were so tired and ready to just like fall asleep and you’re like i really don’t want to get up and wash my face if you don’t put some moisturizing um products on before you go to bed you are gonna wake up and it’s going to be flaky and dry and
It’s gonna you’re gonna have to play ketchup and you can play ketchup but like if you can get these products that help you before you start your treatment you’re going to be ahead of the game it’s going to help you a lot um and one other thing don’t use nair on your face i learned this the hard way um i normally will use near occasionally and i you know it gives
You that stinging burning just a light a bit but when you’re on accutane it is it is intense and it actually chemically burned me here and it took a few days to go away so don’t do that it made me like super red for several days um makeup may be hard to put on after you’ve been on accutane for a while because of the way that your skin is it gets really tight and
You’ll feel it with your lips too it gets really tight um and you’re like if i’m using a liquid foundation it’ll kind of get cakey so honestly like i put a little bit of foundation like t zone a little bit and i do a little bit of like lighter uh concealer around my eyes but the rest of it i just do a light dusting of powder and go on my way try not to worry too
Much about it it’s only for a short period of time right and then the rewards are awesome okay i like to use this face wash it is equate branson walmart round hydrating cleanser um so hydrating cleanser is great adds extra moisture so you start your day off with that after you’re done washing your face and i gently scrub my lips with a towel just for like a second
And after my shower every day this the label fell off it’s aquaphor aquaphor is your best friend for your lips during this journey and i just love to use it every night anyway but you’re going to want to use it morning noon and night especially if you are in a drier climate like colorado where you have to live with chapstick in your pocket always so aquaphor for
Your lips um and then your lotion i use cerave moisturizing cream that is awesome it is thick and it works really well but it doesn’t feel greasy so um so yeah wash your face aquaphor on your lips survey on your face um that would be the morning routine if your body is dry i use like ultra healing jergens on my body i also love bath and body works uh like lotion
Creams and stuff so those are great for your body if you don’t struggle with your body so much drying out as your face um oh make sure you also put it i know this sounds weird but you’re going to want to moisturize your ears they do get dry so when you’re doing your lotion and your um and your oil which i’ll get to in a little bit you’re going to want to just like
Rub it in there and all the crevices as well because it does get dry in there um so at night again wash your face um i don’t always use the hydrating wash i have like a special washcloth that i just rub my makeup off and then i i love mary kay oil free eye makeup remover you don’t have to use it if you have an eye makeup remover you love i just i used to use um
Coconut oil which someone had told me a long time ago and i loved using that until someone else told me oh that can build up on your eyeball over time and that freaked me out enough to not want to do that the have to go to the doctor and get it kind of scraped off that horror story so i’m like okay never mind i’m switching with something else and this is the one
That i found that i love so great eye makeup remover um so i just wash my face gently with like a a washcloth and then um after that i use the argan oil on my face and my ears this is amazing it’s like 13 on amazon it’s pure adore organic argan oil argon argan oil sorry body hair and face treatment pure natural and organic this is awesome i know it seems weird
Putting an oil on your face but it is it is awesome and it doesn’t make you well it didn’t make me break out i’m not sure if it’ll make you break out at first um a little more but also being an accutane will push things to the surface um and make you kind of break out a little more at first so kind of gets worse before it gets better type of thing but this is one
I definitely would not skimp on if i had to push one product it would be this this one i got at my first round so i think the label is slightly different now but that’s totally fine just this i love this one um again aquaphor all the time on your lips is great and then um if you do start to get dry patches on your face i found this at cetaphil’s extra gentle daily
Scrub um it has a little bit of an exfoliant but it’s just enough to get rid of that dead skin um off of your face and then and then coat it with this argan oil before you go to bed um i also so even though i love aquaphor sometimes i’m not i don’t have it at work and i really should just invest in some like a little guy to take to work to put on my lips um but
I’ll just i have my normal chapstick and that doesn’t quite cut it so i will sometimes have really dry lips that i’ll need to exfoliate and i like again you can find your own lip exfoliator but i like the mary kay satin lip lip mask you just like rub it and pat it on for a few minutes and then wash it off and then throw the aquaphor on it and it feels great um
If you’re having problems with your scalp being really dry your doctor can prescribe this i don’t really know what it is but she prescribed it for me so i i don’t even want to try and say this word because i can’t even i’m just gonna butcher it and you’re all gonna laugh at me so um i will put this down in the comments um or description of what this is but it’s
A topical solution this little bottle has lasted so many so many rounds of like just needing to zigzag it through your through your scalp and rubbing it in it like it’s a it’s a miracle cure i don’t know if you’re dry itchy flaky crazy like just wiggle it in everywhere it will fix it it will cure you so if you struggle with that ask your doctor she can prescribe
Or he can prescribe some of this so uh just to make sure i have all of my notes face wash aquaphor um yep i think that’s it so um yeah if you have any questions feel free to post i’ll try to reach back out with answers but i hope that you guys have a great experience and you can get through this and be hopefully acne free after uh your time on accutane bye
Transcribed from video
How to survive Accutane! Isotretinoin tips and tricks for dryness By Rachel Loves Marshall