Curology: My last resort

Hello Lovlies,

So, I want to talk about my curology experience. I have struggled with mild to moderate acne for the past few years. However, about three months ago something changed and my skin went from regular to bad very quickly. I will be including photos of my skin from that time so please keep that in mind after the jump. The photos are not of the worst my skin got because I tried to wait it out and avoid photos for almost two weeks before breaking down and signing up for a Curology trial. My intitial cost was about $4 for shipping my first bottle. Each month following is $20 with a bottle of your custom prescription shipped every two to three months depending on your usage. If for any reason you are not satisfied with your care at 90 days you can get a full refund. 




Curology, formerly known as Pocketderm, is an online service that gives you access to prescription acne treatments without inconvenient in office visits and easy access to a dermatologist during buisness hours with no scheduling hassle or late fees or cancelation fees. 

My Experience: 

Initially, you upload photos of your skin from multiple angles  in good lighting and give details about your skincare routine as well as the kind of acne you deal with regularly. My skin was in a moment of panic with a combination of extreme stress and hormonal acne wreaking havoc on my skin. 

I have a very solid skincare routine that has kept my skin fairly happy for a while. I use the Asian Beauty system of double cleansing to make sure that any makeup and sunscreen from my day is completely removed. I use a sherbert style oil cleanser, or cleansing balm, followed by a foaming cleanser which in my case is a foaming enzyme powder. These are both very gentle but functional in removing cosmetics from my skin. 
At the time I used an acne treatment from clinique and a moisturizer from who knows where, it is long finished. However, when my skin suddenly had closed comedones, cystic acne, white heads cropping up randomly and overall discomfort because all of the under skin blemishes that were leaving my skin sensitive to touch. Most of the acne was below the skin and nestled next to the folds of my nose. This photo is from when my skin was misbehaving but starting to heal again. 



Then, I started curology with slow improvements in the scarring from this break out period. My prescription then included Azealic acid, Zinc Pyrithione, and Clindamyacin. Again, slow improvements for the first month and a half. I got frustrated because my acne was just about being managed. However, my skin still was scarred from previous bad breakouts and hormonal acne. If you are interested in the effects of each individual active ingredient for my prescriptions go ahead and comment below. I might make a post about it if there is interest.

We switched my prescription to include Tretenoin instead of Zinc Pyrithione and my skin started making leaps and bounds towards improvements in texture and scaring. I have had ups and down since including a run in with contact dermatitis, which is another story, but overall my experience with curology has been positive. The photos below are from the begining of my journey and my current place. I will admit the lighting in the second photo is probably way more flattering than the first. Natural lighting will always do that. My skin honestly hasn't looked this good in a very long time. 

The cosmetic elegance of the prescription is unexpected. It is a light gel cream that while not particularly moisturizing it isn't drying either.It is a pleasant experience and I have not experienced stinging during application although your owh experience may vary. The bottle is enough for 90 days according to their system but personally I go through it in closer to two months. 

The cost is not particularly high for the service and product you receive. I have a dermatologist available to respond to my questions, no matter how small, any time of day. They may not respond till the next buisness day but at least my question is put out there so I don't forget. They advise on skincare and help those of whom are unsure as to where to start. For the $20 a month you could be spending on a subscription box for cosmetics we all know we don't relaly need and probably won't use, its a steal. Being able to see a dermatologist twice a month plus prescription medication would likely cost more even with great insurance. 

I honestly have to reccomend this program. If you are interested go ahead and click this link. Curology Invite. This is an invite link so I will benefit if you join. This just means that through sharing my experience I am rewarded. This post is entirely of my own opinion and I am in no way affiliated with Curology. I am not being paid in any way to share my opinion with all of you. If Curology wants to give me some kind of compensation that would be awesome. But as of now, its all on me. 

Thank you for bearing with me for this long post. Hopefully everyone will look forward to hearing more from the longwinded me.

Until Next Time,
Glitterpukee!