#Curology Update | 18 Weeks

Hello, 2016! Where did the last year go? We're nearly half way through January of the new year and I figured now would be a good time to finally give another update on how my skin is coping with Curology.

What is Curology?
Due to it's success and growth, Pocketderm has renamed itself as of 9/30/2015 to Curology to represent it's caring, curing, and healing it provides for its' patients. Curology is a tele-dermatology site that allows you to receive a prescription topical cream with three active ingredients to help you with your skin. You simply submit photos of your skin when you sign up, along with any additional information you think your dermatologist should know (and yes, the people helping you really are doctors!) and they review your photos and info to diagnosis your skin issues. Curology will curate a personalized cream for you with three out of the six active ingredients they have to offer for just $19.95 per month. You will automatically receive a new shipment of your prescription every 3 months, but if you need one sooner, you can request one from your provider. Your monthly fee for Curology not only covers your prescription, but also unlimited consultations with your provider. If you sign up using my referral link, you will receive your first month completely free!

In my first post about Curology I showed my face after neglecting it for most of the summer while struggling with depression, and how drastic of a change it made in my face after just 3 days.
My second post about Curology showed a two week update, where I noticed my cystic acne was improving and my scarring and hyper-pigmentation had greatly improved.
My last post about Curology was an eight week update, where I noticed my skin had mostly cleared up and I was only experiencing one or two cysts during my monthly time. At this time I also shared that my script was being changed to include Tretinoin.

I've been using Curology for almost 18 weeks total now, and my current Tretinoin script for 10 weeks.

I was warned by my derm (and the internet) that I would more than likely experience dryness, flaking, and purging. I must say that after two months my skin is still just as oily as ever, but I'm able to manage it with other skincare. My skin is already dehydrated, but I didn't find this dose of tret to be drying. Flakiness? No - I have one tiny spot (smaller than a dime) that peels a little every morning, but it's also an area that I have always gotten irritation, I think it's from my toothpaste and drooling at night. Purging? A little - I stopped using my acids when I started tret, and after a month of adjustment I reincorporated both my aha and bha, and that seemed to give the tret a running start once I applied afterwards, and everything working together seemed to help the remaining problems with my skin purge. My closed comedones have been merging and coming to a head and some cysts have been forming but healing rather quickly. My skin looks a little rough, but the texture is better, and my jawline is really improving.

Disclaimer: No monetary compensation was received for this post. The Glitter Chic blog will always provide honest opinions, beliefs or experiences on products reviewed. If you have any questions, please contact me at gothickornchic at gmail dot com. This blog contains affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase using one of those links. The disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

My Skin After 8 Weeks On #Curology [Skin Update 4] #Pocketderm

This week marks my eighth week of using Curology on my face as a daily step in my evening skincare routine. I initially signed up with Curology to help cure my acne, but starting this week I am receiving a new prescription, which will probably open up some further changes with my skin. I'll go into details about that further in this post.

What is Curology?
Due to it's success and growth, Pocketderm has renamed itself as of 9/30/2015 to Curology to represent it's caring, curing, and healing it provides for its' patients. Curology is a tele-dermatology site that allows you to receive a prescription topical cream with three active ingredients to help you with your skin. You simply submit photos of your skin when you sign up, along with any additional information you think your dermatologist should know (and yes, the people helping you really are doctors!) and they review your photos and info to diagnosis your skin issues. Curology will curate a personalized cream for you with three out of the six active ingredients they have to offer for just $19.95 per month. You will automatically receive a new shipment of your prescription every 3 months, but if you need one sooner, you can request one from your provider. Your monthly fee for Curology not only covers your prescription, but also unlimited consultations with your provider.
If you sign up using my referral link, you will receive your first month completely free!

When I first started using Curology on 9/15 I started noticing a difference after just three days of use - you can see my first initial results in my first Curology post. Right now, my acne is mostly clear. Instead of having new cystic acne forming on a daily basis, I only get a few cysts around my "time of the month" and they are not nearly as bad as they used to be.

My skin is brighter, my PIH (post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation) is nearly gone, and with the exception of some stubborn purging from my prescription along my jawline, I don't have any real acne to speak of. 

Because my complexion has improved so much, my dermatologist at Curology has altered my prescription. I previously was applying 4% Niacinamide, 1% Clindamycin, & 4% Azeliac Acid. My new prescription will be 1% Clindamycin, 8% Azeliac Acid, & 0.009% Tretonoin.

I have been warned that with the addition of Tret, my skin may get dry and flaky, and I may experience further purging because it is a stronger prescription. I am hoping that it will help the stubborn purging along my jawline finish coming to a head and finally clear up completely, and possibly even prevent my cystic acne that pops up at my TOM. We shall see! I'll be sure to update once I start using my new prescription and let you know how the Tret is working for me!

Disclaimer: The Glitter Chic blog purchased the product(s) mentioned in this post for the purpose of review and evaluation. No monetary compensation was received for this post. The Glitter Chic blog will always provide honest opinions, beliefs or experiences on products reviewed. If you have any questions, please contact me at gothickornchic at gmail dot com. This blog contains affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase using one of those links. The Glitter Chic is not responsible for prize delivery. The disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Skin Update #3 | 2 Weeks on #Pocketderm #Curology

In my Skin Update #2 I introduced Pocketderm and explained why I was going to start using it, and showed how it had started effecting my skin after just 3 days. Today has been 2 weeks since I started using Pocketderm and I thought I would take a moment to update you on how my skin is reacting to this product and what type of progress or digression my skin might have made.

What is Pocketderm Curology?
Curology is now Pocketderm! Due to it's succress and growth, Pocketderm has renamed itself as of 9/30/2015 to Curology to represent it's caring, curing, and healing it provides for its' patients.
Curology is a tele-dermatology site that allows you to receive a prescription topical cream with three active ingredients to help you with your skin. You simply submit photos of your skin when you sign up, along with any additional information you think your dermatologist should know (and yes, the people helping you really are doctors!) and they review your photos and info to diagnosis your skin issues. Curology will curate a personalized cream for you with three out of the six active ingredients they have to offer for just $19.95 per month. You will automatically receive a new shipment of your prescription every 3 months, but if you need one sooner, you can request one from your provider. Your monthly fee for Curology not only covers your prescription, but also unlimited consultations with your provider. Check out the bottom of this post to learn how to get one month free!

Right now my skin is brighter - my dark spots are fading, as are my acne scars, and my skin looks more healthy.

I'm currently experiencing hormonal acne, which was my biggest problem since I have PCOS, but it isn't anything like it used to be. I've experienced no cystic acne (which always happened this time of the month - 3 to 7 new cysts a day) and the acne I have been getting along my jawline clears up within a day or two. The acne under my nose is gone as well. I just have some bumpiness around my chin/jawline area that has slowly been surfacing has small blackheads - my guess is they were clogged pores because they were bumpy for the past couple months, and Curology is finally pushing everything out.

I'm still very impressed with my results from Curology and cannot wait to see how my skin continues to improve down the road.

I'll be updating again in a few weeks, so be sure to check back for more comparison photos!

If you're interested in trying Curology too, you can get your first month free by signing up through my link: https://curology.com/invite/IWRCKQA

Disclaimer: No monetary compensation was received for this post. The Glitter Chic blog will always provide honest opinions, beliefs or experiences on products reviewed. If you have any questions, please contact me at gothickornchic at gmail dot com. This blog contains affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase using one of those links. The Glitter Chic is not responsible for prize delivery. The disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Skin Update #2 | My start with #Pocketderm #Curology

I last updated you all with photos of my skin's progress on August 27th, and since then my face has really been on a rollercoaster. My skin started to improve, then got worse, and finally got bad enough where I started to look at other options. I've seen a lot of mention of Pocketderm over the past year, but only recently thought that it would be worthwhile for me. So I buckled down and ordered as my face progressively got worse.

Before I go further with this update, here are some photos I took of my face on September 15th. This is difficult for me, because even after not caring for my face for over a month straight, it never looked this bad. This is the day my first Pocketderm prescription arrived, I started applying it this very night after I took these photos.

In all my years of adolecense I never remembered my face being so ugly, so blemished, or so painful. So why would I share this with you? Because you would never believe how quickly my skin has turned around after starting Pocketderm. I'm skeptical at quick recoveries and magic claims, espcially when a company warns that it may take up to 8 weeks to see results, but this is something you guys need to see to believe. The next set of photos is from this morning, just 3 DAYS after starting Pocketderm.

My skin is already healing, my cystic acne is nearly gone, my skin is no longer painful, and my blackheads are continuing to disappear again. My skin has completely turned around in a matter of days!

My skin and I still have a lot of work to get through, but this was such a massive improvement in such a short amount of time that I had to share this with you right away!

What is Pocketderm Curology?
UPDATE: Curology is now Pocketderm! Due to it's succress and growth, Pocketderm has renamed itself as of 9/30/2015 to Curology to represent it's caring, curing, and healing it provides for its' patients.
Curology is a tele-dermatology site that allows you to receive a prescription topical cream with three active ingredients to help you with your skin. You simply submit photos of your skin when you sign up, along with any additional information you think your dermatologist should know (and yes, the people helping you really are doctors!) and they review your photos and info to diagnosis your skin issues. Curology will curate a personalized cream for you with three out of the six active ingredients they have to offer for just $19.95 per month. You will automatically receive a new shipment of your prescription every 3 months, but if you need one sooner, you can request one from your provider. Your monthly fee for Curology not only covers your prescription, but also unlimited consultations with your provider. Check out the bottom of this post to learn how to get one month free!
If you're interested in trying Pocketderm too, you can get your first month free by signing up through my link: https://curology.com/invite/IWRCKQA
I'll be updating again in a few weeks, so be sure to check back for more comparison photos!

Disclaimer: The Glitter Chic blog purchasedthe product(s) mentioned in this post for the purpose of review and evaluation. No monetary compensation was received for this post. The Glitter Chic blog will always provide honest opinions, beliefs or experiences on products reviewed. If you have any questions, please contact me at gothickornchic at gmail dot com. This blog contains affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase using one of those links. The Glitter Chic is not responsible for prize delivery. The disclosure is done in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 10 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.