Hoping For Clear Skin w/ Custom Teenage Acne Treatment from Curology

There are plenty of things I miss from my teenage years but having acne all over my face is not one of them. There, I said it. I had a ton of pimples as a teen and I am so happy I don’t have to deal with that anymore. I mean, I still get the occasional blemishes and small breakouts around “that” time. But, it’s nothing like it was when I was younger. It was horrible and, no matter what I tried, my skin wouldn’t clear up. You can imagine the pain I felt inside when my daughter started to break out and the search for an effective teenage acne treatment began.

The Struggles of Teenage Acne

Now, unlike me, my daughter didn’t pick her zits (which can spread bacteria). She never used foundation on her skin either. Yet, even when left alone, the acne kept multiplying. We tried so many different cleansers, toners, scrubs, masks, creams, lotions, and strips that we lost count. At one point, she kind of gave up. She went back using a gentle cleanser 1-2 times per day and could only hope the acne would go away by itself. It didn’t. Not only was her forehead like an explosion but her nose was full of blackheads. Even her cheeks had clogged, enlarged pores. Poor baby! 🙁

(FYI, none of the photos in this post are edited, aside from some lighting, so you can see actual results.)

A company called Curology reached out to me at the beginning of summer. Basically, you send them photos of your skin. Then, a board certified dermatology provider examines those and creates a custom formula to treat your issues. Along the way, he or she can adjust the ingredients as needed. I know skin is more sensitive to the sun when using acne medicine. So, since we had a trip to Hawaii coming up, we decided to hold off on signing up for the service until after we returned home.

Trying Curology Custom Acne Treatment

When we got back, I input our information, noted the conditions we were concerned most about, and uploaded a few photos. I accidentally put my birthdate in and not my daughter’s so I had to contact customer service. I didn’t want the formula to be for my 38-year-old skin (though Curology can treat adult acne too). I sent a message and later that day I received a response that the information had been adjusted. Such a quick response!

The onboarding process was simple and done in a flash. We received a text message to confirm our order, one to notify us of a message from our assigned dermatology provider, tips for starting Curology acne treatment, and when our bottle was on its way. About a week later, we received our first shipment.

Before my daughter started using the treatment, I made sure she read up on how to use it. Curology makes this SUPER simple. They sent an email with two steps to follow in the morning and two steps to follow before going to sleep. There are also nine online guides. These describe different skin conditions, how to deal with them, and how other factors such as diet and birth control can affect things. Each guide only takes a few minutes to read, totaling to a little more than a half hour. With that information in her head and the Curology bottle in her hand, she was ready to go.

Does Curology Work for Teenage Acne?

At first, we didn’t see any difference. While her skin wasn’t improving yet, it was a good sign that her skin wasn’t having an adverse reaction to the formula. Each week, we received a text and email to upload updated photos. A new feature allows patients to take photos with their cell phone and send them via text message. This is very convenient when you don’t have time (or the equipment) to get out a big camera and upload them on the computer. We haven’t taken advantage of it yet but there is also an active online community. Other Curology patients can share concerns, stories, or progress with each other for moral support.

My daughter did experience some breakouts, sensitivity, and dryness starting around week 2. The guides touched on this and gave suggestions to remedy the condition. She mixed in moisturizer and began using the cream every other night instead of daily. I emailed the dermatology provider to make sure this was okay. She assured me that this was normal and said that improvements wouldn’t show until about eight weeks of use. I was supposed to send new photos but I forgot.

By week 4, the dryness got better. This time I did send photos and, after examining them, the dermatology provider said my daughter could start using the formula every night in another few weeks. She also asked how the blackheads were doing and recommended some over-the-counter treatments to use in addition to the Curology acne treatment.

At week 6, she started to use the cream every night again. Breakouts were fewer between and the pores seemed to be shrinking. Munchkin’s forehead is much clearer and the blackheads are not as numerous or pronounced. She still gets 1-2 clogged pores on her cheeks every now and then but the oil pretty much slides out on its own.

We’re nearing our eighth week and, I have to say, things are headed in the right direction. She still has to be careful around certain areas like under her nose, though, due to dryness. I might ask our dermatology provider if the formula needs to be adjusted. Curology can also prescribe oral medication in severe cases but I don’t think my daughter’s case is that bad.

We still have another month to go on our trial period (the usual trial period is one month but we received three for this review). As we are seeing positive results thus far, I hope things continue this way. I’m just so happy that she doesn’t have to suffer the embarrassment of having a “zit face” anymore! Oh, and this reminds me that I’m way overdue on uploading new photos…

Curology Custom Adult or Teenage Acne Treatment

The experience we have had with Curology acne treatment has been a positive good one. I was pretty nervous to try it since it involves my daughter’s sensitive skin. Fortunately, it has worked out nicely. It’s not a miracle treatment but it has been the most effective on her teenage acne so far. The notifications via text message are helpful and timely, as are the tips included. Oh, and having such easy access to a dermatology provider is amazing! It really feels like we have our own personal medical team assisting us through the process and rooting for her success. I can’t wait to see how her skin improves!

If you’d like to a free trial of Curology for you or your teen and to see more real life examples, visit Curology’s official site here. Thanks to the generosity of the brand, one of my readers will win a ONE YEAR subscription of Curology. That’s a value of $240! Enter below!

This is a sponsored post and product was provided to share our honest experience. All opinions are my own.