My derm told me to stop using sunscreen
I'm 16F and my hormonal acne has come and gone. By this time it got better and I only had like 1 active pimple on my face, and my hormones calmed down. I visited a derm for dark spots and told my routine
Morning just water, azelaic acid serum, moisturizer and matte sunscreen.
Night micellar water, gentle cleanser, moisturizer, adapalene on alternate nights.
She's a young derm btw. She got offended I used only water in the morning, I told her that change helped my barrier and my skin get better. Then she told me to stop all products(expected but ok) then told me to continue my simple face wash am and pm (opposite poles of combination skin btw very dry cheeks and very oily nose) then she gave a venusia moisturizer for very dry skin, then gave a 2.5% bp gel (which absolutely does nothing btw) and then told me to stop sunscreen. I asked her why my re equil was amazing for me and she said no no it might be pore clogging stop it for atleast 20 days. Then she gave me antibiotics.
I want to blindly believe her because the reviews were so good but at the rate at which my skin has gone shit the last week I'm not sure...I currently have 10 active acne like the acne from last week is still not healed under her routine meanwhile my azelaic acid flattens it in one day... And not using sunscreen has given me a panic even getting a single ray of sunshine on me. My skin is also getting dull. And I was told not to pick on my skin because it can leave marks.But since bp takes a long time to heal my acne now, the spots have literally turned black(like it would have been brown if I picked it and let it heal, but letting it do it's own thing, there's a huge black mark on the surrounding area,on multiple spots on my face. My theory is it kept on getting damaged from the inflammation because I didn't use my azelaic acid to calm down and I wasn't using sunscreen)
I'm torn if I should stop this before it turns bad. It's not trust the process like accutane or tretinoin or any other active. I'm spot treating with bp gel and it literally does nothing! She told me to come after 20 days but it's been a week and I'm already not feeling well. And the consultation is 500rs I don't want to waste my parents money again because she might arrogantly just say to continue my routine...
Tdlr: visited a derm for acne and marks. She told me to stop using sunscreen and prescribed few stuff and changed my routine. My skin became sh*ttier.
Posted Sep 11, 2026, 3:22 PM UTC