PIMPLES?!

I know exactly what you mean. I've been up and down with my weight for 2 years and it seems like whenever I go down my skin suffers, and whenever I go up my skin gets better. NOT FAIR. I think everyone's body chemistry is different, so you have to experiment to see what works best for you. If you're having problems now, clearly a good idea would be to switch things up -- just give the new routine a couple of weeks to check whether it works before you switch to another strategy.

Here's the routine I finally found that works for me, bad times and good:

Once a week (and only once a week, even though it seems like more would be better): Exfoliate with some kind of scrubbing facewash (like St Ives apricot scrub) or a scratchy loofah-type sponge with mild soap.

EVERY day: Wash your face with your hands and warm water and NOTHING ELSE. I know, it seems like it wouldn't work to do so little, but it definitely helps my skin when I don't use a lot of stuff on it. The exception is if you wear a lot of make-up, in which case you should use a very mild soap like Cetaphil and your hands to rinse it off before bedtime. No oily makeup remover or drying astringent, and don't scrub too much! Also, I switched to a mineral-based make-up (like Jane Iredale or Bare Minerals) -- waaaaaaaaaay more expensive, but I find these are muuuuuuch better for fewer breakouts than the $5 drugstore Cover Girl nonsense. Also after every face-washing I use Clean and Clear dual action moisturizer -- no flakes and fewer breakouts, seriously magic for me.

For an awful HUGE pimple, I keep 2 things around for spot-cleaning: 10% benzoyl peroxide cream (any brand) and 1-2% salicylic acid cream (any brand). The B.P. cream is good for overnight treatment -- it will shrivel up the nastiest of bumps if you put a pile of it on there and let it dry about 30 min before sleepy-time. Rinse off the dried cream with warm water when you wake up. If it's still there in the morning, a *very* thin layer of S.A. cream/gel is good under makeup/concealer to minimize the 3-D effect that pimples tend to have. Just spread a very small amount over the pimple, let it dry, then tap your makeup *gently* over it and NO PICKING!

I hope at least some of this works for you, try mixing and matching until you find something that works -- you deserve to reap the rewards of your hard work to look good!