Products that helped me through Roaccutane

If you are currently taking Roaccutane or have ever tried it, you will know that the side effects can be brutal. For all the good it is (hopefully) doing for your skin, you certainly feel the effects in other places. Here are some saviour products that helped me through my course of Roaccutane:

For dry lips:
Palmers coco butter lip balm (£1.50)

This was absolutely brilliant. I tried so many different lip balms, some which were very expensive, and this super cheap lip balm was by far the best. The only high end lip balm that worked for me is also listed below – don’t bother wasting your money on others. I still use this now and actually have one of these in each bag I use regularly and by my bed.

To exfoliate the lips (DO THIS EVERY DAY):
Nurse Jamie NuLips RX Moisturising Lip Balm + Exfoliating Lip Brush (£22)

This product was an absolute saviour. I tried loads of lip scrubs and none of them could get rid of all the dry skin on my lips. Often they’d get rid of only some of the skin and leave the lips feeling really stripped of moisture. The exfoliating lip brush was really gentle, and all you had to do was wet your lips and rub the soft plastic bristles around and it got rid of EVERYTHING. Then you’d apply the moisturising lip balm which would sink into the lips very slowly and last a long time. It wasn’t sticky at all but just left the lips feeling good for once! When you’re used to your lips peeling all the time, this finally will give you some relief.

Face skincare:

Let me say, that my skin is dry. So when trying to fight my acne, I also didn’t want to dry my face out. Plus a lot of the skincare I tried actually made my outbreaks worse, so I just stuck to a few products that kept it at bay. Make sure you moisturise your face! This medicine will DRY. YOUR. SKIN. OUT. Be kind to your skin. I used my Nivea Soft moisturiser, which is my everyday moisturiser anyway.

Dudu-osun African Black Soap (£3.30)

I remember seeing Jackie Aina talk about black soap, and that’s what first got me interested. I first thought this would be a miracle product and completely cure my acne. Obviously it didn’t, but it definitely helped to keep it in check. I would use it twice a day, morning and night, and I’d find that my acne would be a little less inflamed when I woke up the following morning. If I forgot to use it one evening, it was clear on my cheeks the next day. It does make your skin feel squeaky clean, but not gasping for moisture. I still use it now, probably 3 times a week, to make my skin feel really nice and clean, or when I notice some texture.

Mario Badescu Glycolic Foaming Cleanser (£14)

I had heard of Mario Badescu products before as amazing for acne prone skin so I gave glycolic acid a go. It’s actually something I still use when I feel like my skin is starting to get a bit textured. I used to use this every other day to make my acne feel really soothed. It always made my skin feel really clean, healthy and smooth. It adds the moisture back into your skin a bit after the black soap. The smell of this also makes me feel really relaxed and happy (:

Konjac sponges

I always use these to take off my make up rather than using a muslin cloth. I had gotten the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish with the muslin clothes for Christmas when my acne was at it’s worst and I remember thinking that the cloth was super rough on my skin. It felt like I was wiping my cleanser off with sand paper. The next day, I woke up and my skin had gotten worse and I remember feeling like crying. The konjac sponges are so soft on the skin and my skin never got any worse after using them.  They are naturally deeply cleansing and give your skin a soft exfoliation as well, leaving you skin feeling fresh and smooth (as it can be with acne). The sponges are made from Korean plant roots and are 100% biodegradable and natural. They’re not too hard to find these days, I usually buy mine in bulk at beautybay, or in Sephora when I was living in Spain.

Hands:
Palmers Coco Butter Hand Cream (£2.99)

This was really moisturising on the very dry patches I was getting on my hands. It takes a little while to sink in, but nothing horrendous. I would have to apply this quite a lot for my hands to feel really soft because I don’t have very soft hands anyway, plus if I didn’t the skin would crack.

Body:
The Ritual of Sakura Body Cream (£19.50)

I got a sample of this in an order from John Lewis and thought I would try this on my dry hands and forearms. This worked really well to moisturise. It has a feminine scent, which might not be too appealing to everyone, but it is not irritating to the skin or unpleasant to smell. It was a nice, thick moisturiser that soaked into the skin quickly.

Dry nose
Vaseline

Trust me, this will quickly become your best friend. My nose would (oddly) get very runny, but still be extremely dry, so much so that I would have a nose bleed at least every week, if not 2/3/4 times a week. Make sure that before bed and before you leave the house you coat the inside of the nose with Vaseline to give it some moisture. Vaseline also stops bleeding, so if you’re struggling with a small bleed, apply some.

Dry eyes

Murine dry eye drops

I had horribly dry eyes while taking Roaccutane. However these eye drops would give my eyes the moisture they craved. I tried some more watery formulas, but there was no real relief when I put them in and I would be adding more after 10 minutes. However the Murine formula is almost gel like (totally eye safe) and really gives your eyes a sense of relief when they’re put in. They feel nice and wet again and really hydrated for a while.

Brolene eye drops

My eyes would get so dry that they would get reoccurring eye infections where one of my eyes would get extremely red and bloodshot. To stop this happening, not only would I apply my regular eye drops, but I’d also use brolene, which are eye drops with medicine in them to combat any developing eye infection/use it as a preventative step.

Sun protection
Make sure you are wearing suncream every day! Roaccutane will make your skin VERY sensitive to the light and to sun damage. You will notice that your skin will burn much easier and get freckles very quickly after short amounts of time in the sun. I wouldn’t recommend sunbathing at all during your time, or even prolonged periods in the sun. I managed to avoid sunburn completely while I was taking the medicine, and I on it from March – the end of August.

If you have any questions about Roaccutane, feel free to leave a comment on here or on Instagram and I’d be happy to help in any way I can!

Xo

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