Dermatica Acne Review

Dermatica Acne Review

Curious about Dermatica, particularly their acne treatment? You’re in the right place. Keep on reading to check out this Dermatica acne review!

Before we start, I just want to say that this review is totally un-sponsored, unpaid and I paid for these products myself. I do have a referral link , but I only found that out after writing this review anyway!

Dermatica are a prescription skincare service which is delivered straight to your door. They claim to be a “dermatology-recommended evidence-based prescription service”. Their treatments include ingredients that are supported by clinical evidence at prescription strengths. You typically can’t find this in cosmetic skincare products, especially in the UK! For example, my acne treatment contained adapalene, which is an ingredient which can only be accessed through a doctor or dermatologist in the UK. As Dermatica has a team of licensed healthcare professionals, they can prescribe these products for you.

Dermatica offers a range of different treatments. I used an acne treatment, but they also offer treatments for: anti-ageing, pigmentation, melasma, rosacea, and skin brightening.

So, how does Dermatica’s service work?

Dermatica works on a subscription basis. Firstly, you complete a short skin consultation where you’ll be asked a few questions about your skin and what you’re looking for. Your answers will be assessed by their medical team, and then your treatment containing your personalised blend of ingredients will be sent out to you. In my experience, the shipping has been very quick, and the package arrives in a small cardboard package which fits through the letterbox.

I am usually very wary of subscription services because they always seem to want to trick me out, but I totally don’t get that impression with Dermatica. You can change the next dispatch date to whenever you want, meaning that if you want to skip a month or two (or however many you want) you can. No questions asked and no annoying ‘Are you sure?’ messages.

Until you fully cancel your subscription, you can log onto the Dermatica website and view and manage your treatments and subscriptions. You can upload images to track your skin progress and see what ingredients your next treatments will contain.

Dermatica Tretinoin

Dermatica acne treatments

Your acne treatment could contain any of the following ingredients: adapalene, azelaic acid, benzoyl peroxide, clindamycin, niacinamide. Adapalene is a retinoid which is fantastic for fighting acne. For more information on it, check out my previous post. Azelaic acid can help fight acne by attacking bacteria in the skin and keeping pores clear. Benzoyl peroxide is a great ingredient for fighting acne because of the fact that it unclogs pores but also kills bacteria and reduces inflammation on the skin. Clindamycin is an antibiotic, which can help reduce acne by fighting the bacteria which causes acne and reduces the swelling of your breakouts. You might already know about niacinamide as it’s an ingredient which is getting quite popular lately because of the any different benefits it has. Niacinamide is also known as vitamin B3, and it can help improve barrier function in the skin, reduce redness, reduce bacteria on the skin and also has anti-ageing benefits. I used a niacinamide serum in the past but didn’t see any benefits however (but that might just be a ME problem hahah).

Aside from these active ingredients that are responsible for the acne-fighting benefits you might see, their treatments contain a base of hyaluronic acid, ceramides, panthenol, glycerin and vitamin E- all skin soothing, healing or hydrating ingredients.

My acne treatment contains Adapalene 0.1%, Niacinamide 4% and Clindamycin 1% lotion, and my prescription has not changed since I started my treatment in January 2021.

Did Dermatica heal my acne?

YES. Okay, let me briefly fill you in on my skin condition before starting my treatment. I’ve always had some clogged pores on my cheeks but these didn’t bother me much because they were quite minimal. I had acne on my forehead in my late teens but this cleared up once I settled on a simple skincare routine of cleansing, moisturising, exfoliating every so often and using sunscreen daily (this helped with the appearance of acne scars or hyperpigmentation).

But in the summer of 2020, I started breaking out along my jaw. It was very sore, red, and the pimples had very large whiteheads. The acne seemed to be hormonal as I’d made no lifestyle changes around this time.

I somehow managed to resist the temptation to pick this acne (pimple patches are great for this), and I tried treating it with over-the-counter acne fighting ingredients such as AHAs, salicylic acid, colloidal silver, witch hazel and a low percentage retinol OTC serum. I didn’t see any improvements in my acne for months despite being consistent with my treatments.

I then used Differin, an adapalene moisturiser that I purchased from Boots pharmacy (read about this here), and I started seeing my skin clear for the first time in months. It got rid of the majority of my acne along my jaw after 3 months- success! The angry, red, pus-filled breakouts were gone. I still had some small red breakouts on my cheeks and some papules under the skin on my jaw, so I looked around for something else. 

That’s when I came across Dermatica. I began my treatment in January 2021 and in 3 months I saw great improvements in my skin. My cheek acne and the papules had gone, but I still had some hyperpigmentation left over from the breakouts. Within 4 months, my skin was completely clear. But when I say completely clear, I mean I didn’t even have the small blackheads I’ve always had on my cheeks, and no post-acne scars. I can truly say I have the skin of my dreams right now, it’s so glowy and bright.

So yes, Dermatica did heal my acne and I only wish I’d started sooner!

How to use your Dermatica acne treatment

With tretinoin and adapalene (retinoids) it’s important to start very slowly. I talk more about that in my Differin blog post, but basically your skin will be very dry, tight and itchy when you start using retinoids, and if you over-do it at the beginning you can really irritate your skin and compromise your skin barrier.

So, I recommend that when you receive your Differin treatment, you take it slow at first. The first week, use the cream only once in the PM. After cleansing at night, apply a mosituriser and let it dry completely. Then, apply the Dermatica gel-cream as the last step of your skincare routine. Doing it this way allows the moisturiser to act as a buffer against the strong retinoid and antibiotic ingredients.

The following week, continue to use it the same way, but use it twice.

The 3rd week of treatment, use it before or after moisturiser- however you like! And at this point you can use it every other day. I still wouldn’t go in and use it everyday because it can be a bit drying. When you can see that your skin is used to the treatment (it’ll stop being dry, itchy and flaky at this point), you can use it nightly if you like. However, it’s not necessary to use retinoids daily in order to see acne improvement- 4x per week is enough.

I hope this all makes sense, but feel free to leave me a comment below if you have any questions!

…..

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed Dermatica’s service, and I do recommend trying it out. I mean, my photos speak for themselves! If you’re nervous, don’t worry too much as the first month is free (you only have to cover shipping).

If you do try Dermatica, feel free to use my referral link – we’ll both get £5 referral credit if you do (thanks in advance to those who use my link <3)!

Bye for now,

Jazmin

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