Acne diary update with Quinoderm 5 review bonus

Is anyone interested in the very drawn-out acne saga that has become the overtone of my life for the last ten years? This is a blog after all where self-absorption is all the rage... Anyway, since being forced to starve my acne-ravaged skin of the magical potion Panoxyl Aquagel 2.5 things have been, in turn, bumpy, sore, red, itchy, volcanic - many unpleasant adjectives in fact. Which is exactly what I knew would happen. It really does put me in a bad mood rage when the status of my menstrual cycle is being broadcast in a very obvious way over the flesh of my once cherubic cheeks. I think it's about a month now since the Panoxyl well ran dry and I've had about three really awful cystic nightmares which swell my face up to a ridiculous degree. They are agonisingly painful and sadly the only thing they achieve is forcing me not to go anywhere or do anything. Hallelujah for funemployment is all I can say. Honestly I don't think I could face the gen public with an enormous carbuncle on the rise. There is really no amount of concealer I can use to even begin to disguise a great big shining boil - apologies for the visuals - and the thought of people looking, noticing - heaven forbid Twitpiccing - makes me want to vom. Farking hell, I've found myself thinking most days. 

I have been using Quinoderm 5 off and on over this time but I am far from <3ing it. I hate the petrolly smell for one thing, and for the last few days it has really stung then burned when I've applied it. Slightly worrying. I only put it on on really bad days, as a last resort, grasping for it like a plague victim as I am captivated in outrage at the bathroom mirror. I must admit that it does stop things getting really out of hand so that's nice. But yeah, it stings + it stinks which really sucks. It's crazy that the instructions tell you to put in on 2-3 times a day - Jesus, Mary and Joseph you'd be in A&E with chemical burns after a few days of that. I'm thinking now that it might help if I remove a lot of the oil that seeps out unrelentingly and the Kleenex Shine Absorbing Sheets have caught my eye so I will try those and see if that helps. It's disappointing that my skin hasn't improved at all since before I started using the Panoxyl in '10 (not 1910, you rude pig) - I still get a couple of whiteheads every day and I find those really annoying because they are fairly neat and contained as whiteheads, then when I pop 'em (soz) I'm left with a swollen, red, weeping mess (oh God, way worse...). I have found that putting aloe vera gel on really helps with this and it makes for quite a smooth make-up slathering after. The cystic ones are a different matter though - usually they do come to a head after a few days and can be squeezed, even though it's so painful I almost puke every time. It releases the pain somewhat but makes the site of the beast turn purple and black which is hideous but how could anyone walk around with a whitehead like that on their face? So yeah, the acne situ has been up, down, back up - mainly up TBH... what a horrible affliction it is :(