Accutane, or isotretinoin, floods the body with vitamin A in order to reduce oil production and speed up cell turnover. This vitamin A "overdose" can have unwanted side effects, including liver failure, painfully dry skin, suicidal ideation, and vision issues.

Our of desperation, many of us would try it anyway - if only it worked.

Acne is a chronic condition that must be managed, and one-time therapies such as Accutane are often insufficient to manage acne long-term.

Even if you have severe (or just severely persistent) acne, you do not need to take Accutane to get clear. Severe cases of acne can be cleared at Clear Day Acne Clinic with acne treatments and topical products in just 4 to 6 months.

Retin-A and similar topical tretinoin treatments can be successful for clients with resilient, oily skin and mainly noninflamed acne. They don’t work as well on people with hormonal acne, inflamed acne, and skin that is sensitive or dry.

We have observed in-clinic that many people with skin redness and irritation from tretinoin are exfoliated on the surface, but still have clogged skin underneath and breakthrough inflammation.

Clear Day Acne Clinic incorporates a more effective form of tretinoin developed by the same dermatologist who invented Retin-A. The goal is not just to keep your skin free of acne, but to support your skin’s health in general, so that it looks smooth and unblemished, not red and irritated.

To become a certified Face Reality Acne Expert, you need to pay for the training and take a test. No real-world experience with acne is necessary. Therefore, quality differs widely among Face Reality certified "experts."

Clear Day Acne Clinic has treated people with acne exclusively for over 10 years. Owner Janice Fitch was trained by and worked directly under Laura Cooksey, owner of Face Reality, in the San Francisco Bay Area for several years before opening Clear Day Acne Clinic.

While access to the Face Reality products is a great first step on your skin care journey, knowing when to deviate from the line is just as important. This is the critical point where many otherwise competent Face Reality certified experts fail. For that reason, we recommend a clinic that will not treat you by the book, but by their past experience in clearing various skin types.

Medical spas purport to treat a host of cosmetic problems, but most of them stay in business with Botox and fillers, not by treating skin conditions. As a result, their experience with acne is limited.

The medspa model is to sell packages of treatments (peels, lasers, etc.), but the problem is that acne is a chronic condition. If the recommended treatment does succeed, when the treatments stop, so will the results. And the treatments in question are often quite expensive and time-consuming to maintain on a regular basis over a lifetime.

Working with an acne specialist requires more effort from the acne client, who will be required to perform a detailed daily skin care routine at home to remain clear. However, it results in clearer skin more consistently. Most importantly, you will understand your skin and have the tools you need to stay clear on your own, no doctor or medical equipment necessary.

Spa facials designed to address acne, peels, laser treatments, LED light therapy treatments, and microdermabrasion may improve your acne for a few weeks, but when you stop the treatments, the acne will be back.

A treatment-only approach does not work for acne in the long term, because it does not address the new pimples that will continue to form throughout the life cycle of your acne. A product-only approach will not be completely effective, either, because products can only prevent new acne from forming and don’t do much to eliminate existing acne breakouts and blackheads.

Most people with acne need both clinical acne treatments (not facials) and products to get clear—the treatments put a stop to acne currently in progress, while the products prevent new buildup from forming. When the acne currently in progress is gone, Clear Day Acne Clinic clients maintain clear skin with products alone.

Acne facials, Hydrafacials, microdermabrasion, etc. are expensive, but they would be worth it if they worked. Unfortunately, they keep acne at bay for only a few weeks, and you will probably never see 100% clear skin. A comprehensive approach with both clinical acne treatments and products is what will get and keep you clear—not just for a few weeks, but for the rest of your life.

Benzoyl peroxide works by killing acne bacteria. But what if the acne bacteria was only part of the problem?

People prone to acne have an overflow of dead skin cells inside their follicles, and resolving this chronic problem lies at the heart of clearing acne.

While benzoyl peroxide, antibiotics, and any antibacterial and anti-inflammatory approach will reduce inflamed acne, it does very little for the root of the problem - the dead skin cell clogs. At your first appointment, your Clear Day Acne Clinic specialist will patch test exfoliants that can clear out the clogs without irritating your skin.

Apostrophe, Curology, Nurx, Musely, Wisp, etc. - skin prescriptions have never been easier to get. The question is whether they are worth getting. Most of our clients have already tried many of the available prescriptions for acne and still struggle with breakouts.

While we have had clients who do well with prescriptions, mostly spironolactone and tretinoin, they are best used together with - not instead of - a customized skincare routine. That's because no online questionnaire or pictures can replace consultation with someone who can actually see and touch your skin. This is why Clear Day does not perform long-distance treatments, video visits, etc. There is simply no substitute for seeing your skin in person.