I recently went off the pill and have had insane acne ever since. Its been frustrating especially because this is the first time I’ve ever really had ACNE in my life, thanks my naturally dry skin! I would get one, maybe two blemishes that time of the month and thats it, so this has really thrown me through a loop!
The Acne started this summer and I have been trying everything under the sun to get rid of it, including Murad, Active Yellow, SkinAGain, Olay, and many, many more. I found a few that worked better than others, but with all the hype around Proactiv, I had to try it!
I naturally have dry skin so for the first time in my life, my skin is actually a bit oily thanks to the hormone changes, but its still very, very dry underneath. Some of the Acne products have still managed to dry out my skin pretty badly, so I have been using heavy moisturizers and night and morning, as well as sleeping with a humidifier, and this seems to help.
I had heard that if you buy Proactiv from the website, you buy into an agreement where they automatically ship you product every month or so (which is true) so lucky for me, my local mall had a Proactiv kiosk, so I bought my 60 day supply there and gave it a try.
I noticed after only a few days, it was drying my skin out insanely. The face wash is a scrub and although its not super harsh, if you use to much it will burn. I found that out right away! I know that usually using a scrub everyday is too much for most skin types, so I was really turned off by that.
I don’t usually use toner because of my dry skin, but I gave the Practiv toner a try. I was amazed with how much dirt it pulled off my face even after cleansing. In conjunction with the face wash, I found it to be super drying as well, especially if you use to much.
The third product was the ACNE treatment. It seems to work well and if you apply it to only the areas with acne (mine are around my hairline) it doesn’t seem to dry out the skin too much.
I then finished with the oil control moisturizer or the green tea moisturizer. The oil free moisturizer does seem to cut down on oil, but neither one were very moisturizing, at least for my dry skin.
I started out using this faithfully morning and night but after only a few days, my skin looked like a reptile, thanks to being completely dried out. I gave my skin a break for a few days, then went back to the Proactiv, and this time along with the insane drying, it burned like crazy! ( I later realized this was from using too much product- so be sure to read directions and only use the dime size amount, like it says! Also, use makeup remover to remove eye makeup before cleansing with Proactiv. The face wash burns the eyes!)
I gave my skin a break again, and went back a third time following directions very carefully. What I’ve found is that I can only use this product for a few days, even with a heavy night cream, otherwise it dries out my face too much. It seems to work ok if I switch back to regular products every few days. As far as the ACNE, it does seem to clear up it up really well, if you can stand the extreme dryness!
There are many mixed reviews on this product out there and I have a good friend with naturally oily skin who says she has been using this for years and its the best thing for her. I think if you have oily skin this is probably a go, you just might want to be sure to buy from a kiosk instead of calling in or ordering from their website. If you have dry skin, and can stand being dried out, then go ahead and get Proactiv. Otherwise you might want to consider other options, or do as I am, and give your skin a break every couple of of days when using Proactiv.
To find a Proactiv Kiosk near you, click HERE.
to Learn more about Proactiv products, check their website out at www.proactiv.com