Is Proactive a good way to clear acne?

Proactive is a three step program that follows a strict skin cleaning regiment.  The three parts:  The cleanser, the toner, and the repairing lotion are used in tandem to scrub away dead skin, kill bacteria, and moisturize and add nutrients to the good skin you have.

The first step, the cleanser begins the process by scrubbing away dead skin and killing bacteria.  If I had to describe the texture I would say that its milky with little beads.  The beads are there to exfoliate the skin and help remove oil deposits.  The face cleanser also contains benzoyl peroxide to remove bacteria and other microbes.  I’ve found that a little bit does equal a lot so if you use this product, make sure to only use a little bit of cleanser at each wash!

The Proactiv revitalizing toner is something I’ve never encountered before as I really have never used toners.  After washing your face with the cleanser, you’re next step is to spritz your face with the toner and allow it to dry.  The toner is supposed to seal up acne, and help keep bacteria out.  My one gripe about the toner is that it really doesn’t smell all too good, at least in my opinion.  I did get used to it for a while, and you don’t have to smell it for long because you still need to apply the lotion.

The final step in the solution is the lotion.  The lotion moisturizes your skin after the toner has done its stuff.  It leaves your skin feeling soft and gets rid of both the “acne medicine shine” appearance as well as the smell from the toner.

My Personal Experience with Proactiv

I ordered Proactiv off the website a few months ago, and while delivery was set for 5-7 days, I actually got it in three. Which is great!  I’m not a big fan of waiting for stuff.  The directions were pretty simple and well laid out.  Use the cleanser, then the toner, then the lotion.  They give you a little book on how to use all three and some things to look out for.  The cleanser is actually quite good and the exfoliating beads are nice because they get the job done but don’t hurt or leave my face feeling rough or stingy after I would touch it.  It did have a bit of that medicine smell though and that familiar “cool” feeling when using these type of cleaners.  The toner was the most difficult to get used to.  I don’t usually spray stuff on my face, it didn’t smell the greatest and at times it over dried my skin.  You do use a moisturizer as the final step but the over drying could be a problem if you can’t get to the moisturizer 20 minutes or so after the toner.  The moisturizer was nice, smelled great and I found it to be my favorite part of Proactiv.  I found myself using it probably more than I should but it also really seemed to help.

PROS

• It worked for me.  I’ll be it took a few weeks, but I started noticing improvements within a week.
• The ingredients were high quality.
• The system has everything you need and is easy to follow.

CONS

• The toner dried out my skin at times and there were a few times I couldn’t get to it for a while and thus my face felt uncomfortable.
• The bottles aren’t the biggest.  They give you enough for the month that you’re on but you better not waste any.
• It cost a few bucks every month to keep on the system.

I’m over the peak anymore as far as my acne problems go but I was on the proactiv system for about a year and other than some over drying when straying out of the guidelines of the system I found proactive to be a great way to clear acne.

Things I wish I knew as a  newb:

1.  Tone down how much you use in the winter if you live in a northern state like myself.  I found that I experienced over drying in the winter while using proactiv.  I live in Michigan where it gets -0 degrees and go outside a lot so this could have been a problem anyway but going easy on the toner during the winter helped.

2.  A little bit goes a long ways.  Use just what you need and what they say to use and you’ll get through the whole month.  Don’t waste or overuse it.

3.  My acne got WORSE for the first week or so and then I began continuously improving until I was almost completely acne free.  I had and still do have the occasional pimple that pops up, but for the most part I’m good and I no longer use proactiv.