Beware of Proactiv

For those people out there that are not blessed with blemish free skin, I feel your pain. Since puberty, I have dealt with acne. It was never really severe, but it was present and it hurt. My mom has been plagued with acne and boils for as long as I remember. She didn't try any beauty products or tips to help her, but I did. I started by using the usual products, Noxema, pHisoderm, Clearasil, and finally Proactiv. All the products worked for a time, and then stopped working. Only one of these products actually made my acne worse; Proactiv.

I take a shower each day, and until I was 24, I never washed my face when I was in the shower. I know some of you may shudder at that thought, but I didn't know any better. Like I said, my mom had acne very bad for as long as I can remember. I watched a Noxema commercial about using the new and improved formula instead of using the same soap that you wash your arm pits with. So, I thought that I shouldn't use soap to wash my face. I was sitting at home watching television when a Proactiv commercial came on. Jennifer Love Hewitt was endorsing this product that helped her so much. So, like any good consumer, I called and ordered the kit. It came with three bottles of various concoctions. I followed the directions and within the first month my face was completely clear. I had no blemishes and had no pain. I thought I was on the road to a beautiful face, but I thought wrong. The directions said to continue to use Proactiv even after the blemishes cleared up. So, I followed the directions and continued to use it. Boy, did I make a mistake. I started getting a sheen on my face in the afternoon. This was due to my oily skin. Well, the problem only snowballed from there. My face started getting redder and redder and was hurting more and more. I hadn't changed how I put this product on my face or anything.

My boyfriend commented on how red and blotchy my face was getting. He asked me if I washed my face while I was in the shower. I told him that I didn't and why I didn't. Remember the commercial? So, after laughing at me for a moment, he told me about washing my face with a bar of antibacterial soap. We use Dial, but I'm sure there are others out there. I stopped using Proactiv all together and started washing my face in the shower with a bar of soap. My face went back to being clear, and only on certain "days of the month" do I get a pimple or red spot on my face. My oil levels have balanced out and I can feel how clean my face is. For anyone out there who has had similar results from using over the counter products, try a bar of antibacterial soap. It is so much cheaper, and in my case, it worked better than anything else I had tried.