Little background on me. I'm 20 years old and a college student. I've had acne since I was 14 or 15, luckily for me the severity of the acne has significantly decreased in the last few years. I recently had a flare up which made me decide to start using ProActiv. It worked at first, but made my face extremely oily, and ended making it worse actually (after 7 weeks of use). My dad had acne for a while, but as he aged he grew out of it and my mom never had acne at all. So chances are I will eventually grow out of it, however I want it to go away now.

Here's what I'll be doing:

Morning:
Dan's Cleanser
Dan's BP
Dan's Moisturizer w/ Dan's Jojoba Oil

Night:
Dan's Cleanser
Dan's BP
Dan's Moisturizer w/ Dan's Jojoba Oil


I've used Proactiv for the last 7 weeks like I said, so I'm gonna start off with 1 full pump of BP.

Beginning Statistics (if you will):

4 to 5 actives
4 to 5 that are no longer active but in the process of healing (meaning they are no longer inflammed just a little red)
LOTS of red spots

By the way today will be my first full day using the regimen, so I'll update tomorrow with it being day 2.

Wish me luck!

Day 2 - Experiencing some redness, but not dry at all. I'm actually experiencing some excess oil so I've decided to remove the Jojoba oil for now. Only 1 new pimple, and it was one of those ones that you knew was forming but it finally broke through last night. Overall doing good so far. To battle the redness I'm thinking of using only 1/2 to 3/4 of a pump of BP in the morning, but then using a full pump at night since I don't care if I'm red when I'm sleeping.

Stats:

2-3 actives
Tons of red marks

Day 4 - Starting to get a little flaking, so I've decided to put the Jojoba back into my regimen. My face is clearing up nicely, but I've still got quite a few red marks. I'm still getting about 1-2 new pimples a day, but they are far less red and are gone within a day or so. Also Dan's Moisturizer makes my face really red and a little greasy, so I got the Olay Sensitive Skin lotion to use in the mornings, and I'm using Dan's at night.

Stats:
2-3 Actives
Tons of red marks still

Day 8 - Things are starting to get a little better. The only exception would be that I'm struggling with redness a little. I realized I was using too much BP to start off with, so I've decreased it to half a pump of BP twice a day and I'm starting to keep the redness down. One thing I've noticed is that I have gotten some new pimples, but for the most part they were small and healed within two days.

Great job with the updates, keep it up!

Hope all goes well for you. I'm supposed to get my kit in the mail soon. After reading your experience, I'm going to start with a small amount of BP as well...especially after hearing that you've even been on Proactiv for a while.

^ Thanks man, good luck to you too!

Day 10 - Probably the best day that I've had yet. Redness is still there, but it's beginning to calm down a little. Lately I've been kind of bummed because I've had a few larger pimples, however I noticed that the reason they are standing out so much is because I'm clearing up everywhere else!

That being said I'm beginning to notice some flaws with the whole "don't pop your pimples" issue. Whenever I do pop a pimple (I'm sorry that I do but I can't honestly think that anyone can walk around with white heads and now worry even more about them), if goes away the next day, and the red mark doesn't last long at all. HOWEVER, when I actually leave a pimple alone is when they NEVER GO AWAY! The larger pimples that I do have on my face now are from a week or so ago. One pimple that I never popped is still red from before I started the Regimen!

One other thing I'd like to add today because I'm in a good mood (good face day). Over the summer my acne was barely noticeable at all, and even up until a month ago I didn't really notice it. Then I began taking a nitric oxide supplement that had caffeine in it for pre-workout effects. That's when I really started to notice the increase in acne, as my back started to get some as well. I took the supplement 4 times a week, and looking back all of my "good face" days were on the days after I didn't take it (when I didn't have a workout the previous day). So needless to say I've stopped taking that now.

This is really crazy, this whole description you just wrote fits everything about me too! lol. but thanks for posting up about how 1 pump is too much, cause I've been on the regime for about 4 days and i've been using 1 pump, but now I'm gonna switch to half a pump! and yeah my face is kinda red.. =/ but some areas are so damn itchy but I've been really trying hard to not itch my skin. are you experiencing any itchiness?

Haha thats crazy. With the itchiness though, not really. The only place that's even a little itchy is my forehead, but not bad.

Day 11 (or 12)So I really can't believe this but I'm about 95% clear right now. I have one pimple near my nose that is slowly fading, and a few on my neck where I shave. The only real thing keeping me from looking totally clear are the red marks. After 3 weeks have passed I planned on using Dan's AHA for that, so we'll see what happens! I'll continue to keep you all updated, and I might post pictures later if I get a chance.

Please Please Please keep up with updating! I'm trying to decide if I should ditch the derm's regime and go on this. I used Proactive for about 2 years and it actually cleared me for the most part! How did proactive do for you and how is Dan's regime better?

Day 13 So I spoke a little too soon with being so clear. I'm in week 2, which is the week where a breakout is expected. I got 3-4 new pimples over the course of yesterday and today, but that is to be expected I guess. Overall I'm still being optimistic because I expected this to happen anyway. I'll keep plugging along!

Day 14 - So I just finished up with Day 14. Just as I thought, the 4-5 new pimples that I got two days ago were "the breakout", because since I've gotten no new pimples (at least I think haha) since the breakout. The pimples from the breakout are fading quite fast, only 1 or 2 that might take a little more time. My biggest issue is gonna be dealing with some red marks after I get totally clear.

Just another thing I'd like to add that I've changed with my regimen:

I'm using A LOT of Jojoba Oil and I'm pretty much flake free. If you are gonna start the Regimen I would strongly encourage you to get some, because it's great and it works. I've actually tried a new thing at night before bed, with putting on the Jojoba oil before the BP. This way it works as a scrub kind of to help get rid of any flakes that I do happen to have. I also wanted to note that I'm up to 1 full pump of BP now (as of tonight) and so far I'm not too red. Taking it slow is definitely the key with the BP.

Sorry for the delay in my response, I didn't see your question initially. ProActiv worked for me at first, but my face would get ridiculously dry. I honestly think the main flaw with Proactiv for me was the toner, it was supposed to help hydrate your face, but it did the opposite for me. Also they don't give you enough BP, which is the key to preventing and killing the acne. My acne lessened at first, but then around week 7 it got real bad. That's when I made the switch to Dan's Regimen. My face is probably the best it's looked in a long time, and it's constantly improving. Hope that answers your question, and yes I'm gonna keep updating !

Im glad to hear its working good for you
im currently in week 3 and my face is about 85 percent clear
just with the exception of old acne marks and 2 pimples on my cheek which are fadin away
hopefuly we will continue to see improvement

Day 16 - So I spoke a little too soon with regards to the redness. After 2 and half days of using 1 full pump, the redness has set in again. I honestly think that Dan's Moisturizer makes my face even more red, so I'm going to continue using it only at night. I know some people are gonna say to decrease the amount of BP, but I've been using 1/2 of a pump for 2 weeks, so it's def time to step it up. I also noticed that in the last two days my face has started to clear up a little more, so I'm thinking that the increase in BP has to do with that. One good thing that I'd like to note is that when I had "the breakout", I noticed I was starting to get a huge pimple on my chin, like I'm talking a volcano. I'm glad to say that with increasing the BP and applying ProActiv's Refining mask as a spot treatment, it never got to its full potential (haha), and it's almost completely gone. The only real thing holding me back right now is the redness. Has anyone else experienced this redness two weeks in when increasing BP, and will it go away eventually?

So I finally decided to show you guys some pics, because I feel this is worthless without them. Note, I do actually smile in real life (haha I swear I do), but I take my acne seriously so no smiles haha.

Here's from like Day 4 or 5:

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4520/1114081937fg6.jpg

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/8606/1114081938bt0.jpg

Here's today (Day 16):

http://img370.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1122081714md5.jpg

As you can see there's a little redness around my cheeks.


And here's a pic from the summer before my acne started up again (and I'm actually smiling ):

http://img122.imageshack.us/my.php?image=n...99353511be4.jpg

I definitely see some improvement from Day 4 to now, it's really hard to see because I'm using a shitty camera on my phone. Tell me what you think!

Day 23 - Sorry for the lack of updates recently but I'm pretty frustrated with my face as of late. Just in time for Thanksgiving I got the worst breakout that I've had yet. 5 pimples right in a bunch on the center of my forehead. Then just as it was finally clearing, this morning I woke up to three new pimples, two near my lip and one near my cheek. I'm going to continue to push on, but it's starting to become difficult to stay motivated.

http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=week3xi0.jpg

Try and remember you will start to get more critical when your face is actually clearing. I think it's going well! Keep it up! (p.s. you're cute!)