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Proactiv Solution Reviews
People have asked me about Proactiv® so much that I decided to try it so I could give my feedback. I found it to be surprisingly irritating and utterly ineffective. However, Proactiv is on the right track in recommending benzoyl peroxide, and specifically recommending it in 2.5% strength.
Where I think Proactiv veers off track:
- Cleanser: The Proactiv Cleanser contains scrubbing beads, and Proactiv recommends washing for 1-2 minutes with this cleanser. I am quite stunned at both of these oversights. It is absolutely vital to avoid irritation when treating acne, especially inflammatory acne—the kind most of us have. Scrubbing beads, and washing for this amount of time introduces unnecessary and damaging irritation, perpetuating the acne cycle.
- Toner: I think the Proactiv toner is fine, albeit unnecessary to achieve clear skin.
- Treatment: Over my 20+ years of benzoyl peroxide research and experience, I have found that for benzoyl peroxide to completely clear acne, people must apply it generously. “Use a lot!,” is my simple mantra. It is amazing what this simple act will do toward achieving completely clear skin. Unfortunately, Proactiv packages its treatment in a 1oz. container. The small size of Proactiv ’s treatment bottle leaves people skimping and often disappointed in results. Next, Proactiv combines their benzoyl peroxide treatment with moisturizer. One of the main reasons benzoyl peroxide works so well is because it is a drying and peeling agent, which helps prevent clogged pores. For this reason, it is a good idea to apply benzoyl peroxide without moisturizer, and let the benzoyl peroxide do its thing for a few minutes (5-15) before introducing moisture. Unfortunately, you don’t have that choice with the Proactiv treatment. Lastly, the treatment is heavily scented. I personally avoid scented products because they must be applied right under the nose, and tend to linger and leave me feeling a little nauseated throughout the day.
My suggestion: To completely clear acne, it will prove far more beneficial to buy a gentle cleanser without scrubbing beads, a large, unscented 2.5% benzoyl peroxide medication, and a non-comedogenic moisturizer. Then follow these steps precisely to achieve completely clear skin.
If you currently own Proactiv Solution products, don't throw out the Repairing Treatment. If you can handle the smell, it should work in a pinch, as long as you are generous with it. I would not recommend using the Proactiv cleanser. I would also forgo the toner until you’re completely clear. Then feel free to add it in if you’d like and see how things go.
As a final note, I am thankful that Proactiv hires celebrities to talk about acne. This helps reduce stigma, so thumbs up on that!
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Trisha from Trinidad, West Indies
November 26, 2011
| Pros | It worked for a while... |
|---|---|
| Cons | It stopped working... It became expensive. |
| Bottom line | I used Proactiv for almost 3 years. In the beginning it worked wonders and it felt great having clear skin after battling sooo long. Although it did take 1 month for me to see results. During the 2nd year i had little flare ups but i had faith in the product. On the 3rd year i realized that my acne was coming back big time. At the same time the price increased ($600 TT which is $100 USD) and i couldn't cope anymore especially when i was paying more for less. Yes, the unopened bottles started to feel almost empty. So, i stopped... One thing though, i realized that i started to get white spots on my face while using it in the 2nd year. When i stopped the white spots faded. Then again i do live in the Caribbean.... Personally, it's not a product that i would use again. Nevertheless, everyone's skin is different, but, go with what your doctor recommends. Hope this was helpful, I tried other products after, Ashe Skin Care and now Oxy.... |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $600.00 |
| Acne severity | moderately severe |
Alec from Iowa
November 25, 2011
| Pros | None |
|---|---|
| Cons | Doesnt clear anything, spreads it to other places, no satifaction at all, company didnt answer/ return my calls to cancel product, over charged on several occasions. |
| Bottom line | Worst anti acne product to have come my way, now i have acne on my shoulders & back, and it got worse on my face. Terrible product, made my life worse, blew my chances with girls, thnx for ruining my already bad life Proactiv! |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $75.00 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
kat from philly
November 25, 2011
| Pros | good for people with mild to moderately severe acne, helps control oily skin, doesn't dry you out |
|---|---|
| Cons | moderately expensive, the toner runs out really fast, the refining mask isn't the 'magic' everyone makes it out to be, does not help very much with cystic acne |
| Bottom line | i never have had very bad skin, just the odd zit here and there, but because i'm very pale, the scars were SUPER visible, so i don't want ANY zits ever! in high school i started getting a few zits on my forehead consistently because i have bangs and store brands wouldn't work. a combination of hormonal birth control and proactiv has made my skin FLAWLESS. i went off the HBC about three months ago and i was scared that i would get acne again. my skin has been a bit more oily, but i haven't seen any zits for about two years now. i would recommend it to people whose acne isn't especially severe because those cases should be left to a dermatologist, but if your acne isn't terrible and you're willing to pay for it and keep up your routine and be really vigilant, it will be a lifesaver. |
| Recommended | Yes |
| Price paid | $50.00 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
Anonymous
November 25, 2011
| Pros | Did slightly clear up acne. |
|---|---|
| Cons | Dried and irritated skin. (My skin isn't even that sensitive!) |
| Bottom line | Proactive wasnt as great as proclaimed and I was greatly disappointed and don't recommend this product to someone who can only buy one product. |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $60.00 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
Sylvia from MS
November 23, 2011
| Pros | made my skin feel clean helped my acne a little |
|---|---|
| Cons | expensive strains your skin of the "good" oils you may need later in life! |
| Bottom line | honestly.... i havent really seen much of a difference in my skin after using proactiv.... i have been using it for 4 months now and it is part of my everyday routine. i have to admit my acne was not "severe" to start with and is very sparce now with only a pimple or two, or more when im on my period. it does NOT dry out my skin. It did a little the first month i used it, but you have to give it some time and be patient. Your acne will not clear up overnight! I think the people who say it dries out their skin must not be moisturising! i use neutragena sensitive skin oil-free moisturizer and i LOVE it!!! it works sooo much better than the green tea moisturizer it gives you! so i do think it works well, but i am undecided about the price.. it is pretty expensive but i havent actually paid much attention to it! haha but the one thing i have found about it is it strips your skin of ALL oil on your face and may make you age faster, but i do not know much on this but my friend who is in beauty school said it was bad for you but im not sure! i hope this helps and isnt too confusing! ahahha good luck!! |
| Recommended | Yes |
| Price paid | $180.00 |
| Acne severity | light |
camellia from Melbourne, AUS
November 22, 2011
| Pros | Made Acne Worse Dried out my skin |
|---|---|
| Cons | I guess that I wasn't as oily anymore |
| Bottom line | So I decided to give Proactiv a go, I like everyone else have tried just about everything there is, I have even done a round on Accutane!, but unfortunately after about 8 months with what I consider to be the best skin I ever had I started to breakout once again. Although it was not as bad it was still there. I am 26 years old and as a female it is very hard trying to get on with your daily life when your face has pimples. So back to my proactiv experience, I used the system for a total of 8 weeks and can tell you this, my skin is so much WORSE now then it was when I started. I thought at some stages it was getting better but was always disappointed. The reason I had to stop was because I noticed that on my left cheek a place I sometimes would get get a few pimple I got a bunch of them Im talking 6-8 huge ones that would not go down!! It got so bad my skin has actually bruised, I went to the doctors and was told that is was severely inflamed and that I need antibiotics. I was just heart broken, im exhausted and just don’t know what to do next……. |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $49.95 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
Anonymous from Victoria, Canada
November 21, 2011
| Pros | -nice clean fresh feeling after treatment -fairly good bang for your buck -relative improvement |
|---|---|
| Cons | -purchaser will be AUTOMATICALLY signed up for product renewals without consent (it's in the fine print) and you will get continually charged... see below! |
| Bottom line | HUGEST CON: PROACTIV automatically 'renews' your subscription to the product and continues to charge your credit card monthly. If you're Canadian (which I am) it's near impossible to get through the customer care line to a representative because it requires you to key in your 5 digit zip code (Canada has 6 digit/letter postal codes) and there's no way around it. No matter what your nationality, those robbing bastards want you to return the second shipment before they'll refund and cancel your account - which takes 4-6 wks. I freaked out, demanded a manager, freaked out more and my refund will be issued in 3 days. BS! |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $35.00 |
| Acne severity | light |
Anonymous from Melbourne
November 21, 2011
| Pros | - makes skin smoother and pores less noticeable - breakouts clear quickly - prevents future breakouts - works within a few weeks |
|---|---|
| Cons | - super, super harsh/drying - pretty pricey - initial breakout |
| Bottom line | Proactiv is definitely not the miracle treatment that it's touted as by its advertisers. Having said that, it has worked pretty well for me. From the first use my skin felt a lot smoother and looked a lot brighter. In the first couple of weeks of use I had a few breakout issues which I think is caused by the exfoliation/ingredients which bring impurities to the surface. After that passed, however, it's been pretty good. The major downside with Proactive is that it is ridiculously harsh on the skin and, if you have quite sensitive skin like me, it's probably going to leave you pretty dry, especially when you first start using it. The first week I was using Proactiv, my skin felt uncomfortably tight and flaky and my eyelids became dry, red and really painful (even though I obviously wasn't applying product to my eyelids). I decided to stick with it though, got a really good moisturiser and tried to use the Step 3 Repair Lotion quite sparingly. The Proactiv oil-free moisturiser is not going to do the trick to counter the drying effect of the three step system. I'm using Dermalogica Super Rich Repair at the moment which is really great, albeit a bit pricey. High potency vitamin E cream works well also and is usually under $10 from a drug store. Basically, I would say there's a lot of things that would probably work better than Proactiv (doxycycline, for example, has been the best thing I've used) but if you invest in a really good moisturiser and aren't too liberal with the repair lotion, hopefully you'll see some good results with Proactiv. |
| Recommended | Yes |
| Price paid | $30.00 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
Ashley from Calabasas,Ca
November 21, 2011
| Pros | -none |
|---|---|
| Cons | -leaves your WHOLE FACE with dry sky flaky patches -makes acne way worse -exspensive -waste of time |
| Bottom line | DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY PEOPLE. effff proactiv. IT SUCKS. |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $29.95 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
Anonymous
November 20, 2011
| Bottom line | DOES NOT WORK MAKES IT WORSE!!!!!! |
|---|---|
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $39.95 |
| Acne severity | moderately severe |
Total results: 5,960 Viewing page: 13 of 596
