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!
Total results: 5,139 Viewing page: 4 of 514
| Pros | Commercial Looks Like OMG it Works. |
|---|---|
| Cons | -Commercial is full of crap Irritates the skin worse and makes u ashy |
| Bottom line | First Of all There freakin liers jessica simpson dont even have acne., they lie., and this crap will irritate your skin besides that clearisil works better then proactiv and its only 19$ at walgreens or walmart they dont even sell proactiv anywhere but the mall machines or online., and the people dont get it wen yu cancel yher subscription.i mean i barely had pimples wen i first started now i reeally got acne to worry about |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $40.00 |
| Acne severity | light |
| Pros | good, decent products |
|---|---|
| Cons | WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE AND POLICIES EVER! |
| Bottom line | decent products, but BEWARE! when u sign up online, theres a catch.. u agree to automatic shipments and they take automatic payments from your bank account without authorization or notice. This cracks me up, because with my first and only shipment (i returned the next shipment), they sent along a letter that said "We've changed and improved! No more automatic shipments! From now on, you get the products you need WHEN you need them". And yet here they sent me product i didnt need and charged me anyway. Ok so i returned it, after I saw that they charged me, which by the way, caused my account to be overdrafted causing further charges. So i returned it, thinking ok, ill get my money back "in 4-6 weeks" like the customer service said. thats all they could say. but yet, today, one month AFTER i returned my shipment, my account is being charged AGAIN. I call customer service, and same thing: "4-6 weeks". Im asking them did they receive my return? Once again, they dont know, all they can tell me is "4-6 weeks". Every single time, Ive called customer service, they seem so unintelligent, and interrupt me everytime i try to talk with the "4-6 week" business. no more information other than that... that is ridiculous! all i wanted was to TRY the product, and here I am, two months later, still having a headache because of them. I DO NOT recommend buying from them, unless you find the kiosk at the local mall. |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $20.00 |
| Acne severity | very light |
| Pros | nothing |
|---|---|
| Cons | made my skin dry and break out worst then ever before |
| Bottom line | This company should be out of business they should feel shame having all those famous people promoting they sh*t face products . I bought proactive after I had my son I starting getting pimples I didn’t have an acne problem but I had a few pimple on my face between 5-10 I order proactive over the phone and waited 1 month and it never came so I gave them a call back and they said that they had the wrong address and sent it to me If came in the mail 3 weeks later after 1 week of using this sh*t I started to get these red pimple on my cheek . I never in my life had any pimple on my cheek. My problem areas always been my chine I spoke with a girl at the mall who worked for proactive she told me that’s its normal for this to happen just keep using the product and within a month it should go away so I continue using proactive and my face just got worst Now I have this redish brownish color scars on my face its been months and they havnt went away. Thanks proactive |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $40.00 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
| Pros | felt like it worked & looked healthy- at first |
|---|---|
| Cons | messed up my skin so badly!! ur skin gets used to it so it doesnt work about after two weeks or so |
| Bottom line | do not recommend.my story is i had completely flawless skin, until my mom made me do it,(she has bad acne) and she just told me how it worked and how effective it was.and the results-ugh! now, i have papules and whiteheads all spread over my face!!)': it has literally killed me! but in the previous months, ive tried something new besides proactiv......a gentle but effective cleanser- purpose theyre moisturizer - purpose (spf 15(:) and a presciption the doctor gave me. go to a derm., it will help alot. if youve been, then try purpose- ^ its derm approved to. if youve noticed, i dont see any of the big names being derm approved. u can find it at kroger beside all of the other face products((: good luck!(: |
| Recommended | No |
| Acne severity | moderate |
| Pros | it sometimes works.. |
|---|---|
| Cons | drys out your skin makes your face shiny stops working after a period of time |
| Bottom line | theres better things out there than proactiv |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $20.00 |
| Acne severity | very light |
| Pros | nice smell some effect on acne |
|---|---|
| Cons | not very effective YOU WILL BREAKOUT IF YOU SKIP A DAY |
| Bottom line | I have been using proactiv for about 3 months now. I've used it before, but wasn't very consistent, so i tried it again, this time using it every morning and night. So, three months in the only thing that's improved is maybe my skin texture and about 30 percent of my acne is gone. Honestly, if none of the skin care systems work, you should go to your dermatoligist, and if nothing else there's always accutane. |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $29.95 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
| Pros | clears about 50% of acne that is present |
|---|---|
| Cons | leaves skin dry after continual use acne will continue to form annoying to use every day and night if not used for only one day your face may break out proactiv commercials exaggerate the sucess in clearing acne when using the product |
| Bottom line | The cons outweigh the pros 5 to 1 (although the pro i listed could very easily be viewed as a con). I think that this is a worthless product considering that you wont be able to completely get rid of your acne while spending a long time applying the product when the results arent up to expectations. I am thinking about using accutane or acnepril due to my non-succesful experience with proactiv. If anyone can help me make a decision to use acnepril or accutane please help me make the decision between the two. Also if anyone has knowledge of any other product that will clear my acne completely and clear my acne forever |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $40.00 |
| Acne severity | moderately severe |
| Pros | it's ''B S'' they make millions on this product u can buy same cleansers and lotions will give u same resolts as proactiv |
|---|---|
| Cons | go to target or samewhere and get same but onestly all this creams and stuff i've been used made my acne worse be aware what u put on ur face |
| Bottom line | dont buy dont bealive what comercials show |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $60.00 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
| Pros | does seem to even out skin tone, doesn't bleach fabrics the way other treatments do, worked well for first couple of months |
|---|---|
| Cons | Also had problems with ordering & being overcharged, cancelling, the onset of cystic pimples... |
| Bottom line | I had the same problem that a lot of others had-- had mild-moderate pimples, and it worked great for the first couple of months, then I started developing huge, painful cystic acne spots. I had NEVER had a cystic pimple before... took some internet searching just to figure out what it was!!.... but they haven't stopped and they don't go away for literally a week or longer. on to the next product! |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $50.00 |
| Acne severity | moderate |
| Pros | works fow 2 wks |
|---|---|
| Cons | extra breakouts more than u begun with,itchy,burning,redening,darkening |
| Bottom line | do not use this product please it only makes acne worse |
| Recommended | No |
| Price paid | $40.00 |
| Acne severity | very light |
Total results: 5,139 Viewing page: 4 of 514

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