About me: In my relatively short sixteen years of existence, my life hasn't been the best. I have depression currently being treated, and have had many terrible days in the past. I started getting acne around seventh of eight grade, and at the time, I was overweight and had very long hair covering my face, sort of acting as a social bulwark. I tried hiding behind it, thinking my problems would go away, and my acne gradually got worse. At first, I did little to treat it, which led to a fast and unexpected accumulation of some cystic pimples, as well as an onslaught of hyper-pigmentation scarring, and very clogged pores because of my still long hair. In middle school I was bullied, and once my eight grade year ended, I decided to change some of my ways. It backfired. Going in to Freshmen year, my face got so bad that an old friend said "wow, your face is like mine, but way worse.", and people called my name in great surprise. My already crippled self esteem and social skills took hit after hit after subtle and sometimes blunt comments about my face and weight, and making eye contact sucked because of wandering eyes zeroing in on spots on my face. I took a year break from public school my Sophomore year, and became almost a totally different person. I lost 50 pounds, grew, and cut my hair, donating it to Locks of Love to create free wigs for cancer patients, an ode to a grandmother lost to a long battle of cancer. I spiked up to around 205 pounds at 5'8"-5'10", and now at almost 6'1" 153-155 lbs., cut hair, and a new attitude I'm much healthier and much happier about my body. I'm not as socially crippled as I was, and in fact I can be quite articulate and verbally engaging, but I still have problems I'm overcoming, slowly but surely.

Products I've used/Treatments I've tried:

• Proactive(briefly, and somewhat inconsistently, I was twelve/thirteen.)

   

• Antibiotic pills(I can't remember the exact name, as it was two years ago.)

   

• Tretinoin and Clindamycin Phosphate x2, once Freshmen year, and again this year, my Junior year.-Caused me hell, peeled my face, dried my skin, caused redness to the point where people thought I was sun-burnt during winter, skin peeling(I would wipe my face on my sleeve and it would look like Dandruff), took around 3 months to see minor results, rather tedious. I used them every morning and night for 6 months, a fair trial period.

   

• Exposed Skin Care

   

• Clean and Clear various scrubs, cleansers, and other products

   

• Various facial masks/deep pore cleansers

   

• St. Ives

   

• Neutrogina Oil-Free facial cleanser(Highly recommended)

   

• Sleeping with a towel around my pillow for about 3-4 years or so

   

• Icing trouble spots

   

• Steaming face

   

• Fish Oil pills

   

• One-a-day multivitamins

   

• Misc. products here and there

   

• And most recently, Nature's Cure.(Mainly the whole point of this thread.)

   

  About Nature's Cure: I asked my mom for Proactiv for Christmas, attempting to give it another, very committed and diligent shot. She did research, and claimed she found something better and something natural and chemical free, which would appeal to me. It came in the mail at a time where I was somewhat more broken out than usual, which was a sigh of relief. I noticed the ingredients in Nature's Cure were rather strong, which gave me further reassurance. I began to use Nature's Cure for about 3/4 of a week, then I ordered the 2-part box with vanishing cream and all-natural pills.

  The following are included in the full Nature's Cure treatment system:

  • Nature's Cure Foaming Face Wash(2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide.)

     

  • Nature's Cure Male Acne Lotion(5% Benzoyl Peroxide.)

     

  • Nature's Cure Shower Gel for body acne(2% salicylic acid.)

     

  • Nature's Cure 2-Part Acne Treatment for Males Vanishing Cream(5% Benzoyl Peroxide.)

     

  • Nature's Cure 2-Part Acne Treatment for Males acne tablets(All-natural ingredients.)

     

    Pros:

     

    • Fast working

       

    • Less than mild burning, in my experience, despite the benzoyl peroxide

       

    • Virtually tasteless homeopathic anti-acne pills, marked for AM and PM

       

    • Hydrates skin to avoid that itchy scaly peely "I do cocaine" look

       

    • Applied in a decent amount of time

       

    • Products either scentless, or neutral/mildly pleasant smelling.

       

    • Somewhat cheap for what you get, and compared to other products out there

       

    • Found at Walmart, making it easily accessible

       

    • You can feel and see it working

       

    • Pills are recommended to be chewed and swallowed, helpful if you're uncomfortable swallowing pills.

       

    • Results usually seen in two weeks

       

    • After the initial irritation/breakout, if any(it varies person to person), there's no where to go but up.

       

    • Can give skin a rather fresh looking glow

       

    • Gender-specific products, which I can only assume is based around hormones

       

     

    Cons:

    [*]Potential burn, do to the salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide

    [*]Potential initial breakout/irritation(I suspect I had one due to the retinoids leaving my skin.)

    [*]Can be or become mildly pricey depending on financial situation, obviously.

    [*]These cons are pretty trivial and minute compared to the benefits.

     

     

    Steps:

    1. Facial scrub(preferably after face is warmed, ideal for the shower)

    2. After rinsing scrub, gently pat dry with a clean towel, DO NOT RUB, SOME ACNE IS FRICTION-INDUCED.

    3. Apply a somewhat stingy amount of the lotion to key areas of the face, I prefer to place dabs on the chin, forehead, each cheek, neck sides, nose, and between the eyebrows.

    4. If necessary, let the lotion dry.

    5. Squeeze small amounts of the vanishing cream and place and coat problem areas

    6. Chew and swallow(having water helps)the pills every morning and night.

     

    Progress: The following pictures are from a week of using this product, with the pills/vanishing cream arriving in the mail half way to three quarters of the way through. These pictures were taken every other night, and on the final night of a seven day period. I'll upload more at the end of the second week, to prove or disprove the two week noticeable results theory.

    Day 1

    http://imageshack.us/g/1/9943163/

    Day 3

    http://imageshack.us/g/1/9943165/

    Day 5 & Day 7

    http://imageshack.us/g/1/9943172/

    The actual products:

    /

    Just in case image hotlinking doesn't work, here's the whole album: http://imageshack.us/g/1/9943162/

    Bottom line: Even if results aren't immediate or obvious, you feel better. If you have nothing to lose, I recommend trying this product.

     

    Edit: Should this technically be in "Over-the-counter acne medications and products"?