I tired Proactive for a while. I gave it a good shot, in my opinion. Nearly 2 years. I saw some clearing but nothing heart stopping. People still could tell I had acne. I still knew I had acne. I was still embarrassed by my face which really sucked. Like no amount of makeup helps when you have those craters. Just makes it look like you have makeup on top of acne, which is pretty gauche. Clearly it didn't help that I was in college, ate badly and was under a load of stress. At first, I could see the results with the repairing lotion but then I just kind of plateaued, maybe after like 2-3 weeks. It was really frustrating. I felt pretty lost like nothing would ever work. I went to a dermatologist finally, at my mom's urging but just mainly to hear what they had to say. I wasn't surprised when the derm wanted to put me on accutane - it is like their go-to isn't it?!. But I have hear too many bad things and was really against anything that was prescribed. The side effects sound awful. My mom suggested maybe my lifestyle needed to change so I started doing a lot of research about how lifestyle affects the skin and it turns out it is a lot. Especially stress. Which is hard to stop doing, stressing out. I finally found one company, Ninja, asked for a consultation and they really explained a lot to me that I didn't know. And what I could do on my own to help my skin - drink water, stop stressing out, sleep more, eat healthier. I guess most of it is common sense but hearing it from an expert really helped me. I told them about this product and basically, I think the main problem is that for anyone who has acne, not just a random zit, 2.5% is just not strong enough. I went first to their 5% benzoyl and then graduated to the 10%, which is what I am at now. And I use their Salicylic too in the daytime. And good lord - my face is clear. Clear clear clear. I am in disbelief about it still. but having someone actually tell me what to do step by step has been a miracle. I think the repairing lotion is ok but like I said, you just won't see the full results you want if you actually have acne. You need something stronger, at least in my experience.

I honestly was not sure if the regimen would work but I decided to buy the entire kit (that included benzoyl peroxide, cleanser, moisturizer, jojoba oil and glycolic acid). The benzoyl peroxide is my favorite product because it prevented my acne from getting worse. Slowly my skin was clearing up and eventually my skin was under control. It dried out my skin sometimes but that's what the moisturizer and oil are for. I wish that I would have tried this product before going to the dermatologist and taking medication for my acne and buying other expensive products that only irritated my skin more. The acne.org site is straight to the point, very simplistic and affordable. The kit lasted me two months and I saw result after 2 weeks. I'm just glad that I found not only this product but also the others and I will definitely continue to purchase in the future.

This 10% concentration of BP is too high and just causes unnecessary irritation to your face without added benefits. A 2.5% BP cream provides the same results but with a lot less irritation. This product is best used as a spot treatment.

I applied this before bedtime and when I got up the next morning it had shrunk the zit to half its size. Amazing product for very little money.

So I have used this benzoyl peroxide for about 4+ years now.. I usually only use it at night and it keeps my acne at bay. However, it does not completely keep me acne free but very very mild! Mild for me was about 2-3 small new pimples every week or 1 cystic pimple every month. I was okay with that and continue to use it only at night. About 3 months ago I started breaking out a lot and I think it was due to either stress from dental school or hormones, whatever it was, using this product only at night did not keep my acne as mild as I liked...and i started getting 5+ pimples at once..I also had more than 1 cystic acne month to month. So i started following the regimen precisely, substituting the face wash with Cerave Hydrating Facewash (dry-noraml skin) and the moisturizer with Cerave Moisturizing Lotion. At first, I bought the Cerave fashwash for OILY skin since my skin was pretty oily and that was a huge mistake, as it extremely dried out my face when used in combination with the benzoyl peroxide. So after i switched to the face wash for DRY skin, my skin was not as dry...however I was still getting acne and my skin was still flaking..I thought this was "purging" or my skin was still getting used to it, but I knew my skin was just irritated. I decided to switch my moisturizer to PONDS, and let me tell you that this absolutely did the trick. After two days I was no longer getting new pimples...maybe only very very small ones that aren't noticeable or red, just bumpy if you run your fingers across it. So this is why I knew it was the moisturizer that caused my skin to so call "purge"...So my skin was continuously getting better and after a few weeks it was mainly acne scars..Once my skin hit this point, I went on vacation and could only pack Cerave moisturizer into my 3 oz container because those who have PONDS know that its almost impossible to take out moisturizer from that tub. Anyways, I still followed the regimen but the only difference was the moisturizer..and after 2 weeks, my skin was once again dry, irritated, and breaking out. When I went back home, I realized it could be the moisturizer and voilaaaaa...it was...my skin went back being pimple free!! Albeit, still very dry, but I was not as bad and no longer getting new pimples. Also, I started using AHA+ every night mixed in with my moisturizer and it absolutely took care of the dry skin...The first two times I used it, it made my face EXTREMELY red and irritated..but stick through it and use a little bit each day and I promise you, it will change your life. I know this is a long post but I wanted to be as clear as possible to help anyone else out there dealing with acne.

Awful gave me horrible breakouts after 4 days of using, waste of money

This product works wonders but my face is very dark, is there anyway I can get my face back to its original color?.

If you have acne, or just want great looking skin, try this! I use it, and it makes my skin look great! It smells great and is all natural. loveee

I'm a 15 year old girl who used to have the most repulsive acne. I had deeply imbedded pimples on my forehead, zits all over my back, blackheads on my nose, and the nastiest cysts on the side of my face. Now, I only get the occasional whitehead. Most of my acne developed in the places covered by my hair. The oils from my hair were not the problem; the culprit was the excessive irritation between my skin and hair. If you have hair that touches your face, you have got to tie it back. Just doing this can make a huge difference. I'm very insecure about my acne, so this was hard, especially as a girl who has to face her peers eight hours a day. By tying up my hair, all the acne on the sides of my face were visible. Makeup is a gray area. I would say within the first 2 weeks of the regimen, don't use any makeup at all. Within the first two days your skin will clear up drastically. No makeup includes no eyeliner and any eye makeup. Anyway, I started to take a chelated zinc tablet everyday after 2 weeks of the regimen. There were 50mg in each pill. I took them everyday for a week and the acne on my back literally disappeared. I was told that the normal dietary supplement of zinc is 9mg and that too much is dangerous. Scared out of my mind, I started to only take half the pill, but then some acne on my back reappeared. As frustrating as it was, an overdose of zinc is not worth clear skin. Irritation is really the main reason you probably have excessive acne. I used to love popping my pimples, but what I didn't know was that popping them caused more acne in other parts of my skin. Peter Thomas Roth sells these invisible clear dots with salicylic acid and even though they don't really make the pimple go away, they stop you from picking at the damn thing. They're also very subtle, so you can wear them during the day. After wearing these, I started to really notice a difference in the deeply imbedded pimples on my shoulders and forehead. Getting back to makeup: if you can, don't wear any. I couldn't keep to that, but I got rid of my thick foundations and oily concealers and started to only use clinique's bb cream for acne. I still use this brand exclusively. It has acne fighting ingredients inside, so it is partly beneficial, but you still have to wash it off the night you use it. After 2 months of the regimen, I started to do the full regimen at night and only the cleanser and moisturizer during the day because my skin was so dry. It didn't make a huge difference because I was using the invisible dots during the day and taking the zinc tablets. Diet and exercise is also vital for clear skin. The diet and exercise isn't the direct link to getting rid of acne, in fact IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. Literally you can eat all the oily food you want and your skin will look the same. Let me explain it. The happier you are the less acne you have. During the summer, I literally didn't give a crap about my skin. I might've washed my face with a generic cleanser twice a week, but my skin was glowing and clear. I was stress-free from school, eating like a pig, and sleeping 9 hours a day. During times of great stress, an outlet is necessary. Exercising makes me happier because the oxytocin released when doing so. After exercising I sleep more and when I sleep more, I don't binge or have sugar/carb/salt cravings. Basically, I gave my body the false impression that I wasn't stressed out, and therefore my skin became clearer. It's a whole lifestyle. This regimen is only 40% of "the change". It works man. It really really does, but if you want glowing skin from the inside out, you have to start inside.

About a year and a half ago I started getting moderate acne all over my face but mostly cheeks. I had never gotten this much acne in my life and I was desperate. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror because my confidence dropped tremendously. It didn't take me that long to stumble upon the Acne.org Regimen and I didn't hesitate to try it out. My acne DID subside. Moreover, my case was one of those lucky ones that got their skin cleared up in a week or two. However, my face was red and peeling uncontrollably for a couple of months. Some people say that the skin will adjust to the BP eventually but even after using it for more than a year, my skin never fully 'adjusted'. The redness of my skin disappeared after a few weeks but then after a prolonged usage of the BP, my pore sizes increased. This was not because of the BP but it was due to the dryness it created. As my skin was constantly stripped off of moisture, I had to suffice it with moisturizer and jojoba oil. Using regular jojoba oil with Cetaphil didn't cut it so I used the Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream at nights. (Mind you, I had a long painful journey finding the moisturizer that most effectively prevented flakes.) BP's dryness made my skin produce more sebum to upset the dryness and since I used heavy moisturizers to prevent flakes, I guess my pores were clogged and got enlarged. Unfortunately, I was never able to completely eradicate flakes. This then made me have to exfoliate my skin almost everyday. I used the AHA to reduce irritation but there were still dead skin on my face when I woke up in the morning and all the frequent rubbing made my face red and rough. Well, some of you might be wondering why I had put in so much effort in getting rid of flakes but I cannot go without make up and foundation on top of flakes is worst for me. So if you are a make up user you might understand my decisions. Staying on the Regimen allowed me to stay clear but I always felt bad about making my skin absorb all this chemical. However, I was afraid that getting off it would cause me acne again hence the prolonged use. I am currently 18 but when I used the regimen I felt like my skin looked like 28 because it was so dull and wrinkly. The lines on my forehead, those under eyes and my laugh lines were accentuated because of the dryness. I finally decided to go off the Regimen because I wanted to go out without make up. I looked super tired without it during the Regimen so I dared not go to school without foundation. Now I only use the AHA to exfoliate about two times a week but I don't have to rub anymore because my skin is already moist and plump. I take supplements such as Vit C,D3, omega 3, zinc and multivitamins to prevent acne. So far it's been going very well. Although I got 2 spots when I first went off the Regimen, they are very tiny and are slowly going away. Most importantly, I have no new spots and my skin looks soooo healthy. My skin tone is so fresh and I experience no flakes. Since there's no redness on my face, my hyperpigmentation look a lot more lighter. Ultimately, my advice is to use the BP at your own risk. I totally understand if anyone is just willing to risk anything to get rid of acne. I've been there done that. However, one thing for sure is that you shouldn't rely on BP forever. I recommenend you to use it to clear your acne and take a holistic approach to maintaining clear skin!