Comments on: Proactiv Solution For Acne

By: Dana

Dana — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:17:54 +0000

I’ll avoid listing all the acne treatments I’ve tried because, frankly I’d be a bit embarrassed by its length. All I’ll say is that none of them have worked. It’s not like I have severe acne or anything…I just can’t find any luck.

I stay away from benzoyl peroxide. Although many praise the ingredient I find as do many people that I know, that it’s very irritating. There’s no point to treating acne, if it’s just going to cause other problems like over-drying. Personally, I try to find treatments that use salicylic acid because it is equally effective and much less irritating, and I also use an oil-free moisturizer so I don’t damage my skin in trying to fix it.

But here’s the other problem…Parabens. It’s nearly impossible to find an acne treatment that doesn’t contain these harmful preservatives. They have been linked to cancer and banned in Europe. Read this study by Cornell about parabens in breast cancer tumors: http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/newsletter/articles/v9rc.parabens.cfm

Does anyone know of a salicylic acid treatment that doesn’t contain parabens and isn’t a 3 step or 4 step process??

By: Meg

Meg — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:40:06 +0000

Proactiv is one of the best hings that I have tried! I had acne that was not as noticeable to others but i knew it and it got worse and worse my dermatologist put me on birth control (which helped a little) and also used differin. Yeah, they both worked some but when i used proactiv with it…it was amazing the change in my skin. But thing is, something that works for me…MAY not work for you. So its really just someones opinion on whats the best. Everyone has different types of skin and are allergic and sensitive to different things…no one person is right. Thats why its an opinion. And in my opinion, you should find what best works for YOUR skin.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:23:41 +0000

Proactiv didn’t dry out your skin, it was the benzoyl peroxide, one of its side effects..It just really varies from person to person

By: Rose

Rose — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:18:18 +0000

Thanks for this Jeni. Our 21 year old cute-as-a-button niece lived with us for a few months recently. She informed us later that she was using Proactiv (with about as much success as your former boyfriend). How did we know at the time? Every good towel we provided was marked forever with her efforts to control her acne at the time. She still struggles to keep her skin belmishes at bay so I plan to direct her to your website.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:22:50 +0000

Just to update…here we are 6 months later and my daughter is now using Benzaclin gel for her acne. The Proactiv stopped working around mid-March and her acne got worse. I dont know why it stopped being effective for her but she was awfully discouraged. The Benzaclin has cleared her face nicely. If she goes a day without it, her acne comes back in full force but now that she is using it, her skin is the clearest that I have ever seen it. She’s so happy.

As an aside…..my Auntie Flo came to visit a few days ago…with her came a HUGE mountainous inflamed pimple on the front of my chin. I cant even cover it up with makeup..it shows through. My daughter told me yesterday to use her gel and she promised that it would be gone in time for church this morning…I said “yeah right”. I used it twice yesterday and when I got up this morning, all of the redness is gone and the pimple looks like it has dissolved right back into my skin. All that remains is a little tiny dot when it has broken through. I dabbed another bit on and we shall see what it does. I’m sold! The Benzaclin is cheaper than Proactiv (its an 8 dollar copay with insurance) and there’s no 3-step ritual as with Proactiv.

Anyhow…thought i’d update to let anyone know who is researching, that in the long run so far, Benzoclin has outperformed Proactiv here at my home. :-)

By: BB

BB — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:44:21 +0000

Hi in CHile also are promoting proactiv, but it’s seems to me thats no good at all, It’s too magic and also too fast, in my experienced the only thing that is good for young acne or adult acne is clinamicida, that is a lotion that is only given by prescription of your dermatologist… and so sorry but I dont know the name in english, also for daily care I use lancome’s aqua fusion oil free and 15 spf daily hydratation and the tonique clarite from lancome too and as an exfoliant also lancome.
it´s expensive but is good you’ll never reconised your skin it’s soft and acne free.

By: Luana

Luana — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:43:50 +0000

What can I say … 30 years of acne. From mid-teens to mid-40s and no, not everyone outgrows it, no matter what your mother says. Believe me, no one takes better care of their skin than someone with acne. I never once went to bed without cleaning it and barely wore makeup because I was afraid of making it worse. I tried everything from prescription products to all kinds of skin care lines and while some may have helped a bit none really did the trick and made me feel like the acne was under control … ever. I was always skeptical about the infomercials and people who made it sound like everything was suddenly peachy overnight, but finally I decided to give Proactiv a try and really truly noticed a difference after only a few days and have been using it now for about 5 years and can honestly say that my acne is under control and I would not give it up for the world. I also use their Green Tea Moisturizer to supplement and control the dryness and I am very careful about the makeup products I use. I always keep in mind that my skin needs moisture … not oil. There may be other products out there that would work but why would I want to take the chance.

By: Lianne

Lianne — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:30:24 +0000

I used to use proactive for adult acne (it started when I reached 25, I’m now 35) and it did work for me, although it really dryed out my skin. So I had a choice, no acne and flaky dry skin, or moisturized skin and acne. I decided to try something else to see if it worked just as well (and less expensive, at the time the USA/Canadian dollar exchange made it really pricey for me). I tried Vichy’s Purete Thermal purifiying rinse off foam cleanser, the hydra-perfecting toner with the Oligo 25 moisturizer, and once a week I exfoliate with NormaDerm gel exfoliant cleansing gel. I found that this combination worked just as well if not better on my acne( I rarely have breakouts anymore, and even if I do,it’s very very minimal 1-3 pimples) and it doesn’t dry out my skin, actually I have less lines and my face looks fresher,feels softer than before. I recommend Vichy over Proactive.

By: Lydia

Lydia — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:24:01 +0000

Proactiv is the only thing that clears up my face… and it does a great job! The only bad thing if you get in on your clothes it will bleach them!

By: Im

Im — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:17:49 +0000

I used to have regular breakouts (nothing severe) and for two years (when I was 15-16) Proactiv did the trick. Now that I’m in college, I stopped using the products because it started to seriously dry out my skin. Even though I used a heavy moisturizer, it stopped helping me so I switched to Differin. Although Differin is more expensive, the tube lasts a really long time and isn’t as harsh on your skin. I have heard that some people have trouble with Proactiv in the long run because your skin builds an immunity to it… Not sure if this is true, but my dermatologist hates the stuff.