Ally's Review Blog

Proactive Review

11 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment

by Randomique Jester in Uncategorized

I’ll be honest, but it happens to the best of us, I sometimes get duped into buying things that are completely useless, knowing they’re ineffective just because of the pretty package and raving celebrity endorsement.

These are great marketing tactics and they work; unfortunately, it costs more money to the unsuspecting consumer than it does to the marketing company (both financially and emotionally!).

Perhaps it’s the “hope in a jar” syndrome. We’re all looking for the next best thing, the miracle cream to end all wrinkles and I won’t dare say that I’ve stopped looking (oh, it’s out there!), but it’s true that some things just sound better than they are.

Proactive, and this is from personal experience, is one of those things.

I’ve tried Proactive when my acne was at its worse. It went from mild to irritated, scabby and severe. Nothing worked and my parents took pity on me. They got Proactive because it was a new, massively-advertised hype and thought it would help.

I was so excited.

I opened it and washed my face, used the toner, the lotion. I was anxious for the weekend to try the sulphur mask.

I probably looked in the mirror every five minutes expecting a miracle… but it did not come.

It got worse. My skin got drier, more irritated. I kept washing my face, trying new doses. I even called customer service, wondering what I did wrong.

I marched to one of the vendors at the mall selling Proactive and they showed me, with confidence, again and again how to apply it and begged me to give it time.

After a moth I could no longer tolerate the dry, crusted mask that my skin has become and I threw it out. I should have gotten a refund but I was too angered to be logical.

Why I don’t Think Proactive Is Good Choice:

Proactive with its over-drying ingredients and mediocre, basic formulation could very well work for some. I doubt that for people with moderate to severe acne and especially those with sensitive skin it will help at all.

From my experience:

(1) As a system it’s too drying. The toner, the cleanser and the lotion have drying ingredients (benzoyl peroxide, glycolic acid) and layering them on top of each other is not the best idea. If your skin is already irritated and red the last thing you need is to try to dry it into submission; it needs nurture, it needs to be pampered and protected!

(2) The cost, with clever selling tactics, might seem miniscule but the fact remains: Proactive’s ingredients are no different than that of AcneFree and ClearZone which are a fraction of the cost. They have almost the same composition, the same ingredients and they even smell and look the same! Try those and see if your acne improves (I doubt it will).

(3) It isn’t balanced. Like I mentioned before, it’s like layering your face with benzoyl peroxide (its effective but you don’t want to use so much that it over-dries your skin!) when your skin needs specific properties to heal. Balance of moisture, of treatments agents and antioxidants will make your skin’s heal and flourish.

(4) Some of us, especially when we have concerns such as acne on our minds, neglect to protect our skin when we go outside. Be it winter or summer, many girls are unaware that their cosmetics are making them even more sensitive to the sun’s damaging rays. Proactive can make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so if you do decide to try it please remember to protect your skin with an appropriate SPF!

(5) Lastly: (and this is a hard-earned lesson) the health of your skin is dependant on SO many things and treating it only with topical cosmetics will not produce perfect skin unless your acne is very mild!

You could, like myself, have food allergies and intolerances, your lifestyle might be imbalanced, you could be a smoker or take antibiotics that impair your metabolism and therefore your digestive system… There are many causes and only YOU can get to the bottom of your acne and banish it forever, but only if you’re telling yourself the truth instead of burying it in new, shiny creams and cleansers (I’m so zen…:).

Well, I didn’t get to be this profound that soon.

I actually… tried Proactive a SECOND TIME!

It was when the commercial was on EVERY CHANNEL and people who would see my skin (and had no tact or sensitivity) would give their ignorant advice: “why don’t you try Proactive!?”, as if I was guilty of not taking care of my skin or something.

I was duped again.

I thought, maybe I did it wrong, maybe I used too much, too little; maybe this time it will work… and I bought it again.

It was the same mess.

It smelled, I hated the grainy cleanser, it dried my skin and I dreaded the toner that would dry it even more. The sulphur mask stained my pillows and only made my pimples more inflamed overnight. The lotion… did nothing.

Needless to say. I returned it and promised to change the channel every time it was on (I was especially vulnerable late at night).

The Alternative:

(1) Use a gentle cleanser:

There’s no point in using a benzoyl peroxide cleanser because its effectiveness  is washed after mere seconds so fancy ingredients serve no purpose.

If you’re guilty of the same thing as I was, washing and scrubbing your skin, PLEASE stop! It’ll make matters worse and might even scar your face.

You need a gentle, cheap cleanser for sensitive skin. Preferably a foam cleanser.

(2) Toners Are Not Meant To Tighten:

Toners are not a necessity and most of them are drying (stay clear of the alcohol based ones). I use pure rose-water as a toner. It’s gentle and it makes my skin glow and feel nourished. Any flower water (in its purest form) will do the trick. Or you can juice cucumbers. You can also use Sake or apple cider vinegar (diluted with water) but I don’t like the tightness of the skin afterwards.

(3) Benzoyl Peroxide Never Fails:

Use a cheap, good, water based benzoyl peroxide gel. It’s a classic. If your skin is sensitive only use it on your spots. Another alternative is to spread it all over your skin and moisturize immediately afterwards. Maker sure your moisturizer is not too emollient so it won’t make you breakout.

You can use virgin coconut oil (just a drop), I promise it won’t make you breakout or look greasy.

(4) Give it time:

Relax. Fretting, picking or worrying won’t help. You’re doing the best you can, you just have to wait for your skin to heal. If it’s irritated you have probably treated it harshly in the past, it needs gentle care now to de-stress and detoxify.

The Bottom Line:

Not all that glitters is gold. I spent thousands (no joke) of dollars on acne skin care and it got me nowhere. It’s funny that later on I discovered that the cheapest, most basic approach helped me more than these overpriced, “specialized”, over-commercialized systems.

Be gentle. Be wise.

I wish you perfect skin,

Love,

Ally

P.S

I will share my nutritional guidelines and ample life experience next post as this was getting too long