Proactive Q

katiewhompus · June 2010

I've been thinking of trying Proactive, as I've always had breakout problems and in the past month or so it's gotten really bad. I also conveniently just received a promo for the Cleanser, Toner, Repairing Treatment and Refining Mask for $20.
Does this product work as well as they say? Or at least worth $20 to try it? Is the company good about canceling if I don't want to continue using it after 30 days or do they try to steal all your money and make it difficult to cancel future orders?

leayn · June 2010

I use it religiously. I get it on Ebay though instead of through Proactive directly. They send too many too fast, so I just order it when I need it in bulk on Ebay instead. It works good for me!

akhensley81 · June 2010

It's definitely worth the $20 to try. I got that same package (not that price though!) and I had mixed feelings, but I know a lot of people who have had success with it.

For me, the cleanser/toner/lotion treatment REALLY dried out my skin. But I LOVE the refining mask. We cancelled my subscription because I wasn't using it (and yes, they were fine about cancelling). But I may go back and get that mask again.

LeighPA · June 2010

It's benzoyl peroxide, which is a popular acne medication. The only problem is that you could have a sensitivity to it, or bp might not work as well for you as something like salicylic acid would.

But yeah, in general, it works.

PharmacyBride · June 2010

I like it a lot.. but it is about personal preference. The best thing you can do is use it twice a day.

This product doesn't work for everyone.. but it works for most. I love it. I get it from a stand at the mall because I hate getting stuff in the mail.

karbar42 · June 2010

I don't have acne, but I have occasional breakouts, I used proactive for a long time, but I still got the breakouts...

Ps: I also have found neutrogena face wash to cause breakouts for me too.

I'd say it's worth a try though, as some people have success. (I still have a ton of the old stuff because they sent it to fast, but they were good about canceling and changing how often they sent the stuff.)

katiewhompus · June 2010

Wohoo! I was worried about the cancelation, because my mom signed up for a face lotion recently and they kept sending it to her (and charging) months after she cancelled.

LizlKlinger · June 2010

I absolutely love it!
I've had horrible acne for 15 years and it really does work for me. I have far fewer break outs and my skin isn't blotchy at all. Really, they should hire me to do the commercials!

there is also face wash for sensitive skin if you have a bad reaction to the regular stuff.

playtntsbpg30 · June 2010

I got it after I graduated High School. I worked wonders for me and I didn't even use it like I was suppose to and I still saw it helping. Wish I would have had it during high school.. I got a total of 2 months worth but not using it correctly had it for longer. Even after it was gone I don't have any major problems.. the occasional breakout due to that time of month, but other then that nothing like problems as I had when I was younger.
I'd recommend it. It may not work for everyone but it does work for a lot of people.

dmbdbk · June 2010

I used it when I was in college, and it worked well. I really liked the toner but only used it once a day because it dried my skin out. I stopped using it though because my skin kind of got used to it after a couple of years.

JulieSmiles · June 2010

I thought the stuff was horrible personally! I kept breaking out worse than I had ever before. Then, they started sending me it way too frequently and charging way more money than I was expecting- $99 for 1 order. I have heard of lots of people who had success with it, but not me. They were very good about cancelling my order though and refunding my money!

akhensley81 · June 2010

Re: Proactive sending stuff too fast... all I had to do was call them a week or two before my next "ship" date and tell them I didn't need it yet. They asked me to give them another date to send it out. They have a "standard" ship schedule (6 weeks I think) but they'll work with you on that.

vsgal · June 2010

I hated it. It bleached ALL of my towels, sheets and pillowcases. I started washing my hands like a maniac after I used it and it still bleached out everything. Just use white towels, sheets and pillowcases. I also used the moisterizer at a slower rate then the other pieces, so I have a ton of lotion leftover. When I cancelled the subscription, it was very easy with no hard sell.

leayn · June 2010

Good point with the bleaching! I had that problem as well. I also only use white towels to dry my hands after using it and washing them.

I also agree with the drying out. My skin is pretty oily, so it is fine for me. Some of my friends hated it though because it dried out their skin too much.

I also find I get a bit sunburnt if I use it before being in the sun, so skip it if you are going to the beach or will be in the sun for a long period of time. I'm Albanian and never burned before using I started it. It does warn you on the bottle to use sunscreen, so be careful!

SparrowSong · June 2010

Works well enough that I've used it for 15 years.

I've never had problems with my sheets, but it does bleach all my towels. I've just given up on having pretty towels

Birdie1483 · June 2010

I've had acne issues since I was in elementary school (I blossomed early, lucky me). I started using prescription benzoyl peroxide (Benzaclin) when I was in college along with Tazorac and it really helped. However, I have sensitive skin and it really irritated it. Looking back at pictures my face is always redder than my neck. Around my junior year I started developing an allgery to BP and can't use it anymore. I tried Proactiv briefly a year or so ago and had to stop when I started having allergic reactions. They were good about cancelling the membership.

Proactiv (or any BP product) is really good for acne if your skin can take it. The lotion with Proactiv also contains BP so I would maybe try supplimenting with an additional moisturizer if it makes your skin too dry. I've found the Cetaphil really really helps my dry skin. It's what my dermotologist has always recommended. You can get it in different consistiencies depending on your moisturizer need and when you use it (I use the heavier stuff at night for bed).

I would say for the $20 it's worth a try. However, if it doesn't work for I would also try using St. Ives products. Using the St. Ives scrubs along with switching to a mineral powder foundation (as opposed to liquid, mousse, etc) has really helped my skin in the last few weeks. I started using the mineral foundation like Bare Essenctials a few weeks ago and my acne has really cleared up. I think it was the liquid foundations that I was using to cover up my acne was actually clogging up my pores and making it worse. It becomes a vicious cycle.

Anyhoo, sorry for the long post. I've just been around the corner and back again with about every product you can try to clear up my acne.

PsyDet 2155 · June 2010

I love Proactiv. It's the only acne product that consistently has clearned my skin and makes it less oily. I agree with the buying in bulk on amazon or ebay.

ExpatPumpkin · June 2010

I found it to be very drying... Which would be okay except that dry skin develops fine lines and wrinkles. I quit using it because I really felt that it was starting to "age" my skin.

I'm using the "Nature's Cure" system. It's really inexpensive and includes daily chewable homeopathic pills. So it works from the outside and inside. I use the three products on this page:

http://www.naturescure.com/acne-care/products/acne-care-just-for-females.html

Check out the reviews on acne.org:

http://www.acne.org/reviews/index.php?search=1&page=1&category=&brand=Nature%27s+Cure&item_name=

I also installed water filters on my shower and sink and only wash my face with the filtered water. The filters cost about $20-30 at Home Depot. Here's the reasoning behind the water filters (not the best source, but explains it well):

http://www.prlog.org/10040265-chlorinated-tap-water-major-cause-of-acne.html

All in all, I've been doing all of this for about 2 months, and the results have been nothing short of miraculous. I can't believe I didn't listen to my aunt earlier about the water - she's a doctor who practices natural medicine - and she'd been telling me to filter my water for quite awhile.

Oh, and I'm not taking any antibiotics or hormonal birth control. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck

LizlKlinger · June 2010

I never had problems with it drying my skin out too much, but I have oily skin. It does ruin a lot of my t-shirts!
I only use the face wash- after the first year I stopped doing the toner and lotion. like the PP said, they'll work with you on what you want to order and how frequently you want it shipped.

dmbdbk · June 2010

I also use Cetaphil (mainly the gentle skin cleanser). I would definitely recommend that if you have sensitive skin and want to use something else with Proactive instead of using that twice a day.

LP11509 · June 2010

You can actually buy Proactive from special vending machines in some places. I'm 99% positive there is one in the Arundel Mills mall in Hanover MD, but don't quote me on that. I'd recommend buying it from a mall kiosk or machine instead of having it shipped since they do tend to ship it faster than most people can use it up.

I love Proactive, but it does dry my skin so I usually only use it once a day instead of twice. I also don't have a lot of acne issues so I don't really need it twice a day anyway. It does bleach towels, but we just have a couple of old towels that we use only for Proactive and it's been fine. We haven't had any issues with pillow cases being bleached.

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