Advanced Skin Care and Beauty Treatment Reviews - SkinGeek.com

Proactive has been a brand name in the acne treatment market for almost a decade, and as an “ex” acne sufferer I never  had an opportunity to use the line.  About a year ago I used Proactiv’s Green Tea EGCG serum and though I loved the consistency, the potency of active ingredients were lacking and thus I used it as a light moisturizing base to mix in my own active ingredient powders.

This time, I finally got a chance to test the original acne treatment products: the Refreshing Toner (a green liquid with a good amount of AHA alpha hydroxy in it), the Renewing Cleanser (a white milky lotion with a good amount of exfoliating sand in it that seem to be mineral or chemically based), and the Repair Lotion (the benzoyl peroxide staple of the line).

Again, the consistency of all of Proactiv’s products are superb.  The refined light-weight texture of all three products (as well as the Green Tea serum that I have tried before) are the best part of the line.  The cleanser has just the right amount of exfoliant in it and it is a lot cleaner than many organic or natural exfoliating products.  Furthermore, they do not leave a color residue like many organic or more natural cosmetic lines.  The problem with this light texture and consistency is that it is easy to use up the products fast.

Now, onto efficacy.  Do these products work?  I must say, YES!  In fact, Proactiv cleared my skin up fairly fast.  It will eliminate signs of MODERATE to MILD acne and pimples within a week.  So, what’s the problem?  Why am I NOT USING IT ANYMORE?

The problem is that it works too fast and THUS WILL LEAVE CRATERS and PITTED SCARS if your collagen structure regenerates itself slower than a teenager’s.  The toner is a great chemical exfoliant containing good pH and concentration for the AHA to work optimally.  The Repair lotion was calming on pimples even with its good concentration of Benzoyl Peroxide, normally a skin irritant.  Everything works so perfectly and so efficiently that most pimples will dissapear without the normal red brown scar phase for flat fresh acne wounds, BUT if you PICK AT THE PIMPLE while using Proactiv IT WILL LEAVE A PITTED SCAR.

I’ve gotten 3 dented pits from acne, though they don’t have the usual brownish tint of my normal, non-Proactiv treated acne scars, they are still visible because of the indent.  Once I realized that it was the Proactiv + picking/squeezing the pimple, I stopped using Proactiv immediately and waited to see if the pits will recover back to normal.

So far the pits are not as visible as when the acne first healed, but still there. 

I’m applying a lot of self made collagen boosters this month to “recover” from the Proactiv testing last month.

I hope this post helps.  If anyone has other experiences with Proactiv I would love to see some shares. 

Thanks for reading!