At the beginning of December, I got extremely stressed out what with all the festivities and all the things that had to be done for Christmas. I don't see how some people can be totally carefree at holiday time! Stress generally shows on me in more ways than one...acne being the MAJOR sign. This is what happened in December.
In our mall, they set up an automated kiosk. I saw it when I was out shopping a few weeks prior to my skin "come-apart". I was SO sick of my skin looking horrible, which in turn ALWAYS makes your makeup look horrible, that I took the last $40 I had in my pocket that week and hit that little kiosk in the mall. I just got the basic, 30-day kit which set me back $30. (Hey, at least I still had some money for gas! LOL!) It was a small price to pay compared to the multiple drugstore products I had been trying at $6-$10 each bottle!
As you probably guessed, by the post title, it worked like a charm with a few tiny exceptions. I really wish I would have taken before and after pics! My skin was by no means perfect, but it looked a hell of a lot better than it had, which was great! Just in time for Christmas time filming and photos! For the entire month of December, my skin was not a worry for me. My makeup was always flawless looking, no dryness or chapping to worry with even with the cold temps, and most of all, my confidence level was through the roof!
Now, all that has gone downhill. After the financial hit my bank account took from Christmas, I have not had the money to just order the Proactiv Kit Online and set up auto-delivery for it. So, I have been without my top beauty product for about 10 days now and it REALLY shows. The first day after using one of the products I had shoved asside to make room for Proactiv, I noticed a DISTINCT difference! Today is worst than all the previous days combined. One entire side of my face is completely broken out from nose to ear, eye to chin. The product that I started using when the Proactiv ran out was one, that I forgot, dried out my skin, which was why I had originally discontinued its use! You guessed right again, my ENTIRE face is dry as a bone no matter how much or how great of a moisturizer I use! Which, right again, makes my makeup cake up and flake off. I honestly can't believe how bad this is now! It all causes me to have a hard time looking people in the eye at work and with such a face to face job, I can't escape face time with people! I am 28 years old and I have worse acne now than I did when I was a teen!
At first, my mother said it was because I was wearing makeup again, but after hearing the steps I take to remove and the fact that I let my face rest on the weekends she changed her tune. We are in agreement that it is in fact stress related, well, and the fact that I DON'T drink enough water! (Terrible, I know!) The fact that my skin IS so bad, stresses me out even more and kicks my confidence in the gut!
So, tomorrow, I am biting the bullet and ordering the Proactiv Plus Deluxe System and putting it on auto-delivery so I don't have to deal with this anymore! I used Proactiv in college and had great results the more and more I used it. Then, I wasn't methodical about when and how often I used it either. I just used it here and there and still got killer results. I just know when I am using it month after month, I will be able to get my skin back in great shape and just have to worry about what the hell I am going to do about these wrinkles! To me, that is a welcomed issue to deal with!
I started to order Murad rather than Proactiv. I went to their site and saw that their 3-Piece Acne Complex System was also $29.99 a month. However, for that price with Proactiv, I got 2 additional products to the basic cleaner, toner, and lotion. The products were the oil control lotion and the oil free moisutre. I wanted these products because my skin tends to be dryer in the winter and more oily in the summer. (Like most of you with combination skin.) I have not tried these products, but I feel they should work. I plan to review them once I see how they are going to work for me. I feel I did get more for my money with Proactiv though.
Since my opinion is my own and goes along with my skin and what works for me, I thought if anyone had any alternatives to Proactiv that have worked for them, we could use this as sort of a share time to inform others of what options are out there! I only wish Proactiv would come out with an acne cleanser that would also help with wrinkles and complexion brightening. They do have a brightening lotion, but it is a bit pricey to add to the $30 a month! Murad has an Anti-Aging Acne System, BUT (and this is a HUGE but) it does not come in a system and each piece will set you back $30-$50 EACH! I know for a FACT I can't afford that! So, for me, I would LOVE Proactiv to come out with a line made for aging skin that could be ordered like their current sets.
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