Does proactiv stuff on tv work?

PhoenixOrion

Diamond Member
May 4, 2004
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seemed to work for my brother in law - bought it for him as a christmas gift

not sure but i think the active ingredients are stuff you can buy over the counter

seems to me that it just gives you a strict regimen: after washing face, clean with their astrigent (other brands can be bought OTC), apply their low concentration of benzoyl peroxide (again, can be bought OTC), moisturize (again, any non-comedogenic OTC will do).

 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
99,642
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Just go to local pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for Benzoil Peroxide, and stop watching informercial.
 

lykaon78

Golden Member
Sep 5, 2001
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A doctor friend of mine says its what he suggested to try to his patients before prescribing something stronger.
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
57,171
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Buy an astringent , some Oxy 10 and a facial moisterizer and save yourself a ton of money... because that's all Proactiv is.

BTW, the moisterizer is needed because benzoyl peroxide is EXTREMELY hard on the skin and can cause not only nasty drying of the skin, but after continued use it can cause some very nasty rashes that look like hordes of tiny pimples.
 
L

Lola

the problem with it is that it seems that your skin becomes accusomed to it and it levels off of effectiveness. (that is what happened to me)... However, i had severe acne... so, i went to the dermatologist and that solved the problem the best. I am sure it works great for mild to moderate acne though.
 

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,666
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Worked on my sister pretty good. Keeping up the daily regiment though is tough. I think you have to use their system 3 times a day.
 
L

Lola

Originally posted by: Regs
Worked on my sister pretty good. Keeping up the daily regiment though is tough. I think you have to use their system 3 times a day.

nope, only twice. There is a misconception with acne and face washing... people should only wash their face ~2x per day because any more and your face will produce more oil because it will think it is too dry from all the washing.
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
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Originally posted by: LolaWiz
Originally posted by: Regs
There is a misconception with acne and face washing... people should only wash their face ~2x per day because any more and your face will produce more oil because it will think it is too dry from all the washing.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/5/1680_50116.htm

A very good article on acne.

Oil production has little to do with whether or not one gets acne. It has to do with cell development and cell shedding rates:

Acne is believed to result from a change in the inner lining of the follicle that prevents the sebum from passing through. For reasons not understood, cells from the lining of the follicle are shed too fast and clump together. The clumped cells plug up the follicle's opening so sebum cannot reach the surface of the skin. The mixture of oil and cells causes bacteria that normally live on the skin, called Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), to grow in the plugged follicles.

There are many greasy people who produce a lot of sebum and never get pimples.

So you are partly right. Over washing can aggravate acne, but not because of increased sebum production. Rather it's an increase in cell shedding caused by dryness.