How I got off Proactiv after 10 years
I fell in love with the products and saw a real change in my body and wanted to share my success story. I am extremely embarrassed to share my before photo, many people do not know about the acne I had for a period of time.
A little story about my acne background -- feel free to skip to below for summary!
In high school I had a few bumps on my cheeks, but I never had bad acne. I saw the celebrity endorsements for Proactiv on TV and wanted pretty skin like Julianne Hough...I mean she's adorable, right? I invested in Proactiv even though it was expensive and I had zero clue what I was putting on my face. My skin started to clear up. Sure it was red and irritated after all the benzoyl peroxide, but I thought that meant it was working!
Fast forward 10 years later and I was still using Proactiv, I could not live without the step 3. Step 3 has prescription-grade benzoyl peroxide that heals blemishes and helps prevent new ones. One day I woke up at a friends house and I had bleached the pillow case. I was so embarrassed and knew I needed to stop using something with so many chemicals.
I went on Amazon and found this skincare line called InstaNatural, I ordered the entire line after reading the reviews. I was excited to try this and get off Proactiv. I started breaking out so bad, which I knew would happen because my skin was being trapped for so many years. I tried InstaNatural for about 3 months and nothing changed. I was embarrassed to go out in public...
I went back on Proactiv.
I needed an easy fix. It dried my skin out. It cleared up my pimples. Until I started noticing little pimples start to come back. I was back on Proactiv for about another year until my mom started talking about how anything that you put on your body will go into your blood stream and that was a wake up call.
On the left - when I got off Proactive after so many years
My final journey to clear skin
SKINCARE
In November 2016 I gave Arbonne's RE9 Set a try. At the age of 24 I wanted to start something that was anti-aging. Arbonne goes by European standards and I wanted to try something out with less chemicals. I started breaking out again, CYSTIC acne. I had never seen anything like this. I had craters on my face. I was beyond frustrated. I was 24 and getting adult acne when I never had acne to begin with. I was stressed out, the acne made me more stressed out, I was going downhill all because of my skin.
Instead of giving up and going back on Proactiv, I had a great group of ladies help me out. I did a video chat with them for them to see my acne. They asked they me about my diet, sleeping habits, what I had been using, where I was breaking out, etc. They introduced me to Arbonne's Clear Future Set. At this point, I did not want to spend ANY more money on skincare products that didn't work. Thankfully, they reassured me that Arbonne has a 45 day money back guaranteed. I swapped out my RE9 for Clear Future. (PS- Thank you Robin & Roann)
It wasn't an INSTANT change, it took some time. My cheeks started to clear up, I started to feel better. I still was not 100% satisfied. I would get forehead breakouts and my cheeks would occasionally get cysts. I knew at this moment that there were other things that were contributing to my acne.
NUTRITION
+ I started taking Arbonne's Digestion Plus with my protein shakes in the morning.
+ I also started drinking more water. The Fizz Sticks are natural caffeine sticks that helped me get rid of my afternoon Diet Coke's
MAKEUP
I had been using Bare Minerals since I was in 8th grade, for 10+ years. The Bare Minerals could NOT be causing my acne. I argued this for awhile because I normally only put foundation on twice a week. My mom told me to try her liquid foundation for one week to see if it would help. I instantly fell in love with the perfecting liquid foundation. This foundation cleared up my skin substantially.
SHAMPOO + HAIRSPRAY
Why do I still get breakouts on my forehead?
I decided to try Arbonne's Fortifying Shampoo and Conditioner. I tried it for a week without using any other hair products. I was desperate to find out why I was still getting forehead bumps. I found out that my shampoo, conditioner and HAIRSPRAY were the problem for my forehead acne. Even if you don't want to continuously purchase the shampoo and conditioner, you should at least try it out to see if this plays a part in your acne. SAY NO TO SULFATES
STOP PICKING
These patches are lifesavers for pimples that are open wounds. They work like sponges to absorb the gunk out, gross I know. They also help me prevent from picking! I still have these for the occasional breakout and leave them on overnight.
RELAX - STOP STRESSING
Easier said than done, right? My night routine became a little bit more relaxing with these products.
