Thursday, April 11, 2013

Say NO to "Pro"


Hey loves!  My apologies for the long wait inbetween blogs - life’s been hectic!  But, with that said, it really gave me time to test out Proactive.  Here we go!
As you can see from my previous post, I was pretty excited about trying Proactive.  Even after trying it, I was excited to continue using it - I wanted the great results you see on TV (you know the testimonials from people who have severe acne and then they found Proactive and POOF like magic they have stunning, radiant, flawless, HD quality skin).  Well, I will definitely not be the next Proactive Skin Super Model – but I did learn a lot and have a lot to write about!
My First Week, Yay!
So I followed the instructions to a T!  I was cleansing, exfoliating and toning twice a day just like they told me.  Soon, I started to see improvement!  How exciting, right?  I was well on my way to being the next Proactive testimonial!
Then Came Week Two...
I continued to follow the cleansing regimen, and although my face was clearing, I was noticing some weird stuff happening.  My neck had little bumps all over it, you could not see them (or I would have snapped a pic for you), but you sure could feel them!  It felt like I had sand all over my neck.  At first I thought I did not remove the exfoliant properly, but after rinsing multiple times I realized it was me!  I wasn't really worried about it and continued the process.
Ouch! Week Three...
Still continuing the process and now people were noticing my skin.  You would think this would be a good thing, but no!  They were noticing how red and inflamed my face and neck had become; one person thought I had a bad burn from a tanning bed!! I honestly hadn't noticed how red my skin was, but I had noticed the bumps that were on my neck had moved to my face.  Now I knew it was time to stop using the products.  My skin was nice and clear...and red and full of sand like bumps - awesome right? 
And Just When You Thought It Was Over...

The redness and bumps took about a week and a half to go away and my acne came back worse than ever.  How wonderful!! So what did I do?  I used the Proactive one last time as a spot treatment on my break out and BAM back to being red with bumps! And this time, it took a lot longer for the redness to go away - a lot longer.  My skin is just now returning to normal.

My Final Opinion

Well, I have many things to say about Proactive after this testing but if you do not feel like reading it all, please leave knowing this - DO NOT USE PROACTIVE! :)
When doing anything to your skin, from something like Proactive all the way down to something simple like a moisturizer, it is never a "one size fits all" world.  We all do not need the same things for our faces, and using the wrong products can really do you harm.  That being said, I really feel that prior to ordering Proactive, you should have to (at least) speak with a Proactive Rep and discuss what is really going on on your face.  In reality, you should just go to a skin care specialist.  They can tell you what your skin type is, what conditions you have, what you should be using, how often it should be used, ext.
What Proactive does to your skin is strip it of all its oils and destroys your protective barrier.  Although you may see positive results in the beginning, they will not last - and I will tell you why.  Having oil is NOT a bad thing!  I know you are reading this and thinking, "Katie is crazy, oil causes breakouts!"  Okay, you are right, oil does cause breakouts - IN EXCESS! Everyone produces oil and everyone needs oil.  When you strip away all the oil your body says, "Hey, where is all the oil I made?  I'm going to have to make more!" And now you have excess oil leading to more breakouts.

Breakout -> Proactive use, striping oils -> dries out breakouts clearing the skin and striping oils -> YAY CLEAR SKIN -> body starts making extra oils -> even worse breakout
Do you see the cycle?  Yes, Proactive will clear you, but it will only put you into a cycle.  A very unhealthy cycle for your skin.
Now let’s return to the protective barrier I mentioned prior.  Everyone needs this protective barrier, which is made largely by the oils Proactive strips away.  If you take away this protective barrier you have nothing protecting your skin from everyday irritants causing your skin to become red, inflamed, and possibly itchy.  Also, side note, everyday irritants age your skin therefore without this protective barrier you skin is aging at a faster rate - and no one likes that!
I could go on and on, but what I really want to get out there is that although this product is all over TV does not mean it is safe for everyone.  If you want to know what products you should be using, see a skin specialist and have your face mapped.
My Face Mapping
Being I am in school for this, you are probably wondering why I needed to get this done by someone else.  Well, I was in a evil cycle with drying out and over producing and I really needed someone else to look at me and put me in my place (haha).  I wanted to start over with my skin and just didn’t know what to turn to in order to clear my acne and calm the redness.  Well, I was WOWed to say the least.  She knew immediately that my skin was not sensitive and that I caused the redness with a product.  She also read my face (like a palm reader reads a palm) and said the cause of my acne was stress and it would keep coming back if I remained at the same stress level. HAHA hilarious! Me? Stressed? NEVER!  Just school, work, family, wedding planning, house hunting, cleaning and everything else that comes along in life - yes, insanely stressed.
After all was said and done she recommended products to basically get my skin back to normal and I am happy to say I am 1 week into her recommendations and my skin looks fantastic! 

Upcoming Blogs

I have a few blogs planned out, one of which being a How To on reading faces like a palm reader reads palms!  I don’t know if palm reading is real, but I do know that reading a face is!  But I want to hear from you, what do you want to see, know, learn - tell me!  Comment below or email me and let me know!

Stay Gorgeous
<3 K

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







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