What I'm going to write on this review is solely based on my personal experience. I will also include some thoughts on what other people say about Proactiv on the web on the bottom of the page.

First of all, Proactiv did excellent job promoting their acne products. They aired killer infomercials every day on TV day and night. I actually picked up the phone and ordered my first package. My package arrived after a month or so and as soon as I started using the acne solution, I felt clean and it felt as if something was working.

For the first month, I really believe it improved my skin visually. But after a month or so, my skin became extremely dry. I mean really extreme. No lotion worked on my skin. I called their hotline to cancel the subscription and as I guessed, it was "almost" impossible to cancel it.

That part I really hated. They asked me to try for at least three months. Getting refund was beyond possible and they kept charging me for 6 months after I canceled my subscription. It was just horrible.

After so many years, I still hear people complain about how hard it is to cancel their subscription with them. I warned my sister, but she fell for it. Poor soul. Anyway, that was my personal story on Proactiv. It didn't work for me.

I also have to say that Proactiv isn't specially formulated acne treatment solution. Just like most antibacterial treating acne solution out there, its main ingredient is benzoyl peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide is known to cause dryness and peeling of the skin. And some people are allergic to it. I know for a fact that Proactiv also offers non-benzoyl acne solutions for those who are allergic to the chemical, but I have no idea if they work or not since I've never used it.

I just read over 100 reviews on the web on Proactiv. About the half of the reviews reported that Proactiv worked for them, which is a good thing. But most of them agree on a few things. It is extremely expensive and it is almost impossible to cancel the membership.

Common side effects reported by the current users include : dry skin, acne got worse, expensive, worked for the first two weeks, smells bad. But most notably, many reported that Proactiv made their acne worse than before they started.

So when you make a decision on using Proactiv for your acne treatment, consult with a dermatologist first to find out what kind of skin you have and which products they recommend because it might not be the right acne treatment solution for you.

If you feel your acne problem has gotten to a point where you feel surgery is the final solution, then you got it all wrong, Surgeries like chemical peels, micro dermabrasion, glycolic face peel, power peel, skin resurfacing epidermal ablation and laser resurfacing, all this come with a promise of making you look better but could deform you making, your face look “life less” and “expressionless”, besides one surgery is not always enough. Apart from having side effects on your face, they cost a lot of money. Fortunately a cure for acne in the simple form of home made acne treatment is within your reach, right in your kitchen all you need do is reach for this cheap remedies and apply it.

With natural herbs, fruits and vegetables you can fight acne from inside your body without having to always peel off your epidermis and delicate skin all in the name of acne products. Lets go back to the time of our forefathers, the hunting and fruit gathering period, where what they could lay their hands on were fruits and vegetable.

Go to the market and start shopping for these natural products. Natural remedies will only work effectively, if done on a daily basis over a period of time. The ball is in your court

Cystic acne can affect anyone, but it is more common in teenage boys and young men. It is not only very painful, but also often leaves scarring. We must understand that Cystic acne is not caused by a lack of cleansing, drinking soda, or eating sweets. Cystic acne forms well beneath the skin and popping this type of acne will likely result in infection and notable scarring.

Severe Cystic Acne must be treated with utmost care, because any form of treatment that is not suitable for the particular skin type, or has a side effect, can be extremely damaging for the skin, as it can further increase the problem, and then all other normal treatments would be worthless. Scientists and researchers have yet not been able to determine a sure shot remedy for cystic acne for all skin types. A highly stressed person has an increased risk of getting cystic acne. Most people who suffer from cystic acne need to seek the care of a dermatologist -- and the sooner the better.

Prevent Acne by Understanding the Causes of Acne

Hormones
Experts’ number one cause of acne is hormone. They believe the production of sex hormone starts at puberty. Androgen causes increase in the secretion of the sebaceous gland to enlarge, thereby producing more sebum (oil glands). This explains why most people that suffer this skin health condition are adolescents. Additionally, hormonal change also causes break out before and during menstrual period in female.

Genetics
Genes also seem to play a role in the formation of acne, meaning family members, may suffer from acne. In this case, acne is inherited.

Stress
In many cases, stress may cause the production of hormone, which commands the oil glands to expand, and secret more Sebum. This could raise the probability of clogging of the pores to occur, thereby breakouts occur.

Birth Control Pills
Beginning or stopping birth control pills may cause acne.

Dirty Skin
Expert believes that dirt may be the real cause of Acne. Sweat or perspiration attracts dirt on the skin, which causes the pores of the skin to get clogged up, which cause blackheads.

Oily and Greasy Food
This is a general belief that excessive intake of oily foods may be the cause of acne in most people.

How to Prevent Acne - Things You Can Do Immediately

If you are one of the 85% people affected with acne, then you must have toyed with many-over the counter products. Many of these “miracle” products are highly priced; they may even worsen the situation. Imagine going for a date, and you get acne popping out on your face. No over the counter creams can clear you acne, they only kill the bacteria causing the acne and also to reduce redness for a while. These products, over the years have not been a permanent solution to acne and black heads. To cure your acne you have to correct the problem in your body causing it.

The problem with most Acne product is that not everyone reacts the same way to the same products. What worked for one may not work for other? Apart from not knowing the best product for your skin type most of these products cause dryness, peeling and itching that increases the break-out adding to your worries.

• 2-7 days before your monthly menstrual flow worsens acne because of the flare-ups in your hormones.
• Rubbing, squeezing and touching your acne often, worsens it as well. It makes the size bigger that the previous size and painful.
• If you are suffering from acne, when washing the face, do not scrub the face hard; it will cause friction on the acne thereby causing blackheads. Wash gently with water in upward circular motion; this helps to open and clean the pores of dirt
• Include Fruits and Vegetables in your daily Diet. A healthy diet consists of at least four to five servings of fruits and vegetables. Acne control will be a lot easier if you start including this in your daily habit.
• Rose water can be used as a facial cleanser. Dipped in a cotton, clean your face using this everyday for at least two to three times each day.
• Don't wait for your pimples to form. If you see a bit of it in your face, do something. Acne control is best done early. Pat some ice on the affected area for this will make it less swollen.
• Acne control is easier when accompanied with multivitamins. Start taking vitamins that contains zinc supplement. Zinc helps in making your skin stronger and acne resistant.
• Cucumber can help in acne control. Blend it with some water to form a mask. Put it in your face and leave it for about half an hour before rinsing it off. This is a good and affordable acne control remedy that can also refresh your skin.
• Use only mild soaps and avoid soaps that contains petroleum based products and animal based ingredient for this causes your skin to get dry and irritated.
• Using alcohol free facial cleansers makes Acne control trouble-free. Alcohol tends to dry your skin more.
• Makeup also prompt the occurrence of acne. Choose your makeup wisely. Most of the makeup available contains petroleum based ingredients that makes skin dry. An all natural makeup helps acne control become more effortless.
• Lastly, Drinking loads of water is very important. It flushes out the dirt in our body, Making acne control more natural.
• When drying the face after washing, do it gently by just patting the face with a soft towel.
• Shampoo used in washing hair may be the cause of acne. Residues of shampoo not washed out very well could cause acne on the neck face.

Most people want to treat acne with topical creams and ointments, but the best acne treatments actually need to be taken internally, so the problems can be resolved from the inside out. Acne is often caused by hormonal imbalances, but it's also caused due to toxicity in the body as well. By taking some simple steps to start detoxifying your body, you'll often clear up acne related problems naturally.

There are many single herbs which are excellent acne remedies for adults and teenagers alike. Some herbal combinations are designed specifically to help with female or male hormonal imbalances, while others are good for women or men to use specifically. When taking hormonal herbal remedies, you'll often clear up several problems at once.

For example, there are several herbs which work together wonderfully to help correct hormonal imbalances in women. These herbs work on internal problems, with the end results including reduced menstrual cramps, regulated menstrual flow, and improved skin conditions like acne.

Ginger for instance, helps to cleanse the kidneys and bowels, removes excess toxins from the body, and stimulates the circulatory system. Lobelia helps encourage the flow of oxygenized blood, which in turn helps remove obstructions, congestion and toxins.

Other excellent herbs to use for female hormonal problems include Red Raspberry, Black Cohosh, Marshmallow, Kelp. Red raspberry is particularly useful for a wide variety of female specific problems, and is often used as a base herb in any combination remedy for women.

Kelp is an excellent single herb to take for a variety of problems, because it's a potent source of many vitamins and minerals. In fact, it's basically an all natural multivitamin, and this can help restore the balance of vitamins and minerals in your body, which in turn will help clear up the acne and related health problems.

Going on any good cleansing or detoxifying diet will help clear up the acne too, but remember it can sometimes get worse before it gets better, because your body starts pushing toxins out faster once you start a cleanse.

A good herbal fash wash option is Chickweed tea. Dissolve chickweed capsules in warm water, then bathe the face with it and rinse. Chickweed is also wonderful to use as a bath soak for other sores, rashes, boils and burns.

Adding some sort of daily physical activity or exercise will help too though, because this process helps your entire body to become stronger and healthier. And when combined with the nutritional changes, your body will be much more able to fight off bacteria from the inside naturally.

When you exercise your body regularly, it gets your blood moving better throughout your body. The heart starts exercising too, because it's pumping blood faster. And like anything that gets exercised, the heart will get stronger with time if you're consistant.

As the blood moves through your body better though, it's able to carry oxygen to all areas much more readily. The blood is also able to move things around faster when you exercise too. As it moves quickly through your body, it is flushing out germs, bacteria, toxins, and other harmful things inside your body. The blood picks up these things as it's moving, and that is more stuff that the liver and other major organs are able to start filtering out of your body faster.

As those germs, bacteria and toxins start getting filtered out of the blood stream better, your body is able to be cleansed faster. And if you've been improving your nutritional habits, drinking more water, and getting more fiber so that your liver and colon are working well, your body will be able to quickly dispose of the toxins that have been filtered from the blood stream. As those toxins are disposed of, your skin automatically starts clearing up, because the body isn't trying to force toxins out through it anymore.

Heavy, strenuous exercise isn't needed to make this process happen either. In fact, just getting moderately active a few times each week usually helps tremendously. As your body becomes stronger and healthier naturally from this increase in regular physical activity, you will see the acne problems start to recede, and eventually be gone completely.

There may be times in the future where your acne flares up again of course, particularly if you're a woman, because hormonal changes happen in the body at various stages in life. But in general, you will reduce or eliminate chronic adult acne problems by adding physical activity to your nutritional lifestyle changes.

When the word fasting is mentioned what comes to mind is “spiritual fasting”. Yes, spiritual fasting is a type of fast the Christian embarks on during lent or moment of challenges. Muslims during Ramadan and even the pagans do fast. But the fast I am talking about is for health and Acne treatment. Fasting is simply a rest from food, you will be surprised and wonder what fasting has to do with health and Acne cure.

It’s a technique that even works for complex disease. Why is it so? It is because our bodies are natural healed through the process of eliminating poisons and balancing chemistry. It promotes self-healing by casting off poisons. Fasting is an opportunity for rejuvenation the principle of fasting is straight forward “health” restored through cleaning” Note that our bodies have a limited capacity to store and eliminate non-digestible matters taken in through our diet.

Our foods these days are full of artificial colors, flavors preservatives, pesticides, insecticides hydrogenated oil and other indigestible chemicals that over load our liver skin and kidney. The beauty of fasting lies in its simplicity; it is simply a practice of abstinence. It increase energy and extends life. Fasting is one of the most rewarding of all acne cure regimes, the results come quickly and are visible.

When using fasting for Acne cure, you don’t jump into it. There has to be a pre-fast to prepare the body. A typical pre-fast is from one to three day or even one week, all that is needed is enough time for the body to make the transition from solid to juice. The pre-fast consists of specific vegetables, fruits and juices, note the Word “SPECIFIC” not all vegetables, fruits and juices can be used on a pre-fast diet.

Each day follows its own strictness, what to be taken on day one is different from day two and day three. There is also a pre-fast diet called mono-diet which is basically using a particular fruit throughout the fast because not all fruits can be used as there are cleansing fruits that prepare your body for the fast (this applies to those that want to lose weight).

The most important thing is to give your system break, it can be two weeks or one day, we always pile on food and just as workers are entitled to a day off the body also needs some time off to clean and repair itself. You may ask what about my sleeping time’ sleeping time is not a break it is when the body goes to work breaking down and eliminating waste. Anyone can do a one day fast considers the benefits of doing if once a week and then it will be 52 days per year, your skin will thank you and live longer.

Chemically speaking the fast is divided into two stages. The first few days of the fast is primarily devoted to body re-orientation, the system starts to change the PH of the stomach. The stomach contracts and the digestive tract is cleansed. During this period the body will experiences the most dramatic change water minerals especially sodium and potassium, water soluble- vitamins are heavily excreted in the early days. Note that the body may experience hunger, headaches or sweating and you may ultimate a lot these are all evidences of the fast.

During the second stage the lives starts to purge itself of toxic load throwing off these poisons into the blood steam for elimination

Pre-fast Menu.

• Vegetables (limits two serving per day)
• Eat– cucumber, carrot, lettuce, Cabbage, Tomatoes, Greens (spinach, Kale, etc)
• Fruits (limit one serving per day)
• Eat – Apple, Apricots, Grape fruit, melon
• Oranges, Papaya, Peach, Pineapple, Tangerine and water melon.
• Avoid – Avocados, Pumpkin
• Avoid coconut, fruits juices, Mangoes, Bananas, Marmalade, Raisins and sugar Crated, fruits

Also note that

• Vegetable and fruits should not be taken together during pre-fast
• If the pre-fast is going to be for a week, during the first two day, only water melon and cucumber should be taken then on other day other fruits on be included because water melon helps to flush out be system.

RED FOOD
Speed up circulation, which is vital for the skin, create fire and energy, they heat up your body including hands and feet. Tomatoes, red cabbage, red peper, cranberry, watermelon.

ORANGE FOOD
They promote skin clarity. It has anti-oxidant nutrients which help heal any kind of skin related problems. Oranges, carrots, apricot, pumpkin.

YELLOW FOOD
A motor stimulant which gets you going faster in the morning. They are good for cleaning the liver of toxins. Lemon lime, pineapple, grape-fruit, apple, peach, bananas. Paw paw mango etc.

GREEN FOOD
A blood cleanser and natural nutrifier. All green leafy vegetables, wheat grain, avocado etc.

NOTE ALSO:
-Carrot juices are energy drinks
-Parsley is a blood purifier
-Cabbage is soothing for digestion
-Cucumbers stimulate the kidney
-Watermelon neutralize acids and flushes toxins out of the kidney
-Garlic is a blood purifier and helps fight infection
-Ginger has the effect of throwing off toxin and lowering fever.
-Lemon is a liver cleanser and a gall bladder flush.

Parents have usually experienced the mental distress that acne can cause, so you want to be compassionate. As adults, you know that the acne will pass, but when you are in high school it can be hard to deal with. We know that people don’t walk around staring down your blemishes and making fun of you, but it’s still a hard part of life.

There are several new medications and treatments that you can take advantage of whether you are a teenager or an adult. There are several common conditions that can be brought under control rather quickly with this new technology.

Always consult a dermatologist if the acne is severe. You will not want this condition to go untreated, as it can prevent scarring. Scars can be a reminder of your adolescent years, which most teenagers will not want to remember. A dermatologist will be able to provide you with numerous treatment options.

Remind teenagers and yourself that acne is treatable and you are not alone in your suffering. Many people suffer from acne and, in fact, about 85% of adolescents suffer from acne. If you are unable to be successful with over the counter medications, look for professional treatment to aid you in your fight against acne.