A couple years ago, I bought into one of those infomercial TV stations called Proactiv. You might have seen their cheesy commercial that promotes a face wash product that is supposed to do the job of providing “100% clearer skin in just a week”. Young and naive, I begged my mom to order the $19.99 product which was supposedly “dermatologist tested and recommended”. “Wow” I thought to myself, “my skin is going to be flawless”… well.. that was definitely not the case. In the first couple of weeks, I noticed my skin getting a little better but -underneath that white and green label, I had no idea what the product was ACTUALLY doing to my skin until I was crying in the office of a real dermatologist who explained it all to me.
Proactiv features many chemicals that are terrible for your body let alone your skin. Benzyl Peroxide, a key ingredient in Proactiv’s products, works by destroying oil and bacteria under your skin – leaving it dry and ultimately stripped of your natural oils which you need on your face! In addition, I was told by my dermatologist that benzyl peroxide actually has a addictive quality in it that leaves your skin wanting more hence the fact that when you DO decide on getting off of it – or maybe even run out of their product, your face becomes inflamed ten times the amount that it already was.
I know this information is shocking because a lot of face washes do have Benzyl peroxide in it but I have a solution! Instead of trying to cake your face with stuff inside a bottle, try something that you are positive you know the ingredients to! Homeopathic or Do-it-yourself home remedies are the BEST way to naturally clear up any impurities on your face and body!
Try these few simple mixtures (that can probably be found in your mother’s pantry!).
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Jessica, This was really informative! I was on proactive for maybe two months and my skin built up an immunity to it. Even their website pretty much comes out and tells you it doesn’t control flare-ups. Natural remedies were my savior. Here’s a really great mask: 1 banana, (preferably ripe), 2 tbsp honey, and orange or a lemon (yogurt and Vitamin E oil help too!).
Jessica — should we do a class session on skin care products? How many of your class mates would find it interesting? Do you think the blokes would care? — Andrew