My Clear Skin Journey
I was only one to have a breakout or two growing up and it was never anything major. It was a part of life and it never got severe so it was never anything that I worried about. That all changed however last year when my face decided to just give up on me.
It was around winter of last year when for whatever reason my face went haywire. I was breaking out like crazy and it got so bad that not even ten layers of makeup would cover it up. I tried drinking more water, eating better, not wearing makeup for as long as I could, but nothing seemed to be working. I became more and more frustrated and even quite depressed. I hated the way my face looked and I hated going out in public because it was obvious no matter how many products I used that I had a situation on my face. Doing my makeup wasn't even fun anymore because I would spend a half hour trying to cover everything and then hating the way it all looked when it was done. It got to the point when I finally decided I needed to go to a dermatologist.
I asked a few of my friends about their experiences with dermatologists and to be honest, every single person told me it wasn't a good idea. All of my friends said their doctors did nothing to help their concerns and that I would be better off fixing the issue on my own. As we will see by the end of this story, none of them were wrong.
So at the beginning of last summer I went to the dermatologist, and if you have been keeping up with my blog, you know the doctor paid more interest to my leg than my face, which then led me down a rabbit hole of doctor and hospital visits. Needless to say, I never became a fan of this woman. But although she was more focused on carving me up like a pig and shipping my off to another doctor to correct the butcher job on my leg, she did prescribe me some products for my acne. It's a shame none of them really worked.
I tried these products but I was still breaking out. Yes, the acne calmed down, but it wasn't going away, and to make it worse, it made my face drier than the Sahara...which then made me break out even more. It was an endless cycle, and I was getting really frustrated. Then one day I was walking through my school's bookstore and I saw that they were selling Proactiv, so I decided to try it out and man am I so happy that I did.
I started using the 3- step system and within one week, I was already seeing an extreme difference. I've been using these products for a few months now and my skin is completely clear (something that has never happened before). I can go out in public without any makeup now without being concerned about my face and it has given me a great deal of confidence.
In order to maintain my skin, these are the products I use all the time. I still keep up with the 3-step system night and day, and I use Aquaphor at night to make sure my face doesn't get dry from the treatment. About twice a week I use Shea Moisture's Hydrating Mud Mask as a second method of making sure my skin isn't dry because I don't want to have a breakout situation again. And lastly, I use Aloe Vera gel as a spot treatment should I have a breakout or two. I find that the gel works better than most chemical spot treatments, and it's cheaper.
Overall, I am beyond thrilled with my success with these products. I have the skin that I have always wanted to have and I have never felt better. I never believed those commercials before and I am so sorry that I ever doubted them. They might sound cheesy at times, but they are telling the truth, and I'm so happy about it.