Proactive is a waste of time and money. It's just wrong how they make money off people with acne problems desperate to find a solution that works.

Wow I was amazed to hear that so many of you had "bad" experiences with Pro Activ. I do think that brand does work and am an avid believer in this product. It done wonders in clearing up my acne. However, I noticed the dry skin issue and backed off to only using the product one time a day. This helped so much.

Secondly, someone mentioned about drinking water, green tea, and happy thoughts. This is a wonderful idea all of those things do change how we feel and perceive our bodies. I'm glad that it was mentioned.

Other things that might help: Choose one brand and stick with it. I say this because you can get the whole product line of the same product so that your not doubling up on ingredients that can cause irritation or even worse breakouts. Secondly, remove your makeup daily. By removing your makeup you are eliminating the chance of bacteria being blocked into your pores. Lastly, every night before I go to bed I apply a thin layer of vasoline or petroleum jelly. My doctor suggested this. I have been doing this for several months and have experienced smoother skin and have eliminated breakouts.

Good luck to everyone and thanks for listening!

I am SO SURPRISED to hear that your doctor recommends putting vaseline or petroleum jelly on your face. Please don't do that!! Vaseline and petroleum jelly are occlusive oils - meaning that they block your pores and don't let them breathe. They are by-products of oil - you know, the stuff that's black and used to run the world?! It screws with your hormones, traps dirt and oil in your skin, and is just an awful, terrible product. I'm guessing the doctor wants you to put a layer of something non-irritating and non-oily on your face at night, so thats why he suggested vaseline, but maybe you want to try something else, Cetaphil moisturizer or something non-comdeogenic.

You may think I'm spouting nonsense but you can look it up for yourself. I use organic skincare now and I could never go back to putting occlusive oils or paraben or phalates on my skin.

Washing your makeup off is one of the best ways to prevent breakouts, and drinking green tea helps with tons of things, so it sure can't hurt! Also, changing your pillowcase frequently is a big help!

Have you tried useing Cetaphil? You can get it in the bar or liquid form. I had this break out that came from nowhere and that is what the dermatoglist this seems to be working and it doesnt try out your face. Good luck hope this helps.

I'm still on proactive--giving it a few more months. I've actually started taking fish oils which helps a lot. Another thing I've started that seems to be making a huge difference is tanning once or twice a month (I try not to be excessive--mostly because I'm not into that and I'd really rather not cause damage). Every time I tan, my skin clears up after the next few days. Does anyone else do this and would you recommend continuing with it?

I think that it is case sensitive. For certain people these "great" brands are miracle workers and for others they make the problem worse. If you have problems with famous brands, maybe you should go to a cosmetician or dermatologist and have them recommend a cream or treatment specifically for your skin type.

baby shampoo it's sound weird but it does work for me it's does not need to be johnson's and Johnson's it can be a store name brand and it has cleared my acne up and I had it bad,I still sometimes break out but who doesn't.It also help prevent Eye Stye(sp?)but if you want a acne wash go with a clean and clear product.

The best thing you can do about acne is drink water, keep your face clean (using a face soap, be it expensive or not), don't touch your face much and keep the phone away from it, and eat well.

Just be healthy and don't spend a bundle on "name brands"