I want to try Proactive but want to make sure it's worth the money first. Has anyone tried it? How long does it take daily to use it? Would you recommend it for a 13 year old who rushes through hygene issues?

I use it... Me being 26 years old... And IMO it drys my skin out.. Maybe cause my skin is not that bad off??? Normally I just use the facial cleaner, and skip the toner, and then use the lotion...

For a 13 yr old I bet it would be easy... If they take the time to use it... It is costly.. I actually have some I got the other day in the mail, and it is still sitting in my car.. LOL, I dont use it often enough to need it that often.. They send me a new set of bottles every 4 months...

Ill go and check and see what my 18 yr old sister uses, she said it works better then the proactive..

Good luck!

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Tara, wife to Jason, mama to Jayden 12/23/06 PG with #2 EDD 8/3/08 ~ non vaxing, co sleeping, cding, bfing,AP family.

Both my husband and I have used proactive. He had fairly severe acne and I had light to moderate. It was okay, but we didn't find that it worked much better than an over the counter program. We still use a cleanser w/ sylic acid (sp) or benzolperoxide (sp), a spot treater of either of those, and now I just use a regular face cream. I think the highest percentages to look for is 2% sylic acid and 10% benzolperoxide. Good luck!

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Blessed beyond measure

I tried it years ago, didnt really help. I would recommend taking your 13yr old to the dermotologist. I have been going for about 2yrs now and I am acen free, they will recommend the right wash, right toner, right lotions, they even gave me pills to help with the acne.

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We buy things we dont need,
with money we dont have,
in order to impress people
we dont like?
(Ramsey, D)

I use it now, and have for about 3 months. I wouldn't say I have "acne", but I get break outs a lot along the chin line and my forehead. I thought I would be done with this at my age! I have really really really oily skin. I have only had 1 pimple in 3 months. I use it every morning and every night. If I feel a pimple coming on, I dab a little bit of the mask on the pimple, and by morning, it's almost gone. I can still see a little redness, but the soreness and puffiness is gone. I seem to run out of the tone BEFORE I get my next shipment though. I wish I could get an extra "set" to have on hand at all times, but I really don't want to spend a small fortune to have extras!

I haven't tried Pro-Active, but I use Arbonne's Acne line. It's really gentle, but effective, and doesn't dry out my skin. I've had several teens try it and it worked really well for them.

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A waste of $$ IMO, I used it and it helped clear up a little, as soon as I stopped using it within a week I was breaking out. My nephew tried it and it didn't help him at all.

For a 13 year old I would definitly go the dermatologist route. Both Dh and I had bad skin in our teens and I only stopped breaking out for my 20's(I still have break outs now!), and i vowed as soon as my kids hit puberty, off to the dermatologist we go!

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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass~ It's about learning to dance in the Rain

I did use it and it did work for my mild acne, but it got to be too much money. I agree with the others and take your teen to a dermotologist.

I work in a pharmacy and there are PLENTY of acne meds, from pills, washes, solutions, pads and creams. There are so many I don't know how md's choose.

Just a little advice before you take them to the dermo, is to call your insurance and find out what drugs are covered and what are not and which ones require a prior authorization, this will save you alot of hassle.

I work with a group of teenage boys and some of them love it and some of them needed something different. I have heard one say that if you do decide to use it, it needs to be done twice a day. I watched one kid that only used it once a day and it did nothing for him but the week I actually got his to use it twice a day I did see a difference. As for price -- the parents paid for it on the boys and so I haven't a clue what the costs run but the company is very good about sending a box out every month. I guess anything is worth a try especially when dealing with your skin! Usually the boys end up at least attempting ProActive before going to the professionals! I guess it also depends on your insurance as well.

It might work for mild acne (I believe it contains benzoyl peroxide and saylilic acid, which most OTC acne medications contain), but for anything more severe, I'd take him to the dermatologist. With acne, the longer you wait, the worse it can get. He could also end up with scarring.

I've battled with acne since my 20's (never had a problem in my teens) and used tons of OTC products. It wasn't until I went to a dermatologist that I got all cleared up. It's rare that I get even the tiniest pimple now.