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“If she didn’t have acne she would be so pretty” “Omg I would totes date him if his skin cleared up”

Acne is such a frustrating thing to endure. Aside from the obvious reason of it clouding your appearance, you have to deal with the side effect of people subjecting their opinion and advice on to you. If I had a penny for every time somebody tried to tell me a cure to acne, I would be a very rich person, but I would still be dealing with acne. “Try (insert face wash brand here)” “Cut dairy out of your diet” “Don’t wear makeup” “Just get it treated by a dermatologist” “Go on Acutane” “Do you even wash your face” “Take birth control” I’m sure I’m speaking on behalf of all acne victims by saying, acne is not an easy thing to cure. Everyone’s acne is different. There are a lot of different reasons why somebody’s skin might be breaking out. And trust me, we have tried everything. It’s a terribly frustrating process.

A year ago, I would have never posted a picture of me without makeup online. Especially on a blog where I knew that thousands of strangers would see me, as well as my friends and family. However in that year, a few things have changed. The first being that my attitude about acne has changed. After dealing with acne for almost half of my life, I have accepted the fact that it sucks. But, you just have to deal with it and try your best to make it better. The second thing that changed was my face. Over the years, slowly but surely, my face has been getting better. I have learned what irritates it more than others and what’s going to make it break out. I have never felt close with my skin, I know it so well.

I have tried out everything. All the myths of acne cures have been proven wrong by me. I have suffered from acne for half of my life. There isn’t a simple solution that washing your face can fix. I wish it was that easy, but it’s not.

However, some skin care products can help to control my acne. Sure, I might still breakout but nowhere as much as before. Proactive is one of these said skincare products. I have really enjoyed the Five Piece System. I got the chance to try it for 90 days and I can confidently say that my skin has approved. Sure, my acne still isn’t 100% cleared up, but I can see a noticeable difference and that makes me unbelievably happy.

The 5 piece set includes the Skin Smoothing Exfoliator, the Pore Targeting Solution, and the Complexion Perfecting Hydrator. As a bonus, the set also includes the Mark Correcting Pads and an Eye Brightening Serum. I also received the Skin Purifying Mask.

I was pleasantly surprised with the whole Proactiv line. Each product was gentle to my skin, but yet had the right amount of active ingredients to treat acne in a effective and efficient way. The Skin Smoothing Exfoliator was great at cleansing my skin, and ridding it of any dry and flaky skin. The Pore Targeting Solution helped to remove any excess oil. The Complexion Perfecting Hydrator was one of my favorite products from the line. It was lightweight and felt great on the skin, but was also moisturizing enough to keep my skin hydrated. The Mark Correcting Pads are another great product as an extra defence against pimples, and also served a purpose to help eliminate those evil red marks that acne leaves behind. The Eye Brightening Serum was a nice bonus to keep the eye area moisturized and free of any dark circles. Another one of my favorite products was the Skin Purifying Mask. This one is not part of the five-step system, but can be ordered as a bonus on the Proactiv website. I really loved this mask. It has sulphur in it so it helped to dry up any pimples and was a very nice biweekly treatment.

So, there you have it folks. I hope that the main thing that you take away from this post is that acne isn’t the biggest deal. Yes, it would be a thousand times nicer to have clear skin, but if your skin just insists on fighting you every step of the way, you just have to continue on your way. Don’t let it bother you. There are bigger problems in this world. But, if you haven’t found a skincare routine that is working for you, give Proactiv a try. I promise you it’s worth it.

FTC Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Proactiv. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Proactiv.