Men—especially African-American men—have a propensity to develop a condition called pseudofolliculitis barbae.
This is where the hair coming up to form the beard cannot find its way
straight to the surface. For black men, this is primarily because of the
curly nature of their hair. But men of all races can face this dilemma.
The result is what seems like acne in their beard area. Some men have
so many problems with pseudofolliculitis, they may simply let their
beards grow and not deal with the daily hassle of these ingrown hairs.
Donn
had to take daily medication for an unrelated condition. Although he
was only on the medication for a year, it caused a lot of his skin
problems. Once he got off the drug therapy, his skin problems persisted,
and all he wanted was clear skin. So he turned to the advice of some
people who had used Proactiv and decided to give it a try. Why not? He
felt he had nothing to lose. After the first month on Proactiv Donn’s
skin improved dramatically, and he has enjoyed clear skin ever since.
Donn’s
is a success story. He approached me one day and asked if I could tell
he used to have skin problems. His skin looked clear, without scars, and
his beard didn’t seem to be housing any infected spots—all looked good.
That is when he announced he had been using Proactiv for the past eight
months—faithfully and successfully. He was so happy he had found
something to help his problem skin.
I include Donn’s story for several reasons. First, it is not my goal to knock down every skin care regime out in the marketplace although I don’t find many products that are very effective. Proactiv has “torn up” many of my clients’ faces, but it has also helped some tough cases of problem skin.
I include Donn’s story for several reasons. First, it is not my goal to knock down every skin care regime out in the marketplace although I don’t find many products that are very effective. Proactiv has “torn up” many of my clients’ faces, but it has also helped some tough cases of problem skin.
A
20-something co-worker of Donn’s also used Proactiv. She said it seemed
to work at first, but after a month or so her skin looked dull and felt
dry. She didn’t get the results she was looking for and was asking me
for recommendations.
This
seems to be a common complaint about Proactiv. It helps, or seems to
help, at first. Then it either stops working or the skin just can’t
adjust to all the drying out and starts to look worse. In my opinion,
this isn’t a good enough reason to use Proactiv. However, there are many
people who swear by it. Try it and see. It’s pretty inexpensive, but
beware if you don’t cancel your required membership after the first
shipment you receive, the company will automatically send you a new
batch of products on a regular basis—and charge you for them too.The bottom line is no one product or product line works for everyone. Sometimes, especially if you have problems with your skin (whether breakout or sensitivities like rosacea, for instance), you will have to go through a trial and error period—trying out perhaps many products until you find the one(s) that work.
As you’ve read, Proactiv works for some people and not for others. If you have problem skin, I hope you will utilize the many articles on this blog that, no matter the products you’re using, can help you understand more about why the problems exist.
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