A few things to note: I have well water. I grew up with and have always had city water until this year. I thought this could be a "face" changer and the source of my issues. I have also been super stressed. Taking over a business can make you cray cray so I thought I needed to de-stress more. (tried and failed). I'm a stay at home mom (for the most part). So I don't do "expensive". I don't do really anything that pertains to ME! I have combination skin. Oily and Dry
I had enough one day. My entire cheek and neck had red bumps. Bumps that weren't anything other than blemishes. I could NOT get them to go away. The more I seemed to pop, the more that appeared. My husband was really noticing too. and friends. and family. "IS THAT A RASH???" comments started coming so I had to do something!!!
I looked into Proactiv. So Many people swear by this. Commercials. Celebrities. But for me it came down to ONE thing. AFFORDABILITY. Sure if it was miracle cream I would have wanted it but at what price? I didn't want to buy something and then not be able to afford it to "maintain". Proactiv honestly.... scared me- with all of it's automatic shipments and credit card info on file stuff. What if I don't need more after 3 months? You have to cancel, and if you forget you have to send it back and you need a refund....HEADACHES!!!! I already have acne I don't need that too. So I went onto Amazon (my fave place) and searched Acne Treatments.
Neutrogena Popped Up! The Complete Acne Therapy System and it was (on Amazon $19.99) so much more affordable. What did I have to lose? I didn't want to wait for shipping so I headed to Target and bought the system for $19.99.
Of course I could NOT wait to start using it. So I rushed home and followed the directions to clear skin and found my face feeling refreshed and clean. Step 2, the Acne Control Lotion makes your skin a bit tight at first while it is drying. I liked it because I felt like it was "sealing" my face up. I wondered how I would apply makeup after this step if I used it twice a day (morning, night)...but to my surprise after about 20 minutes, maybe less the tight feeling dissipates and it actually left my skin feeling really soft.
After using it for about a week, I did notice my problem areas were drying out. I kept on using it and I use the lotion to moisturize. (plus I use a Clinique moisturizer) I use this Neutrogena System in the shower, when I wake up, before bed and I'll even apply a bit of step 2 if I feel like I have a zit/pimple/blemish coming on. A month later I can HAPPILY report, I have ZERO red bumps on my face. Which means 2 things to me: 1. It was NOT solely my Well water that was affecting my skin. 2. I didn't take good enough care of myself. Stay at home Mom or not, taking care of you is SO IMPORTANT! I have to learn to put myself first, if even a LITTLE more. The only time I have gotten a blemish is when I forgot to use it and I touch my face a ton in one day. I really suck about not doing that. I have kids who touch my face, a pup who licks my face (even though I hate that) and I constantly feel like I touch my face. I NEED TO STOP and until I do I must remember to use steps 1 and 2 of the Neutrogena system twice daily.
Does it compare to Proactive? I can't HONESTLY answer that as I did not give Proactiv a chance. But the Neutrogena Complete Acne Therapy System does work very well and I'll gladly purchase this skin care system again. I feel better about myself, and the fact that I feel like I am "taking" care of myself.
*Update after 6 weeks of use- Blemish free!! and my skin is super soft!!
Let me know if this helps you and if you try it! I wish I had "before and after pics" for you but I starting using this before I started my new journey on this blog.
*Disclaimer: I purchased this skin care system on my own and my opinions are my own. Neutrogena did not contact me to write this.
