If you have been keeping up with my blog over the last 6 months or so you will have noticed that I have been on a Proactiv+ skincare journey. This has involved meeting up with the brand, having consultations with their appointed dermatologist and more importantly seeing how it works on my skin.
You can see more about my life experiences with breakouts and problem skin that I have had over a huge part of my life in my initial post here. In short, I’ve suffered with problematic skin quite a bit. This completely took over my teenage life and gave me a terrible amount of grief. Fast forward to now, I still have oily-combination skin, with scarring and regular breakouts that I have to keep on top of.
As a final meeting with the Proactiv+ team & dermatologist Dr Laura Savage, the blogging community crew (there’s 6 of us) were taken out for a lovely meal at Spring Restaurant @ Somerset house, a place I have been waiting to visit for so long! It was such a treat. The food was absolutely delicious and this restaurant has to be one of the most instagrammable in London. We had our 1-on-1 chat with Laura, who is just a fountain of knowledge about all things ‘skin’ to see how we had got on with the Proactiv+ products that had been recommended, answer any questions and a general catch up.
It’s been really good to be able to keep in touch with Laura, and I’ve been able to e-mail her and open conversation if there was any questions or problems in between the London catch-ups every few months.
Photo Credit: Spring Restaurant
I will be honest, as soon as I thought of Proactiv+, I was a little scared as I had always thought it was a really strong and harsh regime that would completely strip my skin and maybe leave me with sensitivities. However, a really key thing I have learnt and something I keep on re-iterating is that a.) it doesn’t! b) The formula in the UK is totally different from the stronger US brand (notably, it doesn’t contain Benzoyl Peroxide) In the UK, the key ingredient is salicylic acid which I have always found the best acid for blemishes AND it’s not quite as strong as some of the other market leaders. You will also notice a lot of Aloe Vera and other anti-inflammatory ingredients gracing the UK Proactiv+ skincare products.
Over my journey with Proactiv+, I have been using some key main products that have worked for my routine and skin including the 3-step core system, the Skin Purifying Mask, The Mark Fading Pads (amazing!) & more recently the Deep Cleansing Brush. I didn’t have any adverse reactions to all of the products that I tried and have even managed to sneak a couple of the products into my gym bag: The Makeup Cleansing Wipes are perfect for quick pre or post workout cleansing and the Cleansing Body Bar is great as a post workout wash to keep body breakouts at bay which I get, particularly on my upper back, after lots of exercise and sweating
As you can see from the before and after photos, my skin has certainly brightened up and I think my pores look more refined and obviously my blemishes, although not vanished, appear a lot less obvious and ‘under control’.
The main and most important change for me, is the appearance of the scarring on my face, which I have had since my teens. You can notice in the ‘before’ image I used to have a lot of post-blemish marks, which I seem to always get. There is a clear improvement and although I think this is down to a combination of Proactiv+ products, I feel it was spearheaded by the Mark Fading Pads.
Last year I was having a panic that the breakouts that distressed me as a teen were coming back as I had ongoing breakouts & skin problems, so I am relieved that I have got my balance back, and I am feeling more positive and confident about my skin. I also have an exciting 20% discount code for all of my readers for ANY products on proactic.co.uk and this will be valid until the 1st February, 2018.
The code is : LLBEAUTY118
If you suffer with problematic skin, then I would definitely recommend looking into the Proactiv+ products and giving them a try. Do let me know your thoughts below.
*This is a sponsored post
