I just want to say that I love my proactiv system. I don’t use it as much as I’m “supposed” to and so – since the max you can space out shipments is every 2 months – I have a bit of a “stash” saved… but damn, this stuff has totally saved my face. I thought about it for years, since I’ve battled acne since my teenage years… and, unlike everyone else, it never went away. For me, breakouts were a daily thing. Even when I was showering and washing regularily I’d still get breakouts every month. It was depressing. It was frustrating. And finally – finally – Den talked me into trying it. It was a lot of money… $40 a month! But by that point I’d tried a bunch of store products that dried out my skin and still didn’t really work right. So I splurged.

And I loved it. I seriously have had only a handful of pimples in the many months that I’ve been on it – and most of those were from days when I wore makeup, which I have discovered through careful experimentation causes me to totally break out. (Any makeup. I tried a bunch, even the bare minerals stuff caused zits. My face seriously hates me.) I had changed my ordering system to every two months (thus making it $20/month) and it still kept the breakouts at bay. My skin will always be pock-marked from the many scars, but I don’t have new ones starting every month. And maybe this will give my face a chance to heal itself.

Well, then I got pregnant. I read something about a different acne drug being very bad during pregnancy, and in reading further I read that a lot of acne products should be avoided during pregnancy. You better believe I flew to my bathroom to check the ingredients. Benzoyl Peroxide. Is perfectly safe to use during pregnancy. I was so incredibly relieved.

Of course my face is now twice as oily as it used to be – that just started a few days ago. And I’ve noticed a couple of zits starting. So it’s back to my twice-a-day washing routine to keep my face clean. And right now I am basking in a lovely (haha) face mask that will hopefully help with the oiliness.

I really don’t mind having to deal with oily, blemished skin during pregnancy if I have no options. It’s short-term and well worth the result! But hey, if I have a chance at managing this? I’m all for it.

PS – I just bought a Bella Band. Black. It is going to be necessary like… now.