Why play around with products when a dermatologist can pinpoint what's the approrpriate treatment for your skin? This is just IMO.... I think a specialist will be much more helpful than self-treatment. Is there any reason why you'd see a derm as your last alternative? Just curious.

No health insurance until September, I by passed it last year so I'm not able to renew for another few months

i dont think ill be much help, cause i am in the same boat as you are...but i tried proactive a while ago and it made my face a million times worse, i hated it. i am using murad right now, but i too, am looking for something else because its no longer working for me! (it worked for the first few months)

ive gone to the derma and he just tells me its from hormones because the acne is on my chin. he just gives me all sorts of acne creams and tells me how great they are........but NOTHING has worked. i dont think he sees it as a big deal. but it is to me, because i never had breakouts as a teen!!! it makes me really angry that im getting them at 26!!!!!!! so i too would appreciate any help anyone has to offer!!!

oh i will say that i dont think murad was nearly as harsh as proactive was. and i like the way murad felt on my skin compared to proactive.

i did read something in a mag the other day....for really bad acne they suggest laser treatments or accutane (not sure what it is cause i didnt check in to it, but it said it can cause birth defects and you MUST be on birth control and take monthly pregnancy tests if you are on it!!!!!!!!)

I'm one of the people who like proactive, but haven't really tried anything else because it worked for me. I only use proactive when I need to instead of using it constantly to prevent break outs...I foudn that when I used it all the time it was a bit drying.

I'm not using proactive right now, I actually discovered that my make-up was causing me to breakout. I threw pretty much all of it away and went for more hypo-allergenic solutions.

I was just curious how much it costs to see a derm? It might be cheaper than wasting money on products you don't ever use.

I also wanted to say that I talked to my doctor about my breakouts and she prescribed this liquid crap (came in a bottle with a sponge thing to apply it) and while it was strong it worked quite well, but caused my skin to dry out.

I can't remember what it was...I'm going to check for the bottle (if I still have it) and if I do I'll post what it was.

proactive sucks i can assure u that right now. my friend's face got WAY worse with proactive...

^ yeah i literally had a zit everyday i used proactiv...which i NEVER had before. ick.

i know every time i went to the derm it was over $100 because he didnt accept insurance...and he really did nothing other than just give me different acne cream every time. lol pretty much sucked!

someone my aunt knows works for image skincare...i have no clue what it is or how good it is...has anyone ever tried it before??

im using proactiv right now
and i dont see any results =[
and the RENEWING face wash
MY !!! its like washing your face with sand which made things even worse = - =

I don't blame you for wanting a derm to be your last option. For one, the products are expensive, they can wreck your skin even if you use them properly bc they are so harsh, and half the time they don't even work.

My recommendation is Avene Diacneal. All the proactive and murad stuff doesn't work bc I think the basic ingredients are the same. Diacneal has a different one and it works well. There should be a ton of info on AF about diacneal.

Hmmm...I'm having good results with proactive, but then again I guess everyones skin is different.

You might want to go to a dermatologist to get it checked out because about 2 months ago I finally went in to see why I had this really persistent acne for about 5 months on my forehead. I tried using Clinque, Proactive, and a strong acne cream but it the zits didn't budge. When I went in they looked at it, took a sample and found out that it was a staph infection!! They put me on an antibiotic for about 2 weeks and gave me a prescription sulfur cream. It cleared it up really fast and my skin is back to being clear. So, I'd recommend going in to make sure it isn't a staph infection.

Hope that helps!