Laidbare DIY Two-In-One Cleanser and Toner

After nearly two scary months of using ProActiv Solution. I decided that chemicals were not the way to go. Using things that were made for harsh acne was not meant to go on the skin of a person who suffers from occasional breakouts.  I’m not entirely sure about the science behind why or how ProActiv caused my acne. All I do know is that it didn’t work like it promised. I needed to sort my skin out immediately because it was just embarrassing. Especially to have your photo taken with bumps sticking out of your face. It was wildly uncomfortable.

My mother fed me some words of wisdom. She said ‘stop putting chemicals on your face and use organic things now’. So that is exactly what I did. I thought about the best place I can get one from which will be quick. The most reliable place was, is and always will be Holland and Barrett. So until I chose one and wait for delivery, I used ‘Clearasil’ and ‘Garnier Pure 3-1’  so that I could have a head start on the healing process. The Laidbare DIY Two-In-One Cleanser and Toner caught my eye on the Holland and Barrett website because it was linked to acne and it was the most affordable. I ordered it right away.

After receiving it in the post (which was late). I tried it out instantly. It read that it was good for removing waterproof eye make up and it being free from all these chemicals. These were the benefits listed:
1. No Petrochemicals
2. No Sulphates
3. No Parabens
4. No synthetic fragrances
5. No TEA
6. No Dea
7. No Glychols
8. No animal testing.

AI am not going to go on about all the stuff that may be irrelevant to you. Who cares what brazil nut extract is and Apple secrets. All you want to know is, does it work? It does. Try it out. video with more information on the product can be found below. It enlists the ingredients and the benefits of the ingredients as well as other information.

Another reason why i decided to go organic was because of the videos that i watched by David the Skin King and he would talk about how all these chemicals affect your body internally and how all the acne would come back after not you stop using it. Buying something that didn't exfoliate was a huge deal for me otherwise I would feel like my face isn’t clean after wash. But the surprising thing is that it is a great face wash. It is a foaming face wash.

I was only comfortable using it when i noticed that my skin was actually healing. I didn’t want to start using it knowing that all the spots would come back, because with organic products, you don’t get the fastest results.

In order to exfoliate my skin, I would wet my skin, massage the cleanser into my skin and the use my facial exfoliating brush (which is an attachment that came with my derma seta) and go over my face with it a few times a week. The results weren’t amazing but my skin did feel cleaner and fresher. Not using an individual toner was something that I was never really used to so it was ideal. It even smells nice. It does exactly what it says. It is great for removing eye makeup and impurities from the skin. It will never be as good as an actual toner to be honest.

This is a product I will use again in the future. I will wait till my skin has completely healed though.
To Buy: as a general face wash
Not To Buy: for any kind of acne

And don’t forget one thing. Don’t underestimate the benefits of the coconut. 

Here are the ingredients: 

 
AQUA (WATER), COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE (COCONUT), SODIUM COCO-SULFATE (COCONUT), ALOE BARBADENSIS (ALOE VERA) LEAF JUICE, DECYL GLUCOSIDE (COCONUT), COCO – GLUCOSIDE (COCONUT), SODIUM LAURYL GLUCOSE CARBOXYLATE, LAURYL GLUCOSIDE (COCONUT), DEHYDROACETIC ACID, BENZYL ALCOHOL (NATURALLY DERIVED PRESERVATIVE), SUCROSE LAURATE, ALCOHOL (COCONUT), GLYCERIN (COCONUT), SODIUM CHLORIDE (SEA SALT), CITRUS MEDICA LIMONUM (LEMON) PEEL OIL, CITRUS AURANTIFOLIA (LIME) OIL, GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA ROOT EXTRACT, PUMICA GRANATUM (POMEGRANATE) SEED EXTRACT, CAMELLIA SINENSIS (GREEN TEA) LEAF EXTRACT, BERTHOLLETIA EXCELSA (BRAZIL NUT) SEED EXTRACT, PURUS MALUS (APPLE) FRUIT EXTRACT, TOCOPHEROL (VITAMIN E), CITRIC ACID (CITRUS FRUITS), POTASSIUM SORBATE (NATURALLY DERIVED PRESERVATIVE), SODIUM BENZOATE (NATURALLY DERIVED PRESERVATIVE), CITRAL (ESSENTIAL OILS), LINOMENE (ESSENTIAL OILS).

Info Video

Review Video

ProActiv Solution

Unfortunately for me, I am a sucker for celebrity endorsements. I like knowing that I can use the same products as a celebrity. What I should have known is the amount of extra work that they put into their look and skin is something that an average person may not be able to accomplish. Thinks like a lot of sleep and 4 litres of water a day and of course the strict diet. This is something I tried and failed to do. As an Indian, I consume a lot of oily food such as fried food and curries. and luckily for me, before Proactiv, I only had an occasional breakout.

For quite a while, I had been lusting over the idea that ProActiv Solution can get rid of blemishes. I honestly thought it was too good to be true. I never suffered from acne, but the occasional break out was always annoying. Being a victim of stress on a day-to-day basis was making my skin break out with some of the toughest spots imaginable. Having combination/ oily skin was not a dream, but i would prefer it to dry skin.

While admiring the skin of people like Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Williams and even P.Diddy, I looked up a lot of reviews. Every where  I looked, I saw mixed reviews. 50% good and 50% bad. I was torn and decided that I wanted to try it. I some how came down to the conclusion where it didn’t work for people with dry skin but it did work for people with oily skin. So how would it work for combination skin? So my experience with ProActiv is simple. Here’s what happened. The first thing I did before ordering Proactiv was to get a moisturiser to use with it as the kit didn’t come with one. 

After that, I ordered it and I was really excited when I received it. I tried everything but the refining mask on the 1st day. After one day I saw the one spot I had vanish and I was really pleased. Within that week, I saw more spots popping out of my face on my cheeks, forehead and jaw. I kept using it thinking that the Proactiv would make it disappear. I kept checking the leaflet over and over again to make sure I was using it properly. I was following each direction properly and i know I did.  
 

After a month I watched a video on YouTube.

It confirmed that I was using ProActiv Solution properly and correctly, but I kept breaking out. My face was getting worse and worse. I had big wedding coming up. My cousin, who was close to me like a brother was getting married. And I wanted to look perfect. But my face wasn’t clearing up. I used the refining mask a lot but it didn’t do anything except dry my skin out. I was not happy, but I wanted it to work so bad that I just kept using it. After looking back on the wedding photos, I realised that I had to stop. Also, I was so thankful to Sheer Cover for doing such a great job in covering these ugly blemishes.

Once again, I turned to YouTube to see if there was anything I was doing wrong and I started to see more bad reviews. I saw a lot of people who were turning to products like Cetaphil to clear up what ProActiv caused. And obviously with me following the crowd, I bought Cetaphil. I never really used something that was not exfoliating. But I tried it for as little while and saw that I need to stick to this long term to get the benefits of Cetaphil. But then my mother said something wise. “Stop putting chemicals on your face. Start to go organic now.” First I thought, what can a bunch of fruits, nuts and vegetables do for my skin? I really wasn’t sure what to think.  

Once again YouTube came to the rescue. There is a man on there with his own channel called AcneErasingSecrets. David (The Skin King as he calls himself) did not recommend any product that I had been using in the last two months. He also suggested that going organic is the way. From that point on. I gave up on ProActiv and Cetaphil. And I have not looked back since.

To Buy: If you have major acne issues.
 Not To Buy: For an occasional breakout

 

05/04/2012

It is less than a year later and I now know why ProActiv did not work for me. I had a conversation on the Facebook with the man in the Video above names Taylor. He was kind enough to explain to me that ProActiv will not work unless you use the Green Tea Moisturiser by ProActiv. I am actually not willing to try it again with the the moisturiser for my own personal reasons. My skin still hasn't fully healed from a year ago. However, now I know how they make their money. 

To Buy... WITH THE GREEN TEA MOISTURISER

Check out my Videos on ProActiv Solution and my journey going through these products.