I began considering Proactiv when I saw an ad about it. I hadn't been aware that it existed, and I was frustrated with the skin cleansers and pimple creams I had been trying. My acne was very, very bad but there were reasons I could not take a prescription drug for it, so I was trying every new non-prescription acne treatment I could find - and none of them were working. My acne was so bad that a friend saw me on one of my "bad days" and screamed. He later apologized, but that didn't help much.

I went to the Proactiv website and ordered a skin care system kit. I used it for a while, and it seemed...