Proactiv Versus Curology Review

Sadly, one of the downsides of having a teenager is helping her deal with hormones and acne.  She’s been a trooper though and finally has found something that is working really well for her.  Read below for her thoughts in this Proactiv versus Curology Review.

Now if there is some other general cure for teenage hormones, I’d like to know.  About once a month she turns into a crazy house-cleaning nut!  I think it’s kind of like nesting before you have a baby. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate this little by-product of the hormones, but she gets to be pretty tough to deal with as she organizes my kitchen.  Last month, she attacked the “appliance corner” where we have a toaster, Keurig, Food Saver, blender, spice rack, etc.  She decided that it looks hideous and cluttered to have so many things on the counter top so she started cleaning the cabinets above them to have more space for storage.

Of course the inside of the cabinets really were hideous and cluttered, so I had to endure her accusatory questions like… “when was the last time you used this?” and “can’t we just throw this away?”  I got to keep most of my things.  But with this newly freed up cabinet space, she decided that we need to store some of our small appliances in the cabinets. She said that is what her friends’ families do.  Well, call me uncivilized, but I like my toaster and blender on the counter.  We compromised a little.  The spice rack was moved to another closet and blender and toaster are where they belong…  on the counter!

The other night she went on this month’s rampage.  She decided that the cabinets where I keep larger appliances like my Kitchen Aid mixer and Cuisinart needed to be purged.  I got to hear, “what even is this thing?” and “I’ve never, ever in my entire life seen you use this flour sifter!”  Admittedly, there were random things in there that needed to go right in the garbage.  Also admittedly, it has been years since I’ve dug into the backs of those cabinets.  I offered to throw out or donate enough items to curb most of the ranting.  I have a fine line to walk between being grateful for the organizing whirlwind and being ticked off with her version of “tough love”.  I need to be more prepared next month so that I can harness this crazy cleaning energy…  I’m thinking that I have a couple of bathrooms that could use some frenzied organizing.

TIME SAVERS FOR BUSY FAMILIES

If you’re a busy mom like me, you really should check out the rest of my website!  I post recipes and products that save time for my busy family, like my favorite kitchen gadgets.  Be sure to subscribe to my page to get new time-saving recipes and ideas in your inbox!  Here are a few of my posts:  Reverse Seared New York Strip Steak (never over-cook your steak again, seriously!), and these Incredibly Simple Potato Cakes which are made from instant mashed potatoes and fried in avocado oil.   One of my most popular recipes is this Copycat Olive Garden Braised Beef and Tortelloni.   Last but not least is a video and written tutorial on How to Do Your Own Gelish Manicure and Make Gelish Nails Last Longer.

So, back to the real reason for this post 🙂

Proactiv

Proactiv did a decent job at keeping the acne under control and my daughter used it for a little over a year.  She still always had a lot of tiny pimples on her forehead though and it made her use more make up, continuing the endless cycle of more acne.  Here is the Proactiv my daughter used from Amazon.

Curology

We have yet to ever go to a dermatologist, since I was hoping to find something over the counter that would work.  I have a friend who sees a dermatologist and she has a prescription that contains clindamycin that works for her.  My daughter did some research into Curology and talked to me about wanting to try it.  I was willing to give it a chance, and for just under $20 a month (plus free shipping), it wasn’t going to be much different from Proactiv.  You pay $20 per month and receive a new bottle every 3 months, so each bottle is $60.

You send them pictures and answer some questions and an actual dermatologist reviews them.  They customize and prepare a lotion tailored to your skin type.  My daughter’s contains the antibiotic clindamycin.  Within a few weeks she was looking much better and those remaining spots of acne are pretty much gone.  She’s been using it for about four months and her skin looks better than it has in a couple of years as you can tell in the photo of us!  Of course, the Snapchat filter doesn’t hurt 🙂

Disclaimer:  I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites at no cost to my readers.  As you’ve read above, I’m actually recommending Curology over Proactiv.  We did not receive either product for free or in return for a review, they are our honest opinions!