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I recently became an esthetician and am always on the hunt for amazing skincare products. I'm after high-quality products that work for me and that I can also recommend to my clients.
But I'm choosy and want products that are affordable, results-oriented, and free of harsh ingredients. I’m 27 years old and have fair, combination skin with some scarring. My skin does tend to feel dry and tight, but will also get oily in the summer.
That's what led me to PROVEN skincare. Some of their ads had caught my attention because they simplify the skincare process into only TWO steps with three simple products: a cleanser/toner/exfoliator in one, a day cream with SPF, and a night cream.
I was already excited to try a new routine with only three products but what really sold me is that they're all customized to my own skin based on a comprehensive survey.
I decided to give it a try!
First Impressions
Cleanser
The cleanser is non-foaming but feels very silky smooth. I will say everything smells amazing, and yet there’s no added fragrance. It was easy to rinse off. I cleansed for a couple of minutes, giving myself a light massage.
Night Cream
This night cream absorbed into my skin very quickly. My skin is on the dryer side especially because of winter/early spring weather. I used as much as I needed, probably about a dime size amount. I dabbed it around my under eyes too. I’ve found with most night creams I’ve tried, it’s very hard to find the right amount of hydration, but this might have hit the mark.
The instructions told me to ease into it, and use it every couple of days at first, because it has near prescription-strength Retin-A. Initially my skin felt a light burn, but not irritatingly so, and now my skin doesn’t tingle at all using the night cream.
Day Cream
The day cream is the one thing that I’m not too sure about yet. It does seem to hydrate my skin slightly, but the actives are all far down on the list in the ingredients - AFTER the preservative.
Further, for the SPF to truly protect you throughout the day, you’ll have to keep reapplying it every couple of hours depending on how sensitive your skin is to the sun. I suggest pairing it with a makeup-friendly spray-on sunscreen so that you don’t go through this moisturizer so quickly.
It’s definitely less hydrating than the night cream. I think in the next formulation I’ll ask for more hydration, and hopefully, that will do the trick. For now, I might just have to layer it with another moisturizer or skip the cleanse in the morning.
The Before and After Recap: How PROVEN ImPROVEd My Skin
Here are my before photos. Please excuse my “up-the-deviated-septum-nose” shot, I just thought it important to show you what my jawline looks like as that’s where the majority of my breakouts live.
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And here are my after photos taken 6.5 weeks after starting this new skincare routine. You can see it helped clear my acne and did brighten my skin. I still get some breakouts along my jawline due to hormones, but it definitely helps them calm down faster and I don’t get them as frequently.
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A lot of the spots you’re seeing in these photos are scars, hypertrophic and regular. It will take longer than 6 weeks for the formula and retinol to fade the marks and flatten them, but I can only hope that with time they will disappear!
The (Beautiful!) Road Ahead
Overall PROVEN has simplified my routine. With the PROVEN subscription, you can customize your dates to fit when you need a refill. Generally, they recommend 8 weeks, but it all depends on how quickly you go through them. With the subscription, it comes out to $119/shipment or $60/month for 8 weeks.
Though the fact that it’s been almost 7 weeks and I’m only halfway through the bottles means this is going to be much more affordable than I originally anticipated.
