haha, of course not! 🙂 Just whatever products you feel you need. I find her products to be very well formulated, well researched, gentle, and effective, and I definitely think having the right skin care products can make a difference with your skin. I'd love to find a more natural line of products, but I have yet to find a natural line that is well formulated without skin irritating ingredients, such as essential oils. The ProActive might be irritating your skin in such a way that you'll continue to have problems as long as you use it. I recommend trying Paula's sample set of the products for $5 and see how you like them first before purchasing full sizes. I don't know how long the sample set lasts - maybe two or three samples would give you a better idea.

Proactiv's been working fine though, I'm afraid that I would break out if I stop using!

I've been using proactiv for one or two year non-stop. So I actually am terrified. However, I might order the sample set and see how it goes. I usually break out with small acne, lets hope that these help not to break out with small acne!

I understand your concern, but I guess the only way to find out if your skin would do better with another product is to try it out and take the risk. Maybe you could transition with using ProActive every other day, then every two days and so forth?? I'm not really sure what to tell you there, and I'd hate for your skin to react badly if you're that concerned. I just know I've heard lots of bad stuff about ProActive, and if it were me, I'd want to change products. There are other good products too besides Paula's Choice. She reviews other skin care lines. Olay, Neutrogena, Cetaphil, and Eucerin are a few that come to mind that have some good products she approves of. You can read her reviews here: http://www.cosmeticscop.com/skin-care-makeup-reviews.aspx Also, I'd take a few minutes to read her pointers on acne control to make sure you fully understand how best to take care of your skin: http://www.cosmeticscop.com/acne-treatment-skin-care.aspx

I understand your concern, but I guess the only way to find out if your skin would do better with another product is to try it out and take the risk. Maybe you could transition with using ProActive every other day, then every two days and so forth?? I'm not really sure what to tell you there, and I'd hate for your skin to react badly if you're that concerned. I just know I've heard lots of bad stuff about ProActive, and if it were me, I'd want to change products. There are other good products too besides Paula's Choice. She reviews other skin care lines. Olay, Neutrogena, Cetaphil, and Eucerin are a few that come to mind that have some good products she approves of. You can read her reviews here: http://www.cosmeticscop.com/skin-care-makeup-reviews.aspx Also, I'd take a few minutes to read her pointers on acne control to make sure you fully understand how best to take care of your skin: http://www.cosmeticscop.com/acne-treatment-skin-care.aspx 🙂

I'm going to stop using proactiv for a week or two before I try that out 😛

So we'll see if I break out or not.

Actually I'm going to use proactiv every other day and so forth until I run out of it because It's virtually empty. Finally, I'm going to stop proactiv and then try another product ( Paula's choice )

Also, I'm going to start taking supplement to help me not to break out. Is it OK to take niacin b3 , fish oil ( from calson )?

I'm going to buy , multi vitamin ( from Dr.fuhr), and Acidolphilos ( from Dr. fuhr ) soon, but I want to know if others would be OK. 🙂

By the way, I have bought niacin b3 but it's -vegetarian formula- wondering if that's good?

Sorry for asking you 😛 I don't know much about this yet! 😛 But I'm learning. hehe

Eddie,

That sounds like a great plan - I hope you do well off the ProActive!! You might want to at least supplement with a BHA (salicylic acid?). Exfoliation is important if you're acne prone, and I'd be a little concerned for you to stop exfoliating. I haven't looked into the B3, so I can't help you there, but I would think taking the multivitamin and eating a healthy diet would provide adequate B3. Carlson's is an excellent brand of fish oil.

Eddie,

That sounds like a great plan - I hope you do well off the ProActive!! You might want to at least supplement with a BHA (salicylic acid?). Exfoliation is important if you're acne prone, and I'd be a little concerned for you to stop exfoliating. I haven't looked into the B3, so I can't help you there, but I would think taking the multivitamin and eating a healthy diet would provide adequate B3. Carlson's is an excellent brand of fish oil. 🙂

OK thanks for all the help! I appreciated 🙂

I am going to buy spinach, organic honey raw or stevia and kiwi, and perhaps strawberries.

I'm going to stop buying this whey protein and go for Sprouted brown rice powder.

Should be healthy ^_^

So what exactly should I order from Dr. Fuhr?

Dr. Fuhrmanas Favorite Flora and Dr. Fuhrman's Gentle Care Formula

MultiVitamin and Mineral Supplement ?

Do I also need vitamin D? or no?

I've been eating green soups (blended spinach, kale, and broccoli) for almost 4 months now, and I'm still breaking out. This is in addition to a no-sugar, no-dairy, very limited carbs diet, and I'm quite frustrated that my face still looks terrible.

I'm going to keep eating the soups twice a day for the health benefits, but this is not at all what I had hoped for in terms of results on my face.

Eddie,

The Flora, Gentle Care and Vitamin D.

Drainer,

Wow, it sounds like you have put a lot of effort into this, and I know it must be so frustrating and disappointing to not be seeing the results you had hoped for. 4 months should be sufficient, but some people do need more time, or, it could be that there's another issue that needs to be dealt with. I will send you a PM, and we can discuss this further.

Eddie,

The Flora, Gentle Care and Vitamin D. 🙂

Drainer,

Wow, it sounds like you have put a lot of effort into this, and I know it must be so frustrating and disappointing to not be seeing the results you had hoped for. 🙁 4 months should be sufficient, but some people do need more time, or, it could be that there's another issue that needs to be dealt with. I will send you a PM, and we can discuss this further.

Expensive but if it's worth it, I will order it 🙂

I will order it tomorrow or the next day. ^^

Sounds great Eddie! His products are extremely well-researched and formulated, so I think you'll be happy.

Hello all.

I just made my first green smoothie today. I put some cale, baby spinach, dandelions, bananas, ice cubes, and water.

I also added my weight lifting supplement. Basically it has 200 calories for once scoop and some protein. It's also very high in vitamins.

Is it alright to add weight lifting powder to your green smoothie or is counterproductive when trying to clear your acne?

Hello all.

I just made my first green smoothie today. I put some cale, baby spinach, dandelions, bananas, ice cubes, and water.

I also added my weight lifting supplement. Basically it has 200 calories for once scoop and some protein. It's also very high in vitamins.

Is it alright to add weight lifting powder to your green smoothie or is counterproductive when trying to clear your acne?

Do you mean weight gainer powder? If yeah , that would be bad... 🙂

I would recommend whey protein isolate and add oats... I'm wondering if it could work well with leafy green.

Jack,

Protein powders really aren't an ideal food. It's better to get your protein from real food sources. This is a good article explaining: http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/debun...ch-protein.html . I'm sure there are ingredients added as well that are less than healthy. However, the main thing is to get in your greens. So long as the majority of your diet is healthy, I think you'll be alright. Congrats on making your first smoothie!

I know this has probably been mentioned quite a few times in this thread, but how long did it take for most of the people in this thread to start seeing their pimples go away? I know the OP says give it 12 weeks. It has been one week now, and since then, I've been drinking Amazing's wheat grass in the mornings on an empty stomach and in the afternoons, I drink a green smoothie (probably 5-6 times a week) .

My skin has been clearing and when I get a new pimple, it stays smalls and goes away quick. I have noticed my face is getting a little flaky. I wonder if that's due to the vitamin A?

So what would be considered the average time length of people in this thread seeing their acne being controlled? 1 week wouldn't cut it, right?

ABG Fairy, do you have any tips for an easy drinked smoothie that dont consists of any fruit at all? Beacasue im doing a candida diet so I have to stay away from the fruits.

ABG Fairy, do you have any tips for an easy drinked smoothie that dont consists of any fruit at all? Beacasue im doing a candida diet so I have to stay away from the fruits.

Cacao powder works... 🙂

Jack,

One week seems a little short to get such results, but actually, a lot of people have posted here claiming just that, so it may be that the results you're experiencing really are due to the smoothies!

A few others have reported flaky skin as well, and I'm really not sure what's up with that! I guess it's possible for it to have somewhat of a drying effect. I'm not sure what to tell you here. It may be that you might need to drink more water or adjust your moisturizer. Good luck! I hope you continue to see good results!

jimpa,

There are some recipes on the first post for blended salads, which are mostly veggies smoothies - just take out the fruit. Also, you might try the blended vegetable soups, as they also have the blended greens. If you run into problems, let me know!

Jack,

Protein powders really aren't an ideal food. It's better to get your protein from real food sources. This is a good article explaining: http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/debun...ch-protein.html . I'm sure there are ingredients added as well that are less than healthy. However, the main thing is to get in your greens. So long as the majority of your diet is healthy, I think you'll be alright. Congrats on making your first smoothie! 🙂

That article says whey increases tumors and cancers yet http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?s...____&page=4 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/health-bene...ey-protein.html http://www.criticalbench.com/whey_protein_fight_cancer.htm http://www.healthe-livingnews.com/articles...ey_protein.html say they fight and prevent cancer.

Drizzler,

Good question. Without reading all those articles, my guess is that there are in fact certain elements in whey that are indeed beneficial that can help prevent cancer. Even candy can have these elements! I actually saw candy the other day that said it had "antioxidants!" Who buys candy for antioxidants?!!! Anyway, one could claim that that particular candy helps fight against cancer because of the "antioxidants," but we all know there is more "bad" in candy than "good." Sometimes articles, even health articles, skip over the bad and look at the good. You have to ask where they are getting their information from, and are they really doing the thorough research to look at the whole picture?? Did they thoroughly research all articles about whey before claiming it helps fight cancer on the basis of perhaps one article? Dr. Fuhrman does a TON of research, and he basis his research only on very credible, peer-reviewed studies, so with Dr. Fuhrman, you know you're getting the real scoop. I'd bet on him if I were you.

Hi ABG Fairy! I've been gleaning info and researching posts here since I went off BP many months ago (cold turkey - not a good idea - bad scene!). But I only just joined the org officially today - guess I've been waiting until I had some results to share.

Yours was one of the first posts I found, and I've been drinking green smoothies daily (well, except for a few days here and there on vacations) since March. Unfortunately, I can't say they were my acne miracle, but I love them so much, I don't see myself ever not making them. They've been great at helping me to maintain a weight I'm happy with (even when I don't make time for exercise ) and I still can't get over the energy they provide! They've become a part of my lifestyle, and I try to turn as many people on to them as I can.

My favorite blends include:

• cilantro, cucumber, pineapple
• collard, apple, oat, cinnamon
• any mild green w/ avocado, raw orange blossom honey, & kefir
• spinach, lemons or limes & raw honey
• swiss chard, ginger, lemon, apple

I make an oat face rinse every morning by steeping a few tsps of oats in hot water then draining it off once cool. This has been great at soothing and calming my inflammation, but I hated just throwing the oats into the compost bin. I started putting the left behind oats into my smoothies, and I love the addition! Also, I really like the tapioca texture of chia gel added to a finished smoothie - kinda like bubble tea. Plus, chia seeds supposedly have more benefits than flax w/o the phytoestrogen concerns.

Although smoothies didn't clear up my face, strangely enough, I'm pretty sure they cleared my back within the first couple months cause nothing else had changed in my body care regimen in that time. I'm only now seeing good results with my face as I've added DIM and Calcium-D Glucarate as well as D3 to my daily supplements.

Also, I know you like Paula B's products, but I was wondering if you've ever heard of Garden of Wisdom. There's not much mention of GoW on these boards, which is strange to me. They make lovely natural products (free of parabens, SLS and other yucky stuff) that have really calmed my skin. I've found that antioxidants are not just great internally but topically as well.

Anyway, I just wanted thank you from the bottom of my heart as this post of yours was my introduction to the wonders of green smoothies.

Hugs from a grateful reader!

October,

I'm glad you joined the boards and so happy to know you've been enjoying the smoothies for so long!! Those smoothie combinations of yours sound really good!!! I'm really glad you added DIM and Vit. D to your diet - both can definitely help with acne. I'm sure you know that DIM is what is found naturally in cruciferous veggies like spinach and collards, and it helps balance hormones. You must be needing big doses of it right now. I have heard that with time, you can eventually go off the DIM by lowering your dosages and monitoring how your skin does. I hope you continue to improve! I have hard of the products you mentioned but haven't looked into them - glad they're helping!

Hey, just replying because this looks really good, and I've just started making green smoothies today my first was one pear, a few strawberrys, 2 handfuls of english spinach, half a cucumber, some lemon squeeze (didnt have fresh lemons) and 2 teaspoons of pumpkin kernels. It tasted a little bland, but not in a bad way, I did have to use a fair bit of water to mix it with

One thing I was wondering, Some of the stuff in the first post mentions not having too much fruit in one sitting - about a week ago I switched from cereal at breakfast to 3 pieces of fruit (apple, banana, pear) with not much else, and started breaking out in places I haven't broken out in a while a few days after (neck, lips, etc) - could that be due to too much fruit without fat to absorb it? I'm back on cereal w/e a green smoothy alongside it now. I've decided to take daily pictures to track my progress, so if this works for me I'll post before and after pictures in 6 weeks or so

Thanks for all the useful information.

P.S. - Are we supposed to be drinking 4 cups per day as in 4 glasses of green smoothy? and should we spread these out through the day?

Pangarl,

Welcome aboard the green smoothie train! Great start!! It's possible your breakouts are due to the all the fruit for breakfast in one sitting, but one week really isn't enough time to know for sure if it was the fruit or not. Instead of the cereal, how about oatmeal? You can space your smoothie out throughout the day, but it's fine to drink it at one time as well. The main thing is to get at least one large handful of greens a day in your smoothie - don't worry about getting four cups.

Hey abg, thanks for the reply - I know it's too early to tell, it just seemed the obvious culprit because my skins been improving for quite a while and then *boom* breakouts And I always try to explain it however I can. After 3 days without fruit for breakfast the new whiteheads seem to have slowed/stopped, so we'll see.

I suppose I could switch to oatmeal, but is cereal really that bad? I mean I'm a health nut in general so I'm eating a whole grain, low sugar, high fiber cereal with oat milk (switched from soy). I only ask because I do tend to switch what I eat a lot based on my skin and it can get annoying for everyone around me so I'd like to know it's worthwhile before I do I've been clear for months before while eating cereal (all bran) every day, not that I've ever figured out why, heh.

Pangarl,

No problem! Based on what you said, it does sound like the fruit was having an effect on you. For you, maybe just one fruit at a time is best? The whole grain cereal you're eating sounds fine. I should have asked what it was. I just know that oatmeal is a really good choice, and most processed foods aren't. Since you've had good results ever since starting with the All Bran, I'd stick with it for now. I can understand you wanting to keep your food choices drama free with others around too. haha I'm wondering if the high fiber in the All Bran is one factor that is helping to keep your skin clear. I think the fiber content of the smoothies is one of the factors that contributes to clear skin. I'm really curious to see what improvements you'll notice with the smoothies!