I sent back my Proactiv kit today, intent upon taking them up on their offer of a full refund, minus shipping and handling (naturally).

But I got FREE shipping and handling. Ha! So there, clever purveyors of benzoyl peroxide! And shipping it back to you is cheaper than shipping it from you to me.

Y’all, Proactiv ate my face. DeVOURED it. I mentioned this in a previous post and stopped short of posting a photo because (a) ew and (b) I’m already a wobbly photographer and was unconvinced I could manage a steady shot of my grated cheek.

My cheeks were so dry that, when I went for a massage and flipped to lie face down, they felt like they were about to crack and I couldn’t relax. The pain of it was excruciating — like a full-face bee sting. And it didn’t stop when I stood up.

I stuck to the basic regimen for another day or so and eschewed all the “oil-free” and “repairing” crap. Still, though, my chapped cheeks would not heal.

Just in time, a Super Dermatology Guru flew into town (to visit her daugher, not to give me advice) and told me I didn’t have to keep using a product that was clearly trying to chew through to my brain. I don’t know why I needed her to tell me that, but it was certainly easier to hear it over dinner than to try to schedule an appointment with my dermatologist, take time off work, and pick up the inevitable prescription for…lotion.

After a couple of days of the products that have worked all along, but for the occasional outbreak of adult acne (due in no small part to laziness, I’m sure), my face is back to its usual combination-and-borderline-rosacea-according-to-one-friend self.

Experiment: complete. Result: epic fail, for my skin.