PCA Skin Products for Acne

Are you an adult or teenager suffering from acne who has 'tried everything'? On this page, I'm going to show you the products that finally have helped to clear up my skin after years of frustration and low self-esteem. I hope that you might find this helpful and find help for your skin as well!

This page will be covering the various acne solutions available to you from PCA Skin, a company that doesn't market their product on celebrity-endorsed commercials or 'free trial' memberships. You likely haven't even heard of them because they're not in our faces everyday on the TV trying to sell us a quick fix solution. If I hadn't seen a skincare specialist who was authorized to carry these products, I would never have known, and would have worse skin because of it!

If you find this page helpful, I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below, with your own tips about acne prone skin or just if you've found PCA Skin products to be helpful to your own skin. Best of luck and I hope this helps!

It's not all hype, I promise!

Ok, first of all I need to make this super clear - I'm not a dermatologist or skincare specialist, and I do not work for PCA skin or anyone related to it. I am a real person and I really have problem skin that I'm fixing with PCA Skin products. And since I'm a real person, I'm also really happy to talk to you about this if you have questions!

You've seen the Proactiv commercials with Katy Perry swearing by its benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid formula (and the pictures of her breakouts are so minimal compared to most of us, seriously!) right? I roll my eyes every time. I tried Proactive on two separate occasions years apart to see if it worked, and you know what? It did, for all of maybe two weeks. Then my skin went right back to being bad again. I fell into the marketing hype and that's where it got me. I was like, "ooh Kelly Clarkson! I love her! And she's endorsing this. Must. Buy it. Must. Be like. Kelly. Clarkson..." yeah, no. I've talked to so many people who have had the same thing happen to them.

With PCA skin products, I not only saw improvement in my complexion within a few days, but the more I used it, the better my skin got. I kept waiting for things to stop working, because it seemed that everything I'd tried (including prescription antibiotics, over the counter creams, prescription creams like Retin-A Micro or Differin Gel, you name it) either dried out my skin to the point where it was painful, or just plain didn't work at all.

PCA Skin stands for Physicians Care Alliance. The medicine and other ingredients in PCA Skin products are developed by real doctors and are featured in medical textbooks for their effectiveness. They don't just put an antibiotic with a fragrance in a tube with all sorts of other chemicals mixed in and tell you it's going to work. In fact, you can't walk into any drug store and buy it. You can only get it selectively online or in person through doctor's offices and licensed skincare professionals.

I assume that this is not only because they're so effective but because they're medically developed and best used when under the guidance of someone who really knows what's in them and how different ingredients will work with your own skin's conditions. What worked for me may not work for you and vice versa, so I hope you'll read this page and take the information with you to your dermotologist or skincare professional and ask some questions to see if you might benefit as well.

PCA Skin products span a whole spectrum of needs, from chemical peels to vitamin serums, moisturizing creams and cleansers. My personal favorite is the A&C synergy syrum which I'll cover in just a little bit! It doesn't smell the best but it WORKS. Good golly I put it on before I go to bed and I wake up feeling like my skin renewed itself. It's completely nuts.

Let's look at some helpful acne products in the PCA line.

I recently had a facial and the location I went to carried, much to my excitement, PCA Skin products! I hadn't had the chance to get them in over a year since I had moved far away from where my previous skincare professional was. My skin had gotten worse over the year and I was hopeful I could get it back under control.

I'm currently using the PCA Skin Acne sample kit to see how it all goes. So far so good! I've already seen improvement and it's just been a couple of weeks. My skin has been much less broken out, and the current marks and breakouts that were there when I started have been healing up nicely.

The nice thing about a kit is you get 3 weeks worth of products (approximately. I think mine will last a bit longer actually), and you can try them without feeling like you have to take out a loan to buy full-sized bottles of everything. You may find that you only need to use the facial wash once a day to keep your skin from drying out instead of twice, or perhaps the scrub is too harsh for you and you don't need it, etc.

What's in the kit?

• The Vitamin A&C Synergy Serum - this promotes cell regrowth and nourishes your skin to help get rid of marks or scars. It is my absolute favorite thing. It also helps to disinfect and keep bacteria away while you're sleeping so your skin will literally look better when you wake up.

• Oily/Problem skin Facial Wash - This is super gentle and effective at cleansing problem skin without making it flake or feel irritated.

• Clearskin Cream - You apply this creamy gel at night to help heal breakouts and keep new bacteria at bay, while safely moisturizing

• Phaze 7 Moisturizer - this soft moisturizer has SPF 25 and really helps your skin to feel nourished during the day, without feeling greasy

• Purifying Mask - You use this exfoliating mask once a week to buff away dead skin cells and penetrate to kill bacteria under the surface. It has little micro-pumace beads that feel sandy but satisfying when you rub it around. And it smells really good! No sulfur like some other scrubs can have which, at least for me, I can smell them all day and it makes me feel sick.

• Acne Gel - this, along with the A&C serum is what I like to call 'liquid gold' haha. It has a gold color, but you dab just a little over each blemish you want to treat, day or night. It forms a seal immediately and begins attacking the bacteria in the blemish. I can't believe how well it works. Spot treatments like Clearasil never did anything for me, and this glossy gel takes care of problems so well.

Keeping a Schedule

Another reason why I love this trial kit is because I'm so bad at staying to a strict regimen with my skincare. Previously I'd have an assortment of products from different places and be like "oh...wait. Was I supposed to use this scrub everyday? Or once a week? Oh no I forgot to put on the toner before I used the moisturizer. But this other cream I have goes on once a week, right? Right? AHHH!!"

With this, it comes with instructions that lay it out so clearly. It's even got numbered steps and it tells you how often to use the products, how much to use, how to apply them, what order to use them in, etc. It is SO HELPFUL. I think this is a huge reason why it's been so effective for me, because I've been able to use it properly and consistently.

Ok... I'm going on and on about these products and I've already said that they're not the type plastered on billboards advertising free trials and all of those promotions. There's probably a reason for this - because they actually work and often, in order to get something that really works or that's really high quality, it comes with a price tag.

For me, I've felt pretty desperate about my skin all this time, so I'm the type of person that takes a deep breath and says, "honestly, having better skin after all of this frustration is worth whatever I need to pay to help that happen. Feeling embarrassed of my skin or just even having the physical pain of acne is worth treating." This isn't to say I'd be able to walk into a clinic to pay thousands for some newfangled cosmetic laser procedure, but! As far as products go, I will warn you PCA Skin isn't the least expensive. But please understand that I really think it's because they work. And they may not all work for you like they have for me, so it's great to check with a doctor or try a sample pack before diving in head first.

To give you an idea of the pricing, I've included some product listings I could find on Amazon. This is even a little less expensive than buying them at a clinic or aesthetics office, but it's about right for retail price. You may see the size of the containers and think "That's ALL you get??" but with such highly concentrated medicine, a little goes a long way! Just an eyedropper full of A&C serum is enough to coat your face, neck, and a little of your chest before bed. So it lasts a few months before you have to run out and buy more.

You just have to ask yourself what the price is of not helping your skin, and if you feel it's worth it to spend a bit more than you would at the grocery store to have clear skin once and for all. I think so!!

Before you take a trip to a specialist or doctor, if you're interested in trying some PCA Skin products to see how they work for you, I've included a bunch here that have really helped me. It's best to use several in a system of overall care, but if you'd like to try just one, I highly recommend the A&C serum or the Phaze 7 moisturizer. The real key to clear skin beyond diet and exercise is a proper balance of cleansing, exfoliating, and moisturizing. Keep these three stages in check and your skin will thank you for it!

As with any medical regimen, there is more to treatment than simply the medicine that you put in your body.

Being healthy, including keeping your skin healthy, involves all around health. I'm currently seeing a doctor who's big on holistic medicine in combination with traditional medicine, and it's been a real eye opener to know that ailments don't always need a pill to fix! Here are some of the best tips I can think of from my doctor and other natural health supporters to help you clear up your skin and keep it that way in conjunction with the products you're using:

• Drink a lot of water - and I say a LOT because it feels like way more than you'd ever need! It's proven that drinking water cleanses your system of toxins, and this includes your biggest organ - your skin! Skin will look more supple and radiant when it's hydrated, and it's hydrated by, you guessed it, drinking water!

• Don't Smoke - smoking dries out your skin, causes premature aging, discoloration, wrinkles, ick. Do your complexion and immune system a favor and don't smoke. You might not know that smoking actually makes it a lot harder for your body to fight infection or heal, so one reason your current acne medicine isn't healing your acne could be due to smoking if you're a smoker.

• Get Rest - your skin replenishes itself the most when you're sleeping. This is the body's time to recharge, shed dead skin cells and repair the damage of the day. The more sleep you get, the more your skin can heal and rejuvenate.

• Eat Fiber and Vitamin-rich foods - I remember reading Seventeen Magazine as a teenager and seeing an article where they were saying that eating things like pizza, sugary foods or fatty foods won't give you acne, contrary to popular myth. Well guess what, that myth holds some truth. Eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins is far better for your complexion than greasy food, and it's not just because of calories, but more because of nutritional content. Vitamins are essential to your health and they radiate in your skin. Also, many people don't realize that acne, psoriasis, eczema and other skin conditions can often be CAUSED by food allergies! Gluten intolerance, dairy allergies, and other sensitivities can manifest themselves in the skin. Reducing the potential allergens you ingest and artificial flavorings and chemicals means a much better chance of clearing your skin naturally.

The PCA Skin website has allll sorts of information about your skin, about how to take care of it, about what's in the PCA Skin products that makes them effective, what types of conditions they treat, etc. etc. If I tried to cover everything this page would be eons long! So I would highly recommend you go to the PCA website and read, look at the products, etc.

Unfortunately you can't purchase the products directly from their website. You'll have to find a skincare professional that carries them in your area. How do you do this? Give a call or an email.

I emailed them to ask this very question and was so surprised to get a response right away from a real person! And not just a real person, but a real nice person, too. She was so helpful and friendly and really made me feel like if I had more questions I could ask them and they'd be answered promptly and courteously. So it is definitely worth it to reach out and find out who carries these products in your area (unless you get them online, which is apparently possible on some sites).

Have you tried these products and had success with them? I actually haven't met anyone in person who's used them (other than the professionals that have consulted me on using them), so I'd love to meet some other folks who have tried them and found success! Any acne tips to share of your own? Products to stay away from? Of course everyone's skin is different and different medicines work for different people, but it can't hurt to hear some feedback to help readers make educated choices about their skin.