Customer Reviews

AcneFree Severe Acne Treatment System

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

First off I want to explain that I have had terrible acne off and on (mostly on though) for the past 8 years. I had to be put on Accutane my sophmore year for 6 months in high school and then again my freshman year of college for another 3 months. I have been struggling ever since then and needed an alternative to dermatoligist bills and prescriptions for acne treatment.

I was having extremely painful and frequent breakouts in the later half of last year and in early November I happened to stumble upon this product. I had my doubts because I had already given Proactiv a couple of tries in the past.

The first week of using the 4 products in the package my face became EXTREMELY dry! At first I was worried because it would always be a little red and irritated for the first hour or two after going through the routine. However, within 4 days ALL of my blemishes (big and small) had cleared up! Within a couple of weeks my skin even became smoother, softer, and more even-toned. Trust me, if you have problem skin and want to try something new, this product is definitely worth a shot!

Also, I love that you can buy this in pretty much any Walgreens and Walmart so it's very convenient...no waiting for it to be delivered. I purhased mine at Walmart for $20-something in November 2006 and still have more than half remaining of each product in the pack.

Thank you University Medical for making an affordable product that actually works! Best of luck to all of you who are struggling with acne...and don't mark this one off your list!

I only started breaking out with acne in my early thirties. After trying the Loreal adult acne system for 2 months & Proactiv for 6 months with minimal results, I decided to give this a try. Yes, it made my skin very dry the first few weeks but I used a moisturizer over it kept using it and got fantastic results. I had the hard, large painful nodules on my face and this not only cleared them but I don't even break out anymore. One kit lasted me 6 months and my skin is soft & smooth. After the acne went it away, it did leave behind the black marks but Avon's skin brightener faded those out almost overnight. I highly recommend this product.

Let me start this out by stating that I am in my 30's and have tried every acne product known to man for about 15 years. I have seen a dermatologist, resorted to birth control and used everything from neutrogena to murad, as well as proactiv. None of these worked for me, and most actually made my skin worse.

When you're in your 30's and are STILL dealing with acne, you start to wish for wrinkles, because who has wrinkles and acne, right?!?! I was starting to think I would be one of the few dealing with both, and that was a pretty depressing prospect.

I usually check out reviews on everything before I buy it, but when I saw this product at target, and saw that it was marketed specifically for severe acne, I bought it without knowing a thing about it (sidenote: this product was 21.99 there).

I know it sounds crazy, but I saw a difference in my skin the next day, after only applying it before I went to bed. Prior to purchasing this, I had just had a terrible experience with Burts Bees acne products, which had made my skin red, even more oily, and had produced terrible pre-pubescent breakouts along both sides of my chin. After one application of acne free, the redness was reduced significantly, and some of my more painfull bumps had gone down in size...which is huge.

I was ecstatic, but had experienced these results with other topical treatments, only to be let down a week or so later, when my skin would eventually return to its angry self. So I waited two weeks before sharing my review.

It is now three weeks after starting application, and my skin has honestly never been so clear. I still have a few bumps, but compared to what I was dealing with before, I'll take them. Because this is a benzoyl peroxide based product, after a few weeks my skin became really tight, and that led to a few minor bumps. I started using an oil free, fragrance free moisturizer (olay regenerist), and that cleared everything up.

My husband has remarked on how much brighter my skin looks, and I am over the moon. I have even gone to the grocery store without makeup (and not wanted to die of humiliation). If you have skin like mine, you know what a huge, amazing thing this is.

Prior to using acne free, I had small bumps, whiteheads, and periodic cystic bumps that were super painful. It may not have looked severe to other people, but it felt pretty darn severe to me after dealing with it for so long. I would absolutely, whole heartedly reccomend this product to anyone dealing with acne. Just invest in some great moisturizer if you have sensitive skin.

I'll start with a little background about me. I have had acne issues since I turned 16. I only really had it on my face but I got a lot of it and they never really seemed to go away. My breakouts would mostly be on my cheeks, chin, forehead and around the edges of my nose. I took many trips to the dermatologist's office with him promising me one day where I'd have clear skin like the Photoshopped models that were hanging all over his wall.

My family knew too many people that were on Accutane that had issues with it so I never got to try that remedy. My immune system is horrible and that's half of what my problem was (or so I think). My immune system got bad throughout my life from having too many antibiotics. It got to the point where the antibiotics were also killing my good bacteria so common colds would even take me 1 month or more to get rid of.

I did, however, try multiple solutions in high school to fix my acne-related issues. I tried pills, topical creams, lotions, special face wash, mud masks (I'm a guy so this was awkward), even my girlfriend's concealer to try to cover up the issue. I was determined to get rid of it but nothing was working. I figured my only true way out was to grow out of it or get some kind of laser skin treatment.

I'm very tall at 6'8" and I have very large pores. My skin is very oily and where some guys have a 5 'o clock shadow I have a 5 'o clock glaze. When I finally got the ability to start growing facial hair it was helpful in covering up some key areas of my face. After college, my skin seemed to start improving. Maybe I was in the sun more, maybe my diet improved, maybe I was just finally growing out of acne. It was never great or gone but it seemed to at least finally be manageable.

Fast-forward to 2 months ago. I'm 29 and living the healthiest life I've had in as long as I can remember. I'm finally eating 3 meals a day (compared to 1), eating less junk food, drinking less pop (soda) and yet somehow I got hit by the worst breakout of my life. At one point in the midst of this breakout I counted 35 separate zits or red spots on my face. Some started as white heads, some were just red bumps, some just red marks but the key point was that none of them were going away. I'd pop the white heads and within 2 days they would be full-size again and now spreading like an infection across my face.

Hiding it was not a possibility anymore. There was no makeup or magic solution to fix this problem. I had no idea and still have no idea what the root of the problem was...I just needed to find a way to get rid of it. I got a face wash/lotion combination called Rapid Clear from Neutrogena that was supposed to help bad breakouts like this one. I went through that tube of face wash faster than I ever had before in my life (washing my face 3 times a day) and using the lotion when specified.

After one month of using this special combination I barely noticed any kind of difference. What else could I try? I happened to be at Wal-Greens one day about 5 weeks ago and saw the AcneFree Severe to Clear System and bought it for $30 after reading some quick reviews. I know what you're thinking...after all this it's time to finally get to the review!

A lot of people mentioned how quick they noticed a difference and for me it was the same way. I was completely blown away. After just 2 days I already began to notice that the overall redness was diminishing and I did not seem to be getting any new red spots on my face. Now it was time to see if the system could clear up the monstrosity that my face became. I followed the directions and used it exactly as prescribed for 3+ weeks. My skin is very oily, as mentioned earlier, but apparently not very sensitive. I never had any issues with my skin feeling like it was burning, nothing ever felt like it was on fire (no matter how close I got to my eyes) and my skin did not dry out anymore than usual. We have hard water at my house so my skin is always dry when I get out of the shower.

I love how this system has 4 separate parts that you can use whenever you want. Granted, you'll definitely run out of the face wash a lot sooner than everything else but by that point you should be able to just use a regular face wash again. So how good was it?

-- After 2 days, I noticed redness going away.
-- After 1 week, I noticed swelling dying down.
-- After 2 weeks, I noticed entire sections of my face starting to heal.
-- After 3 weeks, I noticed my skin feeling the softest and smoothest it's been since before hitting puberty.
-- After 5 weeks and current time, I notice that I'm no longer needing facial hair to cover anything up on my face. This is by far the best my skin has ever looked in my adult life. For the first time ever that I can remember, I can walk out of my house with confidence in how my skin looks. A "breakout" for me now means one whitehead that goes away in 2 days. I wish I could show pictures of what my skin looked like before and what it looks like now.

Words truly can't explain how satisfied I am about this product. It's the only thing that actually worked and it seems to have even "cured" whatever skin infection I've been dealing with since I was 16. You can buy this system in some places for $20 and for the price of an average dinner, drink, & dessert at a decent restaurant you can get the best looking skin in your life!

I only write reviews for products that I either COMPLETELY LOVE or COMPLETELY HATE. This is one of those things that I wish I could give 6 stars out of 5. I feel bad for the people that did not get the same results but I can definitely attest to the fact that it DOES work for some people. Absolutely incredible!

ok, i must warn you that i may sound like an infomercial, but i am hooked on this product for my acne problems.

i have tried proactiv, murad, another acne kit that i can't think of the name in addition to separate topicals (e.g. noxzema, clearasil, etc.) and none have given me the results that this product gives. i have even tried the milder version of the acne free system and didn't have as good results as i get with the severe acne free system. i wouldn't recommend this product for those with dry or sensitive skin and acne. this is a very drying formula that works on my very oily face.

i never thought of my acne as severe, but i would always have a big zit in one place or another on my face that would leave big scars after the zit went away. now, i have not had a breakout since using this product (3 months). i hope it works for you!

I am 22 and have batteling acne on and off since I was 14. During that time I have tried everythng including Proactiv... which really, dont waste your money! I was basically best friends with my dermatolgist who knew that my skin would need something new every other year, due to its becoming immuned to the medicine after awhile. But after m insurance got cancelled my acne medication prices sky rocketed... so I decided to play the over the counter game till I got insurance again.

I spent a few hours looking up my skin type online... I looked up all the active ingredients of most acne medications and then spent a few hours in CVS reading the packaging over every acne clearing medicine on the shelf. This is the one I settled on seeing that it had the strongest chemicals in a single system than anything else. I bought with it the acnefree sulfur mask and after 2 months bought the acnefree scar fading cream. I also own an exfoliator by St. Ives, a cucumber rejuvenating peel-off mask and use Neutrogena Acne free foundation when I put make up on (it has saylic acid in it, one of the low doses of acne treatment). With this particular combination of things I have been acne free. It is a long a process and my skin needs so many products to stay healthy and not have a break out... but this product really is the best... I noticed it working after 2 weeks.

Here are some tips I have had to find out the hard way about acne breakouts:
1. The number one thing I have to advice girls to do is to start a birth control pill or patch. The moment I stop my acne flares very badly. It takes about 3 months for it to show up on your skin, but its the best way to regulate skin condition.
2. If you get cheeck acne like I do... pay attention to cleaning your cell phone often... or putting it on speaker as often as possible, of just holding it a bit away from your face when you talk.
3. Clean your pillow cases as often as you can! Think about it... your laying with your face and hair smooshed against something for 8 hours at a time.
4. Keep your hair back when ever you cantieing it back and pulling back bangs... just styled your hair and don't want a big rubber band kink in it? Just use a piece of ribbon and pull it back gently till your ready to go out and just use a small bobby pin to pull the bangs. (Not only does your hair lock in oils... but think of all those chemicals you spray in it that rubs off on your face!)
5. Avoid putting on make up till you really need to... I highly highly highly recommend Neutrogenas Liquid Foundation that actually has acne medicine it. You can find it at your local drug store... this is the only kind of make up that dosnt cause a break out of any sort.
6. Touch your face as little as possible during the day.
7. Watch what you eat. Some people say chocolate... but I swear for me its shrimp! But I guess for different people really you can have different reactions... but shrimp will cause a flare up within a day... they are bottom feeders... so I am just eating the dirt that they eat off the bottom of the ocean.
8. Try a skin vitamin! Vit. E, Biotin, and flax will really help skin a lot! Anything with omegas in it makes skin and hair stronger and healthier. I love Avacados!

Those are my tips... I am just a normal person who has been very observant of my skin and have made coorelations between breakouts and the things I have done... it dosn't hurt to make your own diary and mark your own findings. :)

*Edit 02/25/2012*

This is a comprehensive look at my 2 years of experience with AcneFree Severe. I found this product because I was looking for a wallet friendly alternative to controlling acne besides accutane or seeing some Derma-filch. Some of my review I'll direct towards helping you understand the effects of this product but I'll also talk about my routine and I how I use it.

The breakdown of the product:

About (STEP 1) The Antibacterial Cleansing Wash

The Antibacterial Wash has Benzoyl peroxide in it, a standard for fighting acne causing bacteria. Keep this in mind: you are administering a double dose of Benzoyl Peroxide when you use the Antibacterial Wash in combination with the Maximum Strength Repair Lotion in (STEP 3).
The Wash itself feels mild, yet creamy, with some granules. I give my face a gentle rub for a couple minutes and rinse with cool water. Very easy, very basic. Some advice, warm or hot water is likely to dry out your skin. It breaks down a very fine layer of lipids that keeps the skin balmy and protected from the elements so cool water is usually a best option.

About (STEP 2) The Renewing Toner

The Renewing Toner is definitely the key component of any benzoyl peroxide based system IMO. Why? It helps balance the facial PH and hydrate the skin which gets bombarded with the benzoyl peroxide. When putting on the toner (STEP 2), you can really feel the elasticity of your natural skin return as it hydrates. It should juxtapose any dryness or burning with a few swabs applied from a cotton ball.

About (STEP 3) The Maximum Strength Healing Lotion (Benzoyl Peroxide)

AcneFree has the 10% Benzoyl Peroxide (STEP 3) which is great. 10% is very potent as another reviewer already stated. It does pack a noticeable "cool burning" sensation and it does feel a little like sandpaper. If you don't cake it on, it won't dry your skin out. I would know because the skin around my mouth gets creases/laugh lines easily if my skin is dry. I advise not to put too much on all at once, start with smaller/thinner applications and let your skin adjust to the chemical treatment. The toner (STEP 2) should really be used in conjunction with the lotion. Another great thing about it (for me) is the bottle for the lotion seems to last really long. I have left overs from 3 boxes ago which I apply on my back and shoulders and chest with great results. Like I said, you don't need to go overboard. Twice a day application should help a lot.

STEP 4) The Retinol Complex

This works great to soften and nourish the skin. I recommend using it after your first week of just STEPS 1-3, to get your skin use to the products. I use it at night, sometimes in the morning. (STEP 4) says it is not to be used in tandem with (STEP 3)so I don't use them at the same time. I'll substitute in (STEP 4) for (STEP3) a couple days a week or when I have been getting exposed to really dirty conditions or harsh elements (e.g. exercise, winter, beach, dog). I do notice it keeps my skin supple and more colorful. I recently found out retinol is basically vitamin A which is crazy good for keeping skin young looking. In general, my face suffers alot less dryness and irritability for longer periods of time when I apply it. The retinol cream is viscous, but it blends into the skin very nicely. It is not oily or noticeable at all.

My Insights

Over the years I have experimented with using The Antibacterial Wash, The Benzoyl Peroxide and the Retinol Complex completely by themselves. I have determined for myself that the while the Antibacterial Wash and Benzoyl Peroxide fight acne, it is the Retinol Complex and the Renewing Toner that will "stabilize" your skin. Without (STEP 2 the Toner), (STEP 1 Wash) and (STEP 3 Lotion) WILL dry you out! The good thing is if you make regular and -light- applications of all the steps, it does well. The sad thing is, since the Renewing toner is basically like a liquid consistency, not cream, so it runs out slightly faster than the other two steps. The Retinol Complex is also a smaller "bottle" so if you use it like the others, you'll run out. I reserve it for night time applications as directed.

So I'm not going to say that I bought this out of desperation because I didn't. However, I had already tried Proactive and the regular Acnefree. I started SEVERE Acnefree since I had no where else to look in my budget after off brand homeostasis pills and whatnot.

BTW, Proactiv really does suck. It is overpriced and the active ingredients are not effective. Back when I was in High School it cost a disproportional price (39.99) and used a lot of celebrity endorsement to get their credibility (catalogues featuring Vanessa Williams/Jessica Simpson/Avril Lavigne). I used it for a about half a year before ditching it.

Anyway, I'm not sure how they actually measured AcneFree Severe to be 4x better, but YES, it performed INFINITELY better than Proactiv for me. Excellent, Excellent cost effective product. It smells slighty but it is not a concern for me. While I gave it 5 out of 5 stars, I CANNOT speak for EVERYBODY's skin. However this supposedly niche product has performed very well in both fighting my acne and rejuvenating my skin for a $20 package ($18, now that amazon has the subscribe feature).

One kit will last me about 4-ish months. I have learned how much my skin needs and how to effectively apply my products overtime. That will take some practice on your part. The Toner usually empties first but pour about 4-5 drops on a normal size cottonball and it should last closer to the other bottles. Just swab lightly so you can really cover on your face without having to apply more.

I'm not going to lie, I do get a bump or a pimple here or there. This is not a miracle product, but it does exactly what I was hoping it could do: control my acne, prevent breakouts, and promote skin health. I am not"cured" from acne but I cannot blame this product for that because I have a very active and somewhat stressful lifestyle filled with dirt and irritation. That being said, AcneFree SEVERE is 20 bucks and I'm still using it 2 years after I found it :)

Oh, Protip: wash your pillow sheets often. All those dead hair and skin cells on your face at night? Yeah. And the rubbing of skin on fabric? Don't wonder why you break out.

If you have any questions feel to drop this review a comment.

I started getting acne in my early 30's. I tried so many acne systems over 9 years (I'm 39 now), including Pro Activ and nothing worked - until now! I put off adding a review right away (even though I noticed results immediately) because I wanted to be sure I was going to have positive results long term. I've been using Acne Free Severe for about 6 weeks now and couldn't be happier. Immediately, it started to heal the pimples I had (large cyst like pimples). And, it keeps new pimples from appearing. Before using Acne Free it seemed like each morning, I woke with a new red spot on my face. I used to run to the mirror as soon as I got up to see what was there, now I am rest assured to only find a clear, smooth face! Not only did it clear my pimples, but it has really started to repair damage done from pimples I've had in the past. I have experienced NO dryness and no redness! But, you should only use this if you truly have "severe" acne and severely oily skin. I always seem to run out of the toner before the rest of the products. Saw a you tube video where a customer recommends using witch hazel as toner until the other 3 products run out! Was glad for that tip and thought I'd share. I'm so grateful for this product!!!!!!!

I've been only using this product for a week now and it seems to be working well. I'm nervous to get too optimistic because products tend to work for a while and then stop on me. I will have to update this review in a month.

Overall I would say that I have moderate acne, with cystic acne flare ups. many small bumps under the skin that don't become full fledged white heads, uneven skin texture and color, but not much scarring. I started the program with three nodules that have seemed to calm down quite a bit. What I have noticed is the discoloration from past acne flareups seems to be fading which I am very happy about.

I have not had any sensitivities to the product. I like the combination of calming, natural ingredients in the composition of each product. I had tried Pro active in the past and it did not work for me, but I think I needed something a little stronger. I am hoping that this combination will work better for me.

Good price, and I like that it's available at the store...Though I had to go to three stores to find it! Guess it must work well if it's getting sold out. May be easier to order on line in the future, but I wanted to try it right away to see if it worked.

Since my 20's I've struggled with cystic acne (I'm now 48), with bouts of one to two cysts at any given time. Usually one is healing while a new one is forming. They are painful, disfiguring and slow to heal. Took 2 rounds of Accutane which was supposed to cure me, but didn't. I've developed my own "surgical" intervention when possible, but the cyst has to follow a specific pattern to open with a sterile needle. If all else fails I go to the dermatologist for a steroid shot. For some reason, I've gone through a worse episode than normal so I bought AcneFree on 5/21 I'm four weeks in and this last week my face has begun to clear - no new cysts and the old ones healing more quickly than usual. In addition, the quality of my skin is improving. I'm also pleased that I've not experienced extreme dryness as others report. So far I am a happy customer.

July 28th, 2009 update - still no new blemishes. Face is clear for the 1st time in months. Still a happy customer.