Skin Care Review: Obagi Nu-Derm with Retina A

Rating
Adverse Effects

Benefits
Slightly lighter skin

Drawbacks
Scabs, extreme acne increase, peeling, redness

Details
I used the full product line of the Obagi Nu Derm system. I used Retin A alone before starting Obagi to get my skin used to Retin A first, so as to minimize my reactions. Here's what happened for me:

Week 1: Dry, red peeling skin.

Week 2: Acne started, along with increased dryness, peeling and redness

Week 3: Worsening acne, dryness, peeling, redness, scabbing of skin

Week 4-7: Severe acne (the worst I've ever had), peeling so that large thick flakes fell throughout the day, overall fake-looking redness, scabs on my cheeks from acne and peeling such that I think Obagi actually GAVE me scars

Week 8: Continued severe acne, which occurred in places that I've never before had acne (forehead, temples), reduced redness and peeling. Obagi was actually CAUSING me acne.

Week 9-10: Peeling and redness were more tolerable but still looked fake (like I was perpetually getting over a bad sunburn), continued large and severe acne that was worse than I ever had without Obagi

Basically, Obagi gave me acne, scabs and scars. To be fair, it did lighten my skin. But it also made me red, as if my face was swept with a red-tinted foundation. The worst part though, aside from the redness and peeling, was the fact that Obagi gave me severe acne and scars.

From other people's reviews, it seems as if Obagi is okay for those seeking to reduce the signs of aging. However, for anyone predisposed to having breakouts I wouldn't recommend this product.

Generally, I'm a disciplined, tolerant person. I followed every step of the Obagi regime to the letter, every single morning and night, for 10 weeks. I didn't mind being flaky, red, or even pimply for a few weeks... because I thought there'd be a pay-off at the end. Afterall, what's a few weeks of embarassment for better-looking skin?

But I never got the pay-off. All I got was worse acne and scars (and I never even had scars or bad acne before, just a few pimple now and again).

I took the time to write this because it's an expensive product line and I wanted others to know that it's not magic. It doesn't work. And it actually can make your skin worse.

Obagi seems to have a lot of expensive marketing and advertising promoting it and there seem to be many well-educated doctors pushing it. But all these entities get a kick-back for this. Marketers/advertisers get paid. Doctors make money off of the product line when you buy it. It only seems fair that you hear something from a completely uninterested party--me--a user who had bad results and will be honest about them.

It seems like there are lots of people who had succes with Obagi. So my word alone clearly can't be gospel. But I wanted to put my story out there.

Conclusions
Worsened acne, scars-- would not recommend.

Price (paid by reviewer)
400

Where to find it
Dr