Nothing makes me happy like a good old-fashioned magazine. And I don’t mean checking out the latest Us Weekly on my iPad. A few weeks ago, while performing the not exciting task of packing up my apartment to move across town, I discovered something that completely made up for the general agony of moving.

In an old box from about 20 years ago, I found a library of ancient fashion and beauty mags. It felt like opening a time capsule from the 90s.

Immediately, I abandoned my packing duties, grabbed a glass of wine, and took a stack of old issues into the living room. I was overdue for some inspiration, throwback-style. I didn’t know it, but I was about to embark on an educational journey—one that would begin with some awful skin care advice (and unfortunate consequences), but end with a discovery nothing short of miraculous. I will get to the miraculous discovery: but first, the awful advice.

In a 1993 “letters to the beauty editor” feature in one magazine, a reader had sent in a question about getting rid of blackheads at home. “ Score!” I thought to myself. I’d had pretty amazing skin most of my life, but at that moment, my complexion was experiencing some weirdness.

My pores were huge. And worse, the skin around my nose and chin was riddled with blackheads, which, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get rid of. From so-called pore-cleansing strips and toners to gels and drying lotions, I’d explored dozens of options in the way of products. Nothing worked for me.

Eager to pull a DIY fix, I read the advice: a step-by-step how-to on removing blackheads with one’s bare hands. (The gist of it: you “loosen” the pores with a piping hot washcloth for a couple of minutes before squeezing the blackheads out with your fingernails.) Magazine in hand, I marched into my bathroom, pulled out my let’s-be-real magnifying mirror, and went to work.

Spoiler alert: I failed miserably.

I did manage to seriously irritate my skin. There was a lot of redness and a new pimple or two, but the blackheads didn’t budge.

Determined to find a secret weapon for getting rid of blackheads, I tried the all-knowing Internet. It didn’t take me long to learn that, to get rid of blackheads, one must first understand what they are: a form of acne.

What comes next isn’t rocket science: to treat acne, you need an effective acne product. And where would one find that? I knew that the drugstore probably wasn’t the place. So I looked into the latest line of products from a company you have no doubt heard of: Proactiv.

The line from Proactiv is called Proactiv+. What makes it Proactiv’s best product to date is Smart Target® technology. It’s kind of like how medicine is able to effectively do its thing when we swallow a pill. Smart Target® technology concentrates the active acne-fighting ingredient—benzoyl peroxide—and takes it where it needs to go to make magic happen. And for acne, that’s in the pores. Maybe that explains why other acne products cause irritation and leave behind a flaky mess.

Once I started using Proactiv+, change happened quickly. After just a few weeks, my pores went from looking monstrous to non-existent. My blackheads started to disappear. I also began to notice a youthful glow I had not seen in many, many years. ^†† It’s not just me who thinks Proactiv+ is one of the greatest, does-what-it-says-it-will products of all time. Turns out, 85% of people who used Proactiv+ for 13 weeks said they noticed better results with Proactiv+ than other acne prescription treatments they’ve tried^†. That’s huge. If Proactiv+ doesn’t work, there’s a money back guarantee so you don’t have to worry. And if you’re anything like me, you will consider it the best money you’ve ever spent.

Update—10/3/2016: The awesome team at Proactiv+ is extending an exclusive limited-time offer to our readers. Follow this link to get $5.00 off the complete Proactiv+ system, free shipping, PLUS a Blackhead Dissolving Gel & Skin Purifying Mask as FREE gifts with introductory purchase.

Follow this link to get $5.00 off your Proactiv+ kit, Free Shipping, a Free Skin Purifying Mask, and a Free Blackheads Dissolving Gel!

^† Based on a user-perception study after 13 weeks of use

^††Individual results may vary

Presented by Proactiv®