Hmm. Angela, I can't remember because I've been using it for 5 years. I think it took a few months. My skin is quite sensitive, though, and I did not react negatively when I first started using it, and it simply started breaking out a lot less often.
I'm happy to share what has REALLY turned around my skin more recently, though - I learned that I was over-drying it with harsh cleansers. So here's what I use now:
Night: put jojoba oil on a cotton pad and wipe makeup off face, then rub excess oil into skin to moisturize. Then spot-treat T-zone and any trouble spots (blackheads or pending breakouts) with tea tree oil - after experimentation I use the tea tree oil straight, but it's recommended to dilute it.
Morning - I wash with Mychelle Honeydew cleanser while I'm in the shower, massaging my skin with my hands (no towels, because the aesthetician who did my facial said I was rubbing too hard and stressing my skin.) When I'm out of the shower, I use L'Occitane lotion on the dry spots of my face (mainly my cheeks.) During summer I apply sunscreen all over. (I don't do this during the rest of the year because we don't get much daylight and my makeup has SPF in it.)
When I'm having a lot of breakouts - once a month - I will use an Aveda clay masque, and I'll sometimes spot-treat pimples with a dot of clay.
A couple times a week I use an Aveda botanical exfoliant on a cotton pad to cleanse my pores.
That's it. Super easy, and my skin is loving it.
Thank you SO much for the sweet compliment. There's still a big part of me that is the teen with super-pimply skin, so it's a pleasant surprise to hear that my skin is looking well these days.
Off topic, but Paula's Choice is actually based very near to me (at home) and was a client of a company I used to work for. I actually have not tried their products yet, though I've heard fabulous things about them.
