19 replies to this topic

[whatthekell]

so i've been on the regimen for 5 months now. i'd say i'm, 97% clear. still get the occasional couple of pimples every few days. the problem is the dryness. i can't stand it anymore. and i'm also tired of people saying "why is your face so red"? i didn't even realize it was red til someone pointed it out. the color of my face compared to my neck is very obvious. i want to reduce the amount of BP i use drastically, but i'm afraid the acne will return.

[Maximus Decimus Merideous]

why dont you tell us exactly what your regimen is and the products you are using?

[whatthekell]

olay pore minimizing cleanser, l'oreal alcohol free toner, dan's BP, and clean & clear dual action moisturizer. my skin is so sensitive and it took me this long to find the right products that don't break me out. i can't use cetaphil, dan's moisturizer, AHA on my face, or jojoba oil. blah

[Ripon10]

Hello -

Your redness may be an allergic reaction to Dan's BP. My daughter had the same reaction. She was always red. My younger daughter was itchy. I think there is something in the formula that sensitive skin reacts to. My girls now both use Lumiplexion. Lumiplexion used to be Acne Treatment Center, and I have used her products for over 20 years off and on (now staying on).

My older daughter is using the BP from Lumiplexion, and it is not making her red. My younger daughter's skin is a bit more sensitive. She didn't try the BP but went straight onto the sulfur clearing medicine. My girls both had moderate acne. In addition to the BP, there are other things you can add into your regimen from her products that will help with clearing.

Julie

[Maximus Decimus Merideous]

whatthekell, on 31 December 2011 - 01:03 PM, said:

olay pore minimizing cleanser, l'oreal alcohol free toner, dan's BP, and clean & clear dual action moisturizer. my skin is so sensitive and it took me this long to find the right products that don't break me out. i can't use cetaphil, dan's moisturizer, AHA on my face, or jojoba oil. blah

I highly disagree with the post above me. Here is what you do. Drop the toner ASAP. Drop the duel moisturizer (it has BHA in it which is a huge nono for you). If you don't do this you will not clear up any more than the 97% and your skin will never be moisturized. Try any other moisturizer...cerave, nuetrogena sensitive skin, ponds skin cream, anything that is NOT medicated. If you do this and find a better (NON MEDICATED) moisturizer (just do some quick internet research, there are hundreds of good ones), i assure you that your skin problems will be solved. And again, no toner, it is not necessary and can only cause irritation. You are not on Dan's regimen if you use a toner and BHA.

I just looked up your cleanser...drop it too. It will add to your irritation. I highly recommend Dan's cleanser, but purpose cleanser is reallyyyy good also. Like i said for the moisturizer, you need a NON medicated face wash.

[asburypark101]

Unfortunately BP will cause irritation and dryness, its just one of the side effects. I am happy for you that you are 97 percent clear and I understand your reluctance to reduce the amount of BP in fear that your acne may come back, but reducing the amount of BP may ease the irritation. I would suggest using the BP every other day and see if this helps. If you are really worried about reducing the BP, you could try using a more gentle cleanser on your skin instead of the toner because while toner can be effective against acne, in conjunction with the BP may be causing the excessive irritation and redness to the face. I also agree with the above post that this is not an allergic reaction to BP...topical allergies typically result in hives and small bumps, but this sounds more like irritation from using too many chemicals on the face.

[Ripon10]

It is very common for people to be allergic to BP - look it up. Redness is a very common side effect of chemical reaction, such as the sunburn effect some people here report. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. I don't see any doctor credentials in either of the above posters profile, so weigh what you will on their opinions.

If you have very sensitive skin, most store brand products are not for you such as Oil of Olay, Loreal, etc. It's very possible you are having a reaction to one of the other products you are using, but both my girls got red and itchy from BP from this site. Once they stopped, it stopped. My daughter uses Lumiplexion BP and does not get red or itchy. She got clear.

In the end you have to come up with what works for you, but don't discount BP as the culprit based upon the above two posts.

Also, CeraVe, Cetaphil, and many over-the-counter moisturizers will break you out. I've used Dan's in the past without any problem. I just don't like the consistency. Almost all the products are very watery and thin, but to each their own. I used to use Eucerin moisturizer for sensitive skin but they stopped making it a couple years ago. CeraVe and Cetaphil broke me and my daughters out with a lot of small whiteheads - yuck.

Julie

Edited by Ripon10, 31 December 2011 - 04:38 PM.

[Maximus Decimus Merideous]

shes most likely not allergic, if she was she would have stopped months ago, people usually can't stand the effects. Their faces get swollen, they breakout more, their faces get crusty, and its really bad. Also, keep in mind RIPON10 doesn't have any credentials either, and I have been around this site for a long, long time. About 3% of people are allergic...if you don't believe this statistic look it up. The OP's face is dry and irritated because like I SAID, she is using 3 very irritating products....BHA, toner, and the face-wash. The solution is super easy to see....just stop using them.

Edited by Maximus Decimus Merideous, 31 December 2011 - 05:58 PM.

[Ripon10]

Actually about 5% of people are allergic to BP. You also have to figure that it's going to be people with more sensitive skin who break out or react to products that will fall into that category. So you take away the percentage of the population with sensitive skin and then say 5% of those people, which is a considerable factor.

I am not against BP. I do believe not all BPs are created alike, which is why one of my daughters is having success with BP - but just not Dan's. I use BP without a problem. However, I've seen both my girls react to it, so I do have firsthand knowledge of what it looks like.

Additionally, the original post does not state when she began experiencing the redness, so it may have been all along. There are people on these boards using the BP and complaining of the redness. Redness is a sign of irritation and is your body's way of saying stop. People just don't realize this and figure it's a normal side effect. Dryness is, redness isn't.

The best thing you can do is stop one product at a time and see how your skin reacts.

[whatthekell]

wow.

julie, thank you for being the only sensitive person on this post. i didn't mean to start an argument. just wanted some feedback to see if anybody else is having this problem.

like i said, i've been on the regimen for 5 months. i've read the do's and don'ts a hundred times. like i said again, i have VERY sensitive skin. so obviously i can't use a shit load of products out there because they either break me out or i get burned skin. i've tried neutrogena sensitive skin lotion. it sucked. didn't moisturizer at all. i've tried olay. i've tried cetaphil. i'm allergic to it. cerave uses the same ingredients as cetaphil if i'm not mistaken. ponds is loaded with mineral oil. i'm not a dumbass. i'm just fed up with the recommended products and had no choice but to move on to others. my cleanser is fine. i've used a toner for half my life. i used the dual action moisturizer as a last resort. i don't love it, but frankly there isn't anything else out there on the shelf that i can find.

i've also been using BP since i was 12 years old. this is the only BP that has caused my face to be red. it could be because i put a ton of it on and it's too much for my skin to take. or it could be an allergy. i don't know. i also don't know if it has been red the whole time because i never realized it til someone pointed it out.

anyway sorry for the drama caused by my post. sheesh

[Ilovemesomevanity]

whatthekell, on 31 December 2011 - 07:32 PM, said:

wow.

julie, thank you for being the only sensitive person on this post. i didn't mean to start an argument. just wanted some feedback to see if anybody else is having this problem.

like i said, i've been on the regimen for 5 months. i've read the do's and don'ts a hundred times. like i said again, i have VERY sensitive skin. so obviously i can't use a shit load of products out there because they either break me out or i get burned skin. i've tried neutrogena sensitive skin lotion. it sucked. didn't moisturizer at all. i've tried olay. i've tried cetaphil. i'm allergic to it. cerave uses the same ingredients as cetaphil if i'm not mistaken. ponds is loaded with mineral oil. i'm not a dumbass. i'm just fed up with the recommended products and had no choice but to move on to others. my cleanser is fine. i've used a toner for half my life. i used the dual action moisturizer as a last resort. i don't love it, but frankly there isn't anything else out there on the shelf that i can find.

i've also been using BP since i was 12 years old. this is the only BP that has caused my face to be red. it could be because i put a ton of it on and it's too much for my skin to take. or it could be an allergy. i don't know. i also don't know if it has been red the whole time because i never realized it til someone pointed it out.

anyway sorry for the drama caused by my post. sheesh

i dont think theres a ton of drama here, you just got a lot of replies haha. anyways, ive been using way less BP lately (1/2 pump) and i got a few pimples, but now im clear again and i dont have super dry, red skin anymore also, idk if its helping or hurting but sometimes i do the regimen without washing my face (shhh! lol) so now i wash my face about once a day. oh another thing i do now that helps is making faces after putting my moisturizer on. its weird but i try to kind of stretch my face as the moisturizer dries

and i agree with one of the replies that said to try dropping one product at a time and see what happens. personally, i think you should choose between toner and BP but thats just my opinion, good luck!

[asburypark101]

Here is a small quote from a study done on benzoyl peroxide a number of years ago (most recent research on benzoyl peroxide was done a long time ago because it has been around for so long).


"Benzoyl peroxide (BP) is shown to be a weak allergen. Of 25 guinea pigs, only 5 were sensitized in the TINA lest. Before treatment, only 2 of 172 acne patients gave a positive patch test with 1% BP, but not with 0.1% BP. The following results suggest that BP is a strong irritant. The irritant potential ID50 in rabbis was 2.52% and thee IT50 was 2.31 days with 5% BP, 4.34 days with 1% and 8.35 days with 0.1% BP.


29% of acne patients and non-exposed controls had a positive patch lest with 5% BP. However, only 11 of 155 acne patients and clinical signs of intolerance, which settled despite continued use in 10 cases. The possible reasons for this dichotomy are explored. Neither the irritant nor allergenic properties of BP impaired its clinical use."

So benzoyl peroxide can cause an allergic reaction, but it is very rare and the article pointed to irritation as a greater possibility for side effects over allergic reactions. Also since you have used benzoyl peroxide for so long, and you are getting a reaction now usually means that you have irritation. When we are younger our skin can take a lot of chemicals without getting a lot of side effects, but as we get older it becomes more sensitive and cannot tolerate the chemicals as much. Good luck with everything and I am sure you will figure out a way to calm the redness, but again congrats on being 97 percent clear.

*Also Ripon10 (Julie) I am actually a psychiatrist, so I went to medical school and learned about this. While it is not my speciality, I do have working knowledge of it.

[whatthekell]

thanks for the responses!

ilovemesomevanity- i'm going to cut back on the amount of BP. i do use a lot. i think it's just too much for my face to handle. i also make faces when applying moisturizer =P i saw that in someone's post a while ago. it helps, but i still peel like crazy. i can't really move my face much or i start cracking all over. and they're not like little flakes, they're deep pieces of skin. it's gross. so for a week i'm going to try using a lot less BP and see if it improves. if not, i'm going to try a different brand of BP and see if maybe it is just dan's BP. hopefully it's not though and it's just the fact that i'm globbing on way too much. i can't do without the toner. i've tried in the earlier months of the regimen and i think because i have used a toner for so long, my skin needs it. when i don't use it, i get soo many clogged pores and my skin feels like sandpaper. it's weird. i'm also going on another hunt for moisturizer. i don't love this clean and clear dual action, but i haven't found anything better yet.

[Ripon10]

As far as over-the-counter moisturizers, I would suggest looking at Eucerin or Mario Badescu oil-free moisturizer. I use Lumiplexion but my skin is not very dry because I don't use BP daily and I use AHA which seems to help. I also like the Mario Badescu toners because there are a number of them that are alcohol free and fragrance free.

If you find you can't tolerate the BP at all anymore, I highly suggest at least talking with Lumiplexion about the sulfur medicine. You can talk one-on-one with her and she knows her stuff. She has a facebook page with some reviews as well.

Happy New Years!

Julie

[whatthekell]

Happy New Year to you too! =)

I've actually looked into Eucerin moisturizers, but only found one for the face and it contained AHA, which I can't put on my face. Too harsh for me. It was a white and pink bottle.

I've never heard of Mario Badescu. I will look for it online now =)

I think you may be right about being sensitive to dan's BP. I've used many BP's in the 13 years of my acne struggles and never had a red face from it. I have to say I don't like the cream BP's that I used to use, but maybe that's what I need to switch back to. Gonna keep using a smaller amount and see if it gets better. I'd love to see if sulfur would work better, but I heard that once you're on BP, you are stuck using it forever. =/

[Maximus Decimus Merideous]

whatthekell, on 31 December 2011 - 07:32 PM, said:

wow.

julie, thank you for being the only sensitive person on this post. i didn't mean to start an argument. just wanted some feedback to see if anybody else is having this problem.

like i said, i've been on the regimen for 5 months. i've read the do's and don'ts a hundred times. like i said again, i have VERY sensitive skin. so obviously i can't use a shit load of products out there because they either break me out or i get burned skin. i've tried neutrogena sensitive skin lotion. it sucked. didn't moisturizer at all. i've tried olay. i've tried cetaphil. i'm allergic to it. cerave uses the same ingredients as cetaphil if i'm not mistaken. ponds is loaded with mineral oil. i'm not a dumbass. i'm just fed up with the recommended products and had no choice but to move on to others. my cleanser is fine. i've used a toner for half my life. i used the dual action moisturizer as a last resort. i don't love it, but frankly there isn't anything else out there on the shelf that i can find.

i've also been using BP since i was 12 years old. this is the only BP that has caused my face to be red. it could be because i put a ton of it on and it's too much for my skin to take. or it could be an allergy. i don't know. i also don't know if it has been red the whole time because i never realized it til someone pointed it out.

anyway sorry for the drama caused by my post. sheesh

There wasn't drama...i just answered your question and disagreed with another user. Just different opinions

[whatthekell]

ok good!

[Swj48]

I use the same moisturizer. Don't love it, but like you it is the best I can find. And I think the SA in it works well for me with the bp on the regimen so for now I'm sticking with it. Will prolly try a new moisturizer eventually though because the clean and clear just doesn't get rid of flakes completely, but it is good enough for now..

As for your other products, I'd suggest dropping the toner, and trying purpose gentle cleanser. It is the best OTC cleanser in my opinion and is minimal drying. Moisturizer is the hard part though for everyone. Everyone is different and rarely does anyone find one they absolutely love. Clean and clear makes another moisturizer though that is he same as h one you are using, but without the dual action (no SA). It is hard to find though so you may need to check multiple stores. That is gonna be the next one I try I think...

Good luck.

[whatthekell]

Hi Swj48,

I just stopped using the Dual Action moisturizer, and the redness actually went down A LOT haha. I'm still peeling soo bad though! I bought some Neutrogena Combination skin lotion, knowing it doesn't combat the flakes, and again I'm disappointed. Going to the store today to return it and look for something else. Which Clean and Clear lotion are you talking about that doesn't contain SA? Are you talking about the morning glow? I really need to find something quick. I'm ready to rip my skin off! I have been exfoliating with baking soda after my showers and it removes all my dead skin amazingly. But then as soon as I put the BP on and moisturizer, I'm tight again. I woke up this morning with a million flakes. =(

[steven m jacobson]

asburypark101, on 01 January 2012 - 12:58 AM, said:

"Benzoyl peroxide (BP) is shown to be a weak allergen. Of 25 guinea pigs, only 5 were sensitized in the TINA lest. Before treatment, only 2 of 172 acne patients gave a positive patch test with 1% BP, but not with 0.1% BP. The following results suggest that BP is a strong irritant. The irritant potential ID50 in rabbis was 2.52% and thee IT50 was 2.31 days with 5% BP, 4.34 days with 1% and 8.35 days with 0.1% BP.


29% of acne patients and non-exposed controls had a positive patch lest with 5% BP. However, only 11 of 155 acne patients and clinical signs of intolerance, which settled despite continued use in 10 cases. The possible reasons for this dichotomy are explored. Neither the irritant nor allergenic properties of BP impaired its clinical use."

Here is the problem with that study. Animal skin is different than human skin, in both pH and physical dimensions (thickness/width). A product is usually accepted for human consumption if the said product is okay on animals, however, there lies a large problem with this. Skin tissue is not the same, acid mantle is not the same, so on and so forth.

BP is a rare allergen, however, it is like an acid that eats away at the upper layers of the skin. Continuing use will alter the upper skin layers, mush like a small chemical burn would. It destroys the acid mantle and leaves the skin vulnerable, this is why when someone uses BP they have to remain using it or else they will become vulnerable after use as the acid mantle is not there to protect or moisturize the skin.