Dear Dan,
I have nothing against your regime and I am sure it has cleared a lot of acne for millions of people. However i do think your regime is very complicated and still irritating to skin even though you have tried to reduce this.
As the sun has come out in the UK, I have currently been using Boots Essentials Cucumber Moisturising Lotion in 150ml bottle with UVA and UVB protection ( http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Essentials-Cucumber-Moisturising-Lotion-150ml_869645/ ) and it has prevented my pores from clogging and therefore no acne, which is extraordinary. Boots do not market it as an anti acne cream. I have no idea why this product works. It could be any number of things.
1. it could have antibacterial properties.
2. blocking out UVA and UVB may help in some way preventing blocking pores
3. it may prevent pores from blocking by changing the sebum production, or sebum properties or expelling efficiently from the pore.
Whatever it is, it works and it doesn't dry skin out like benzoyl peroxide and has UVA and UVB protection which i believe you are looking for according to your blog on SPF, so it should keep skin looking younger and prevent skin cancer. It seems to tick all the ideal skin preparation boxes.
On the boots website another user makes a similar claim. However need more reviews like this to prove its amazing properties.
As a test you could stop your own regime on yourself and just paste lots of this cream on your facial skin for about three weeks and review your skins pores and report back. I hope you maybe pleasantly surprised and may even consider just using the above product and maybe use benzoyl peroxide on just occasions or maybe no more. The only disadvantage is if it gets in the eyeball it is stingy and encourages tear production so be careful to keep it away from the eyeballs.
Dear Dan and Binga,
I don't think there is much cucumber in the lotion. Even boots do not know this product is a candidate for acne treatment. Its mechanism of action is unknown. If it works on me and the reviewer on the boots site, I am so interested in finding other people to put it on trial. If it works for others that would be a great finding.
I also was wary of moisturizers that cause breakouts. Boots Essentials Cucumber Moisturising Lotion 150Ml, with Spf15 does not seem to cause breakouts. It seems to prevent them. Its quite amazing and unexplained at the moment. I am still using it in large amounts on my face. It doubles up a protection from the sun as well. A multi- purpose cream that is a dream cream. Boots do not seem to know is multipurpose nature. Only users can promote its good properties.An explanation of its good properties I'm sure will come about in the future.
This is the link to its customer reviews http://reviews.boots.com/2111-en_gb/869645/boots-essentials-boots-essentials-cucumber-moisturising-lotion-150ml-reviews/reviews.htm .
Dear Dan,
Its has been almost 3 years since I posted on this forum. In my initial post I found that Boots Essentials Cucumber Moisturising Lotion had a very positive effect on my acne prone skin and one other reviewer on the boots website at that time also found that the lotion had a positive effect and I was hoping that more reviews will be posted on the boots website.
For many years I had really struggled to maintain healthy looking skin and had tried almost everything. My friends calling me pizza face is still remembered in my teenage years. In 2012 I wanted to think about UVA and UVB protection instead as no acne regime ever worked for me and my skin was a mess after using benzoyl peroxide for so many years. I found Boots Essentials cucumber Moisturising lotion 150ml with SPF15 and used this to sunprotect my skin during the day. In the effort to protect my skin from the sun I accidentally found that my acne disappeared. After many years of struggling to control my acne I thought this was astonishing. Since then I have not used any other acne marketed product as it was not needed anymore. It has now been almost 3 years since my last posting. Over this time 5-6 more reviewers have also stated that it does not cause break outs on the boots website http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Essentials-Cucumber-Moisturising-Lotion-1-x-150ml_869645/ .
I have nothing against your regimen and I'm sure it has relieved so many people suffering from acne. However it is a complex regimen involving many steps to follow which can be stressful in itself. The advantages of Boots essential cucumber lotion seem to be
1. It moisturises the skin. Avoids the drying effect of peroxides and acids
2. Seems to prevent breakouts of acne
3. Protects the skin from UVA and UVB sunlight and therefore protects the skin from sun related wrinkling and skin cancer.
4. It is simple and easy to use and less time consuming.
5. It is cheap at 1 sterling pound a bottle if bought as a bundle of 3. Or it is 1.50 sterling pounds if bought in individual bottles.
6. Seems to avoids the need for dermatologist or surgery to treat acne whist it prevents breakouts.
7. Seems to avoid the need for future scar treatments as prevents breakouts of cystic acne.
8. Cucumber smell is pleasant to me.
9. Lightens the colour of skin.
10. Just applying lotion to the skin does not take over your life like other complicated regimens.
11. Just applying lotion to the skin, you end up feeling like other people whom do not need to struggle with acne and therefore reducing your stress levels related to acne.
The only disadvantage I have found is that it is sore to the eye tissues if any of it gets in the eye. This can happen when it rains or if its is inadvertently applied in the eyes or of you are sweating from exercise. This can be resolved if you carry an umbrella and apply the lotion carefully avoiding the eye or wash face with plain water before exercising.
The mechanism of action is completely unknown and boots do not market this product as an acne treatment and acne prevention treatment as they are completely unaware of this. I could be that it prevents clogging up of pores and promotes flushing of sebum out of pores and has other anti inflammatory effects. Certainly blocking UVA and UVB sun rays to the skin would reduce sun related skin inflammation.
I'm glad to find that more reviewers on the boots website have experienced similar positive effects on their skin over the last 3 years. It would be great if more people could to try this lotion on its own and write their reviews. The best evidence would be a randomised controlled clinical trial. This is a very expensive process and can only be carried out by a dermatologist.