Hello, I was just wondering if anyone had found any successful or semi-successful alternatives to using benzoyl peroxide? I was on the regimen for a year and a half and although it cleared up much (but never all) of my acne it also made my skin so massively red and dry (despite liberal use of moisturiser and jojoba oil) that it didn't really look any better than the original acne, especially because the dryness made it really difficult to cover the redness with make-up.
I gradually stopped using the regimen a few months ago but now my acne is back worse than ever, to the extent that it hurts to open my mouth, raise my eyebrows or touch my face when washing it. I've been trying Freederm's treatment gel over the past month in the hopes that it would reduce the inflamation, especially where I've had cysts, but it hasn't really made much noticeable difference so I've pretty much lost faith in it and am in a state of total despair with my skin right now. In the past I've also tried Duac and Differin with little to no success.
Any suggestions for alternatives would be much appreciated!
Hi, I haven't logged in here in ages... Have you tried sulfur based products? I'm allergic to BP so my only option was to use sulfur based ingredients and they worked wonders for me with less side effects and redness than BP. Currently I use Kavi brand sulfur soaps. And for cycstic acne Kavi has a liquid sulfur suspension. In the past I was on Klaron prescription which is similar and a topic retinoid. I still can't believe that a bar soap has replaced years of expensive dermatologist prescription creams... Other sulfur product I used was DDF 10% mask, but Kavi soap works much better for daily use, and the sulfur mask is used for spot treatment. I'd also suggest trying AHA/BHA peels. Those do work well at controlling breakouts. Good Luck
I have ridiculously sensitive skin that seems to be irritated by almost everything. It won't tolerate BP, or SA, or sulfates / parabens, or moisturizers, or sunscreens, etc.
The only medicated item that has ever worked for me is sulfur based products. I have had very good success with a sulfur 5% / sodium sulfacetamide 10% wash used once daily. A gentle cleanser with no sulfates/ parabens is used for a second wash daily (Dickinsons Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash). All other shampoos and body cleansers are also sulfate/ paraben free. A gentler is better approach over the last 9 months has greatly improved my skin.
Thank you so much for your suggestions 
I've never tried sulfur based products before so will definitely give them a go. Hopefully they will be gentle enough for my skin to deal with and actually give me some results as well. Definitely feel better about putting that on my face than any more nasty chemicals so fingers crossed!!
Thanks so much for the advice! I will definitely give tea tree oil a try as I took against benzoyl peroxide quite a while ago when I realised that it was very obviously damaging my skin. It's only just recovered from the redness caused by it even though I stopped using it about 3 months ago. Unfortunately I can't buy the exact serum you suggest as they don't ship to the UK but I'm sure I'll be able to find a similar alternative if I shop around a bit!
Hey there.
I tried the regimen for about two months and ended up with a red rash on my face. Went to the derm and he suggested a bp fash to try after the rash cleared.
He gave me Panoxyl 4 Creamy wash. It has kept me clear in combination with topical clindamycin. The company that makes it is actually a laboratory with a good reputation for less irritating and effective bp products.
I might try this if you can't find a good bp alternative. The freederm spot treatment looks interesting though.
I have very fair skin and am prone to redness/irritation.
Anyways, that's just my advice. Good luck my friend!
Grubby456 my redness did look exactly like yours by the sounds of it, just really red, incredibly dry, flakey and generally irritated. Having stopped the BP I was able to clear the flakey redness in a couple of months using a gentle cleanser and Cetaphil moisturiser + jojoba oil which my skin really likes. I'm now back to using a light Garnier moisturiser as my skin isn't overdried anymore.
Thanks avs30 I might look into the Panoxyl 4 creamy wash you mention! I've used other creamy washes before and always found them less irritating on the skin. I'm going to steer clear of BP altogether for a bit but if that totally fails (as it is doing at the moment with my worst and most painful breakout ever!) I'll definitely give that wash a try. The Freederm spot treatment was good at reducing my inflamation and cysts for a bit but unfortunately seems to have stopped being so effective now. Might work well on stuff that's not quite as angry as mine though.
Salicylic acid (SA) is a good alternative to BPO. Cerave SA is mild and you might try it, and there are probably a lot of other products with SA. Don't use SA if you have dark skin because it may cause the melanin to concentrate into hyperpigmentation.
Dilute Tea Tree Oil (TTO) with a carrier oil so it's about 10% at first, and you may be able tolerate 50% after a week or so. TTO treats demodex mites, which are sometimes a co-existing condition with acne. Demodex treated with 25% to 50% TTO will die in about 2 weeks but the eggs hatch in 3 weeks so TTO has to be used for 4 to 5 weeks to obtain full cure, if demodex is your problem. TTO doesn't really treat anything else, IMO, so it's useful for a differntial diagnosis on demodex.
Thanks for the replies guys! Having read some of the horror stories on here I'm really not up for trying Accutane but I'm definitely going to look into tea tree oil after all these recommendations! I've tried quite a few products containing salicylic acid in the past and seen little to no results. I'm fairly sure my acne stems mostly from a hormonal problem but I don't know if that rules out these demodex mites things or not. Think I need to do some research on them. Thanks for the advice on tea tree oil concentrations though I'm definitely up for giving that a try!
Go to your GP and see if they'll prescribe Differin. BP didn't sit very well with me at all (it just made my skin dry and flaky), but Differin worked great! I started it in November 2011 and by March 2012 my skin was clear - around April this year it stopped working, but I still had a good year of just about clear skin. It's no more extreme than BP and it's affordable - check it out!
I have been using Liquid Oxygen products specifically because they do not have benzoyl peroxide. The bp dried out my skin, which was fine for the first day or two, but and then I would get rebound oily-ness and more breakouts - Dry skin that was greasy??!! I've been using these products for a few weeks and my acne has cleared up significantly and my skin is soft but not greasy. Their products are all natural.
Thanks for the Differin suggestion - very glad to hear it worked for you for a while! - but unfortunately I got prescribed it several years ago and although it didn't irritate my skin like benzoyl peroxide I also never saw any results from it either after about 5-6 months (in fact I'm fairly sure it caused more breakouts). My GP's recently prescribed me antibiotics and Dianette because we've exhausted all the topicals so fingers crossed this will help a bit!
Ooo I haven't heard of these Liquid Oxygen products but will keep a look out for them. Thanks for the suggestion!