I've been on the regimen for over a year now. I'm apparently pretty sensitive to the drying effects of benzoyl peroxide, and for the life of me, I can't find a good non-comedogenic, fragrance free moisturizer that actually works. It's extremely frustrating. I'm tired of looking for moisturizers that people recommend and that say "non-comedogenic," but are loaded with stearic acid, cetearyl alcohol and ceteareth-20 among many other wildly comedogenic ingredients. I've tried Dan's Moisturizer, Cetaphil DermaControl with SPF, shea butter, sunflower oil, hemp oil, and jojoba oil. Cetaphil's SPF moisturizer works decently, but balls up and leaves awful white flakes all over. There's no way to prevent it. Dan's moisturizer stains all of my clothes yellow as I have to use it on my back to combat the dryness from my body regimen. Shea butter works really well but is comedogenic, while jojoba oil is only mildly comedogenic but doesn't work very well. Recently I've tried Neutrogena oil-free moisturizer for combination skin, but that actually makes my skin more dry. Ridiculous.
Can anyone recommend a real non-comedogenic (one that doesn't contain comedogenic ingredients rated 3 or higher), fragrance-free moisturizer that actually moisturizes dry skin, or does it just not exist? I've searched and searched and searched, but I've come up completely empty.
I finally found a moisturizer that works really well! It's 'EltaMD AM Therapy Facial Moisturizer'. Mind you it's pricey, but it rates really low (<2) on the COSDNA rating. and It does a great job moisturizing.
Not sure where you live - but there is also one made by 'CeraVE' , also the AM moisturizer which is a lot cheaper but also works very well and is non comedogenic.
Good luck.
I finally found a moisturizer that works really well! It's 'EltaMD AM Therapy Facial Moisturizer'. Mind you it's pricey, but it rates really low (<2) on the COSDNA rating. and It does a great job moisturizing.
Not sure where you live - but there is also one made by 'CeraVE' , also the AM moisturizer which is a lot cheaper but also works very well and is non comedogenic.
Good luck.
Ha, yeah the EltaMD moisturizer is too expensive for me. I'm definitely on a budget.
I must have overlooked the CeraVE AM moisturizer. The only thing that concerns me with this moisturizer is the aluminum starch and the cholesterol. Not a lot of info is available on aluminum starch, but most starches are comedogenic. Cholesterol is usually derived from lanolin, which some sources say is highly comedogenic while others say it's non-comedogenic to only mildly comedogenic.
Pretty much all moisturizers suck, honestly. You might want to give CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion a try; it's the best I've found, but it's still not perfect. I think the issue is that no moisturizer penetrates the thin superficial dead layer of skin; thus it can't sink into the pores and provide moisture where the skin needs it.
The CeraVE moisturizing lotion has several highly comedogenic ingredients. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Comedogenicity lists aren't meant to be taken that seriously. I have extremely sensitive acne-prone skin, yet I'm able to use it generously without breaking out. You'll have to try it out for yourself.
The best thing to do is to get completely clear first, remain that way for a couple of weeks, and then try the CeraVe. Then if you break out, you'll know why. Make sure to have just one independent variable, meaning that the CeraVe is the only thing you change in your regimen. You'll want to do it this way because many things can cause a breakout, not just switching moisturizers.
The thing is that the regimen doesn't get me completely clear. I strictly did the regimen for 8 months before realizing that it wasn't going to get me 100% clear. I still break out in whiteheads and cysts every 2-4 months that scar. For that reason, I'm pretty strict about what I put on my skin in order to not make a bad situation worse. I have no problem using moisturizers with ingredients that score a 1-2/5 in comedogenicity, but anything above that I have to strictly avoid. My skin is pretty sensitive to acne cosmetica. In order to combat the breakouts, I've started using salicylic acid and niacinamide, but that obviously makes my dry-prone skin even more dry, thus I have to compensate with a highly effective moisturizer.
I wish Dan would just reformulate the acne.org moisturizer already. Get rid of that awful yellow licorice root. Far more than the majority of people are asking for it. I've considered just ordering the ingredients myself and making my own moisturizer. It'd be cheaper in the long run than buying a $15 bottle every few weeks.
The thing is that the regimen doesn't get me completely clear. I strictly did the regimen for 8 months before realizing that it wasn't going to get me 100% clear. I still break out in whiteheads and cysts every 2-4 months that scar. For that reason, I'm pretty strict about what I put on my skin in order to not make a bad situation worse. I have no problem using moisturizers with ingredients that score a 1-2/5 in comedogenicity, but anything above that I have to strictly avoid. My skin is pretty sensitive to acne cosmetica. In order to combat the breakouts, I've started using salicylic acid and niacinamide, but that obviously makes my dry-prone skin even more dry, thus I have to compensate with a highly effective moisturizer.
I wish Dan would just reformulate the acne.org moisturizer already. Get rid of that awful yellow licorice root. Far more than the majority of people are asking for it. I've considered just ordering the ingredients myself and making my own moisturizer. It'd be cheaper in the long run than buying a $15 bottle every few weeks.
It concerns me that the regimen didn't completely clear your skin. Maybe there was another factor involved, such as rubbing your face against your pillow while you slept. There are many variables which can sabotage your success.If you decide to formulate your own lotion, please let me know how it goes. I've also considered doing that, but it seems complicated; I'm scared to try.
I think I found a lotion that will work for me! It's called Gold Bond Ultimate Skin Therapy Lotion Healing with Aloe Fragrance Free. Quite a mouth full, but it works really well. Oddly, it's not very well known at all. It feels like one of those lotions that is loaded with highly comedogenic ingredients, but the only ingredients it has are mildly comedogenic. Albeit, there are a lot of them, but they're only in small percentages within the formulation, so it should be fine. I also just read this really informative study that lists out a lot of common ingredients and their comedogenicity in whole formulations at varying percentages, so I'll probably post that in a forum later. The lotion does feel a bit "lotiony," but that's a welcome feeling when you've had dry skin as long as I have. Dan should definitely add this to his recommended list. Comes in a huge bottle too for only like $10. It absorbs really fast, and the best part is: no flakes!
Regardless, I'll probably make my own moisturizer sometime in the near future just so that I can completely control what's in it and also save money in the long run. It was really daunting to me at first as well, but it's getting more and more simple the more I look into it. I already have almost all the ingredients at my house. I'll for sure let you know how that goes!