Acne.org : Treatment (Benzoyl Peroxide - 2.5%)

I waited a full month to review this product to see if the results were a fluke, but at this point, I don't think they are. I've always suffered from acne in varying degrees. When I was 26, I finally found a combo that essentially gave me perfect skin: 100 mg of spiro/day and Ziana (clindamycin/tretinoin gel) every night. Well, this year (at age 28), my husband I decided we wanted to start a family, so I stopped both. I was nervous; I suffer tremendously from anxiety and depression linked to my acne, like many people do, and I was so scared that it would come back. And it did. Within about a month, I started breaking out again. I ended up getting pregnant our second month trying, and my face exploded. It was worse than I've ever experienced in my life. Mostly hormonal (to no one's surprise, I'm sure), with patches of cystic pimples under my jaw and on my cheeks, but even my cheeks and forehead were covered in closed comedones/"regular" zits. Combined with my pregnancy hormones, I was an absolute wreck, very deeply depressed. It's hard to put into words those feelings, but if you've felt something similar, I don't think I need to.

Anyway, I tried using natural products to help, mainly apple cider vinegar and the Aztec healing clay mask at night, along with a gentle cleanser and moisturizer. They didn't do much. Finally, when I started my second trimester, my OBGYN gave me the OK to use some topical treatments, namely this BP gel. I'm not exaggerating, I started seeing effects almost immediately. Of course, I didn't have clear skin overnight (or even in many nights). What I mean is that I could see my existing pimples drying out, and less new ones forming. The biggest difference, though, was the general inflammation in my skin; within a week, the redness had nearly disappeared. Nowhere near perfect skin, but I could let my husband see me without makeup for the first time in months. (Side note, my husband is a wonderful man, and he reminded me daily that my skin has nothing to do with why he loves me, etc. etc. Yet, I was still ashamed and frankly disgusted with myself, so I chose to wear the makeup nearly 24/7. Maybe it sounds ridiculous, but I was just doing what I could to get through it.)

As for side effects, the dryness was very noticeable at the beginning, which was probably because I did not start as slowly as recommended. I don't have very sensitive skin, though, and while I was very dry/flaky/scaly in the beginning, my face was not red or overly irritated. I don't regret bumping the BP up faster than recommended because I don't think the side effects were unbearable, and I was able to use more BP sooner than I would've otherwise (and from what I understand, more BP = more results, within reason).

Now, a month later, my skin is not perfect, but I do look in the mirror every morning and feel so incredibly thankful. I have red marks left over, and I still break out here and there, but I look like someone with very average skin, which is incredible. I do plan to stop using this and get back onto my previous regimen once I have my baby and finish breastfeeding, but in the meantime, this has (perhaps literally) saved my life. I was skeptical that it could do anything for me when I first started, and sometimes I still can't believe how much it has helped me. If you're on the fence, please just give it a try. No one should have to feel the way I was feeling a few months ago.

I also wanted to note that I stopped eating dairy, which might or might not have helped. (I've stopped in the past and it had no noticeable effect, so it's very possible I'm depriving myself of cheese for nothing.) Also, my hormones are obviously a huge factor in my acne, so in the interest of full disclosure, I'm sure the shift from first to second trimester played a role. Given how closely my skin's reaction matched Dan's little "what to expect" chart, though, I really believe this product is the main reason my skin has changed so drastically.

I've had acne breakouts for 8+ years and NOTHING has worked as a spot treatment better than this product--it's absolutely phenomenal! I recommend this to anyone and everyone who has surficial whiteheads or deep cysts, this product minimizes redness and inflammation without drying out or stinging your skin. 10/10!

If benzyol has not helped you in the past, it will not now. I was very hopeful about this product and it is not to say it doesn't work for people, in my experience it was no different from cheaper more accessible creams like proactiv which for me did nothing. I acknowledge that this is something I observed with my skin, and this will not be the case for everyone. Never the less, I spent $30 on this product and it made me break out and dried out my skin. I even tried the 2-minute leave on method which is shown to reduce irritation, but until I cut out this ingredient from my regime my skin was stuck in severe (keeping in mind I had other treatments going on like salicylic acid and retinoids, so benzoyl might have been too much on top of my regime). 

This treatment is great first time using it all my acne was gone with in months!!! Happy days ! Unfortunately it's not a miracle product that actually gets rid of your acne for good. I stopped using it when all my spots where gone. With in a month my spots started to come back and actually a lot worse than before had major breakouts very painful. The treatment just suppressed my spots and kept them away but once stop using acne.org your spots come back so my advice is to honestly look into something that is more permanent as this is just something you will have to always keep using. Also I noticed after a while your skin becomes used to it and it's not as effective as it was from the beginning so that was another problem that I didn't like. Overall it works a lot better then most creams out there and good for a quick fix

I've always had amazing skin and then BOOM!  One spot after another started appearing on my face. These were under the skin, un-poppable painful little things and were leaving marks EVERYWHERE. I felt depressed, upset, hormonal and would not leave the house without makeup on. I went to a dermatologist who put me on Erythromycin and doxycycine and lymecycline for 7 months at a time and they weren't making any difference. After trying absolutely everything on the market from drug store to Mario Badescu to Proactiv,  must have spent thousands to be honest, my main goal was my skin. I stumbled upon this when I seen a YouTube review and thought I would give something one last try. After one month my skin broke out really bad, dry and painful but I stuck with it hoping it would work. I'm so glad I did as it's the best thing that's happened in a long while. I was persistent that it would get better,  things always get worse before they get better and this is so true. After 3 months spots were reducing in size,  redness reducing and spots weren't so much under the skin they were above the skin with some heads (improvement).  After 6 months I had a little outburst of acne again out of nowhere but this is known to happen. And then after 8 months...  The difference (WOW). I didn't realise how much until I got a memory on my photos and it was pictures of my skin for the dermatologist and the difference is remarkable. I feel so confident now, I'm happy, you don't realise how much it can affect your life. I still use the benzoyl peroxide in the morning and at night along with Duac gel (from doctor but you can buy) and then every night a small layer of aha cream for the scars. I hope this helps someone like it did me!  Entirely grateful

Pictures below are 8 months after. 

i started using this product 3 weeks ago. just the treatment and i have seen sinificant changes though my acne keeps coming back. especially around my chin and jaw line. at least the pimples dry faster which is a good thing but i dnt know why i keep getting newer breakouts. the skin around my eyes can not stand the benzoyl. it makes it look ages older and all wrinkly. so when i apply the benzoyl, i try as much as possible to avoid areas around my eyes and neck. otherwise, am still hopeful it will work for me too and completely eliminate the jaw line acne too.

After suffering with acne and spending thousands of dollars from different stores not mention the time spent and the esteem lowered I finally got the perfect solution for my skin.I wore makeup every day just to cover my now turned into unpleasant skin,I looked twice older than my age...so unbelievable.

Thanks to the scientists that invented this life saving regimen Solution for my skin,I finally feel young and flawless in a beautiful natural me.

Black women this is the solution not bleaching cream lol!

Used it for 2 months and it helped my skin a lot! i had severe cystic acne and it got worse before it got better using the BP. It was like one day my skin was bursting and the next day it was 100 percent better.  I have ordered a new kit and now going to start using AHA. Hope it removes the red spots!