Topical Retinoid / Topical Antibacterial
Efficacy
67%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Topical Retinoid / Topical Antibacterial
Side Effects
Low-Medium
Topical Retinoid / Topical Antibacterial
Acne.org’s Real World Take
A way of using benzoyl peroxide in combination with the topical retinoid, adapalene, that studies show works a bit better than benzoyl peroxide alone. Comes with side effects for the first weeks and can bleach fabric. Note: When used correctly, benzoyl peroxide on its own can completely clear the skin.
Topical Retinoid / Topical Antibacterial
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one.
Used Adapalene / Benzoyl Peroxide (Epiduo®)? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
September 4, 2015
Weekly Epiduo Review! 4 YEARS LATER UPDATE
I've rated 3 for my current review. However as weeks progress on comments below my rating might change according to my experiences. Age: 20 Sex: Female Skin type: Olive skin, Oily, Medium Pores. Acne history: Never had acne, just a few spots here and there on my face. Acne: Hit me at 20 - moderate acne such as blackheads, white heads, lots of cysts around lower cheeks and jawline and a bit of spots on my back. Acne Treatment History: I undertook SGA at Clearskin Clinic Australia: FAIL - WORSENED acne by 3 x Current Acne Treatment: Finally went to a dermatologist. He prescribed me Epiduo and Doryx 50mg. Routine: Morning- 1. Wash with Cetaphil Foam Cleanser. 2. Dry with a anti-bacterial cloth and if I'm leaving the house: 3. Apply Cetaphil oil-free moisturiser spf 30 if I'm not leaving the house: 3. Apply Cetaphil oil-free moisturiser After i eat breakfast: I take 2 Doryx tablets with water. Night- 1. Wash with Cetaphil Foam Cleanser. 2. Dry with anti-bacterial cloth 3. Apply Epiduo (pea-sized amount) I put Epiduo every second night on my face as the dermatologist recommended (Always listen to what the dermatologist recommends as everyones skin is different). So on the nights i do not put it i put Cetaphil oil-free moisturiser. I will be writing a weekly review on this post. It will be UPDATED every week. The rest of the weeks will be posted as a comment on this post. Week 1. Skin: Very dry, flaky, itchy, red Acne: A few old pimples went but a lot of new ones appeared. Week 2. Skin: Slight Improvement - dry, flaky, red Acne: Its like a continued cycle of a few old ones leaving but a lot of new ones appearing and my back has gotten SO MUCH more pimples to which i have never had in my entire life. Week 3. Skin: My skin has gotten used to Epiduo. It's only a little dry but moisturising quickly fixes it. Still a little itchy and red. Acne: During this week i felt like some days my skin looked like wow its improving and other days i feel like a got stung by 20 bees. Its like a cycle. But i feel like the new ones that come quickly go and my back is still really bad. I will now be posting weekly reviews on the comments. If you would like to ask any questions go ahead.
September 6, 2015
Week 4: Skin: Dry, Red and not as itchy
Started off crazy at the start of the week. I nearly gave up but its very important to continue. My back has flared up again... im sure itll get better. But by the end of the week i had a great experience the left side of my face and forehead has not one active pimple just high red pigmentation which looks like pimples but they arent!!!! Wohoo but the right side is still crazy so fingers crossed for Week 5.
September 13, 2015
Week 5: Skin: Not as dry and not as red but still dry and red.
Acne: My back is getting a little better.
My face has slightly flared again on my forehead, upper lip and on lower cheeks and jawlines. I was so excited last week thinking yay its finally going but now that it flared again it made me feel really upset. But with all the reviews i read they have similar experiences and they only really see big improvements by 8 weeks to 12 weeks. So i have to be patient!!! Im going dermatologist by the end of Week 6 and ill update you on what happens.
September 14, 2015
Do not worry! It took my face 8 weeks to clear up, and it stayed super clear after, good luck!
September 20, 2015
Thankyou for the response!!! I hope so, patience is seriously so important with this treatment. So anyone reading this just stay patient... its a pain but nothing comes quick and anything that claims it does is a lie all they do is damage your skin or worsen it. So always go to a dermatologist.
September 20, 2015
Week 6: Skin: Not dry anymore, still red and a little itchy.
Acne: My back is really soft again and it isnt flared anymore but i have alot of pigmentation.
My skin is okay not that great a few pimples on my forehead and lower chin and a few under the skin cysts under my right cheek on the neck.
Its very similar to week 5 not much differences.
But with epiduo i feel like the pimples improve within three days even less. I went dermatologist end of week 6. He saw my face and said that it has improved and he said itll take upto 12 weeks and to be patient. So i am. He told me to put epiduo now every night rather than every second night like previously. He also told me to go on Yaz birth control pill once i start my periods and stay on the Doryx tablets also. Ill be seeing him in 5 weeks.
September 25, 2015
Week 7: Skin: not as dry, red pigmentation, no more itchy feels.
Acne: Back has flared again ALOT but i guess part of the cycle?
Face: my forehead has no active pimples , my left side cheek and jaw only has one active pimple, my right side cheek has one active pimple and under my right jaw i have like 3 under the skin cysts. So it has improved alot. The rest of my skin looks like it has alot of pimples but its all red pigmentation and its very very smooth to touch. Well see how next week goes. Patience!!!!
October 10, 2015
Sorry delayed.
Week 8. Skin: No more dry skin, no more redness just LOTS of red pigmentation and not one bit itchy.
Acne: As everyone has said by week 8 thats when you see results and thats exactly what happened to me Week 8 and not one active pimple not one not even a cyst or under the skin bumps ZERO but lots of pigmentation but if i run my hand across my face its perfectly smooth. Week9. Skin: No dryness No redness and No itchyness.
Acne: For some odd reason i got 2 cysts on my lower right jaw and i got 4 active pimples on the middle of my cheeks and ive never had pimples on my cheeks before :( i was over the moon last week that i actually improved incredibly but this week i dont know what happened. I read other reviews and alot of people said by week 8 you see improvements but by week 12 it actually completely improves so now patience for another 3 weeks!!!!
October 18, 2015
Week 10: same as week 9
October 22, 2015
Week 11: same as week 10
November 4, 2015
Week 12. Skin: lots of red pigmentation. I asked the dermatologist how i can get rid of this red scar pigmented blotches. He said that its actually from the Doryx oral antibiotics which causes redness and as soon as i stop the pills i will have no redness. So bonus! The dermatologist also now does glycolic peels every 4 week visits. Ive had one and he said its for blackheads and for any brown pigmentation from previous pimples.
He also gave me a 10percent glycolic acid lotion for my back to reduce brown pigmentation.
Acne: I dont have much active pimples just 2 or 3. The rest of my skin is sooooo smooth especially beneath my left jaw which used to be extra bump with large cysts. My skin isnt perfect but its improved by 70 percent. Just a reminder to what im on.
Morning: 2 × 50mg Doryx antibacterial tablets
Yaz Birth control pill Both Morning and Nights i wash with Cetaphil Cleanser Night: Epiduo cream on my face
November 8, 2015
Week 13. Same as week 12 . . . Still getting pimpled here and there. Lots of pigmentation
November 13, 2015
Week 14: Skin is very hyperpigmented. Few active pimples. Has improved incredibly. The pigmentation is putting me off. Not sure how long that will take.
November 30, 2015
Hi, did you wear any makeup during the treatment process?
January 28, 2016
Yes i wore oil free makeup everyday
May 4, 2016
FINAL review after exactly 8 months and 2 weeks. My skin is completely clear of pimples! I get the occasional pimple when I am on my monthlys but other than that not one single pimple! Hyperpigmentation slowly goes every single day. I am currently on 1 Doryx tablet every morning and Epiduo cream every night. Still rated a four as it takes a lot of patience to see results. Its no quick fix that's for sure. PATIENCE is key to this treatment! Do no start if you are not willing to pass 5 months of it as stopping mid-way only makes it worse for you. Goodluck to anyone who begins this treatment. You will only be disappointed if you are not patient and expect fast results. Stick with it and you will see wonders happen. Also take photos every 2 weeks and you will see how it gets worse and worse and worse than by 3 months better and better!
June 3, 2019
Hello to anyone who read on my journey.
Since my last post on May 4 2016 i was on Epiduo once a night till September 2018. On September 2018 i decided to stop using it as i no longer thought i needed it. I was WRONG!! As soon as i stopped my entire face purged again! It’s like i was starting again from square one. I immediately booked an appointment with my original dermatologist. He was on holiday so i only got the chance to see him April 16th 2019. He prescribed me doryx 50 mg and Epiduo. I honestly feel depressed!!!!!!!! I am not willing to go through 8 months of purging on and off. I read my review honestly 8 months to get clear face AGAIN? How could i even mentally survive that. Surely i can not. I have been on doryx for now a month and a half. By now i came to realisation that i will he slowly stopping doryx as it killed my digestive and immune system when i was on them for 8 long months. For this reason i have decided to stop. Can someone PLEASE give me any advice on what i can do? My skin should not have relied on EPIDUO for 2 YEARS!! And purge again once stopped. Clearly something within me is destroyed!!
July 21, 2015
Cystic Acne, oh my.
Never have I ever experience cystic acne until I used this product. I tried to stick it out because everyone says "it gets worse before it gets better" - but lifetime scars that were out of the ordinary for my skin was absolutely not worth it to me. I still have the scars on my face from the two cystic acne lesions this caused on my face. Never again. I know it works miracles for some people, but I am not one of them.
May 10, 2015
1 In 100
Well I broke out horrible in 2014 it was so bad I cried when looking in the mirror I went to the doctor and they put me on Diane 35 it was amazing!!!! Within 3 months my acne was completely gone I was so happy I thought I could stop wearing makeup!!! But then it all tired bad I was vomiting I couldn't see so I went back to the doctors and turns out I'm allergic to one of the ingredients in birth control pills including Diane 35 so I had to be taken off it so now all my acne has come back. Yay! Not! So I've gone back to the doctor and they have out me on doxycycline antibiotics and epiduo cream but after first use of the cream the pain was unbearable my face was so painful and ichy!!! I then read the box and it said 1 in 10 people we have dry sore skin and 1 in 100 will have ichy skin!!! So not only am I allergic to the medication that works I'm also 1 in 100! So here I am still with a face full of acne crying every morning when I look in the mirror. Any other suggestions??? (16 years old)
May 28, 2015
Ziana may be perfect for yu. It is very mild.
April 30, 2015
PLEASE listen to your skin!
I used TactuPump for about 12 weeks and my skin was literally raw. I've never had such inflamed and terrible acne in my life. It was awful. I started out with just mild acne and after reading such positive reviews about TactuPump, I decided to give it a try. I regret it SO much. My jawline was especially bad. I couldn't look in the mirror for weeks. I went to the doctor and he told me to stop using it because my skin had a very bad reaction to it. I thought I could tough it out to see if it would get better, but it was just getting worse and worse every single day. I was very upset every morning, waking up seeing my acne getting worse. Even after stopping, the acne never got better. So I ended up with worse skin than when I started. Eventually, I went on Accutane (40g dosage) and that was only thing that cured my skin. Long story short, please please please listen to your skin. I kept waiting to see if it would get better, because reviews were saying that it was just your skin purging, but I really regret waiting that long before realizing that the product just wasn't fit for my skin. Terrible experience, but at the end of the day, I found a solution that cleared up the acne that TactuPump had brought out. This product may work for some, but unfortunately, it did not for me.
April 10, 2015
Worstttt!
I started to grown severe acne last year. First, I tried Murad, which was absolutely a waste of money, didn't work at all and made my skin worse. Then i went to see a doctor, she first prescribed me Retin-A, I used it for 3 months, and didn't seem to work. Then she gave me Clindoxyl, it worked at the beginning, i got less break-out, but after 5 months, every time I use it, my face got burned, and became flaky, red, itchy, so I stopped, and it gave me scars! So I stopped. After that, my doctor said maybe go back to Retin-A, I said no. Then she gave me Differin, I didn't have any bad reaction, but it also didn't work, my acne came back, which is a total disaster.. Then, a dermatologist gave me this, I tried for two days, my face was on fire. so I listen to my pharmacist to put some moisturizer, but it became worse! My entire face was extremely painful! If you have sensitive skin, then run away from this product.
February 18, 2015
Didn't work and gave me more scars
So my acne is very bad and when i say bad i mean it. My acne covers my cheeks and there are so many discolorations that cover my whole cheeks. I went to my doctor and got Epiduo because it got alot of good reviews and plus a friend of mine told my it cleared up her acne. I tried this product out for a month. I got no results and this medication dried the crap out of my face it was the most uncomfortable feeling ever i hated it so much. It burned when i put it on aswell and plus it gave me even more pimples I know that these are all the side effects but still it just gave my skin more scaring and discoloration now my face is even worst. Right now im in high school and i hate going to school because i dont want people looking at my nasty face. Im so depressed and sad ive tried so many cremes and gels that dont even work acne really just sucks i hate it so much!!!!!
February 1, 2015
I couldn't sleep
Taking Epiduo really messed with my sleep. When I first started taking it I couldn't sleep for 1-2 weeks. I tossed and turned all night and could never actually fall asleep. This is tough for me because I was a sleeper. I never put two and two together till I stopped using it then about 2 months later started using it again. I AGAIN couldn't sleep. Crazy?!? I googled it and saw that other people had the same side affect. No thanks, I'll go back to usin regular Differine which worked perfectly.
January 22, 2015
Made everything so much worse.
I know everyone recommends "sticking to it", but honestly, you have to know when to stop too. I had pretty bad acne, I would always have at least 2 or 3 cystic pimples at almost any given time plus blackheads under the skin and whiteheads on and off. I also had some mild hyperpigmentation and scarring. It was my doctor (GP NOT a dermatologist - please people, go to a dermatologist) who recommended this to me while I was waiting to see a derm, which was going to take about 6 months. My doctor told me that my skin would purge for 1-2 weeks, and then start getting better. The pharmacist told me 2-3 weeks it would get worse, and then better. However, I used this product for 5 solid weeks and my acne got worse each and every day. My skin was burning, flaking and red and I was breaking out like I had never broken out before. It was an absolute nightmare. Finally, I decided enough was enough and I stopped using it. And wouldn't you know, the acne started going away. A few months later, I met with a real dermatologist (not a GP playing derm) and took a 6 month course of Accutane. It totally saved me. Really, really wish I had just waited for that because this Epiduo crap (Tactuo here in Canada) left me with severe scarring.
July 7, 2014
NOpe Noope Nope
I really disliked epiduo. Had moderate facial acne and a good deal of cystic bacne in my first year of college, and when I finally went to the derm, she prescribed me this along with an oral antibiotic. Epiduo felt greasy and disgusting on my skin, and it absolutely did nothing. Actually made everything worse, since I stopped doing my proactive regimen when I started it. I was on it for five weeks with NO improvement. Finally now I'm on aczone and doing great. IF OTC BENZOYL PEROXIDE DOES NOTHING FOR YOU, PROBS IS A BAD IDEA. Benzoyl peroxide does nothing but dry me out in any form. hate hate hate. However, if otc benzoyl peroxide does SOMETHING for you, this may possibly help. Feels totally gross though.
January 8, 2014
Worst of the Worst
I tried this product when it was very new on the market and my doctor was hopeful it would work on cystic acne. ...she was wrong. My face was inflamed, itchy, rough and INCREDIBLY FLAKY. While new break outs sort of subsided, I wondered if the trade off was worth it? my skin looked all over worse with all the new side effects than it ever did with just pimples. I've been off it for a few months now but I think it might be the cause of my now SUPER sensitive skin. This product is very harsh and damaging.
Cons:
very harsh
dry and flaky
inflamation