Acne.org Products
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
October 28, 2009
Cons:
Severe drying, burning, redness
I've been using this product for almost 2 weeks and I have been experiencing the worst effects that I have ever experienced. I've tried nearly everything on the market, including prescripton products, so this is just another try. It really dries out my skin and makes it burn which moisturizer seems to only make worse. My skin also appears inflamed because it is so red. I also haven't noticed any improvement with my acne. If anything, I see more pimples on my face than before and they are large and painful. I might continue to use it to see if there's a light at the end of this torturous tunnel, but I might not. BEWARE TO THOSE WHO HAVE SENSITIVE SKIN!
February 25, 2013
Pros:
clears pimples
Cons:
you grow out of this product
dries skins
irritations
This product is very harsh! it burned my face a lot. i used this product for 3 year, and the first 2 years were great, my acne cleared up, but i guess as soon as i hit 21 i grew out of this product.
January 21, 2013
Pros:
clears big pimples quickly
Cons:
very drying
initial breakout
I wanted this product to work so badly. i used it for a little over a month straight and only saw a progressive decline in my skin clarity. I understand it gets worse before better but i wasnt willing to allow my skin get any worse
September 22, 2012
I'm not going to lie, this gel cleared me up quite nicely. I used it for 6 weeks nightly, skipping nights for the first 2 weeks. Of course there were many breakouts, but my skin is now much smoother and somewhat controlled. HOWEVER. I cannot even begin to describe the agonizing pain I went through every single night I put this stuff on. It stings like somebody abrasively rubbing lemons on your face for 3 straight hours. It itches all night like thousands of fire ants burrowing into each and every pore in your face. Needless to say, I have never experienced something so unbelievably uncomfortable, and it never went away after four weeks like they said it would. Perhaps I just have more sensitive skin than most people, but I lost so much sleep because of this stuff, and I couldn't bear to keep using it even if it did completely clear me up. Now my face has only a few pimples, but is so gunky, unsightly, and crusty. Just horribly dehydrated and unhealthy. The only reason I recommend it is because it gave me a head start. I plan on weaning off of this chemical garbage and healing my body and soul holistically... anyone with me?
May 18, 2012
Pros:
None
Cons:
Doesn't do anything. Maybe made it worse and left scars
Didn't work on my south asian skin and I've been using it for about 7 weeks for some sudden breakouts. Still have dark marks from where it caused me to break out. Didn't work for me, but still could work for you if you're not prone to PIH
April 5, 2012
Pros:
Cleared up all my stubborn hormonal acne in TWO DAYS! :D
Cons:
Didn't work at all on whiteheads :(
My dermatologist prescribed this for me a long time ago and I never used it. I came across it one day when I was cleaning out my medicine cabinet and decided to try it. After just one application, it cleared up almost all the acne on my chin! Unfortunately, it didn't do anything for the whiteheads on my forehead :( Overall though, a great product. DEFINITELY recommend, especially for people with hormonal acne.
January 8, 2012
Pros:
does dry out pimples and prevents them from getting bigger and uglier
works on very pale asian sensitive skin
did not have any major breakouts since started using it
easy to use, dries fast
Cons:
can make your skin very dry and pill off
I am using it for about 1 months now and it does help. I have very pale asian skin and my acne is moderate. When I started using it I got 3 new breakouts which disappeared very quickly and felt for about 1 week as if I had a sunburn on my face. My skin did improve quite quickly and I am looking forward to see if it clears me completely. I was told by my doctor to use it for 3 months to see the results. I would recommend it because nothing worked so far in the past. and I have tried everything except accutane.
December 25, 2011
Pros:
Works semi-quickly
Skin gets used to it
Goes on/dries clear
Can wear under/over makeup
Cons:
1st week of use=HELL!!!! (details below)
Peely, flaky, dry skin
Redness
Irritation
So.....
My first week using this (let's call it the "initiation" week) was to introduce it to my skin and make my skin get used to it. My skin was red as a firetruck and dry as a desert. We're talking cracked, peeling, flaky, DISGUSTING skin. I had to exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate. This hurt very bad because you will experience extreme sensitivity on your face. These symptoms will get milder and milder and disappear after approx 1 month. Hang in there.
Anyway, on to the good:
After about a week, i noticed my acne (mostly my whiteheads) had gone down! However, after about 3 months of use, my acne started to appear again. Thennn, after some intense use for about 3 wks my acne started to fade completely and I am seeing BABY SMOOTH skin!
March 18, 2011
Pros:
got rid of some blackheads
Cons:
creates dry and red skin
causes burning
turns blemishes to scabs.
My acne was never very bad. But it started getting worse and I figured I should do something about it. My dermatologist prescribed Epiduo. I started using it and didn't see any differences for the first week. Then, my skin got very dry and I found myself using much more lotion than usual. It also stung and burned my face to wash it. That went away after a few more weeks, however. Nothing really changed until I tried to pop this one pimple as usual, the skin peeled around the pimple, which had never happened before, and the blemish turned into a scab. Even pounds of cover up wouldn't cover this thing up. I couldn't even go to school it was so bad. Then, it happened again in another spot. After that cleared up, I noticed that this was happening on a weekly basis. I have decided to stop epiduo until my next dermatologist appointment. The only thing it did was clear up tiny little blackheads on my nose. Bottom line, only use this product if you have severe acne. It's not worth it if you just have a very light case. I. Hate. Epiduo.
September 20, 2013
Not Very Effective
Pros:
Cleared blackheads
Subdued Oily Skin
Cons:
Itchiness
Redness
I think Epiduo is very overrated. This was my second prescription topical gel I was given by my doctor. I used it religiously and hoped against all hope. I even used Cetaphil face wash like they recommend and used moisturizer. All I got from Epiduo was itchy, blotchy skin. I really thought this would work on my moderately severe acne, but unfortunately it struck out. Luckily I was able to get it with the coupon, so it was fairly cheap.
Pros:
It's affordable