Topical Keratolytic
Acne.org’s Real World Take
Due to its antimicrobial properties and ability to absorb skin oil and dry out the skin, sulfur has been used for thousands of years for various skin conditions, including acne. However, it is normally reserved for noninflammatory acne (whiteheads and blackheads), because it doesn't work as well as other over-the-counter medications for inflammatory acne (papules and pustules).
Topical Keratolytic
How to Get It
This is an over-the-counter treatment. Here are some places you can find it online.
Used Sulfur? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
July 26, 2018
Product used: Proactiv Solution (Refining Mask)
Did not work for me and a little too much money
I remember right before I got married, I went to Sephora and bought a mask 'cause I thought it would make me glow for my wedding day. It was like $45 and I thought that since it was for my wedding I would splurge. Fast forward 10 years, I have 3 babies and skin that is worse than anything I ever had in high school. Someone recommended Proactive so I got this mask after reading some reviews. I thought $38 was a little pricey but I thought back to that mask I got before my wedding and just thought that is what masks must cost. I actually bought into the whole system but based on these reviews, I kind of thought this would be the one that actually was the main tool for active breakouts. Like a spot treatment or something. Not so much. After starting to use it, my skin got extremely dry and the breakouts were worse, lasted longer and came more frequently. I wanted to not only give it a good chance but actually use all the product so I ended up using it for a little over 5 weeks about every other night. Overall I did not have the same experience as most of the people I read here. If you see reviews of other Practice products, they are more in line with my experience with the products… not so great. I tried to cancel, got another order after I cancelled, same story as a lot of folks here. Good news is that I found a mask that actually did what I thought this one would do at like 1/2 the price. Ninja's sulfur mask is what… $20 or something? I use it a little quicker than I did the proactive mask but it seems to make my breakouts disappear over night and now I am not even breaking out as much as I used to which I give total credit to it. All in all I don't think you have to spend buckets of money any more for a mask for acne, maybe some of those fancy exfoliating ones you buy in the department store but for acne, go with the Ninja one. Much better bang for your buck.
January 13, 2018
Product used: Mario Badescu (Drying Lotion)
Not worth the money
I went into this product having read all the reviews so I kind of knew it wasn't going to be a miracle but I was desperate. And yeah, just like pretty much all the reviews say, definitely NOT for cysts and really, not that great in general. I did notice that while I was using it, I wasn't quite as oily as I was before BUT that didn't stop me from breaking out. And as for the white heads, nothing noticeable enough for me to proclaim this to be a great product. I definiatley would not buy it again.
June 24, 2017
Product used: Mario Badescu (Drying Lotion)
Did NOTHING and irritated my skin!
I was excited to try this spot treatment due to all of the positive reviews, but after applying it over night, it WOULD NOT budge the next morning. I washed my face with a gentle cleanser and used cotton balls to try and get this treatment off of my face, but it would barely move. I actually ended up accidentally popping a few pimples just trying to get it off (which was extremely annoying). When I finally got it off (it took me around an hour and a lot of qtips), I barely noticed a difference in my skin. My blemishes looked EXACTLY the same and if anything, my skin was extremely irritated from trying to get this product off. I would suggest sticking to benzoyl peroxide as a spot treatment, not this stuff. EXTREMELY disappointed.
PithyYarn
July 3, 2017
girl. you have to use a foaming cleanser (or mario's cleanser, it works so much better since one of its techniques is to wash everything off your face gently, including strong drying lotion) to get it off and with lukewarm water. you have to use the treatment at least twice for your pimples to begin vanishing, and make sure you exfoliate before putting it on, like you would a face mask. benzoyl peroxide does not help your skin whatsoever, all it does is dry your face up and drain it of oil and bacteria, which on the bad side, makes your skin naturally want to produce more oil than what was there, and throughout the day youll end up with an even oiler face, more pimples, and more dirt sticking to your face :/ who wants that?
May 3, 2017
Product used: KAVI (Coral KAVI)
really wanted to use this product
customer representative was completely obnoxious and disgusting save your money!
April 30, 2017
Product used: Murad (Acne Complex)
Horrible
What the heck!! I only used the spot treatment and that stuff burned like there's no tomorrow. It irritated my skin, making it red and super dry. It still hurts and it's been 5 days. It's going to take weeks before my skin goes back to normal. Horrible... Please don't use this product, for your own sake.
April 20, 2017
Product used: Mario Badescu (Drying Lotion)
Didn't do anything
So sad, had such high hopes and it did nothing. I bought this in hopes that it would help all types of acne, as I usually get cystic and I wouldn't have been as disappointed if it didn't work for those. However the first two pimples I got to test these on were the typical whiteheads that this is prescribed for. Did nothing. Not a miracle solution for me :(
October 21, 2016
Product used: Mario Badescu (Drying Lotion)
Contains RUBBING ALCOHOL. This will hurt your skin.
All this really is: cheap calamine lotion, a LOT of rubbing alcohol and some other crappy ingredients. I have no idea who would want to put calamine and rubbing alcohol on their face, since they're extremely pore clogging and disrupt the acid mantle on the face, leading to worse breakouts in the long run. I discovered his acne wash also contains rubbing alcohol, and it severely dried out and damaged my face [and subsequently caused a bad breakout, lucky me]. I guess they want repeat customers who blindly keep trying their products to cure their acne, when their products contribute to the acne to begin with. Beware of this entire company. It's horrible and completely overpriced, considering their favorite ingredient is rubbing alcohol...look at their product labels, it's in almost everything.
July 3, 2017
shut the hell up
June 2, 2018
Mario Badescu is cheap as hell what are you on?
April 11, 2016
Product used: Proactiv Solution (Refining Mask)
Too harsh
as I noticed with all proactiv products they just dry out your skin...waste of money
February 28, 2016
Product used: Murad (Acne Complex)
Worst
I've been using this product for 4 weeks already but nothing happened. In fact, more pimple occurs on my cheek even though I've never have breakouts on my cheeks. More pimple occur on my forehead.This is a waste of my money.
DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!
January 28, 2016
Product used: Murad (Acne Complex)
RUINED MY LIFE
This Product completely ruined my life. I had clear skin in 7th grade, I just had small bumps and convinced my mom to get me this stupid treatment because i thought i had bad acne. I was so wrong. I used this product for weeks, and the "purging" process occured.... ACNE EVERYWHERE. I told myself it would be gone soon it was just "purging".... no.... I had developed cystic acne and spent over 500 dollars on treatment for my face. I am 20 years old now, a sophomore in college, and I am still recovering from this product. Please Please Please do not buy this product.