After four years on Benzoyl Peroxide, the most common active ingredient in acne medication, I had come to realize that slapping this stuff on my face day after day may not be the smartest move. But let’s face it – it’s scary to stop!
Why? Because they are always telling you that your acne will come back afterward. Unfortunately, they’re right. People often have bad breakouts as their skin withdraws from what it’s become accustomed to.
If you want to quit using this questionable chemical but are afraid of your acne coming back worse than ever, check out my video below to learn some tips about how to kick the habit:
Have you used Benzoyl Peroxide? What was your experience with it?
[..YouTube..] cute hair! do you use makeup your skin is flawless!!
Benzoyl Peroxide is so stupid. I swear it does absolutely nothing. Sometimes I feel like slapping bacon grease on my face might be more effective.
Haha… yeah. That about says it right!
Hey,
Um, benzoyl peroxide WORKS. Really well. That’s why people use it. Girl, you look like you’ve never had a zit in your life. If you have, your hormones balanced out and you seem pretty immune. People eat healthy, exercise, everything and STILL have acne. It is caused by hormones that trigger an over-reaction of the immune system. Zits pop up without necessity. It’s not because I have toxins or I roll in butter all night. Benzoyl Peroxide creates an utterly sterile environment so that even a hyper sensitive skin immune system can’t freak. That’s why it works.
I used that stuff for 11+ years and now I’m screwed. My skin is fine and everything but like, when I was on it, after about 10 years I noticed my face’s elasticity was not the same. Now that I’ve been off it a couple months it’s pimply but very elastic and healthier. It sucks. Because it’s either zits or elastic, nourished skin. Benzoyl peroxide is an Oxidant, and what my skin needs is an anti oxidant…what really needs to happen is someone needs to figure out why so many people have this hormonal imbalance.
I just saw that depressing photo on your about page. You’ve totally had a zit before. Sorry. LOL. You look flawless….why didn’t you say what you actually do to help yourself???
Hi Danielle! I’ve written all about it in my blog articles, my free ebook, and my paid ebook… the info is here! And my most recent article is all about hormonal balance in females, so it’ll probably interest you 🙂
So, what do you use to wash and moisturize your face?
I`ll cover that in a video!
Completely agree. I’ve been relying on Benzoyl Peroxide off and on for about 5 years. It has more side effects than bennies. And sometimes no bennies at all, and grossly expensive. No thanks.
Hey Tracy,
I was just wondering, as I am currently using BP on my face, and want to wean myself off of it, if I am using it every second day, then third and so on and so on, should i begin using things like aloe vera and jojoba oil while i’m still using BP, or should i wait until I have stopped using it completely before I use these other natural products on my face? Thanks for all your feedback! Anita x
Nope, you can definitely use the natural stuff with the benzoyl in replacement of your other moisturizer or whatever you were doing along side the benzoyl
[..YouTube..] As soon as you said ‘free radicals’ I was like ‘arrrghhh!’Benzoyl Peroxide never even works for me. I don’t even know why I use it.
I have stopped eating sugar, wheat, pig meat and diary six weeks ago. But now I am getting acne on my arms, behind my ears,… places where I never got acne. I am starting to think that I better use my benzolperoxide again.
Oh, please don’t give up just yet! Have you noticed any improvement? Healing goes in waves, it’ll get worse, then better, then you might break out again as your body clears a particularly nasty pocket of toxins, which sounds like what’s happening if you’re breaking out in places you never have before. This was definitely the pattern my skin followed as I was healing.
Wait it out a little bit before you decide that holistic stuff doesn’t work.
On the other hand, are you sure that those specific things you’ve cut out are the only things you’re allergic to? If you’re replacing all the wheat with soy products, for example, that could be giving you troubles, as most of it is heavily processed and quite allergenic. But I don’t know enough about your individual situation to say.
Just don’t give up yet!
Hi Tracy,
I have been off Benzoyl Peroxide for exactly 6 weeks today. I had been using BP for about 4 years. It was somehow working but sometimes it just did nothing. I also realized my skin got extremely oily and dry at the same time. On a normal day, I would have to blot at least 3-4 times during the 8 hours I was working in the office. Yet, I also notcied I had fine lines around my mouth as well as my forehead.
One day I discovered how bad BP is for your skin so I decided to quit cold turkey. I have also started OCM as well with cold pressed hemp seed oil (with comedogenic eating of 0) with 5% of tea tree oil as a cleaner. For toner I use 93% of green tea, 5% of lemon juice and 2% of lavender essential oil. For moisturizer I either use shea butter (with comedogenic eating of 0) or agan oil (also with comedogenic eating of 0) depending on how my skin feels on that day. I did this routine for about a month then I started using manuka honey to cleanse my face in the morning and OCM in the evening followed by manuka cleansing about two weeks ago. Then I would use the same toner and moisturizer as mentioned above.
And my skin has been breaking out like no tomorrow!! I used to rarely break out on my forehead and now there are countless of bumps, small pimples with white heads on the surface, white heads and also some black heads all over. There are also small pimples with white heads on the surface around my sideburn area, jawline and chin as well.
I have been deligently washing my pillow cases and face cloth either daily or every other day. I wash my hands before washing my face and applying moisturizer. I have also changed my diet to low in glycemic idex, no dairy and no sugar. I just do not know if there is ANYTHING else that I haven’t done to improve my skin….
Other than all the white heads, black heads and pimples, I also noticed that my skin is constantly peeling. I always see dead skin dangling on the areas that I broke out previously. It feels itchy sometimes but it feels better after exfoliating (with manuka and brown sugar). Is this the process of healing or do you think this is some type of irritation?
Deep down I truly believe quitting BP is good for my skin because I actually noticed my skin is not as oily as before! I no longer need blotting paper anymore. Now I can just simply blot with kleenix couple times during my 8 hour work shift when I see small amount of oil on my t-zone.
Can you please tell me if this (breaking out like crazy) is gonna go away? Unfortunately, all the breakouts are leaving me hyperpigmentation so I am going to see my dermatologist tomorrow. I am considering having IPL for my hyperpigmentation. But I also have a feeling that my dermatologist will advise me to start using chemical skincare products again and I don’t know if I should….
I reeeeeally need your advice… =( Thanks.
This post is exactly what I’m going through now. I know that this was from a long time ago, but I’m wondering now how things ended up. Did you get through it? How long did it last? I’m in week 5 and feeling horrible. It’s gotten a bit less bumpy but I’m so emotionally drained.
This is happening to me right now as well. I went from using it every night to every second night and then i broke out in tiny bumps all over my forehead after about 3 weeks. After another month and a half it got better. I’ve now gone to using bz every 3 nights and my face has broken out again in the tiny bumps.. I think the same thing will happen and it’ll go away in a few weeks. I think your body just needs time to get used to it.
Wishing you luck. It’s been six months for me and it’s been really really tough. Things started to get better but only with the help of antibiotics. I wish I hadn’t gone cold turkey.
Thanks!
I’ve done a EAV test. It said that I was allergic for those things.
First of all, thanks so much for creating this website! I just came across it today and it’s a treasure trove.
Over the past two months I’ve cut out dairy and gluten, including anything marketed as “good” junk food. My body and skin are DEFINITELY thankful. However, I’m slowly starting to readjust my skin routine. BP is something I rarely use and never across my entire face; like you said, it’s aging and I had a lot of damage thanks to a cleanser containing it. My use of it is becoming bare minimum and would be easy to remove. However…
I’m getting to the point that my cleanser with Salicylic acid also doesn’t seem to be the greatest option for my skin. It controls acne, but even using it once daily results in my skin drying from time to time, a far cry from its usual oily state. Have you had much experience with it and, if so, do you think a lot of the damaging effects of BP are also prevalent in Salicylic?
Thanks again!
Hi Kyle! I’ll do a video about salicylic acid!
I currently use the acne.org BP, but I have only been using a tiny bit once a day for a month. I will still wean myself off of it but really it doesn’t do much to improve my skin. Thanks so much for your info!
This will be the hardest thing for me to do unfortunately. If by next June I have vamped up my diet (the only reason why I haven’t made a huge impact is because I’m unemployed) to perfection I will slowly come off of it. But from now until then I will put less and less on every morning and night. I’ll get it to the point where the weaning off process is going in ULTRA slow motion. Perfecting my diet though is my main focus. Inside and out is how I want to work on my skin while also relying on what cleared me up. And by perfecting I mean really allowing me to buy the foods I want to eat while also thinking about it’s benefits on my skin. I’ll start a recipe book and share it with you hopefully some time soon.
Quitting topicals is really scary… but a slow wean is a really good idea!… it lets you get used to the idea and doesn’t shock your skin. Good luck with the diet changes 🙂
I’ve been on and off almost every medication including antibiotics and contraceptive pills since I was about 12/13. I’m now nearly 20 and the only constant product I have used over the years is some form of benzoyl peroxide on my skin.
The only thing it seems to do is dry out spots making them come to a head faster and stopping them getting too large in size. It has never done anything for cysts which is what most people want to get rid of.
The main problem I have with it is that it seems to make scarring and marks from spots a heck of a lot worse. Every person I know who has used it to help their acne has ended up with brown marks/patches which take about 2 years to heal properly.
What most people need to realise is that acne treatment is actually a fairly new market in general, so there are bound to be a lot of changes in reports of how effective products we buy actually are. From my experience it does nothing to prevent acne, and it makes marks linger for much longer than natural skin should sort out, and it is ageing/drying/dulling. I’d avoid it at all costs if you can unless you can get away with a bit every couple of months for small breakouts, however my acne has been much too severe for that!! Luckily I think I’m finally growing out of it. Aah.
Hi there,
Thanks for your insight into your experiences with benzoyl… I agree with everything you said… and benzoyl may help some people’s skin temporarily but in the long term it’s causing more damage, wrinkles, and all sorts of other troubles. And it usually stops working… It’s much better to move to natural skin care! Although even then, I think it’s more important to pair external skin care with an improved lifestyle. Skin care helps, but it rarely actually gets rid of acne on its own since acne almost always comes from within. And whatever you use, you definitely don’t want anything that causes more scarring, especially something that doesn’t even work that well!
What about Retin-A? Should I do the same with Retin A?
I don’t know as much about Retin-A as Benzoyl… but I do think it’s better in the long run to move away from any chemicals you are using on your skin and putting in your body as much as possible. Do it at your own pace with what you feel comfortable with though…
Gosh Tracy I just love your articles. I must be the exception in that benzoyl works beautifully for me–my skin stays moist with jojoba oil so I don’t have many side effects and the BP keeps my skin crazy clear. I’ve spent the last two months trying to get off it (cancer scares me)…crazy breakouts. Which I guess is to be expected, but I thought being really careful about following an anti-inflammatory diet would help. No luck. So I’m getting married in July and really want to be clear for that so I’m back on it now. But ugh I really want to try to go off again after the wedding. I think I’m going to try your manuka honey and jojoba routine then. Sigh. Try Try Again. Anyway thanks for sharing all the great info!
Hi Kate – hey, if it works, it works, but I know it’s easy to fall into the trap of just using it forever. And if it works, that’s even harder to actually get off of it!! But I wish you luck on weaning off one day… congratulations on your wedding 🙂
Hello there.
It has been over a week since I stopped using benzoyl peroxide (which I have used since senior year of high school, so about 3 years), and have switched to Dessert Essence’s Throughly Clean Face Wash, & Thayer’s Witch Hazel Toner: with Aloe Vera & Vitamin E. My face was doing good the first few days of using the new “natural” products, but now my skin has broken out a lot. I almost feel like going back to the benzoyl peroxide. My face was clear a week and a half ago. Is there hope that it will get better from here? I’m so sick of still having to deal with this crap at age 21…
Mike – I’m 23.
I know how you feel. I’ve changed my diet, I work out routinely, and my siblings had acne but it went away for them. I’ve been on BP for… 4 years? or more.. man. it’s been a LONG time. i’m breaking out more than ever right now, white heads, bumps, it’s so sad. thing is, somehow, I know it’ll pay off. feel free to email me or message me, i know how you feel man, acne sucks… and i think my skin is going haywire wondering where it’s precious bp went. i’m using it every 3rd day right now or.. am going to start. i did every other day for like 2 weeks, i wonder if i’m rushing it.
Any update Anthony?, did you successfully get off BP?
Im am in need of some help/advise! I was using proactiv for about two years and I decided to stop using it. I quit cold turkey before I read anything online about weaning off the product. I also had to get stitches on my cheek and I couldn’t use proactiv for that week w/ stitches so I decided what better time to stop using proactiv than now!? So its been about two months with out proactiv, I switched to a Lush skincare routine. But I am still breaking out like crazy! Its not cystic acne, but its blackheads and small red bumps all over my face. Its awful. Im 26 and should not be suffering from this!! Ahhhh. So any advice you could offer would be great!!!
I’m going through this right now…red bumps everywhere!!! How did things turn out for you?
Me too .. Quit bp after 8 years.. It worked like a charm but I want to get pregnant …
Did anyone eventually get stable ?? And how ?!
How have things been going?
there there. i think about all anyone can say is… in time your skin will adjust. mine hasn’t yet and i was using it for 4 years. lol. i mean how do people get to the age of 50 and have clear, wrinkly skin? because they weren’t treating it and it ran its course.
it sucks though, i know because im experiencing it. my worst friend is the mirror and it’s buddy my brain due to its ability to think and remember that i have acne ridden skin.
Hello,
I currently in the phase of healing process i believe. When i stopped, i quit cold turkey and had no idea that i would break out. I had the worse 3 months of my life. It was filled with extreme stress, anxiety, depression and anger. I cried almost everyday because i have gone through a really breakout before and got clear(by an unknown reason). I’m just freaking out that i have to face this all over again. I used BP because of a few spots for 6 months. My face is a mess, not to include my hormones. Stress really messed up my hormones and i’m a complete mess. I don’t know where to start and pick myself up again because i always seem to knock myself down over the littlest thing. During the first month, i my skin was very very oily and i had lot of whiteheads, blackheads and red dots. Then i purged for 2 months and it was getting better and i thought it was the end and for there on, it would get better, but i was wrong. I keep on breaking out every 2nd week and i just can’t take it anymore. I’m pumped up with hormones and i am falling apart. I eat an okay diet, but it can be better but i’m so lost. I’m just wondering what i should do. If anybody have any advice or went/going through the same experience, please let me know. Put me at ease because i just can’t take it anymore. I’m breaking out in places i don’t usually breakout and it due to my hormones(chin and jawline). Thank you and god bless you.
Hi Eva,
Sorry to hear this 🙁 stress is a killer. Take up exercise, meditation, read this article: https://thelovevitamin.com/6738/how-to-start-loving-yourself/
Also, don’t forget that my Ultimate Secrets ebook is 50% off right now if you’d like tons of tips for getting clear (and lots about stress). Don’t worry there will be an end to this!!! This is how i felt when my skin was bad.. it’s awful, but there will be the other side.
love xx
Hi Eva,
I am in a similar boat as you. It’s been a year since my breakouts started getting bad, and I’ve been highly stressed and gone through a lot of hormonal changes during this time. I’ve tried dieting and it hasn’t worked for me. I’ve also switched to an all natural skincare routine, which though it hasn’t cleared up my skin, makes me feel better about what I put on my face. A week ago, I started seeing an acupuncturist in hopes that they’ll be able to help. I am taking herbs, and seeing her once a week. I am avoiding refined foods. My newest idea on dealing with the stress is to pretend my skin is already cleared up or is clearing up. One of the things I hate most about my acne is that I can feel it and it makes me self-conscious in front of others. But I’m trying to ignore it for now and pretend like it’s getting better, even if it isn’t because I believe that will reduce my stress about it. It’s only been a day since I had this idea and felt like I could commit to it, but my attitude is already better. Each time I have a negative thought about my skin (which is all the time) I correct myself and remind myself that’s it’s getting better. Or Ipretend I’m the clear-skinned person I want to be and I act like I have nothing to be self-conscious about. I really believe this will work because I have to in order for it to work. I think our minds are a powerful factor is this annoying acne game. Good luck.
Hey Sarah,
Just wondering how it is going with your method. Please let me know, thanks and happy holidays
Thank you Tracy. I signed up for your free eBook and i will try to follow the steps. If not, i would definitely consider your Ultimate Secrets. You have a great blog and you’re so passionate about helping people. I hope this will end soon though, thanks again.
Hi Sarah, I’ve hear of acupuncture before and i’ve never been to one, but i have considered going to one. Do you mind me asking how much a session is? I really get you on stress..it has effeced me in so many ways(bad ways)..it messed up my time of the month. I would have my period every 2 months. It so hard to be positive, but if it’s supposed to help you in the long run, might as well give it a go. Please update me on anything about your acupuncture or anything else at all. I felt like i was the only one that was going through these crazy hormonal changes. Any ways, i want to know how it goes with the stress and stuff. Thanks.
Eva
Hi Eva,
It is going pretty well. The first session made me realize how overworked my mind is because I couldn’t even calmly lay down with the pins in me for 30 minutes. After one week, there were no improvements. But the second week, she told me I needed to start trying to think less about the acne and to start pretending or believing that it’s gone or already improving. That actually struck a deep cord in me. So now, whenever I have a negative thought about my skin, which is all the time, I correct myself and think the opposite or pretend my acne’s not there. It’s been making me feel a lot better. And it’s also made me think about my negativity in general, not just about acne, and try to stop it too. I also stopped wearing making as much and started putting my hair out of my face and eating very healthy. My acupuncturist also has me taking some chinese herbal supplement which I think is drying out my skin in a good way. I have been using the manuka honey a lot too because it feels nice. I had my third session last Friday, and since then my skin has visibly improved. She asked me to not eat as much soy just in case it’s a trigger and she thought I looked better, though at the time I still had several somewhat painful whiteheads so I was not feeling it. But today was one of the first days in a long time I didn’t wake up with new zits, and I don’t have any painful whiteheads right now. So -I’m going with it’s starting to work. The price is $90/session, which is very expensive in my mind, but she says I can start doing community sessions soon which are $40/session. In my mind I am willing to do this for 10 sessions total to see if it will work…
I’m glad I only used BP for a month.. It was before my college start and it was from acne.org.. The guy who sells the products, he means well but erm.. He just encourages people to fix their acne problem the wrong way.
That being said – I think this is one my favourite videos from this website, mostly because it was the first one I watched that led me to this site! 🙂
Hi Adel,
Yep, it was acne.org that convinced me to start with BP years ago.. I agree, Daniel Kern kinda bugs me because he basically scoffs at the suggestion that diet and lifestyle treats acne, mainly because he claims it didn’t work for him. Oh well.
Yeah that’s pretty sad.. But on the other hand his website is full with info about acne – Maybe not the reason why it happens but it does have some articles about pigmentation and just the different types of acne. His forums are full with people discussing on how to treat acne.. If just they all knew about this place. 🙂 And Seppo’s and Fran’s website for that sake.
To be honest I would only recommend going to acne.org’s website for info about certain kind of acne and not for the products.. Even though I still own their Jojoba oil. Still works pretty good to me.
Hey Tracey
I was using BP on and off for 5 years and I stopped using it in February when I realized it sucked and has been making my face red and dry. My skin completely freaked and it’s been slowly getting better but I’m wondering how long it took for your skin to adjust after you went off it? I’m getting so tired of it. I eat really well, stopped eating things I’m allergic to, use all natural beauty products, do yoga, sleep, drink water. I know I have to be patient but it’s really messing with my confidence
Hi Olivia,
Well, I can’t really give you a good answer for that… my skin was getting worse before I quit using it.. then I quit because it wasn’t really doing very much for me… and it didn’t get any better. Months later is when I broke out in severe acne. Now… I’m NOT saying that was because of the benzoyl… that was due to numerous, numerous factors – diet, stress, hormones, switching between skin care too much, etc.. and then I healed that by improving my lifestyle. So that’s my story with it… if it’s slowly getting better, then keep going!!! It will improve!!! 😀
Tracy,
I have used BP for over 20 years and tried stopping, cold turkey, 3 weeks ago. My face is breaking out like crazy – it has never been this bad. Bumps everywhere. Some red, some whiteheads, and now I’m starting to get some that look like cystic acne – deep under the skin and hurt when you touch them. I really want to stop using BP and use only natural stuff on my face. The day I stopped using BP I started washing my face with Adovia Dead Sea mud soap (which is all natural). Should I stay off BP completely (will my skin eventually clear up?) or should I go back on it an try to wean myself off slowly? Also, what do you recommend for an “all natural” moisturizer? Just looking for some advise on what YOU would do if you were in my situation. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Hi Mary, sorry to hear what your skin is going through!! 🙁
Your skin should clear up eventually but I can’t say exactly how long.. it might be best to just go back on it and wean off, but … honestly. I’m not sure what I would do so I’m not sure what to say. Sending you love xoxo
Hi Mary,
I’m going through that exact thing now!! Quit bp cold turkey three weeks ago and my face freaked out. I’m trying to decide if I should use a little bit again to ween off. How did it go for you? What did you end up doing?
Hi Tracy! I’ve recently decided to try a more natural approach to acne but I’m still on antibiotics! I’m afraid to get off of them because I’ll be leaving the country in a month and I don’t wanna get a huge breakout while I’m gone. I would like to transition and slowly get off antibitoics and in the mean time really practice natural methods such as jojoba oil, honey, etc. Do you have any advice on how to go about this? I don’t want to be on antibitoics forever but I also don’t wanna just quit them when they are showing some improvement! Any suggestions?! Thank you :)))
Hey Rebecca,
My advice to take tons of probiotics (and fermented foods if possible) now while you are on the antibiotics and continue for long after you are off the antibiotics 🙂
hi tracey,this is a really heplful site and helped give me the confidence to come off bp. i was using it originally for about a year as just a spot stick on the odd pimple, then i found the acne.org website and so decided to use the 2.5% bp on all my problem areas (nose, chin, and forehead), it worked at stopping any spots and cleared up my skin. Basically i did the regimen once a day for about 1.5 years, but i got fed up with the red, dry, irritated, but excessively oily skin which just seemed unhealthy. So i took your advice and about 6 months ago i started weaning myself off very gradually, and after a four months I was only applying it once a week, then after 5 months I stopped using for good! so its been a month since bp last touched my face at all. I am getting the odd breakout which I fully expect am prepared for, however I am concerned about the health of my skin! It has gradually improved a little over the time Ive had since being off BP, but it is still feeling quite tight and dry but is still oily at the same time, and its still red looking, i think this is irritation or inflammation from when i used to use bp. So is this something you experienced when you came off BP? I guess it will get better but Im just disheartened because it is taking so much longer than i thought to return to its normal texture and normal skin colour? your thoughts would be really helpful right now, thanks
Hi Ben,
I’m not Tracy, but I think I can answer your question 😉
It’s awesome that you have been able to successfully wean off bp! Yes, it takes time for your skin to recover. Maybe a few months, maybe up to a year. To spead up the healing process, you could try to wash your face with oatmeal. Oatmeal has always helped me a lot to soothe any type of skin condition, especially redness, inflammation and scaly buildup. It contains saponins, an extremely mild cleansing agent that absorbs dirt, oil and sebaceous secretions like a sponge. At the same time, it is moisturizing and protecting (beta-glucan), it has very strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties (phenols, vitamin e), it is antifungal and antimicrobial (avenacins) and it helps remove dead skin cells. You can prepare a few (unbleached) teabags filled with oatmeal. Just soak them in a glass of water (it doesn‘t have to be hot water and it‘ll still work fine), let is soak for 5-10 minutes, squeeze the teabag and use the oatmeal water to wash your face. It’ll feel slightly slippery (that’s the saponins). Then rinse, pat dry and you’re done.
Tracy, Solid advice. I am using the products from said website and even though it is keeping my acne to a minimal, its given me other issues that you mentioned. My acne before this was not as severe as yours but it was still pretty devastating non the less (not a lot of self love for myself either). I realize that at some point i am going to have to chuck my current plan so i am implementing phase 1 of your suggestion. I just signed up for the gym and i already incorporate 1 green smoothie a day into my diet. My next step is to slowly ween of the grains (i am already dairy and gluten free for years) and essentially go paleo. In the past, many natural products and supplements that i have tried have made my my acne 10 times worse so i am scared to go that route again but i’ll deal with skin care once my diet and lifestyle (including stress) has been solid for 3-6 months
Thanks!
Sascha
Hi Sascha, good luck on your journey!!! Sending you tons of love and motivation and awesomeness to make it to your goals 🙂
Hi Tracy, I started an acne treatment with BP last week, and used it for three days before realizing the horrible drying/redness effects. On the fourth day I quit, it is now the 6th day and my skin is still super tight and dry and feels terrible. I feel like my face is trapped inside this horrible hard dry skin. How long do you think it will take to go back to normal? Others in the comments have said it took MONTHS but they were on it for a long time… I was only on for a few days. Should I expect a long battle with this dryness? Is there anything I can do? HELP!
Thanks
Hi David, I doubt it will take very long to go back to normal if you were only using it for three days! Just hang in there. There’s nothing in particular I would really advise aside from you know.. if you were using a moisturizer or something prior to this, keep doing that and just be as gentle as possible on your skin. It will heal, don’t worry 🙂
Thank you!! Yeah i guess I’m just freaking out because my skin has never felt like this before! Yesterday it felt like death.. today it feels better but I can see it is cracked in several places and starting to peel… I guess this is normal and I just just let my skin run it’s course?
If benzoyl peroxide did anything good for me it was being me to your site! 🙂
Tracy!
I have been using proactiv solution since I was 12 years old. I am now 26. I attempted to stop using the product back in 2011. My face was fine for about 2-3 months. I was using Yes To Carrots organic face care and things seemed to be fine. And then, suddenly, like a bat straight out of hell my skin was under attack. I starting getting these monstrous, painful pimples all along my jaw line. Nothing like my skin was before I ever started using the product. This was absolutely terrifying. I immediately ran back to proactiv and have back to using it ever since. I don’t always use it daily, depends on the week honestly. Some days I use it twice a day, other days not even at all.
This weekend I was talking with Mom about weaning my skin off the product with hopes of not experiencing another skin meltdown. In search of answers, I came across your site. I will definitely take your advice with the very slow weaning, considering my long, unfortunate history of use. I was wondering though, if you were familiar at all with this newer product Skincerity. And if so what are your thoughts in aiding to the weaning process? I can tell you right now, I DO NOT deal well with having pimples and I am an excessive picker. Another horrendous attack on my face is not something I can mentally or physically deal with.
Please advise!
Hi Tracey,
This is a message to say YES! you are right and benzoyl peroxide doesn’t work and I am a supporter and my skin has got better now Im off it, but Im also asking for some help and too.
I started weaning off benzoyl peroxide late last year and its now been sixth whole months since it touched my tzone. Since then my skin has gradually improved, it has got more elastic again, its less flaky and scaly. However the area of skin is still pretty red, it still feels sensitive and tight sometimes, the texture is not normal yet and a little flaky and scaly still and dry. I have been using moisturisers very generously to help my skin. There has been improvement but it seems like a very slow process back to having my old skin back again.
Does this sound similar to what you went through Tracey before your skin got better? How long was it before you felt like your skin was back to being healthy?
Thanks Ben
Hi Ben,
Tracy is away for a few days, but I’d like to answer your question in the meantime: healing takes a long time and often goes in waves. This sucks, but your skin will heal, I promise. Please don‘t give up, just go ahead with your much more gentle skincare routine! Often our skin takes up to a year to recover after a harsh routine.
Ben,
Are you still breaking out?
I also slowly weaned off BP, I have been off BP for about 6 weeks now. the third and fourth week was hell for me as I broke out around my jawline and chin. but it seems like to be getting better but Im still getting breakout around my mouth epsecailly under my nose.
Just like you my chin area seems to be sensitive and red , but not getting as much breakouts on it but now i seem to get more breakout like I mentioned under my nose/ upper lip area.
Can you tell me your experience on quitting BP the phases you went through on the past 6 months( eg. breakouts, dryness, etch)
BP is the only thing that works on my face. I am a raw vegan on the 80/10/10 diet and I have been eating this way for about a year. My acne has not improved. I was off BP for 5 months and I have tried leaving mukura honey on my face as a wash and later as a full day mask. It doesn’t help. I have tried other natural products with no luck at all. My entire face is covered in acne. I’m almost 28 years old.
Again, I have not noticed any improvement in the slightest when it comes to my acne. But get this, when i put on Clearasil 10% BP 4 hour – my entire face clears up and I have no acne. none. 0. And I only have to apply it at night. None of the dermatologist meds helped either. Retin-A was a joke. I tried that years back for 6 months and saw no improvement at all. The only thing that works for some people, like me, is BP. Oh and not just any BP. No. The only BP that can clear up my acne completely is Clearasil 10% BP 4 hour and the generic version available at CVS at attempts to copy Clearasil’s 4 hour fast acting bp.
For me, certain BPs do have a worse drying effect than others. the Clearasil one does not have that effect on my face. Many others do. But that one doesn’t. Obviously, if I could go without BP – I would. But if you knew me personally and knew just how bad my acne is without it … you would probably call BP a miracle medicine… at least in my case.
I also deal with extremely bad back acne. It covers the entire back and is so thick there is more pimply or marked skin than non-pimply or marked skin. Again, no improvement there in the slightest even with my diet being a raw vegan fruit and veggie focused diet. I see a nutritionist to make sure I am getting all the right nutrients, no deficiencies!
Got any more ideas?
Hey Tracy, your website is amazing! I need some advice from you, I had a breakout 5 months ago, during the first month I used a range of products in panic (all spot gels from drugstores). Then the rest of the 4 months I stuck to only natural products- honey, lemon and aloevera gel; it did improve my breakout massively, however it still persists. I have to admit my diet isn’t that great; I eat a lot of chocolates but it doesn’t really worsen my condition. My mum took me to a GP as she’s worried why isn’t my skin returning to its normal self, and she gave me an oral antibiotic (lymecelin) and topical BP. I am very scared to use the oral antibiotics- do you think I should (as my condition isn’t that severe)? And also I’m planning to use BP at night and then wear a topical antioxidant; improve my diet as well; and still stick with aloevera gel- do you think I’m using the correct approach?
Hi Tracy,
After hearing this information and reading Fran’s article about hemp seed oil, I wanted to use all natural skin care again.
Besides the lifestyle that I’m currently living (healthy eating, working out, parasite cleansing, taking supplements, avoiding plastics etc…) I recently started cleansing and moisturising with Organic hemp seed oil again. I have hormonal acne around my chin and mouth.
However, up untill now I’ve been using a natural product with naturally derived glycolic acid from fruits, this exfoliated my skin really well. But now that I’m only using hemp seed oil on my skin, I have clogged pores on my chin that turn into small pimples. Is this a natural process because I stopped using the acid and does my skin have to balance itself out? Or do you in some cases recommend to still use a natural form of acid to aid in the process?
Thanks for your advice!
Chiara
I suggest papaya masks, they’re more gentle (https://thelovevitamin.com/17734/papaya-enzymes-red-sensitive-clogged-up-skin/). You only want to use them every four days or so, not every day. And yes, when you switch to natural skin care and papaya masks it is normal and actually a good thing that your skin purges all the stuff stuck in the pores (which can come to the surface as clogged pores, or more), but it can be disconcerting when you end up with clogged pores. They’ll pass if you keep up with it
Hi Tracy,
Thank you for your (quick!) feedback. I’ll look into it!
Guess I have to wait it out and let it heal 🙂
Thanks again!
Ps. I love it that you keep being yourself and give us advice, even if it means that sometimes your skin is not perfect either. We’re only human and you’ve done a great job at healing your skin so far, keep up the information because anyone with (hormonal) acne could benefit from it!
Kind regards from Belgium 🙂