Benzoyl Peroxide to clear acne - my story

Hello and welcome!

Even at the age of 24 I still suffer with hormonal breakouts and never seem to have fully clear skin for longer than a few days. For many years I have reached for products that contain salicylic acid...although I think this does help my skin it never seems to completely clear it up. 

So I decided to do some research and came across benzoyl peroxide, another ingredient used to clear acne. I went to my local CVS pharmacy and picked up 'maximum strength Terminator 10' which has 10% benzoyl peroxide. I later found out this is the highest percentage you can buy over the counter.

Before bed I put this cream on areas I had breakouts: cheeks, small patch of forehead and a bit on my neck. To my surprise it didn't seem to sting or tingle much when it was applied.

I should have really just tried out a small amount first to see how my skin reacted. But I assumed that my skin would be ok seeing as though I have had acid peels in the past with no problems and microdermabrasion, both which are quite harsh treatments. I was wrong to assume!

I woke up in the morning with red patches where I had applied the cream, but no spots. 
My skin was very itchy and irritated, even after I washed my face my skin continued to itch ALOT. The only thing that would help to ease the irritation was applying Eucerin to my face. My skin also had a very strange texture...kind of leather like. Hmm this wasn't like anything I had experienced before!

I decided not to put anymore of the 'terminator 10' on my skin, even though I read you should continue to use benzoyl peroxide for your skin to adjust. It was just too painful and extremely itchy.
I had basically chemically burnt my skin!

I knew I wanted to continue using bp somehow, as it had clearly worked to get rid of my spots. So I looked around to find a product containing a lower percentage. 

It was at this point I came across the Dermalogica breakout clearing daytime treatment, from the clear start range. This contains 2.5% bp. (I must point out this product only contains bp in the US version, due to a change in EU laws if you buy this outside the US it will not contain bp).
As my skin was still very sore I decided not to apply anymore bp products for a few days until it started to heal.

After about a week I felt I was ready to try using bp properly this time! I started using the Dermalogica daytime treatment every morning after washing my face. You only need a very tiny amount of this stuff, a little goes a long way. Make sure you avoid the eye area and neck as these parts are extra sensitive!
My skin still felt slightly itchy in areas but nothing compared to before.

I continued to apply this every morning after cleansing. It has been over 2 months and I've only had 1 or 2 tiny pimples come up, which didn't last longer than a day! I am now even able to apply small amounts of the 10% bp to areas I am particularly concerned about without it causing irritation.
As many people have said...benzoyl peroxide really is something you need to stick at and use carefully to see positive results.

After my skin had got used to the bp it has honestly been the best face cream I have ever used for keeping my spots away. It's really great to find a product (or ingredient should I say) that works consistently with amazing results, super pleased!

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You can see in this photo how my skin looks now :) I don't have any makeup on my skin here and you can see how much it has cleared up / evened out.

Overall I would really recommend trying benzoyl peroxide if you have acne and nothing else seems to work. Just make sure you start with a lower percentage, applying every other day.

Another tip is to add this over your current moisturizer when first trying out bp. Having moisturizer on already acts as a small barrier to help protect your skin.

Please let me know if you have had any similar experiences using bp or if you do try it out in the future?

As always, thank you so much for reading my blog post and I hope it had been helpful to some of you!
xoxo