Benzoyl peroxide (BP) is one of the most successful OTC treatments for acne. It kills bacteria and helps to shed dead skin cells. Recent research also suggests it may mitigate genetic androgen sensitivity in acne-prone skin.
Benzoyl peroxide normally comes in 3 concentrations 2.5%, 5% and 10%, with the implied assumption that higher concentrations are more effective. But is this true? Is 10% BP really more effective than 2.5% in treating acne?
Studies say no. I stumbled on to 2 reviews that looked at studies comparing the effectiveness of different benzoyl peroxide dosages. They both concluded 2.5% BP is just as effective as 5% and 10% concentrations are.
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Read moreThe only thing that increased was side-effects. Benzoyl peroxide can damage the skin barrier function and increase moisture loss from the skin. This can leave the skin vulnerable to infections and inflammation and explains why BP causes dry skin for some people.
BP depletes protective antioxidants from the skin. A single application of 10% BP wipes out 93.2% of total vitamin E from the skin. Vitamin E being fat-soluble is one of the most important antioxidants in the skin. Benzoyl peroxide, especially in high doses, causes lipid peroxidation. In normal English this means BP destroys (oxidizes) fats in the skin, and this is just the type of inflammation that’s been shown to trigger the acne formation process.
You can mitigate the damage with vitamin E cream or other antioxidant creams. That’s why I recommend following BP with soothing moisturizer (even for oily skin).
This doesn’t mean you should avoid BP or that it wouldn’t work for acne. It does. The point is to understand BP has both positive and negative effects on the skin. If little bit is good then more must be better definitely doesn’t apply here.
By all means use benzoyl peroxide to treat acne. Choose 2.5% over 5% or 10% and limit it to once or twice a day. 30 minutes later follow with soothing moisturizer, BP can react with vitamin E to cause more inflammation and that’s why you should wait a bit after applying BP cream. Follow these simple steps and your skin should be better off with benzoyl peroxide.
Toggle references
- Topical dose justification: benzoyl peroxide concentrations.
- Benzoyl peroxide: a review of its current use in the treatment of acne vulgaris.
- Advancement in benzoyl peroxide-based acne treatment: methods to increase both efficacy and tolerability.
- Topical alpha-tocotrienol supplementation inhibits lipid peroxidation but fails to mitigate increased transepidermal water loss after benzoyl peroxide treatment of human skin.
- The antioxidant network of the stratum corneum.
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So you don’t think that benzoyl peroxide is harsh on the skin? Also, Tracy from The Love Vitamin said in a post that it contributes to cancer!
http://www.thelovevitamin.com/676/is-salicylic-acid-as-bad-as-benzoyl-peroxide/
What are your thoughts on this?
Belle, as much as I like and respect what Tracy does, about 90% of what she said in that video is total nonsense. I know that she has good intentions, but she’s getting her information from very unreliable sources. Basically she’s just repeating all the sensational claims in many alt-med websites.
At one point I looked at safety of benzoyl peroxide and whether it’s absorbed systematically. The skin rapidly metabolized it to benzoic acid, a harmless chemical that the kidneys filter out very rapidly. I looked at this when I was researching whether BP is safe for pregnant women. While it’s not specifically tested in pregnant women all the articles (that is scientific studies) said it’s safe.
Here’s a bit more reliable take on the benzoyl peroxide causes cancer thing: http://thebeautybrains.com/2008/04/08/does-benzoyl-peroxide-cause-cancer/
Quick search on PubMed also brough up a few studies:
Benzoyl peroxide: an integrated human safety assessment for carcinogenicity. This one mentions that 1 study found that BP increases cancer when it’s combined with acetone (an irritant and combination that’s harsher than BP alone), but there are also 6 similar studies that show no effect. Basically the one study is probably a statistical outlier.
Photocarcinogenesis and toxicity of benzoyl peroxide in hairless mice after simulated solar radiation. Showed no increase in cancer when BP was combined with UV radiation (simulating sun exposure). The study mentioned that BP treated mouse died sooner, but that’s no applicable to humans as in humans the skin metabolizes it into a harmless chemical. This study also concluded that based on currently available evidence BP is safe to use.
Then, is BP harsh on the skin? It can be. As I mentioned in this article it depletes the antioxidants from the skin and can damage the skin barrier function. Use too much of it and you can run into trouble. That’s why I recommend using soothing, antioxidant moisturizer after BP.
Whether to use it or not is really up to you. I think it’s pretty fantastic stuff and really cost effective. It got rid of the remaining redness and the few pimples that no amount of diet or healthy lifestyle could fix.