Thursday, April 28, 2011

Are there any difference in creams, gels, lotions or foams in topical acne treatment?

The base of the product that frames the active ingredients determine how well the active ingredients are being absorbed in the skin. It can also make the active ingredients stronger or weaker. Therefore, there are indeed some differences with  products that have the same active ingredient (such as a 1% benzoyl peroxide) but come in different forms such as creams, gels, lotions or foams. 

If our skin is very oily, gels are much better for it. When the skin is dry, creams or ointment products are more suitable. Lotions and oils are usually used in the summer months where humidity is higher.

Products that are more moisturizing are normally greasier, making it unsuitable for most people as most people who have acne would normally have oily skin. Therefore, one definitely wouldn't want to put something which is greasy on one acne prone skin to treat acne.
 
 
However, a more drying product will make our skin irritated. Sometimes, a combination of more drying and more moisturizing products can be used to achieve good results as in acne treatments. As most acne treatments are drying, we recommend them to be used with moisturizers to make them less irritating for the skin to achieve an acne free complexions.

Benzoyl peroxide is known to be more active when used in the gel formulation than in other forms. However, it may be too irritating for some people. Hence the options are to use a lower concentration of benzoyl peroxide in the gel formulation, choose a higher concentration in a cream or use the cleansers in various strengths.

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