Going off benzoyl peroxide

& Well It's only been about a month and I have been off benzoyl peroxide and A LOT of break outs came with it. I just want to know if this is the right thing to do or what I could be using/doing instead. Should I go back on it or should I find an alternative? Right now my regimen is just face wash, toner, and moisturizer. But I also wear foundation. I just want some advice from people who had gone off it before and your experiences. I just hope that it will get better in time and should wait more than a month but I'm not too sure. Tips and feedback would be nice. Thanks.

How did you stop benzoyl peroxide? If you stop abruptly (hence the breakouts), I think you should go back until the breakouts go away and then GRADUALLY stop benzoyl peroxide. You can either opt for a lower concentration B.P cream/gel, or instead of applying day and night, try applying only once a day. In my case I gradually stop applying BP by applying only once every other day on the areas that I usually get breakouts. It worked for me.

If you insist on not going back, try a topical acid salicylic gel/cream (I would have said gel since it's lightweight but considering you wear foundation, a gel formula might peel off when you apply foundation). I personally think it works better as a heal-fast product (because of its anti-inflammatory properties), on pimples that had already popped or are scarring in contrast with the ones that are going on. I personally haven't tried any other product for acne :T

Hope that helped!!

Well, I sort of stopped abruptly and I was kind of expecting the break outs but I just thought eventually it would get better. You know it 'gets worse before it gets better' kinda deal, but I am sort of doubting it. Prom is also coming up and foundation can only cover so much. . But thanks for the advice, I may go back on benzoyl peroxide.

I am currently going through the same process. I had been using the 10% benzoyl peroxide for many years, but instead of stopping altogether, i'm lowering the strength i'm using slowly (i tried stopping altogether like you but again broke out in spots) I'm currently using 5% only on the areas i break out more so my forehead and chin and i'm only using it once a day at night. i'm going to go down to the 2.5% after and hopefully be able to stop using it altogether.

I always had Hate/love relationship with Benzoyl. Sometimes it really worked well for my acne, other times it was worse for my skin because it causes so much drying and peeling and all that mess. I have not used Benzoyl Peroxide for years now. I think I just stopped one day and yeah I was still breaking out and then I switched to organic/natural products. I use Primavera Anti Blemish treatment which contains lots of natural ingredients like peppermint, sage, that kind of thing and it actually works very well for me. No dried out peeling skin!

I also recently got a new spot treatment from Soap & Glory which is not an organic product but it doesn't contain benzoyl, instead it has salicylic and and lactic acids in it. So you might want to consider switching to Salicylic first and then ease into organic products.

Did you find that the medication worked for you while you were on it? With any acne treatments like topical, antibiotics or oral, it's important that you start the medication off slowly to reduce the likelihood of a severe breakout and if you want to stop using the treatment, you need it get off it gradually, again to avoid breakouts. The mistake you made was that you stopped too abruptly. So if you think it did control your acne while you were on it (after the purging) then I think it's not a bad idea if you get back on it...this time slowly as well, start off applying it every second night and then every night after a few weeks. Otherwise, find another alternative. It sucks but you need to be patient when treating acne with these sorts of medication cause it takes awhile to see impressive results! 

Also, with the moisturiser, make sure it's OIL-FREE and is not creamy. Make sure to not apply too generously cause contrary to what most think, most moisturisers are not good for acne skin. Be sure to apply sunscreen too when you're on acne treatment medications cause your skin becomes very sensitive to the sun, so on days that you don't need to use make-up, just apply a sunscreen with at least SPF30 (spray or gel based sunscreen). Also if you can, find a foundation that has sunscreen in it so you don't have to apply sunscreen and then make-up on top.

Hope this helps!

For me benzoyl peroxide was a hit and miss for me. I guess I just used it out of habit but I don't really think it did much for my acne. By the time I was put on it ( after retinoid creams) my acne was somewhat stabilized. So when I stopped, nothing drastic happened. But my aunt who is a dermatologist prescribed differin for me and I now have clear skin despite a few acne scars from hyper pigmentation. :)

I used benzoyl peroxide but it was drying my skin out a lot -- eventually switched to a teatree gel (natural antibacterial) that worked well for me. Gotta experiment to see what works with your skin..