{"id":1306,"date":"2021-07-26T23:13:15","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T06:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/?p=1306"},"modified":"2021-07-28T00:59:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T07:59:43","slug":"acne-clearing-products-make-lots-of-claims-but-which-ones-actually-work-the-facts-straight-from-lab-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/acne-clearing-products-make-lots-of-claims-but-which-ones-actually-work-the-facts-straight-from-lab-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Acne-clearing products make lots of claims, but which ones actually work? Just the facts, straight from lab experts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Making it through your teenage years without acne doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re in the clear. Up to 50 million Americans are affected by acne, making it the most common skin condition in the U.S., with 15% of women being affected, according to the American Academy of Dermatology<\/a>. As breakout\u202fsolutions\u202flight up\u202fsocial feeds, lots of questions arise: What makes acne products different? How do they work? And\u202fdo\u202fthey\u202factually<\/em>\u202fwork? We tapped a research scientist-turned-esthetician, plus Murad Skincare<\/a>\u2019s own VP of product development to get straight to the point.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are acne products developed differently than other skincare?\u202f\u202f <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAcne products<\/a> are<\/em>\u202fformulated different than other products,\u201d says Andrew Koenig, Murad\u2019s VP of product development. \u201cTo make acne claims in the U.S., they\u2019re\u202fformulated with active ingredients that are monographed by the FDA.\u201d An FDA monograph is a final ruling on the standards and conditions that an ingredient is proven to be effective and authorized for\u202feffective use. \u201cThe FDA\u2019s monograph is saying, if you use these materials at these percentages,\u202fthey are effective at treating a\u202fspecific\u202fcondition like acne,\u201d Koenig says.\u202f\u202fAnother FDA fact? Even when products have common acne-helping ingredients like salicylic acid<\/a>, they may not be allowed to claim treatment of acne because the ingredients aren’t being used at FDA-approved levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which ingredients really help clear skin?\u202f<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no shortage of buzzy ingredients that promise to work like magic. But only a few are validated\u202ffor efficacy\u202fby the FDA. \u201cBenzoyl peroxide, resorcinol, salicylic acid<\/a> and sulfur are\u202fa few\u202fof the recognizable\u202fmonographed\u202fingredients\u202fthat are\u202fconsidered effective in treating\u202facne,\u201d\u202fKoenig says. \u201cBrands actually never have to prove that that these ingredients are effective at treating acne because the FDA has done enough tests to prove that they work at the specified percentages. But \u202fthe FDA\u202fis only looking at the percentages\u202fof monographed materials\u202fand not at important formulation details, which is also critical\u202fin driving efficacy.\u202f There are many other ingredients that help you\u202ffight the battle over acne when developed into a formula properly.\u201d\u202f\u202f\u00a0

Other ingredients that can help stop acne?\u202fErica Suppa, a research scientist formerly of GlaxoSmithKline, who is currently a licensed esthetician\/founder of\u202fFresh Faced Skin Care,<\/a>\u202fsays, \u201cBentonite clay <\/a>and tea tree oil because of their oil absorption and antiseptic properties.\u201d But remember, this doesn\u2019t mean you should apply these ingredients to your face at full strength, because as with anything, ingredients in too-high concentrations might cause further irritation. Instead, look for these\u202fin your\u202facne product\u2019s\u202fingredient list.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should people with acne watch out for?\u202f<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Suppa\u202fpoints specifically to comedogenic (pore-clogging) ingredients like coconut oil, sodium chloride and algae extracts, and\u202frecommends\u202fchecking\u202fyour vitamins and supplements. \u201cAvoid ingesting more than 30 mcg of biotin. This will cause more skin cells to form, which will congest your pores even more and lead to incredible breakouts.\u201d\u202f Similarly, keeping an eye on stress and sugar intake can be as important as what you put on your face.\u202f\u201cEven someone without acne\u202fprecursors\u202fcan break out\u202fif they\u2019re stressed and\u202feating a diet that\u2019s heavy in refined sugar,\u201d\u202fKoenig says.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are acne products one-size-fits-all?\u202f<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No, Koenig says: \u201cAcne is particularly challenging\u202fbecause everyone\u2019s\u202fskin is different and thus will break out in different ways. You\u2019ll see acne with oily skin, as well as\u202fdry skin, which\u202fmakes the\u202ftreatment protocols and\u202fpotentially the ingredients\u202fwe use to formulate\u202fwith quite\u202fdifferent. So, for example at Murad, we have a cleanser that’s likely better for oilier skin<\/a> and another that’s better for drier skin<\/a>.\u201d\u202f Ultimately though, Suppa says it’s worth it to seek out the acne formulas that work for your skin type: \u201cIf they are formulated correctly and tested on real people with acne issues, they are totally worth it for both short-term correction and long-term maintenance. You cannot cure acne since it is a genetic condition, but you can manage it with good acne products.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Making it through your teenage years without acne doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re in the clear. Up to 50 million Americans are affected by acne, making it the most common skin condition in the U.S., with 15% of women being affected, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. As breakout\u202fsolutions\u202flight up\u202fsocial feeds, lots of questions arise: What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skin"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1627507780:29"],"_edit_last":["17"],"adobe_analytics_repeatable":["a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:4:\"name\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"value\";s:0:\"\";}}"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"],"primary_category":["5"],"_primary_category":["field_608c33bdd26d5"],"show_featured_image":["1"],"_show_featured_image":["field_609ee1cf1ce13"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["5"],"post_views_count":["3100"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_thumbnail_id":["1399"]},"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":{"primary_category":{"term_id":5,"name":"Skin","slug":"skin","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":238,"filter":"raw"},"show_featured_image":true},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1306"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1486,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions\/1486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnected.murad.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}