The Inside Story of Acne Cleansers

August 28th, 2010 by Carrie

The Inside Story of Acne Cleansers

Acne cleanser is used to prepare the skin before application of topical acne treatment- a cream, gel or a lotion. Ideally any acne cleanser should remove all the surface oils, dirt and any other impurity from the skin. Once the skin is clean the medication becomes more effective because there is no barrier between the medicine and the skin cells. Let us look at the common acne cleansers accessible and find out what you should be looking for.

Look for a gentle cleanser. It should be non-irritating and acid balanced. The cleanser should be non comedogenic and hypoallergenic. Let me explain these terms in detail.

Hypoallergenic-

Any product that does not cause allergy by use is called a hypoallergenic product. By reading the word hypoallergenic on any product, most people believe that it will not cause any allergy in them. But this might not be true. Manufacturers are not required to substantiate their claim that their product is hypoallergenic. The use of this term by a reputed company might mean that a product tagged as hypoallergenic has less chances of causing allergy in most of the consumers. You have to use a product and find out if it causes any allergy. Use products marked as hypoallergenic, etc., with caution because the results might be interpreted by a company in its favor to sell more products by luring consumers. Still a product marked hypoallergenic is superior than a product that is not marked so.

Non comedogenic-

You might have observed that when you start applying a particular product for some time, you start getting comedones- whiteheads and blackheads. Any ingredient that can cause comedones is called comedogenic. Any product that does not cause comedones is called non-comedogenic.

To find out if any material is comedogenic, it is usually tested on the insides of a rabbit’s ear. After three weeks, the area of application is observed and a small biopsy is done. The numbers of comedones are counted and the material tested is tagged as comedogenic on a scale of 0 to 5. The material that causes no comedogenicity is tagged 0 and the highest comedogenic product is tagged as 5.

This test is carried out on individual materials, for example – mineral oil, or calendula or cetyl alcohol, etc. Each product that is to be used on the body can be tested in this manner and labeled. When you use a product for application on your body, you will find that most of the formulated products contain more than one ingredient. Such products are tagged as comedogenic, if any comedogenic ingredient is used in it. If a product is tagged as non-comedogenic, it is not supposed to contain any comedogenic material in it.

All of us are different and our body reacts differently to each material. Some of us might not have any comedones, even if we use a comedogenic product. Similarly, some of us might get comedones by using the safest of products. It is like asking – why I don’t get any acne, whereas my friend of same age can't get rid of it? While using any product, read and note if it is tagged as non-comedogenic.

In the next part of this article we will find out more about the active ingredients that are formulated with acne cleansers.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a alternative for professional medical advice. Please consult your physician for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or ruin resulting from information obtained from this article.

To read more about how to get rid of acne please read my blogs at:

http://www.acnetreatment.findtipshere.com

http://www.acnesolutions.findtipshere.com

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