My Current Skin Care Routine : Ditching Benzoyl Peroxide

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.

My skin care routine has recently had an overhaul. For the last couple years I have been using benzoyl peroxide (BP) to combat my acne, but this last week I have had to give it up.

This was very hard for me to do, as BP was the best thing I found to keep my skin clear.

I cried at the thought of giving it up, because I don’t want to go back to having pimples all the time.

Anyone who deals with acne knows what it is like to hate their face, to just want clear skin – this is how I felt.

Why I had to give up BP

Well, because my eyelid was getting a rash. I knew it was from using BP, because if I didn’t apply it, my eyelid felt better. I did everything I could to avoid my eye area when applying BP and my moisturizer, but it didn’t matter, my eyelid got red and itchy.

I have had a love/hate relationship with BP for the last few years. I love it, because it works, and my skin is clear. I hate it because I have to wear a sunscreen with it (irritates my skin), and because it goes against my philosophy of not using chemicals on my body.

I did manage to find a BP that didn’t contain parabens and other chemicals, so I was happy about that ( It is called BENDZ by Skin By Pom). But the eyelid irritation just became too much.

Last year I did an experiment for a couple weeks, instead of using BP, I used clay masks everyday, hoping that this would be enough to keep my skin clear – it didn’t work.

I went back to BP, but over the last month, my left eyelid has been too irritated to ignore.

My Skin Care Routine With Benzoyl Peroxide

I will share with you the skin care routine I had when I was still using BP:

Daytime

Wash with Amala Soothing Cream Cleanser
Apply Skin By Pom BENDZ (BP) Lotion
Wait a few minutes, then apply Laurel Whole Plant Organics Antioxidant Serum
Put on my tinted sunscreen – Consonant Skincare, The Perfect Sunscreen

Night Time

Same as first 2 steps above
Apply Lina Hanson Global Face Serum
Skip sunscreen

So Now What?

Now that I have given up BP, what am I going to do? I recently got an amazing email from a reader who told me her acne story. ( I posted it in the comments section of my journey with acne article). I will also post part of it here for you to read:

I have a similar skin background to you. I started breaking out early on (genetic – both my dad and brother have the same skin). I used BP for years and unlike you it never really helped much. just made my skin red and irritated. I had to cover the redness with makeup it looked like I was sunburned. I think it also contributed to how sensitive my skin is now. I tend to bad cystic acne on the lower half of my face (chin and jaw, especially before my period), blocked pores etc.

I gave up BP around a decade ago – I wanted to use more natural products and stop my face being so red. But i never found a real alternative for a long time. Then I started using a local (Australian) brand called Moogoo, the cleanser was great for clearing up my skin and I couldn”t use anything else for a long time (It’s like a natural version of Cetaphil). It was only last year I found the Holy Grail BP alternative! The Acne Cleansing Cream.

I started using it a tiny bit twice a day and the redness went away, my skin was softer, and it pretty much shrinks acne overnight. Moogoo actually markets the cream as a BP alternative too. I have heard some people say it does nothing for active acne but prevents it. But it does help my active breakouts.

It is rather heavy for oily skin in the daytime and especially in summer. I started using it at night only, and my skin was super clear last year. People at work were asking me what I was using on my skin.

So, I have managed to get my hands on some of this MooGoo Acne Cleansing Cream and I am going to give it a try. I will keep you all updated on the results 🙂 For now I have switched up my skin routine a bit.