The Inside Story Of Acne Cleansers - 1

by: CD Mohatta

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 available 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 may 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 may mean that a product labeled 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 may be interpreted by a company in its favor to sell more products by luring consumers. Still a product marked hypoallergenic is better than a product that is not marked so.

Non comedogenic-

You might have observed that when you begin applying a particular product for some time, you begin 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 labeled as comedogenic on a scale of 0 to 5. The material that causes no comedogenicity is labeled 0 and the highest comedogenic product is labeled as 5.

This test is carried out on individual materials, for example - mineral oil, or calendula or cetyl alcohol, etc. Every 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 labeled as comedogenic, if any comedogenic ingredient is used in it. If a product is labeled 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 every material. Some of us may not have any comedones, even if we use a comedogenic product. Similarly, some of us may 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 cannot get rid of it? While using any product, read and note if it is labeled 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.