Which topical acne treatment formulations should I choose? Are creams better than gels, ointments, lotions or foam formulations?

It is learnt that when our skin is very oily, gels are much better tolerated but when our skin is very dry, those that come in creams or ointments formulations are usually more appropriate. We may want to know that lotions and oils are usually better used in the summer months or when there is more humidity in the air.

In general, the more moisturizing a product, the greasier it is; on the other hand, the more drying a product is, the more irritating it can be, that is to say that, both of these can make the products less acceptable to some people. Also, from the acne clear and acne care points of views, combinations of more drying and more moisturizing products can be used concomitantly for achieving excellent results for most acne treatments. The reason behind it is most topical anti-acne medications/topical acne treatments are at least somewhat drying, studies have shown that combining them with moisturizers will make them less irritating, and to help increase our acne regimen compliance and thus maximizing our acne treatment end results.

While some acne treatment products are more effective when presented in certain formulations, i.e. BP (i.e. short for benzoyl peroxide, an antiseptic commonly used topically to treatment acne, and does not induce bacterial resistance) is known to be more active when used in the gel formulation compared to other formulations. Nevertheless, should we get more irritating in a gel formulation, what we could do is to use a lower concentration in a gel formulation, alternatively is to choose a higher concentration in a cream, or to try those cleansers in their various strengths.

Fortunately, lots of choices are out there already, in fact, more new and improved acne treatment options are becoming available on a regular basis to make the acne products appealing and suitable to various skin types as to our specific needs.