I had a monster breakout recently, an event I’ve not experienced since high school. I mean it was scary. Desperate, I used Murad’s Exfoliating Acne Treatment Gel, since they’re such a reputable brand in skincare. But the bad looking skin was yet to come.
Let me get right to the point. The gel has a very intense burning/tingling sensation, and even my normally hard-as-nails skin started itching & stinging. Many Murad acolytes claim using it repeatedly eliminates the itching sensation, but I’ve done it, and no. No, it does not. Each and every time, it has irritated my skin so badly that I had a compulsive need to remove it after application. Of course, being as loyal and hardworking for you guys as I am, I didn’t – I had research to do. Gel piled on giant zits, I spent 2 itchy, frustrating nights letting this stuff work its magic, carefully avoiding touching my skin for fear of transferring oil or rubbing this stuff off.
So what happened? Actually, my existing blemishes got worse. I have no idea how Murad’s R&D decided that a high-concentration combination of retinol, salicylic and glycolic acids were a good idea for everyone’s skin. It might do a better job on teenagers trying every alternative to Accutane, but honestly, I kind of doubt it. Those kids’ skin is wartorn as it is, and the top layer might explode if this stuff touched it. I took every possible precaution: I only used it once in a week, didn’t use a large amount, tried it in the morning, tried it at night, skipped toner, and didn’t touch my face at ALL while it was on there. What else could I do?
The verdict: 2/5 stars – it only gets that much because chemically, it’s a high concentration of stuff we know works. I’m disappointed, Murad! I’m not listening to any more promises of “wait and see and try it this way”; the fact is, I’ve tried a thousand products with salicylic acid in them, and none of the others made me want to peel my own face off in agony. Stick with Murad Acne Spot Treatment instead.
Murad Exfoliating Acne Treatment Gel sells at StrawberryNET for $51, if there’s any reason you want to pay that much and not just get the damn Spot Treatment like I told you to.
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Okay, first of all, you can’t just use the exfoliater…it won’t work as well, and it WILL sting bad the first few times of use but if you actually use the rest of the products with it, it doesn’t burn and all the products work together to create soft, supple, and acne free skin.
I have the face wash, the exfoliating gel, the lotion, and the spot treatment. They’ve worked wonders especially for the fact that it’s one product that doesn’t have benzoyl peroxide in it, which is horrible for your skin. My friend recommended me this product and I was so skeptical at first because nothing works for my skin, and this kit did. I always use it now. Also the lotion helps minimize the “sting” the first few times so, you should have tried that!
5 out of 5 stars for me!
Nicole,
I’ve used the rest of the product suite both with the gel and alone, but I still got the “sting”. Maybe my skin is just extra sensitive to salicylic acid. If it doesn’t work without the rest of the line, maybe Murad should only sell this gel packaged with the other products.
I bought a bottle of this gel awhile ago. I used it several times not know that I was supposed to leave it on. I always washed it off because it did sting. After many months, I’m giving it another shot and this time I’m not going to wash it off till the next morning. I have the gel on right now and the stinging has subsided but I can still feel some tingling/itchiness. I can bear it. I’ve had worse. I dont even have bad acne but I do have a lot of dead skin.
I wouldn’t recommend this product for people with bad acne. I can’t imagine this being ok. It’s too abrasive. I would use a prescribed topical cream.
I started using murad this week. The itchiness and redness is worrisome. I wonder if I should continue. Anyone have advice?