Review: Benzac 5-day Challenge

As promised (in my Instagram), the Benzac 5-Day Challenge blogpost is here!
For the first half of this post you'll get to know more about these 3 products and after that, it'll be my before and after photos of using Benzac and finally an overall review.

Here are the 3 products I'd received and used for 5 consecutive days:
- Benzac Daily Facial Liquid Cleanser (Sensitive - Normal Skin)
- Benzac AC 5 Benzoyl Peroxide Water Base Gel (5%)
- Benzac Facial Scrub

About Benzac
Benzac®, a leading dermatologist-recommended acne brand encompasses a complete range of products that clean, treat and care for mild to moderate acne sufferers.

About Galderma
Founded in 1981, Galderma is a global company exclusively dedicated to dermatology. The company is committed to delivering innovative medical solutions to meet the dermatological needs of people throughout their lifetime while serving health care professionals around the world. The company has 33 wholly owned affiliates with a worldwide network of distributors and more than 4,500 employees. Galderma’s extensive product portfolio is available in 80 countries and treats a range of dermatological conditions including: acne, rosacea, onychomycosis, psoriasis & steroid responsive dermatoses, pigmentary disorders, skin cancer and medical conditions such as skin senescence. With approximately 19% of revenues invested each year to discover and develop new products and access innovative technologies, the company is one of the world’s leading investors in dermatology R&D. Five state-of-the-art R&D centers and five manufacturing sites are dedicated to providing a wide range of innovative medical solutions which meet the highest standards of safety and efficacy.

Benzac Daily Facial Cleanser

Under the Normal to Sensitive Skin range, Benzac carries 2 types of cleansers:
- Benzac Daily Facial Liquid Cleanser (Normal - Sensitive Skin)
- Benzac Daily Facial Foam Cleanser (Normal - Sensitive Skin)
The cleansers comes in the range of a liquid soap and a foam cleanser. The key ingredients for both formulas are Calendula, Aloe Vera and Softening agents. Its key benefits lie in its hypoallergenic formula, which is ideal for sensitive skin. The products remove impurities and help unblock pores without additional aggression and product a non-oily protective and moisturizing film on the skin.

Under the Combination to Oily Skin range are:
- Benzac Daily Liquid Cleanser (Combination - Oily Skin)
- Benzac Daily Facial Foam Cleanser (Combination - Oily Skin)
The cleansers formulated for combination to oily skin come in the range of a liquid soap and a foam cleanser. The key ingredients for both formulas are Calendula and Aloe Vera, which remove impurities and help unblock pores without additional aggression. It also helps to reduce oiliness throughout the day while maintaining the natural moisture of the skin.

And here I have, the Benzac Daily Facial Liquid Cleanser (Sensitive - Normal Skin). Even though I do not have sensitive skin (yet) and I'm more of a combi oily with mild acne prone skin, I am still alright with using products that are made for sensitive skin. At least I know that it'll be mild on my skin and won't agitate it.

Ingredients and expiry date indicated on the back of the squeezable plastic bottle.

Easy flip cap.

The cleanser is a clear liquid. I thought it was blue because of the tinted blue bottle. hahax.. ^_^"

Lathering it up is quick and easy just by adding a little water to it. However it doesn't create a thick paste-like foam and it feels a lot less dense than other facial cleansers I'd used.

Benzac Facial Scrub
Benzac Facial Scrub is suitable for all skin types and helps to exfoliate and deeply cleans the skin, while reducing skin oiliness without damaging the skin.

Ingredients printed on the back of the tube.

Flip cap.

Swatches of the facial scrub on back of my hand. It contains lots of microbeads (detectable by eyes).

Exfoliating the right half of the back of my hand. See that my skin surface appears smoother and the fine dry lines look less visible.

Benzac AC®
There are 3 different water-based gels from mild to high strengths for treatment.
- Benzac AC Gel 2.5% (Mild Strength)
- Benzac AC Gel 5% (Moderate Strength)
- Benzac AC Gel 10% (High Strength)

The Benzac AC gel treatments are suitable for people with mild to moderate Acne. They key active ingredient - Benzoyl Peroxide is an organic compound in the peroxide family used for acne treatment. Its key benefits lie in keratolytic action (unblock pores), anti-inflammatory action, reduce sebum production and kills Propionicbacterium acnes (P-acnes, the bacteria responsible for acne) within 48 hours. Benzac AC also contains advanced Acrylates Copolymer (AC)/glycerin complex that absorbs surface sebum and releases glycerin to hydrate your skin.
Acrylates Copolymers are tiny highly porous beads, which are so porous that they can absorb up to four times their own weight in fluid. AC beads soak up certain liquids quickly and easily, but they are selective about what they can absorb. They rapidly absorb oils, however, they can't absorb water, as water has a very high surface tension.
Glycerin lubricates the skin, making it smooth and soft. So whilst the AC absorbs the excess oil (sebum) that can carry bacteria, it releases glycerin that helps hydrate the skin.
When Acrylates Copolymer/glycerin complex is applied to the face, the beads come in contact with lipids, such as sebum, that have a high affinity for them. Sebum, because of its attraction to the beads, forces the glycerin out of the beads and onto the skin surface. The AC beads then absorb the sebum.


Among the 3 strength that Benzac AC has, I received the moderate one that contains 5% benzoyl peroxide.

Ingredient, directions & expiry stamped on back of of the tub.

I find that the Benzac AC opening is rather big for something I only use to dot over my zits.. ^_^"

Product swatch on my hand

Before & After (Day 1)
On the first day before I used Benzac products, I had several small inflammations on both of my cheeks. To combat all these awful looking bumps, I'd dotted Benzac AC 5 on all the inflamed areas and the areas where I often have lots of spots eg, like my jawline so as to prevent more from popping up.

Some on my forehead and eyebrows

And finally a big zit on my chin, diagonally across from corner of my lips.

Before & After (Day 5)
I'd been using Benzac Cleanser and Treatment Gel everyday and for the facial scrub, I only used it twice, once on Day 2 and another on Day 5.

As compared with the before picture, you can see that all the small inflammations are gone except for 1 big one which showed itself at the corner of my jawline only on the 5th day.

The big zit on my chin had subsided, leaving a pinkish red dot there.

Close-up of the inflamed zit that is at the corner of my jawline, along with a few other minor inflammations beside it. I didn't apply Benzac AC 5 on this area as there wasn't any spots back then.

After the 5-day challenge, I continued to fight these zits over the weekend by applying Benzac AC 5 on them for 2 consecutive days, twice daily.
This is how the zit on my chin look like over the span of 2 days. In the most right image you can see that the skin around the spot had started to peel. I guess it's time for me to stop using Benzac AC over this area as the zit had entirely flattened out.

And the zit on my jawline over the span of 2 days. Redness subsided, inflammation gone!

Review
Benzac Daily Facial Liquid Cleanser (Sensitive - Normal Skin):
- scented
- foams easily and foams lightly (not dense)
- great to be used as morning cleansers where I need a mild wash to remove the grease from my skin
- I feel that it doesn't cleanse thoroughly if used after removing my make-up
- advisable not to get it too near the eyes as it stings the eyes
- doesn't cause any skin irritation
- skin doesn't feel taut right after cleansing
- skin feels tight only after sometime (if I don't apply skincare immediately after that) around my eyes and laugh lines
I would prefer to go for a thicker denser facial cleanser because I often wear makeup and I need something that cleans thoroughly without leaving any residue on my skin. Therefore I only use this when I don't wear any makeup or I only wear non-tinted sunblock. It's a good light and mild daily cleanser that removes sebum and dirt well.

Benzac Facial Scrub:
- smells lemony
- contains lots of microbeads
- feels very dry and hard to spread out if it's not used on damp skin
- I exfoliate my skin with it slowly and very lightly as I feel that the beads are coarse
- I add in more water to damp it so that the beads won't feel so harsh against my skin
- sometimes skin feels a little prickly during the scrubbing process
- I use it once every 3 days for the 5-day challenge
- skin immediately feel matte smooth after rinse!
- doesn't make my skin feel taut
- skin doesn't feel irritated or agitated
- skin feels ultra smooth for few days
For something that feels coarse and kinda harsh, I thought it may agitate my skin. But it didn't. I was surprised to find my skin really smooth (like when you get a new mobile screen protector, that kind of smooth matte surface? lolx~) and didn't react to the coarse beads.
As much as I like exfoliating, I normally will avoid using physical exfoliants (eg, scrubs that contains beads, salt and the like) because I may over exfoliate at certain areas with such exfoliants. While chemical exfoliants will provide an even exfoliation all over.
After trying out Benzac Facial Scrub, I guess its time for me to get back using physical exfoliants! ^_^ Gotta love that smooth smooth skin!

Benzac AC 5%:
- scentless, odourless, colourless
- I use only very tiny amount (about less than half a pea size) to dot over my zits and acne prone areas
- I normally cover spots that are inflamed or going to be inflamed and along my jawline
- I apply it right after toning my face, and then moisturize after the Benzac AC has been fully absorbed by the skin
- minor inflammations subside over 1 night
- redness caused by the small bumps miraculously disappeared over a night leaving only a few white heads behind
- bigger inflammations (like the zit on my chin & jaw) subside over about 2-3 days
- it takes a while for the these bigger bumps to flatten out
- skin doesn't feel dry neither does it peel, unless applied on the same area for too many days
- skin doesn't feel irritated
Benzac AC 5 works for my combi oily as well as mild acne prone skin. It takes only 1-2 days for the zit to dry out, and another few days more to flatten out. I'm happy that it works too when applied over areas that I think may become inflamed within the next few days. Benzac AC totally help stops the development of new comedones as well as unplugs my pimples.


Price
Benzac Daily Facial Liquid Cleanser, Normal to Sensitive Skin (120ml) SGD$12.90
Benzac Daily Facial Liquid Cleanser, Oily to Combination Skin (120ml) SGD$12.90
Benzac Daily Facial Foam Cleanser, Normal to Sensitive skin (130ml) SGD$10.90
Benzac Daily Facial Foam Cleanser, Oily to Combination skin (130ml) SGD$14.90
Benzac Facial Scrub (60ml) SGD$10.90
Benzac AC Gel 2.5%, Mild Strength (60g) SGD$16.50
Benzac AC Gel 5%, Moderate Strength (60g) SGD$17.50
Benzac AC Gel 10%, High Strength (60g) SGD$18.50

Where to buy?
Available at the following selected pharmacies: Guardian, Unity and Watsons.


Website
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