Neutrogena Complete Acne Therapy Treatment System Review

Largely a grocery store brand, Neutrogena has produced what they call the “complete acne therapy treatment system.” It combines a skin polishing acne cleanser, an acne control lotion, and an oil free SPF 15 lotion to target acne at one of the major sources, blackheads. They promise it will work because it supposedly reduces blackheads, whiteheads, inflammation, oiliness, bacteria, improves skin texture, reduces bumps, and visibly reduces the appearance of acne all in 4 days. They even claim that in a clinical trial 81% of subjects agreed it didn’t dry their skin, but did they agree that it worked is the question.

In order to kill bacteria, there are various ways to deal with blackheads and often several steps to achieve this. First, you have to get rid of the dead skin cells that may be clogging the pores, generally by exfoliating. We see no indication that this would happen with Neutrogena. Second, it would have to allow oxygen into the pores, which would kill bacteria in and of itself. Again, we see nothing to verify this with Neutrogena. Finally, you would want to shrink pores to protect from future blackheads, again we see no verification of this.

Neutrogena Complete Acne Therapy Treatment System Ingredients

Skin Polishing Acne Cleanser:

Active ingredients: Salicylic acid

Inactive Ingredients: Water, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Glycol Distearate, Polyethylene, Glycolic Acid, Sodium Lactate Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Polyquaternium-11, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance.

Acne Control Lotion:

Active Ingredients: Benzoyl Peroxide 2.5%

Inactive Ingredients: Water, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Laureth-4, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Disodium EDTA.

Oil Free SPF 15 Lotion:

Active Ingredients: Octinoxate 7.5%, Zinc Oxide 2.94%

Inactive Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Butylene Glycol, Capryloyl Glycine, Dicetyl Phosphate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Caprylyl Methicone, Sarcosine, Cinnamomum Zeylanicum Bark Extract, Hexylene Glycol, Cedrus Atlantica Bark Extract, Propylene Glycol, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Ceteth-10 Phosphate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isopropylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum Fragrance.

According to Neutrogena, there are no side effects. But with Benzoyl Peroxide in the mix, many users tend to report dryness, redness, irritation, peeling, increased sun sensitivity, which would explain the need for a specialized sunscreen(though only 15 SPF), etc. In addition, though advertised as sunscreens, oxinoxate and zinc oxide are actually industrial chemicals that can easily irritate your skin, even more than benzoyl peroxide. There are various other ingredients that can easily cause side effects.

Without question, there are quite a few side effects that the Neutrogena website does not disclose. They do have some proven ingredients, but we are curious to see what study they are citing, probably one conducted with serious bias by their own team of paid researchers, because we have not actually been able to find any published study with those results. If you are looking for a simpler, easier, and less damaging solution, all our top products are one step programs with new and innovative acne ingredients.

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