Benzoyl peroxide is bad for your skin. If you put benzoyl peroxide on your face, immediately stop. Peroxide is detrimental to your skin health. Here’s why.
Peroxide absorbs and nullifies the oil on our skin.
This may sound like good news if you believe that your skin’s natural oil is the enemy. But the truth is, it’s not. I know, I know. We’ve been told this our entire lives, and the skin industry has only perpetuated this gargantuan misunderstanding.
Our own natural facial oil is the very thing that traps water in our skin and creates our natural barrier that is inescapably fundamental to healthy, clear, balanced skin. Our skin cannot have water without oil. Oil is the very thing that prevents our skin’s water content from evaporating.
Ideally, we want to help our sebaceous glands find their unique genetic setting based on optimal hydration — not under-producing or overproducing oil.
The moment our sebaceous glands sense that our skin is dehydrated — and this will happen when any surface oil is absorbed and nullified — the glands will get right to work making more. And more. And more. Every time benzoyl peroxide is used, your sebaceous glands sense the dehydration and crank up oil production. Eventually, our skin is making so much oil that you think you need to use even more benzoyl peroxide to neutralize your skin’s oil. Of course, this spiral will get you nowhere — except to skin that is hyperbolically manufacturing oil and running to keep up. This is not balanced.
The solution: Satisfy your skin’s thirst. Not withholding quality lipids from your skin is the fastest way to help your skin find balance.
More Reasons Benzoyl Peroxide is Bad For Your Skin
As if that’s not bad enough, benzoyl peroxide also topically destroys healthy bacteria flora. The obsession with killing bacteria actually creates bad bacteria. The way to create a perfect environment for the perfect flora is to supply your skin with hydration, barrier restoration, topical Dermal Nutrients, and antioxidants, and get regular extractions. Do this, and your bacteria problem will vanish within days.
To make matters worse, peroxide’s use can be incredibly inflammatory, causing unnecessary emergencies for our skin that only distract from the real goal: healing and balance.
Benzoyl peroxide is just another skincare product dinosaur. Let’s leave it in the past.