We are still on the subject of acne this week so if you’re keen on zapping those zits, then we’re going to do everything in our power to give you guys the right tools to clean those pores and prevent breakouts from occurring.
We’ve already established a new leader in the battle against the blemish, with Zenmed Acne Solutions taking over as the top acne solution for this year.
Today we’re going to discuss a product that literally came into existence by the people and for the people after Daniel Kern (the guy who runs acne.org) decided it was about time to manufacture his own product and this he calls, The Regimen.
We’re going to do our best to break down this popular acne treatment and hopefully give you guys the info you need to decide whether it might be a good solution for you.
Let’s get this pimple party started (yeah I know, that was kinda lame).
BES Breakdown
Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a very basic 3 step system, extremely similar to that of Proactiv or many of the other acne 3-step kits on the market.
They have however released a new product (The Regimen Plus) which also includes Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) as well as a bottle of Jojoba Oil.
There are basically three things worth mentioning in regards to this product:
- Benzoyl peroxide
- Alpha Hydroxy Acid
- Jojoba Oil
Firstly most people are aware of the acne fighting abilities of benzoyl peroxide, but just quickly for those who aren’t aware of how it works, it’s very simple. It has the ability to do 3 things:
- Increase skin turnover (removes older dying skin preventing it from clogging pores.)
- Clear your pores (removes any dead skin cells from within your pores that can lead to blockages.)
- Reduce acne forming bacteria count (in some cases, acne can form due to a build up of a bacteria known as Propionibacterium. Benzoyl peroxide helps reduce the amount of this bacteria that forms on your skin.)
The Regimen has stuck to the 2.5% concentration model, reducing the chance of irritation from occurring.
There is no evidence to suggest that BP is any more effective at concentrations higher then this, but it is well known that increasing the concentration will likely lead to skin irritation and redness.
Secondly Alpha Hydroxy Acid is usually used again as an exfoliant, however it has an very interesting way of doing this. It works by loosening the glue like substance that helps to hold your surface skin cells to each other.
When applied, dead cells are then more easily able to be removed from the surface and pores of your skin.
AHA does however have it’s fair share of side effects, including redness, irritation, plus a strong increase in overall sun sensitivity. Therefore it’s not recommended to use concentrations higher then 10%, something The Regimen has strictly stood by in their kit.
Finally, Jojoba Oil can be applied after completing the initial cleanse, treatment and moisturizer to help decrease your skins natural tendency to overproduce its natural oil – sebum.
Jojoba oil when looked closely at, almost mimics the same properties as sebum and when applied, can trick your body into believing it is already saturated. This then reduces the chances of overproducing oil that can lead to further blockages and outbreaks.
Now that’s pretty cool.
These are the 3 main benefiting factors worth mentioning in regards to The Regimen, but in the end, we always gotta take a look at the pro’s and con’s…
Why It’s HOT!
There’s a few really great things about this acne kit, some which we have already mentioned but we’ll talk about them a little further here. The first is the fact that Daniel Kern has done a great job at not overdoing it in terms of concentration levels.
There is literally no evidence to suggest that increasing the amount of benzoyl peroxide will result in any faster improvements in the condition of your skin.
In fact it’s more likely the opposite will occur, as with an increase in irritation so comes a desire to scratch. This intern increases the amount of lose skin cells that can always lead to further blockages.
Secondly we really like the inclusion of jojoba oil as it’s something not a lot of brands have yet looked into as an effective way of reducing sebum overproduction.
Although not a lot of studies have been conducted to measure the effects of jojoba, it is however an organic product that is less likely to lead to any negative side effects.
Why It’s NOT!
Although on the surface this product does look like it will offer results and it does have many loyal supporters, the majority of its clients come directly from the product owners group of followers.
That means it’s hard to determine the validity of the positive reviews circulating around the web.
There’s also not a lot of information to allow us to determine how the product was designed during the initial stages of development and whether or not there were any studies done to show the effects after several months of application.
Finally The Regimen in our opinion just doesn’t have that X-Factor it needs to help us label it as the top acne treatment available on the market today. The price at just under $40 is not any cheaper then most of the other kits and the ingredients it uses isn’t really any different apart from the inclusion of jojoba oil which you can pick up for less then $10 over at Amazon.
Although it’s slightly better then say a Proactiv, it’s still a fairly basic at home acne kit.
Skin Score!
Apart from the points mentioned above, there is a lot to like about The Regimen. It has a loyal group of supporters, the product isn’t over-concentrated with AHA or benzoyl peroxide and if you get The Regimen Plus you might see get some good long term results with the jojoba oil you’ll be applying every day.
Although it does have its supporters, we just couldn’t offer it the top position on our Home Acne Solution Leaderboard, with Zenmed Acne Solutions taking the honors.
