# How do all the anti-acne chemicals work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-all-the-anti-acne-chemicals-work/720081>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 15, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-all-the-anti-acne-chemicals-work/720081 "2015-05-15T01:09:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cardboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Cardboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardboard)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-all-the-anti-acne-chemicals-work/720081/1 "2015-05-15T01:09:58Z")

</div>

As someone who used to have acne, I put a variety of chemicals on my face to get rid of it. I was just curious, how do the following actually kill or fight acne? How do they work?

Benzoyl peroxide  
Salicylic acid  
Glycolic acid  
Sulfur  
Retinol

Plus, zinc and Vitamin C are recommended supplements in the fight against acne. What function do they have/how do they work?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-all-the-anti-acne-chemicals-work/720081/2 "2015-05-15T02:25:14Z")

</div>

Accutane worked for me (it’s a form of Retinol). The side effects were awful, but a few months of that was worth it to knock down the acne for the rest of my life.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-all-the-anti-acne-chemicals-work/720081/3 "2015-05-15T04:45:27Z")

</div>

Benzoyl peroxide and sulfur act as anti-bacterials. Salicylic acid is also an anti-bacterial, and it looks like, as an exfoliant, it helps to unclog pores.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-all-the-anti-acne-chemicals-work/720081/4 "2015-05-16T17:59:17Z")

</div>

They’re also drying agents to help reduce excess skin oil. This is sometime counter-productive in that it can cause your skin to react to the dryness by simply making _more_ oil.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-all-the-anti-acne-chemicals-work/720081/5 "2015-05-18T08:28:41Z")

</div>

Retinol is meant to encourage the skin to heal. It binds into receptors, which makes it hideously complicated to explain, well they don’t quite know what it does… but it does help thin and dry the skin