Neutrogena Multi-Vitamin Acne Treatment

Sep 06 '00 Author's Product Rating Pros A bit of a rare product; has a useful function for some Cons Not that great for its intended purpose | Full Review |...See more » Sep 06 '00 Author's Product Rating Pros A bit of a rare product; has a useful function for some Cons Not that great for its intended purpose | Full Review | ...though it passes itself off as an acne treatment for reasons that are not entirely clear: the 'lotion' is slick and greasy, not at all something for the blemish-prone face. The purported 'dual action' is just not there, to the point where I am more irritated at the FTC than anything else: a bottled vitamin supplement would not be permitted to make the absurd claim that it would clear up old skin blemishes, yet somehow this product seems to believe in the unproven efficacy of its vitamin-enhanced formula, and believes its scant few 'fruit acids' (side note: if you are shopping for an 'alpha-hydroxy acid,' a.k.a. 'AHA,' product, it is best to stick with the ones that list the per cent of the AHA) will perform miracles normally only seen in dermatologists' office. The 2% salicylic acid is a bona-fide proven 'beta-hydroxy' acne remedy, but the rest of the advertising for this stuff is just shill. No miracle will flow from this pump, and those with greasy complexions will find themselves throwing it in the trash with disgust at a company who would seek to further shine the skins of the...shiny. Yet this stuff keeps creeping back into my bathroom rotation, particularly in winter. Neutrogena has inadvertently hit on an ideal remedy for "keratosis pilaris." Those of you without this particular skin condition can stop here; those of you who have always wondered about those weird bumps that sometimes show up on your upper arms may keep reading. "Keratosis pilaris" is the swishy term for "stupid little bumps that appear most frequently on the upper arms of young people, due to dead skin and hair follicles not getting along. It is very frequently hereditary, tends to worsen in winter, and lessens with age." Mine still sometimes show up when the climate is harsh. (I have also seen my siblings sporting the same mild rash-like condition now and then; if you have one in the family who complains of this, check the others. Current sufferers can be relieved in the fact that it really does lessen with age.) Salicylic acid is a good treatment for this, ditto the (sigh) 'fruit acids' contained in the Neutrogena 'Multi-Vitamin' product, since what you want to do is force the skin into shedding more dead skin than it already is, so as to get the dead skin out of the little bumps clogging up the hair follicles. Note here that this is an acne product review. You perhaps expected a pretty story? The advice for mild 'keratosis pilaris' is usually 'moisturize' and 'manually exfoliate.' This is fine for the very mild cases, but do note that 'moisturize' part -- it is, not surprisingly, hard to find salicylic acid in moisturizer form in your local pharmacy. It also does a reasonably good job when your face is, for whatever reason, dry and scaly but still prone to break-outs. It's just desperately unsuited for day use for the majority of blemished complexions: I will grant that I do use moisturizer, but would never use something quite so slippery and gooey and greasy on my face -- one application post-cleansing, and my face is instantly shiny. (Surely not a ploy to sell any of Neutrogena's oil-control products...) Recommended: Yes Amount Paid (US$): 6 Skin Compatibility: Improved my skin condition Fragrance: Barely noticeable scentSee less »