Acne Serum Reviews

Who can turn down a pretty face?  Well, when it comes to your skin, certainly it is comforting to buy products from someone known for good skin.  Kate Somerville is a LA-based “skin expert” (though she has no degree in dermatology or anything) who claims to be “personally responsible for the glowing complexions of some of the most photographed faces in the world. Jessica Alba, Paris Hilton, Sandra Oh and Debra Messing all depend on Kate…”

These are pretty strong claims, especially since everyone knows that makeup artists are the primary reason those people look so good on camera.  So will Kate’s Anti Bac Clearing Lotion get your skin healthier or just put you out another $40?

Kate Somerville Anti Bac Clearing Lotion Ingredient Analysis

Of all the ingredients out there, Kate chose just one for an active ingredient in this product:

• Benzoyl Peroxide 5.0%

Benzoyl peroxide is one of anti-acne ingredients out there that is the most commonly used, the cheapest and also most harmful to your skin.  It can cause excess drying, hyper-sensitivity to the sun, and often bleaches hair, eyebrows and even can discolor darker skin tones.  Aside from this the ingredients include a few natural oils often used in cooking and a slew of alcohols and synthetic polymers and acrylates.

• Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil
• Sesame Seed Extract
• Serenoa Serrulata Fruit Extract
• Behenyl Alcohol, PPG-2 Myristyl Ether Propionate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Allyl Methacrylates Crosspolymer, Acrylates/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Butylene Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Hydroxide, Chlorphenesin.

Kate Somerville Anti Bac Clearing Lotion Effectiveness

Benzoyl peroxide is so often used in acne treatments because it is significantly effective.  You might call it the “cheap and dirty” way to treat acne.  This is because it is very harsh on the skin and kills off not only the bacteria that causes acne, but the healthy skin layers around it.  At a pretty high concentration of 5%, you should definitely see it make an effect on your acne, but at what cost?

Kate Somerville Anti Bac Clearing Lotion Safety Concerns

The most common adverse side effects reported with products containing this concentration of benzoyl peroxide are over-drying, redness, burning, and bleached skin.

Kate Somerville Anti Bac Clearing Lotion Value Rating

The small bottle of 1.7 ounces sells for $40, which makes this one of the pricer products out there.  Given that it is based almost entirely on benzoyl peroxide, which is a very inexpensive ingredient, we consider this to be basically a ripoff – as over-hyped as the celebrities Kate works with.