THE CHEMISTRY OF SKIN ACNE CARE

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. One of the most common problems of skin is ACNE, specially for ages between 10 to 15, for both male and females, even though males suffer it more. ACNE is caused by the increase in production of sex hormones (specially the male Androgen), which causes the sebaceous glands in the skin follicles to produce extra sebum that is charged into the hair follicles and eventually clogs the pores, together with the presence of dead skin cells, hair fragments and possibly bacteria.
With this identified, the treatment has to be a combination of preventive measures and the right chemical formulation. The chemical treatment combines a known bacterial killer such as Benzoyl Peroxide ( between 5 and 10%), that oxygenates the environment, combined with surfactants like Linear Alcohols and solvents like Propylene Glycol to dissolve and emulsify the sebum and the thickened vehicle like Xanthan gum to form the surface creamy film. Another Chemical treatment can be using Sulfur that kills bacteria by exfoliating the outer layer of dead skin.
For complete formulation go to http://www.happi.com/ may2008.
In the HAPPI magazine edition of June 2008, there is a report on the creation of cosmetic formulations for remediating Eczema and Dermatitis; the basic ingredients consist of Cetearyl alcohol and sodium cetearyl sulfate 15%, salicylic acid 0.4%, Menthol 0.3% and Water to balance.
This formulation will effectively control itch and pain.