Acne.org Products
It was previously thought using benzoyl peroxide and tretnoin (retin a, retinol, retinoid, etc) counteracted the effects of the retinoid. A study was done (I've pasted some of it below for yall to see) and it was concluded that "There was no benzoyl peroxide-induced degradation of tretinoin when the optimized formulation of tretinoin gel (0.05%) was admixed with benzoyl peroxide gel (6.26%)."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2958193/
Absence of Degradation of Tretinoin When Benzoyl Peroxide is Combined with an Optimized Formulation of Tretinoin Gel (0.05%)
James Q. Del Rosso, DO, Radhakrishnan Pillai, PhD, and Robert Moore, PhD
Abstract
Background:Clinicians have been reluctant to prescribe benzoyl peroxide concurrently with topical tretinoin due to a belief that the benzoyl peroxide may cause oxidation and degradation of the tretinoin molecule, thereby reducing its effectiveness. However, benzoyl peroxide-induced degradation of tretinoin may not necessarily apply to all topical tretinoin formulations.Objective:To evaluate the potential for benzoyl peroxide-induced degradation of an optimized aqueous gel formulation of tretinoin (0.05%).Methods:Tretinoin gel (0.05%) and benzoyl peroxide gel (6.26% premix concentration to produce 5% benzoyl peroxide in a fixed combination clindamycin product) were mixed together (1:1) at 32C and samples assayed after 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 hours. Each sample was analyzed for tretinoin (expressed as % tretinoin remaining) and its degradation product content.Results:No loss of tretinoin was observed over the seven-hour time period. When tretinoin gel (0.05%) was combined with benzoyl peroxide, 100 percent of the initial tretinoin concentration remained after seven hours. There was no increase in the degradation products of tretinoin.Conclusions:There was no benzoyl peroxide-induced degradation of tretinoin when the optimized formulation of tretinoin gel (0.05%) was admixed with benzoyl peroxide gel (6.26%). Although the direct clinical significance of these results is unknown, clinicians may feel comfortable using this particular combination concurrently without concerns about tretinoin oxidation and degradation.
Topical retinoids are one of the cornerstones of acne therapy and are recommended as a vital component of topical acne treatment (...)
Personal Note
I don't use both medications at once only because the BP is already very drying. I skip one night of 2.5% BP per week and use the retinoid 0.05% instead. When I see my skin gets used to the tretinoin I'll start using it twice a week.**Always consult your dermatologist first.
Yeah they kept it in a controlled environment at 32 degrees to mimic the temperature of the skin. However it's not very realistic in terms of our skins naturally characteristics with sebum and sweat production for example. Also we are exposed to many different temperatures, pollutants, light changes (photoradiation has been proven to degrade tretinoin alongside BP) etc each day, so there's no guarantee that this combination will actually have no degradation effect at all given that we all live such different lives.