If you’re like the thousands of people that suffer from acne on a nightmarishly daily basis, then you’ve probably heard of the ol’ toothpaste cure, right? It’s an ancient motherly tale that describes the controversial way to rid acne quickly and cheaply.

Well, here’s a little bit of fact for you – it doesn’t!

And, although some people will swear up and down by this method, the truth is using toothpaste on your skin – as most will find – leaves your skin red and irritated.

So, how did this acne myth become such an urban legend? The idea stems from the notion that toothpaste contains triclosan – an antibacterial ingredient often found in soap, deodorant and body wash. Triclosan is meant to effectively kill bacteria and is typically a common ingredient in acne products; however, in those products, it is used as a preservative and not an active ingredient.

So why does toothpaste irritate the skin so much? It’s due to its inclusion of various chemicals and ingredients that aren’t meant for skin application. Face it – the idea of putting toothpaste on your skin shouldn’t ever sound like a good idea when you think of what its actual use is. I mean, would you think that the same product used for cleaning your teeth could also help clean your face? Or, that the same stuff you use to clean your face can also effectively clean your teeth. No – those are two completely different surfaces. In fact, putting toothpaste on a zit could actually cause even more inflammation making your pimple look even worse.

So the next time you wake up and find a ripe pimple staring back at you in the mirror, don’t dab any toothpaste on it because you might just make it angry…and you wouldn’t like it when it’s angry.

Last updated by admin at May 1, 2013.

Tags: toothpaste on acne

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Skincare and Esthetics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.