Unlisted Brand • Panoxyl Antibacterial Acne Aquagel 5% • Treatments

jumbojuice on 4/18/2013 1:00:00 AM more reviews by jumbojuice

Age: 30-35   Skin: Oily, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

I have been using this for years and years. At first I used the 5%. I could use it everyday without bothering my skin. It did lighten my eyebrows and at one point I had a nice blond highlight from top of my forehead where I kept getting the gel onto my hair. I can no longer find it here so I ordered some 10% from the UK. That stuff is serious business. The 5% I could smear all over my face but this stuff I can only do a spot treatment it's so strong. It does work great though.

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slidingdoors on 10/18/2012 8:31:00 PM more reviews by slidingdoors

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

NOTE: This product line has been discontinued - worldwide - as of September 2012.

I personally have used the 10% Panoxyl Aquagel for the last 5 or so years. It was the best benzoyl peroxide that I have found in 30 years of having to use this stuff nightly.

Panoxyl Aquagel only cost about $6-8 over the counter at UK drugstores, and I guess it was a relatively new entrant in the US market (before it was discontinued worldwide in September 2012).

The 5% didn't work for me (was not strong enough), but there is no product listing for the 10% here, and I have only added this review on the 5% listing to let readers know that the entire product line is no longer being made as of September 2012.

By the way, on the acne.org site, some commenters have said that Persagel and Benzac have similar ingredients to the Panoxyl Aquagel. I have not tried either of them.

The second-best benzoyl peroxide I've used in the last 10 years is Glytone Acne Gel 10% and I expect that it's still being manufactured.

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Huaimek on 9/30/2012 8:03:00 AM more reviews by Huaimek

Age: 56 & Over   Skin: Acne-prone, Medium   Hair: Silver   Eyes: Blue    

I am now aged 75 and have suffered acne to varying degrees since my teens . I just recently discovered Panoxyl 5 via the internet , looking for the latest Acne remedies . Some years ago a dermatologist in Italy had prescribed 3 creams to be applied alternatively that cleared my skin perfectly , after a while using now and then . Where I live they are not available ; after a number of years the Acne returned , especially my chin where I shave .
Over the years , I have found that most of the remedies in pharmacies don't work , or agravate the skin . The Dermatologist in Italy said not to use alcohol on the face or any other creams . I did use suntan cream at the sea . i would suggest that some people who use deep cleanser , washing scrubs to not do so . I use a Tee tree shower gel while showering in the morning after shaving . When dressed apply the panoxyl . In 2 - 3 weeks it cleared my skin completely , now I use it 2 - 3 times a week to be sure . I did have some reddening at first , but never too dry or sore . I prefer to apply it after shaving during the day . Might it not bleach pillow cases at night ? My skin is now perfectly clear . Amazing !!! Not at all expensive , a little tube lasts me a month and costs about £1, 50 .

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thatdaisygirl on 6/29/2012 7:08:00 AM more reviews by thatdaisygirl

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

I've used this on and off for years on my mild acne, i never used it as described just on random breakouts and big spots. Always helped. I've been suffering with my worse breakout ever (i'm 25) for the past 9 months. My acne went to moderate and ALL OVER my face. I quit using everything and tried curing it naturally. In the end i gave up and bought the 5% gel. I actually wanted 2.5% but my chemist at the time didn't have it. I decided to try it again after reading dan's regimen on acne.org but couldn't purchase his products as I'm in the UK and delivery would rack the price up to over £100. The regimen said to use it twice daily but as its 5% i use it only at night but follow his gently cleansing twice a day etc. Within a week of this my acne had cleared dramatically. Its been 3 weeks now and my acne has cleared 80% the only issue i have is the dryness and sometimes itching. I have noticed however that the dryness had faded since i began using it and my foundation is going on better now but still flakes slightly after a while. I expected all this though just like the side effects describe and would prefer dryness to face covered in acne, Its a case of experimenting with moisturizers to find one that eliminates it. I'm using olay's traditional beauty fluid as its what i had at the time. Its not working that well tbh but does help slightly if i get my foundation on quick enough after application . I'll be changing it once its gone. I've heard cetaphil is good??
My issue is i am still coming out with new pimples, i believe i am still suffering with what caused my acne to begin with (what ever that is, hormone imbalance i think or even something else. My doctors are useless) I do not think its the panoxyl, the panoxly actually blasts these away when they appear, don't squeeze and there gone within 3 days. Thanks to this stuff i am not afraid to leave the house now and look up and not at the floor.
Due to the dryness i want to go to the 2.5% as soon as I'm on top of my acne and even once every two days if I'm lucky. The only down side for me is that, the dryness but i can live with that.

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xyoru on 1/3/2012 12:33:00 AM more reviews by xyoru

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination   Hair: Black, Curly, Fine   Eyes: Other    

Amazing, this worked WONDERS on my skin! My sister originally bought this because she has sensitive skin, but it didn't work for her so she left the whole bottle just on the side.
At the time I was suffering the worst break out of acne ever! I've had fairly clear skin, not much acne to deal with until I switched moisturizers one day and all hell broke loose on my face! I was constantly breaking out - particularly my cheek and jaw area. I've never been through such a situation before, and I didn't know how to get rid of my acne!
After watching goss' video on acne and how he cured it, I figured it was worth a shot, found this lying around and gave it a try. I applied it just as goss said, not just on the spots but my whole cheek and jaw area. I applied this at night, left it on and woke up and washed it off with cetaphil and a scrubby pad (similar to the ones that come with the l'oreal face washes). The first few times I applied it, it stung my face like no other. As it was my first time using BP on my face, I expected some stinging but it hurt quite a bit! After using it around 5 days in a row, wherever I applied it my face became extremely dry, and my skin started flaking. So I began using a vitamin e cream and a exfoliator to combat my dry skin.
After one month, I realized my skin became extremely sensitive, so I started using this once a week, and the rest of the week I spent treating the dry spots of my face.
Now a couple months have passed and I can say my skin is bump free! All that's left is to even out my skin tone and fade some acne scars. Other than that my skin is back to the way it was before I switched moisturizers!

YMMV but this worked amazingly on me, and I'm so glad my sister decided to leave it
sitting around otherwise I wouldn't have bothered trying this.
I would recommend trying the aquagel version, I have oily combo skin and after using this for a couple of weeks decided to try the oily skin version of this and found that it was not as effective as this.

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Juliamoore on 6/9/2011 7:35:00 PM more reviews by Juliamoore

Age: 30-35   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Warm   Hair: Red, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

Never again. I used it a couple of years ago when I had acne so bad I couldn't tolerate it anymore. That's what I was advised and used for a month. I experienced everything: redness, dryness, skin peeling. I was told that my skin needs just to adjust
It never did! By the end of the month the skin on my chin around my mouth cracked and started bleeding. My face was so red you couldn't see the acne. My skin is very sensitive though. I found that BP prescription Clyndoxyl (in Canada, Duac in the states) works much better and gives less irritation.

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sophiebo88 on 6/9/2011 7:08:00 PM more reviews by sophiebo88

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Green    

I LOVE this acne treatment! I had a terrible case of acne a few years ago, i was getting huge new spots everyday, my entire face was covered, it was just way out of control!
My doctor started me on 5% panoxyl along with some anti-biotics. He said that it's best to start off with 5% and when your skin sort of becomes immune to that percentage to go upto 10%... It took 2 months to clear up the worst case of acne ive ever had and it also cleared all scaring.
I'ts like a mild chemical peel, your skin gets a little red, dry, and peels a little, don't be alarmed when i say it peels, i'ts not noticible to others but you'll know what i mean when you wash your face; you'll scrub away lots of dry dead skin!

I notice the person below that gave a bad review has not understood this product properly, for this product to be effective you need to use quite a lot and often, you need to let it totally dry out your skin, it may irritate and be red at first but your skin gets used to it, if not you shoud start on 2.5% but thats how this product works so well, like i said its like a mini chemical peel :)

everytime my acne comes back i run to the chemist for this stuff!

whenever i get a bad breakout this is what works best for me- i put panoxyl on twice a day after i've washed my face, always leaving it on over night, i put it on the entire face and not just on the spots, i try not to wear any makeup, usually gone within a couple of weeks :)

once my acne has cleared and i get an occasional whitehead, i squeeze it, wash my face and then put panoxyl over the spot, sorted! :)

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rikiya on 4/30/2011 9:45:00 PM more reviews by rikiya

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

I bought this product based on the MUA reviews and because it comes in such a large tube for nearly the same price as similar BP products from other companies in tiny little tubes.

The first few times I used this I only used it on my nose on top of one of those painful, under the skin zits. While I didn't experience any particular speeded healing process, it didn't irritate my skin.

I gave it a break for a few weeks and then started using it again, this time on my chin where I had a couple of bumps where I could feel the acne forming. Usually when I put on a BP product on before the zit fully forms I end up shrinking it and making it go away faster. I'm not sure where or what I did wrong. I only wear BP at night and only a very thin amount since I don't want it to dry me out... I woke up and looked in the mirror and saw that all the areas that I put this gel on had turned red and extremely itchy. , like a bad allergic reaction.

I don't really understand why, since the first few times I used it nothing happened and I've used BP products on and off for quite a few years now with no other issues than the ocassional drying. I don't know what caused the allergic reaction, so I tried it again two weeks later with an even thinner amount on just a couple of zits. Yet again, in the morning I noticed how itchy those areas were and though it wasn't as red as the last experience with it, the entire area that had the gel had swelled up! You have no idea how freaked out I was.

To be on the safe side, I'm going to completely stop using this product. I really don't understand why I'm suddenly having such horrible allergic reactions to it... if anyone might have a clue or links to something I can read more about it, please let me know!

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bcowen on 4/20/2011 7:00:00 PM more reviews by bcowen

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

PanOxyl works so well! Any acne, pimples, blackheads and white heads are gone. I use it on my face, back and shoulders at night, and then rinse it off in the morning. It dries the skin, so I wouldn't recommend using it under your makeup like you would a moisturizer. If you have sensitive skin you would only need to use it a couple times a week, and you have the same great results. Smooth soft skin. Be careful though, as it does bleach clothing very easily!!

It's very cheap, around $13. I just got mine at Walmart. I use it regularly to keep any acne at bay, but my face was clear within a couple days.

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rambow on 4/19/2011 7:36:00 PM more reviews by rambow

Age: 30-35   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

This contains 5% benzoyl peroxide in a water base.


You can also get a 2.5% formulation if you're just starting on BP or have sensitive skin. If your skin is very oily, you can try the regular gel with an alcohol base, which has a drying effect.


The aquagel is light, dries relatively quickly, and odorless. If your skin tends to be dry, you'll want a good, gentle moisturizer to go over top, and you may prefer a non-medicated gentle cleanser like Cetaphil.


I don't like the PanOxyl wash as much, because it bleaches my eyebrows over time, so I've stuck to the gel. I still use it as a spot treatment from time to time for small whiteheads. But for use as a primary acne treatment, it's best used all over the face once or twice a day. Don't forget to use sunscreen during the day, as it will make you more sensitive to sunlight.

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p1nkb1iss on 3/5/2011 3:38:00 AM more reviews by p1nkb1iss

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Tan, Warm   Hair: Black, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Black    

I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!! i've used it for 2-3 weeks, and i have the one for sensitive skin. i put it on at night only (i put it on once instead of the recommended twice) - sometimes i forget to though. with a cream underneath (nothing too rich, just clinique's gel moisturizer)

Summary of points i'm going to talk about:
- prevents acne & makes future acne less complicated
- reduces appearance of blemishes
- if you pick acne like me, this helps with the healing process of open sores
- the skincare regime that worked for me (how often to use it in which areas of the face, the products i use in conjunction)

let's talk about my skin: before my skin was super clear, but in grade 12, and ESPECIALLY in university, my skin took a turn for the worse. in grade 12 i started getting occasional pimples on the forehead, no idea what they're called but they're the annoying ones where you know it's a pimple, but the head isn't quite there. and well, i know this is bad, but i could never sit well knowing there's a bump in my head so i always pick at my pimples. third year in university, and my habit of picking and popping my pimples still didn't go away. so you can imagine, i have A LOT of acne scarring forehead (i scar easily, and because i pick at them, it definitely leaves a scar, i don't know why i'd rather have an open sore than a bump, don't ask me). so recently my skin became even worse, and i had major breakouts on my forehead, and some around my mouth and i decided to try this.

i thought 5% salicylic acid would be to strong and sting like mad, but actually it doesnt hurt at all! i put it all over my forehead (on most nights), because i'm prone to breakouts on my forehead (esp at htat time of the month) - i put it on to try to get rid of pimples, prevent pimples AND over my open sores - no it doesn't hurt. and guess what? i don't get complicated pimples anymore! i get really small white ones that i could pop very easily - and no scarring. AND it doesn't claim to this, but i'm convinced it does, but i think it reduces the appearance of blemishes A LOT. i have a lot of dark spots (and red spots) and discolouration on my forehead, and they're mostly gone/not as visible anymore.

though this product doesn't hurt, it does occasionally leave your skin feel tight. for example, on my forehead, i can put it on nightly and it feels fine, cause i'm oilier on my forehead (T zone area should be okay) BUT i'm normal skin everywhere else on my face (i occasionally put it around my mouth/cheek) - those areas i wouldn't recommend putting it on daily if you have normal/dry/combination skin. it will leave your skin feel tight, and if you put on foundation like me, you might look like you have wrinkles around your mouth, you might also get redness.

as i mentioned before, i put it over open sores as well (from picking my acne) because it sort of sped up the healing process (and also prevent further infection, and if there still was pus deep in my skin, i think it sort of killed it) so if it's on your forehead, go for it, nightly. but for the open sores around my mouth, i put this on 3 times a week, and then on nights where i don't put this, i either use a rich moisturizer (jamieson's vitamin e cream) or i use a light moisturizer (clinique's dramatically whatever) & i put polysporin around my mouth. i find this way it won't feel as tight, serves as a preventative measure for future pimples, and it helps to heal my open sores.

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kelka on 2/10/2011 6:39:00 AM more reviews by kelka

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I'm from Australia, so I'm not sure if this is the same, but I purchased the PanOxyl 5% Acne Gel from my local chemist. My skin is combination, but nose, chin and forehead are prone to whiteheads, giant pores, blackheads, the works, my nose getting extremely oily at times and I'm 25! I wouldn't say I have "acne" per se, but I am prone to getting some ugly pimples, anyway back to the product...

This stuff is amazing. a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I didn't think anything could fix my blackheads, nothing works, I've tried $4 cleansers to $150 ones, you could use any cleanser on your face, as long as you have this little gel, you won't believe your eyes! This stuff should have cult status. I can't get over it, people are constantly commenting and asking me what I've used, and have all gone out and bought it.

I haven't had any bad reaction, slight peeling if anything, but no redness or irritation what-so-ever. It's not even overly drying. I use this in conjunction with my Neutrogena 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment, and my skin has NEVER looked better. And it's only $10-13!

My skin is clear, beautiful, pores are shrinking as the blackheads have been completely busted. You must try this stuff! Thank you PanOxyl!!

UPDATE: Eventually stopped working for me after 2 months of use, just didn't seem to help at all anymore and began getting breakouts again :(

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jadkin on 9/19/2010 9:59:00 PM more reviews by jadkin

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

My skin is oily and acne-prone. I need to be really careful with what I put on it.

After reading several books on acne, I discovered that a good BP product is one of the cornerstones of an anti-acne skin regimen. This product allows me to wear BP underneath my make-up during the day, as I wear a vitamin A product at night (and that would be too harsh, even for me!). This doesn't flake and really helps me stay free of cystic, inflammatory acne!

Will definitely continue to purchase.

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charlie1206 on 8/20/2010 11:59:00 AM more reviews by charlie1206

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Dark   Hair: Brown, Relaxed, Medium   Eyes: Black    

so my face bad i had bumps everywhere my forehead was sooo bad .. I ordered this from a canada website .. The first week I used it on my face became sooooo CLEAR .I have tried EVERYTHNG i mean everything duac , tazorac ... clean and clear , neutrogena , differin.ect THIS WORKS get i

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lomby on 7/14/2010 1:28:00 PM more reviews by lomby

Age: 19-24   Skin: Oily, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Green    

packaging is fine, dries up spots a treat and very good on my back also, can be a bit too drying sometimes but i use it sparingly, its cheap and cheerful

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tubachuba on 7/14/2010 1:25:00 PM more reviews by tubachuba

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

this is probably the most effective acne product that i have bought and i have tried evrerything from nutrogena,clean and clear,oxy, you name it. The only bad thing about it is that it could be quite drying and it does not completely prevent acne for me esp during that time of the month. (my acne is on the bad side though so it would work great for someone with mild acne). This is probably the best OTC acne product you can find and its only 10 dollars..forget proactive.

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janemarple on 6/9/2009 3:27:00 PM more reviews by janemarple

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Brown    

This product saved my face. I use it on the acne.org regimen as my BP product since shipping the acne.org product is too expensive for me. In Canada you can get this in the 60g tube, but I think in the US it comes in 40g tubes.
The aquagel is water based, not alcohol based, so it isn't as drying to the skin. However, it is still benzoyl peroxide and your skin does have to get used to it. The only thing you can do to alleviate that is use a good moisturizer on top of this (I used Cetaphil, but I know that not everyone loves that) and avoid using other medicated creams or face washes until your skin is used to it (took me a couple of weeks to stop dryness and peeling). You can also get this in 2.5% which is probably better to start with. Anyway, as a preventative measure for acne you just can't beat this.

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