Calamine Lotion

Crazy cheap & effective!
I'm 26 & have been struggling with mild to moderate breakouts for about 6 years on and off (mostly on). I saw this was considered a top treatment in makeupalley & acne.org and figured what do I have to lose? Bought it at Wal-Mart for about $2. I noticed people said not to leave it on overnight, but I do! If I'm home during the day or evening, I shake the bottle, apply with a q tip on pesky spots (open or not) and leave it on for a few hours. I also apply at night over my serums & moisturizer (don't put this all over your face. It's not necessary and will dry you out). It's the only thing I've found in my many years of searching, that dries out the pimple/zit and doesn't irritate it. They heal way faster and it even helps with scarring! Note: wearing it overnight (spot treatement) has not dried out my skin or caused any irritation. Worth a try you guys!

I have to thank all the MUAers who reviewed this product for reminding me how great it is. I was somewhat shocked to realize that I didn't have a bottle in my medicine cabinet, so I bought one ASAP. Smart move on my part. A few days later, I developed a huge, painful, cystic blemish on my chin. I'm talking huge--raised, red, and covering a lot of real estate on my face. After washing my face, I quickly and gently swabbed it with alcohol and then applied calamine lotion (four times a day, cleaning prior to application before each use, when it was really bad, then tapering off). Within three days the blemish was almost unnoticeable. I was relieved and amazed. (Caution: this is *really* drying, so if you're using it on a blemish, try to keep the application only on the blemish, or clean up what's gotten outside that area with a wet Q-Tip. It'll keep you from having a large, flaky area where the blemish was.) This old-school stuff is the best for drawing/drying out rashes, blemishes, bug bites, and pretty much any other skin malady. It's readily available, it's cheap, and it's easy to use (you can apply with fingers, a cotton swab, or--the most efficient--a sponge-tip eyeshadow applicator). If you don't have this in your home, you need it. Pick up a bottle next time you're at the drug or grocery store. You'll be glad you did--it's a great thing to have on hand, and it has a long shelf life. I will repurchase.

This product is so versatile. It dried out & got rid of my rash when nothing else would, not cortizone cream, or any other rash cream. It also stopped the itching, cortisone and other anti-itch creams didn't even almost stop the itching.
Best thing of all, it dries out pimples/breakouts. I was using toothpaste & sometimes rubbing alcohol to dry them out but it left them red and irritated, & made them scab up. Even tea tree oil left them red. This is gentle on them and doesn't make them red or pop, it just dries them out.
I love that the formula dries and isn't greasy. No other product, or any that I know of, dries out rashes, pimples, etc. Even tea tree oil doesn't dry them out half as good as calamine lotion. It's reasonably priced too. Be careful it's very thin and can get messy.

This is an old-school remedy for anything itchy, red, and broken out.....and it’s great as a primer for oily areas. I’m 51 and have been using Calamine Lotion since I was a teenager. My skin is dry as a bone nowadays, but I will still use this product for the occasional itchies (especially winter skin). Calamine lotion is a must have in my skin and makeup arsenals.👍🏼

This is a great spot treatment for acne. My mom told me about this, she used this when she was a teenager and was too poor to buy BP treatments. Instead of irritating the crap out of your blemishes like BP does, it dries but soothes them away. For really nasty cysts I first apply a layer of Mario Badescu buffering lotion which is basically sulfur and zinc. After that dries I apply the calamine. However, the calamine does leave a pink spot so this is best used at night or at home.

very good product for spots and pimples, I use it overnight. helps to calm the redness on the spot and heals it quicker.

I bought this because of reviews on MUA and it really does work!!!! I have a really bad habit of picking at any blemishes I have (trying so hard to quit) and yesterday I felt a bit one brewing under the skin on my cheek. I tried squeezing it once which obviously was a bad idea and made it red and inflamed. To stop myself I took a q tip and put some calamine on it and left it overnight. The results in the morning were amazing!! The swelling Went down completely and the redness reduced 90%. I am so pleased with the results. Plus you only need a tiny bit of product and the bottle is huge so for $3 Canadian a bottle will last you forever.

I will say though, I’ve seen a lot of reviews about putting this on a popped pimple and I do not advise it unless you’re okay with having a pink spot on your face until the scab heals. I found putting it on acne scabs only made me want to pick them more because the pink product gets soaked into the scab and stays even after washing. Definitely an HG product for those pimples that are at the beginning stages!

Works for some spots, not for others. I find it is ineffective on my deep cysts but on smaller acne it helps clear it. Definitely worth the buy. I also use this under makeup to hide the redness of the cyst ( normal makeup doesn’t cover them for long and I’m not a fan of heavy makeup while I’m breaking out) so I’m not longer worried that there’s going to be big red beacons on my chin and forehead. I rated packaging 2 because the one I buy comes in a large glass bottle I have to use my own plastic travel bottles for it.

LONG READ! - During my 26 years of life, I have struggled with my skin on many levels. I am writing this review because I truly hope I can help someone feel better about their skin by using this.

My skin is fair in complexion, very oily on my nose, moderately oily on my forehead and just minimally oily on my chin, but normal to dry on my cheeks - so basically combination skin in extremes. I am prone to clogged pores when i try most new products which leads to white heads, which then leads to me picking the buggers and being left with red, scabbed skin which is OH SO pleasant to deal with when wearing makeup the next day. I am sure that I am not alone when I say that after having extracted pimples and going to sleep, my face is so red I sincerely dread waking up in the morning and trying to cover it up. It just feels shitty knowing you have to deal with that in the morning (cue the violins please).

Moving onto my best friend, Calamine Lotion. I one day stumbled upon this gem reading a review on acne.org - they said it was effective in reducing redness, clearing pimples, and it was cheap. I am somewhat addicted to trying new things, and I thought - what the hell... sounds pretty decent. I put the calamine lotion on my face that night, and left it on for a few hours, washed it off and woke up the next morning with noticeably calmer skin, even the pimples that were picked before were too. I remember being in shock thinking to myself - wtf!!! this actually worked???

When applying this as a mask, because it has bentonite clay as a main ingredient, it will definitely pull whatever gunk you have to the surface be it oils and congestion. So on this note I do advise to not to blame this if you get a pimple or two the next day, its bringing the dirt to the surface and they will be gone shortly.

Freshly popped pimple - if you know you popped the living shit out of your pimple and there is no life left, put this on for an hour or two, and once this is removed your little friend will be significantly flatter, less irritated, and on its way to healing.

I have used this as a primer before, however, it only looks good for a few hours until it starts to get cakey and patchy. As i said, it brings out the oils and they then sit on your face under the makeup. Some people have used this in conjunction with their liquid foundation and said it looked good, I haven't tried that method.

I like to keep mine in the fridge and apply this with either a cotton pad if i want a thick layer, or a fan brush for a more thin layer. (thinner the layer the better as it is able to dry and while drying pull gunk more effectively to the surface).

In the past I have slept with this on at night, but find that it should only be a thin layer so the skin can breath a little and I would only suggest this if you have a sunburn or have really irritated your skin from something else. Sleeping with this I have found clogs pores (DUH Adrienne....) so best to keep it on as a mask.

Hope any of this helps anyone!

Calamine lotion is a basic zinc oxide coloured with ferric oxide. It has a mild drying action on the skin.This review is for pure Calamine lotion, not CaladRYL. People have been using Calamine lotion for years to relieve itchiness from chicken pox, eczema, rashes, poison ivy, poison sumac and poison oak. HIstorical medical records from as early as 1500 BCE show Calamine lotion being used as a skin treatment! Many acne medications include calamine. My kids and I find Calamine Lotion to be the best medicine for soothing cystic acne and mosquito bites. In acne "drying lotions", Calamine shrinks the affected tissue and soothes itching, allowing the active ingredients (alcohol/sulfur/salicylic acid, etc.) to effectively dry out cysts or bites.

The treatment called Caladryl is Calamine lotion with an antihistimine (Diphenhydramine). Caladryl = Calamine + Benadryl.

Some treatments for sensitive skin/acne that include calamine: Mario Badescu Drying Lotion, LUSH Fresh Farmacy, Indie Lee Blemish Lotion, LUSH Aqua Marina, Lacto Calamine.