Ecological Formulas, Melazepam 2 oz

This product, as cliche as it may sound, has really changed my life. After 11 years of actively fighting moderate acne, I found the ingredient that works best for my skin! I have used antibiotics, spironolactone (which worked GREAT, but didn’t help with redness and can’t use while pregnant), MANY forms of benzoyl peroxide, many prescription creams, many 3 step kits, Asian skincare, oil method, caveman method, just about EVERYTHING (besides acutane- I was never severe enough and didn’t want the side effects). It wasn’t until I found out about azelaic acid that everything changed. I found out about it through research and got ahold of it first through curology. However, their percentage was minuscule compared to this stuff. So I headed to amazon. At first I tried another azelaic acid on here, but then decided to try this one. No added fragrance, stellar price AND the highest percentage of azelaic acid I’ve found. This stuff is truly incredible. I started seeing a change in my skin very quickly. On top of acne, I have also dealt with redness and discoloration in my skin for as long as I remember. I was always very self conscious about it and it wasn’t until probably a month ago that my mom told me that rosacea runs in the family and she wouldn’t be surprised if I had a mild case. I’m convinced. This stuff has helped the acne and the redness and for the first time since probably 15, I don’t wear foundation anymore. Just concealer. It really has changed my life. My skin looks great. It doesn’t work wonders on blackheads nor the persistent skin-colored bumps, but those aren’t really a huge bother to me and glycolic acids are way too harsh on my skin. That’s the other thing- this stuff is gentle on the skin. You may feel a slight burn immediately after putting it on but it passes. There is no peeling, initial breakout, or sensitivity that comes along with it and I can’t say that about many products. I want to tell EVERYONE about this product. I know it won’t work for ever type of acne but for my specific case, it has been exactly what I needed. For 12 dollars, you should give it a chance!

I have rosacea, which got especially bad in the last few years after age 40. Combo leaning oily skin. I hadn't had acne in many years but started getting the rosacea pustules in the last couple of years, mildly. I tried The Ordinary's 10% formulation and found it was helpful... but only moderately. I would still get some redness and pustules- less so, but not totally gone. (Quite possibly wearing a mask 7 hours a day doesn't help my skin any! Could be a mix of rosacea pustules and mask acne :/ ) So I gave this one a whirl. WOW. Within a week it had nuked all the pustules and/or mask acne. Perfectly clear again! And my redness has gone down a lot too. It is like turning back the clock 5 years on my skin... my face is FINALLY clear again. Yeah, it stings a bit, but applying moisturizer first helps a lot. It is a little gritty feeling but that doesn't really matter to me- I apply it at night and it is totally fine under makeup in the morning, no pilling or anything. (The Ordinary's did pill a bit, even the next morning.) Absolutely amazing for rosacea. 10/10 on my skin. Far more effective than the lower content from The Ordinary. Price is great. I don't think I've ever used such an effective topical treatment, it is fantastic.

If you're looking for a replacement for your overseas source for 20% azelaic acid, this works in a pinch but the formulation is weird and unpleasant. Most notably it contains small sharp crystals, it's not just "gritty" as some users complain, the pieces are actually painfully sharp. I think some user irritation with this due to this. I couldn't get clear photos to show, but if you rub in some on the back of your hand and tilt your hand back in forth in the light you can see tiny clear flakes, like glitter, that almost feel like glass if you can get them up and onto your fingernail. Some component of this formula crystalizes and it's gnarly. It's also quite unpleasantly thick, so to manage both of these issues I mix mine with something else in my skincare routine, like toner, and rub and mix it in the palm of my hand for several minutes to break down the crystals a little. Even still when I apply it I can always feel a few. This is a stupid amount of effort to make this product usable.

When I was 15 I was prescribed retin-a, and no one told me I had to use sunscreen with it. The resulting dark pigmented skin damage has been stubbornly with me for *mumble* decades despite vitamin C, religious sunscreen, better forms of tretinoin, arbutin, licorice and all that jazz. I finally decided to get serious and applied this azelaic acid every morning and every other night (alternating with my very gentle tretinoin). After 2 months there is a notable improvement in my skin pigmentation and my face almost matches my neck. I prefer the texture of this one to the Ordinary azelaic acid -- it's still quite thick and rich but not as greasy feeling. Make sure your skin is bone dry or it will prickle and itch.

This is an excellent product. I have developed brown spots on my face from sun damage. The only reason these formed was because I was doing medical grade chemical peels at home, but I was in the sun with unprotected skin. I obviously did not do my research, because I did not realize you could develop brown spots while you were doing chemical peels or using products like this if you do not have sunscreen on. I knew skin could easily burn, but I didn't realize because the protective layer is gone it opens you up to get dark spots. You also can get brown spots that you can't get rid of. I did not have these issues on my face at 40 years old until I did this, so it has been weighing heavily on my heart since it is my face and does not make me feel pretty. If you were going to use this, please put sunscreen on. I was using this with a combination of other products such as retin a. I have been doing heavy work on my face for a long time, so my skin can handle it, however, this product alone is strong and can irritate your face. I was using it a couple times a day and my face felt irritated and it slowly allowed my skin to peel off. I noticed my brown spots got darker before they got lighter. You do not need a lot of this product, and your skin may feel irritated if you use it too much. because I use so many different things, I will take several day breaks. it's an interesting feel sort of like paste when you were in school. I still have quite a bit because you really don't need much. I highly recommend this for brown spots.