Murad Acne Treatment Review
Have you seen the late night infomercials promoting Murad acne treatment? They are so good that they almost force you to order. After all, they have 90% success rate and backed up by money-back guarantee. Yet, it seems that even this acne-knight has a dark side to it’s shining armor. Read this review to get the whole story.
What other users say about Murad acne treatment
After spending few afternoons reading user reviews and forum posts about Murad acne treatment the picture I got was quite shocking. It seems that very few people are able to tolerate it. And for large majority Murad makes their acne worse.
Based on 209 votes Murad acne treatment gets:
- 2.0 out of 5 for effectiveness
- 2.2 out of 5 for agreeability
- 2.3 out of 5 for affordability
I’m generalizing a bit here, but I found out that
- 60% to 70% of the users say that Murad acne treatment makes their acne significantly worse
- 15% to 20% say that Murad acne treatment keeps them clear
- The rest say that Murad didn’t either worsen or improve their acne
Almost everybody complained about skin itching and reddening. What is alarming is that few people reported that Murad makes their acne painful. To the point where just laying your face on a pillow hurts.
On the other hand unhappy people are much more likely to voice their opinions than happy people are. So internet rating and reviews sites tend to have a negative bias. In all fairness Murad has sold more than 2 million ‘Acne Complex Kits’, and people still keep buying it. Yet, the fact remains that the reviews are strongly negative.
The truth about ‘purging process’
In the promotional material Murad says that once you start using Murad acne treatment your acne may initially get worse. Allegedly Murad draws out impurities from the skin causing you to breakout. They call this the purging process and should be over in two weeks – though some people report that it has lasted for 2 months.
Let’s examine the claim and see if it stands a rational enquiry. First of all it assumes that skin act like some sort of a vault that holds impurities. And considering that the purging process may last for a month or more apparently the vault is quite big. Even wondered how much impurities few millimeters of skin can hold?
More accurate analogy would be a car’s exhaust pipe. Waste gases are eliminated through exhaust pipe and if it’s blocked the motor stalls. Skin is one of the elimination channels body uses to expel waste material.
And like the waste gases aren’t created in the exhaust pipe the waste material and impurities are not created in the skin. They are a result of various biochemical reactions (for example digestion) in the body.
Clear Skin Max: My #1 acne treatment recommendation. Click to read the review
There is a continuous flow of toxins and impurities through your skin. So to claim that after the ‘purging process’ your skin remains clean makes about as much sense as saying that by washing the exhaust pipe once it would remain clean.
Here’s what really happens during the ‘purging process’ of Murad acne treatment.
Murad acne treatment contains salicylic acid and other chemicals that dry the skin by removing oil. This irritates the skin as it dries and starts to itch and flake. After a while the skin becomes chronically dry and the body reacts by releasing hormones that cause the skin to produce more oil. This is called reactive seborrea.
Now you have a situation where the skin is producing more oil, and the pores are full of dead, dry skin cells. And you guessed it – you breakout horribly.
For some people this process may go on for months. With others body gives up quicker and the skin becomes dry, irritated and sensitive.
So there is no ‘purging process’, the body is merely trying to protect the skin.
No problems with refunds
On the positive side Murad seems to be an efficient and straightforward company to deal with. Products arrive quickly and customer service is friendly and helpful. Furthermore, unlike many other acne product companies, Murad seems to honor refund requests.
At the time of writing there are no complaints about Murad acne treatment at Rip-Off Report (as of February 2007). Better Business Bureau gives Murad ‘A’ rating. Murad has satisfactorily resolved all the complaints presented to BBB. Click here to read their company report at BBB .
Bottom line
After reading all the negative user reviews of Murad acne treatment I can’t recommend it – and sleep my nights soundly.
Looking for something better than Murad?
The problem with Murad, and many other acne treatments, is the chemicals they contain. In many cases these deplete the antioxidants from the skin and make your acne worse in the long term. That’s why Clear Skin Max is my #1 acne treatment recommendation. They only use scientifically proven, 100% natural ingredients. Read my Clear Skin Max review here.
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Comments on Murad Acne Treatment Review
I had this EXACT reaction to Murad… After reading all the glamorous reviews about Murad, I was very hopeful when I tried it but I was sorely (literally) disappointed. My skin reacted horribly and I told myself it was part of the “purging process”, uh yeah right. Anywhere I used the product, I broke out into white head pustules which were painful. Never ever ever again will I try ANY Murad product.
Just thought I’d share that…
@Anita, thanks for sharing. There really is no such thing as ‘purging process’ as the skin doesn’t store any toxins. Some chemicals maybe on the way out through the skin, but they will leave on their own. Besides, the skin renews itself every 20 to 30 days or so. So it’s hard to imagine it even could store anything.
The effect is either your skin getting used to new skin care regimen, or, more likely, the chemicals in Murad irritate the heck out of your skin and that breaks you out.
Hi.
Unlike like many other individuals out there who would love to voice their opinions about a particular matter, I think that you’re quite neutral. However, as this matter stands, I’m still quite skeptical. You say that the “purging” process itself should not be trusted. Really? How do you prove that? Oh yes, through a hypocritical example of an exhaustive pipe. Well, most people wouldn’t buy that because you simply cannot compare a few milimeters of skin to an exhaustive pipe. In addition, I’ve tried this product myself and I can answer a couple of questions:
Did my skin break out in the first few days? Yes
Did it heal afterwards? Oh yea.
Did my skin hurt when I slept on a pillow? Couldn’t feel a single tiny bit of thing?
In addition, you should know that 209 votes is quite a small sample. You should try thousands, or even millions in order to be accurate.
You said it yourself that people who had unsatisfactory results are more likely to voice their opinions. Therefore, your general quantitative conclusion might more likely have more unhappy people than there are happy people.
As a result, in order to be explicit and not generalize because that’s a huge mistake when you study Theory of Knowledge, you should only recommend it to individuals whose skins are favorable to Murad (whose skins are not too sensitive and not too dry); this requires seeing a dermatologist (a good one, like the well-respected Howard Murad).
Hi, I’ve also been a use of Murad, and I would like to voice out my experience with Murad products.
The Murad products that I used was a set sent to me by my aunt. I had severe acne. When I used Murad, yes, the gel toner stung my skin A LOT. I was so taken by surprise by the pain that I immediately applied the perfecting lotion expecting that it would soothe the pain. It didn’t, but it just made my skin feel really itchy.
Still, I used the set because other than the sting, there were no negative effects on my skin. The sting and itch lasted only a few minutes anyway, so it was easy to just simply endure it. From the info I read, I was supposed to go through the purging process at first use of this product, and I was prepared for it because I used Murad just in time for summer vacation, but my skin didn’t go through any purging process. Although honestly, I did not expect that it would clear my skin of my acne.
It was my mom who first noticed the change in my skin after one month use of the product. I didn’t notice the change myself, but when I heard her comment on it, it was the only time I noticed the positive change on my skin. After another month, my skin is 90% clear. A few pimples would show up now and then, but the Murad set I was using was so effective on my skin, the pimple would be healed in just a day or two. The texture and consistency of my skin also improved, and most of my blemishes have cleared. What remained are pockmarks and rosaceae
So I’m a satisfied user of Murad. I’ve searched for testimonies on the net, because I was like, “Why are these products not being raved about?!” But it turns out, the testimonies and comments I found were all strongly negative.
I recommended Murad to a friend, but his skin experienced purging for more than a month that he stopped using it.
So with these kind of products, the answer I guess is just to find the product the is compatible with your skin. And my other point is that I just wanted to submit a positive review of Murad because of my experience.
Yes, Murad made my skin worse. The purging has yet to stop. I’m getting married in a month and have no health insurance right now to see a Derm.. Im going back to tea tree oil, coconut oil & pure aloe from the plant. It was working great, but I stopped to try Murad when I ran out… and I regret it.
A great antioxidant facial mask is cocoa powder ( pure dark) mixed with organic honey. Helps clear skin as well.
Anything that irritates the skin will cause breakouts period. There needs to be a balance.
I started using this two weeks ago. Then, I had maybe 10 big zits on my face. I start using the murad kit (cleanser, toner, lotion and spot treatment).
Now, I have 30-40 LARGE ZITS on my face. No exaggerations. It’s horrible. They are red, and after I pop them, they get dryed out. And I HAVE to pop them, because I always popped my zits but then this one on my chin showed up and Ive read thousands of articles telling me not to pop it. So I don’t. It worked, HAHH. It went away within the next two days. A week later, it’s back AND BIGGER AND JUICIER THAN EVER. Eww. But anyways, back to murad. Three weeks ago, I had “post acne marks” on my left cheek. I had like 6 of them. Post acne marks are gross. They lOok like zits, they are red and shaped like it, but there is no indents of the skin. You can feel your face, and it’s smooth and feels clear. But you look at it and see red dots. Well after I began using murad, those “zits” I guess decided to come out of my skin. I called it that “purging process” and thought it was the buried breakout thing. Well a week later (now, today) They went away(the big ones did) but they are under my skin again like they were three weeks ago. And now I’m breaking out on the other side of my face. I guess it did no good. But I guess its too early to judge. I will continue to use it until I run out just in case there really is going to clear up after it “purges”. But if it’s nOt cleared up after I’m out, I will go see a dermatologist and discontinue the use of murad. If it works when I run out, I will use it still. Hoping for the best.
I have not been pleased with the Murad products at all. I knew as soon as I tried it that it was not worth the money. I was also not pleased when I tried to cancel the “memebership” and they advised that unless the product is received back to them within a certain timeframe- that I would not get a refund- even though they do get the product back to them. I told them that I sent the product via tracked mail, and that I have proof that I sent the package on a certain date- which led them to agree that they had to refund my money. Not acceptable on any level.
@Ashton: did Acne Complex work fo you?