Benzyl Benzoate is Working Where All Else Has Failed

[Nick_1]

Benzyl Benzoate is working exceptionally well for me. I'd venture to say this is the most effective topical I've ever used. I've been using it on my face, behind my ears, body and hair.

I decided to use it after reading a study that stated the following and noticed that users who posted about it on here no longer seem to be active, which I took as a good sign.

According to the first criterion (the clinician's), only BB was efficient: the Dd was normal (? 5 D/cm2) at day 45 in all patients treated (five of five patients). According to the second criterion, BB and crotamiton were efficient: the Dd decreased statistically significantly in more than half of the patients with BB (five of five patients; P = 0.031) and with crotamiton (six of six patients; P = 0.016) at the evaluation date. The third criterion, based on the relative difference, showed that Dd decreased by an average of 98.2% from its initial value with BB, and by 64.4% with crotamiton.

According to the literature, BB has not often been used in demodicidosis but nevertheless, we observed an important acaricidal action of BB: Dd decreased in all cases, by an average of 98%, and became normal in all patients (five of five) at day 45.

My routine is very, very simple. I take two teaspoons of an otc 25% pre-blended solution of BB that also contains neem and lavender oil and mix it with two teaspoons of Hada Labo Gokujun Hyaluronic Lotion (the moist version with the blue water droplet on it). I like the Hada Labo lotion because it is very light, gentle, sinks into the skin and doesn't contain any ingredients that feed malassezia. It's the perfect carrier for the BB, as without it the BB causes a burning sensation and makes it very hard to wash the oily solution off your face.

According to the literature BB is able to normalise the count of demodex follicurum in 45 days. It also also effective against the ova form of the mite. I'm on 41 days at the moment and judging how my face looks this seems accurate. It's even managed to get rid of my greasy skin. No joke when I say that I literally used to wipe my face with a tissue 10-15 times a day because it would look so greasy. Keep in mind that BB does absolutely nothing to heal the die off you will get, though.

I've also been using it on my body to good effect but not quite the same as my face. I think this is because demodex brevis is found on the body whereas follicurum is found on the face, so the treatment period will be longer.

The past few months I've also noticed my hair looking quite a bit thinner on top - so much so that I was starting to get worried because hair loss isn't common in my family, especially in the late 20s. So a few weeks ago I also started using the same BB and Hada Labo mixture on my hair overnight. Make sure to cover your hair in a shower cap if you do this. I use it a couple of times a week and my hair on top is looking noticeable thicker now.

Where it gets a little bit different for me is that I also have malassezia issues. I found the BB didn't help the dry skin by my nose creases and inner eyebrows. This is where sulphur ointment for 10 minutes before it is washed off comes in. It manages to clear those areas right up. The sulphur ointment has only been a very recent introduction. I've only used it a few times because I wanted to wait and see if BB would take care of it first.

Some other things I do is rotate between a tea tree oil shampoo and one that contains zinc pyrithione, piroctone olamine and salicylic acid. I've also only just started using some climbazole wipes on my body. The wipes are actually made for dogs, but the ingredients look safe and don't contain any that feed malassezia, which is a first for a climbazole product. I do all this because I believe I have an issue with malassezia and if you kill demodex, malassezia will be given a chance to thrive.

As the title states, BB has worked where all else has failed. In my experience, it is much cheaper and gentler than ZZ cream while being more effective and can be used all over.

I hope other people will give this treatment a go.

I'll keep this updated.

[Nick_1]

I've been using the BB solution that also contains neem oil with seemingly no adverse effect, but as neem oil has a carbon chain length of C11-24 I think I should switch to be on the safe side going forward. I'm either thinking of 99.9% pure BB or a 50% solution that has been formulated to be water soluble. I don't see the pure solution mixing well with the lotion/toner I use, which contains Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Disodium Succinate, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid,Hydroxyethycellulose, Methylparaben, PPG-10 Methyl Glucose Ether, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Succinic Acid.

Mixing the 50% solution with the lotion/toner might therefore be a better solution.

Does anyone who understands chemistry know how they are able to make it water soluble, though?

[MariaSt]

Nick_1, what is the concentration of bb that you have been using all this time?

[Nick_1]

It's a 25% pre-blended solution, and then I mix two tablespoons of that hyaluronic lotion with two tablespoons of the BB to cover my face and upper body. Going forward I'll probably use pure BB to a 1:9 ratio.

[MariaSt]

I used 20% bb solution on my face and 10% on my eyelids in the past. It was very helpful, a lot of my redness went away.

[Nick_1]

It's great stuff. I especially like its simplicity compared to all those topicals with preservatives and other ingredients that may not agree with the skin. I might try mixing the pure version with MCT oil as the carrier and Hada Labo lotion. I wonder why very few people have given it a go. A lot of people probably haven't heard of it, and it wouldn't be much use for those without demodex as a causative factor, I suppose.

Did it get rid of the bumps in addition to the redness for you? Why are you no longer using it?

[MariaSt]

It didn't help with the bumps so much. For example tea tree oil or zz cream help more with those. I stopped using it after 4 months of use, because the results reached their plateau. And it burns.

[Nick_1]

Maria, are you sure you primarily have a demodex issue? I know sulphur and tea tree oil are both antifungal and antibacterial, but it seems a bit odd that BB had no effect on the bumps given its effectiveness on mites like demodex and scabies.

[MariaSt]

Bumps aren't my problem any more, it's only the redness. I had demodex on my eyelashes and my skin test was positive for demodex, but you are right, demodex and malassezia can coexist, it's not that I haven't thought about it. I intend to use butenafine (Lotrimin ultra) soon and see what happens, but I am not very optimistic, I already used other antifungals in the past. I am happy that bb works for you that well though, keep it up.

[sejon]

It's even managed to get rid of my greasy skin. No joke when I say that I literally used to wipe my face with a tissue 10-15 times a day because it would look so greasy.

Hey Nick, I'm very interested about your results with benzyl benzoate especially with regard to how it's reduced the greasiness of your skin. I've had a similar problem over the last few years, wherein my skin is extremely greasy when I wake up in the morning and the greasiness accumulates over the course of the day, so, like you, I often have to wipe my face with tissues. I noticed that this started to become an issue when I stopped using benzoyl peroxide, which I had been applying to my face twice a day to treat my acne over the course of about 5 or 6 years (and I'm of the belief that this overuse of BP left my skin barrier damaged and contributed to the various problems that I still suffer from to this day).

So, I'm curious how the benzoyl benzoate managed to control your greasiness. Was this the only change in your routine, so you were able to pinpoint the BB as responsible for this improvement? Would you now say that the oiliness of your skin has more or less returned to normal levels and is no longer a concern for you? I believe if my skin's sebum levels were normalised I'd have a lot fewer problems to contend with, since it's the oiliest areas of the face that bear the signs of dermatitis and irritation.