Review: MURAD Acne Body Wash and Clarifying Body Spray

I'll be honest, I hadn't really heard much about Murad until I wandered into ULTA one fine day looking for a body acne cure-all. As I've mentioned, I've suffered from acne on my back and chest for years, and have tried lots of products without results, but I'm so self-conscious about it that I never cease my searching! After the ULTA ladies recommended the Murad Acne Body Wash and Clarifying Body Spray, I went on to the Web site to do some research and found glowing reviews about how this is the one product that cures even the most stubborn body acne. Naturally, despite the price points ($39.50 and $37 respectively), I was sold.

The instructions tell you to begin with the body wash in the shower, rubbing it lightly into acne-prone areas and then rinsing well. The body wash feels like a typical exfoliating product with tiny beads that are supposed to cleanse and tone the skin. The smell is nothing special -- if anything it just smells clean -- and the product rinses without leaving a residue or dry, stripped feeling on the skin. Next, you're supposed to apply the clarifying body spray, which is the "treat and repair" step, 1 to 3 times daily, working with the level of dryness that occurs (both products have Salicylic Acid as their active ingredient, so it does warn that dryness can occur). Interestingly, despite having normal/combination-dry skin, I didn't suffer from intense dryness with this product and was able to use it 3 times a day without flaking or itching. That is certainly a plus! The other plus is that the body spray is designed such that it can be sprayed at angles or upside down, a feature that is supposed to help you reach areas like your back. I was advised that I should start seeing results within a week.

At first, I thought that I was starting to see results on my chest -- several of the large red pimples seemed to dry up and it looked as though there were generally fewer red spots. Unfortunately though, I wound up having trouble applying the products to my back, despite the specially designed bottle. Even though it sprays upside down, you wind up having to hold the bottle fairly close to your body, unless you want to douse your hair, sides and butt with the product too (!!), which means that you wind up getting a fairly concentrated application of the product (i.e. liquidy instead of a true mist), which then runs down your back! I don't mean to get too graphic here, but I certainly don't want the feeling of acne spray running down into my butt, which means that I have to stand there with a towel to catch the run off until the product dries. Very awkward!

Ater a few days, I ceased even trying to apply the product to my back, so I can't really talk to how it affected my acne there. Instead, I just continued applying the product to my chest daily for three weeks. And now comes the negative part. This stuff just did not work. After the initial signs of improvement, everything stalled or reverted! Yes, it did initially cause a few of my spots to go away, but it certainly did nothing to prevent new ones from forming! And even though I do think it helped to a degree, my chest was NEVER ONCE completely free of acne -- I always had at least 10 pimples/spots on my chest, so I still felt just as self-conscious as before, yet now I was $80 poorer. The one other positive thing that I can mention is that for the money, you really do get quite large sizes of the products -- 8.5 fl oz of the body wash and 4.3 fl oz of the spray.

At the end of the day, I wound up bringing the products back to ULTA for an exchange because I felt that for $80 my skin should have been COMPLETELY CLEAR, not just marginally improved. Now, I honestly think I am the first person to write a negative review about this product -- either that or they remove the negative reviews from the Murad web site because I couldn't find a one! It is quite possible that my skin is just extra stubborn and that this would work great on someone else. With that caveat in mind, I continue to suggest, as always, that with expensive products like these, you ask for samples and try them out before indulging in the full size.

And of course, if you have used this product and would like to share your experience (good or bad!) please leave a comment below!

To Recap:

Pros:

- Products have Salicylic Acid as their active ingredients, which is a proven acne-fighter

- The products are large sizes that will last you a long time

- I, personally, didn't notice that this product made my skin excessively dry or irritated

- The spray bottle is designed such that you can spray it while holding it sideways or upside down

Cons:

- It helped my acne marginally, but never completely cleared it up or made a noticeable difference! This is the BIGGEST con.

- The products are VERY expensive at $39.50 and $37 each

- The spray is actually very liquidy, unless you hold it at a far distance from you body, which creates run off

- Salicylic Acid can cause excessive dryness or irritation on some skin types

Murad products are sold online at the company Web site, www.murad.com, or at ULTA stores or online at www.ulta.com.