Here's our breakdown of the notable ingredients, benefits, and concerns we determined from the ingredients in this product. Click any item to learn more.

Notable Ingredients

Exfoliators

Benefits

Hydrating

Brightening

Concerns

Eczema

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and view relevant ingredients.

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

Ingredients Overview

Here's our quick-to-read summary of the ingredients in this product. Keep scrolling if you'd like to learn more about what each ingredient does!

Ingredient

Com. / Irr. Rating

Features

Emollient, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting

1 / 0

Cleansing, Foaming, Skin Conditioning

Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Solvent

0 / 0

Abrasive, Absorbent

Preservative

0 / 0

Emulsifying

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Buffering

Ingredients Explained

This product contains 9 ingredients. Click on any ingredient to learn more about it

Dimethicone

What it does: Emollient, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Dimethicone is a silicone used for making products smooth and silky. It also has the added benefit of sealing in hydration. The amount of dimethicone found in beauty products is considered safe and non-comedogenic, meaning it won't clog pores.

Dimethicone has been found increase absorption in skin, boosting the benefits of other ingredients. While there is concern for the safety of dimethicone, the levels used in skincare are safe for use.

Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate

What it does: Cleansing, Foaming, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Very Disliked

We don't have a description for Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate.

Disodium EDTA

What it does:

Community Rating: Disliked

Disodium EDTA plays a role in making products more stable by aiding other preservatives.

It is a chelating agent, meaning it neutralizes metal ions that may be found in a product.

Disodium EDTA is a salt of edetic acid and is found to be safe in cosmetic ingredients.

Learn more about Disodium EDTA

Glycerin

What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Learn more about Glycerin

Hydrated Silica

What it does: Abrasive, Absorbent

Hydrated Silica is a type of silicon dioxide. It is called 'hydrated silica' because it is silica with extra bonded water atoms.

It is an absorbent and abrasive, meaning it is exfoliating.

Silica is often used for absorption and can help reduce shine when products are applied.

Learn more about Hydrated Silica

Methylparaben

What it does: Preservative

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Methylparaben is a preservative and is a paraben. It is used to prevent the growth of fungus, mold, and other harmful bacteria. Parabens are chemicals used as preservatives in both cosmetics and food.

Methylparaben can be synthetically created. It can also be found naturally in some fruits, such as blueberries.

Oftentimes, Methylparaben is combined with other parabens to help increase the shelf life.

The safety of Methylparaben is currently being studied. While ongoing studies are looking into the safety of parabens, the results have been very mixed. Some studies have not found Methylparaben to be harmful.

Learn more about Methylparaben

Poloxamer 182

What it does: Emulsifying

We don't have a description for Poloxamer 182.

Water

What it does: Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water

Sodium Hydroxide

What it does: Buffering

Community Rating: Mixed

Sodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.

In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.

Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.

"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.

Learn more about Sodium Hydroxide

Embed Ingredients

Here's what our community thinks of the 9 ingredients in this product ✨

22% are loved or liked

11% have mixed ratings

44% are disliked or very disliked

22% have no rating yet

When to use

We've created a guide with info on when you should use Galderma Benzac Benzoyl Peroxide Spots Treatment Gel 5%. We've also included some recommended products to use it with, as well as some routine inspiration!

Read our guide on when to use Benzac Benzoyl Peroxide Spots Treatment Gel 5% ->

Verified by SkinSort

We're dedicated to providing you with the most up-to-date and science-backed ingredient info out there.

The data we've presented on this page has been verified by a member of the SkinSort Team.

Latest Reviews

Review by SpaceyTrxsh

Jan 9, 2024

Out of all the acne products I've tried this is the only one that helped with my inflamed acne. Now I have zero active acne on my face thanks to this.

Absorbs Well

Sticky

Works Well

Like review

Review by wthtay

Aug 2, 2023

HG
I had a really really bad hormonal acne breakout last year bc I had to stop taking birth control pills and absolutely nothing worked. I'm to blame tho because I was trying way too many things all at once (I had never dealt with acne before and was desperate lol) and had a damaged skin barrier. From February til May I was working on getting my skin barrier good and healthy again so I wasn't using any actives and since June I've been using this gel. My skin is so clear right now, even though it's been only two months! It's not as irritating (and as drying) as you would expect considering it's benzoyl peroxide. Because I had to stop taking birth control pills, my skin oiliness increased a lot due to hormonal imbalances at the time and I also had a fungal acne breakout and this gel has also helped in 100%.

Like review