Epiduo is a prescription acne treatment that claims that your only choice is prescription. This is because apparently acne is a medical condition, even in minor forms, and so it can only be treated with prescriptions. Our question would be how many “medical conditions” have actually been treated successfully without a prescription, and moreover how many acne specific ingredients are found in both prescription and over the counter products.

Price: Varies

The main ingredients of Epiduo are adapalene and benzoyl peroxide. These are both extremely common ingredients found both in other prescriptions and in the case of benzoyl peroxide, in plenty of other over the counter products. Amounts in other products range from 5-10% for those that work. However, interestingly enough Epiduo uses only 2.5% for concentration. That is not only not effective, you could find something more effective in an over the counter product again using 5-10%.

The side effects are severe and common with Epiduo. They use 2 ingredients that are well known for being irritants, and they make no apologies about it, nor do they really talk about it honestly speaking. It doesn’t have the right effect that you are looking for, and you would be much better off looking for something else just to avoid the side effects alone.

This product may be a prescription, but it really shouldn’t be. They try to eliminate the competition by making blatantly false claims about what your acne can and would do in general terms, and they ironically don’t even use the right amounts of ingredient that would work abnormally well, let alone without side effects. We would recommend using something else.