Hi all,

I'm new here, so I thought I'd contribute my experience.

I'm a 26 year old male who's had KP since early teens. My KP covers the top of my thighs, and all of my lower legs. No one else in my family has it.

My dermatolgist has only recommended LacHydrin. I tried it for 3-4 months, but it worsened the KP (increased swollen red bumps) and left me smelling like ammonia all day.

So, over the years, I've tried:

12% Lactic Acid AHA (LacHydrin, AmLactin)
5% Glycolic AHA (Kiss My Face Alpha+Aloe)
10% Urea (Nutraplus)
25000 IU Topical Vitamin A (Kiss My Face Vitamin A+E)
Tanning Booths
Aggressive Exfoliation (Loofah, buff-puff, etc)
Laser resurfacing
Misc Moisturizers (Vaseline Advanced Healing, NaPCA lotion, etc)

The most favorable result has been applying "Kiss My Face Alpha+Aloe" twice a day, after soft abrasion with a moist washcloth. It's odorless, absorbs completely (no greasiness), and smoothens the skin.

The attached picture is a sample, which covers both legs entirely, on my "best" day.

(Tanning did help a little too though. It seems to bake the KP so that it exfoliates easier, and makes the skin darker so KP is less noticeable. However, I'd rather have KP than skin cancer, and it's not very sustainable, so I haven't done it in years.)

Does anyone know of a product with more than 5% Glycolic AHA, that comes in a reasonably-sized bottle (e.g. 16 oz)?

Thanks!

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Hi Kiwaku.

I am very much in the same boat as you. I am 25-year old male who has also tried a vast assortment of products over the past five years for the KP on my upper arms, thighs, and calves.

The list for me includes Neutrogena bump-minimizing lotion, LacHydrin, AmLactin, Retin-A, Alphahydroxy AHA Lotion, Carmol, a couple Urea creams, Bath & Body Eucalyptus Lotion, St. Ives medicated Apricot Scrub, pumice stone, loofah, and countless other lotions.

In the end, I have just pretty much given up. The improvement I experienced from all those products was minimal at best.

I occassionally come here to check and see if any big success has been discovered; unfortunately, time and time again it seems that someone posts something that works incredibly well for them and everyone gets really excited before the whole idea sort of fizzles out.

From what I saw in one of the lengthier recent threads, coconut oil is generating a lot of buzz now. Last time I checked it was the Bath and Body Eucalyptus lotion.

I'm always game to give something else a try, though after all these years I've definitely become quite the skeptic. How much improvement did you experience with the Kiss My Face Alpha+Aloe lotion? I'm more apt to give something a try if it's recommended by someone who, like me, has tried virtually everything else under the sun!

Good luck to you and keep us updated.

hey Kiwaku-

there is a product called NeoStrata Lotion plus which is 15% AHA Glycolic Formulation and NeoStrata Gel plus that is also 15% AHA Glycolic Formulation. i have them both. the lotion comes in a 6.8 fl oz pump bottle and the gel comes in a 3.4 fl oz bottle. i purchased them on a website called the skinstore and i believe they were a reasonable price...although you may be able to find them for a better price somewhere else. i cannot say that they are wonderfully effective because i have only been using them for a short time. but in my opinion, so far they seem to work a little better than lac hydrin and amlactin. hope this helped you.

I'm very new here, and have only just figured out that the ugly skin condition I had on my arms is KP (not sure what type). I was so embarassed about it, and the fact that I pick at it that I didn't want to see a dermatologist about it.

Anyway. I would encourage everyone to check out the following website - www.cosmeticscop.com While it does promote some products, it's not a purely commercial site. There is a lot of good information on there. The site was established by Paula Begoun - you can read about her on the site. Her take on KP is that a beta hydroxy acid is preferable to an AHA as the BHAs are better able to penetrate and exfoliate within the pores. I have to say that I have had some improvement using a 2% salicylic body wash that Neutrogena makes. Progress has been kind of slow, but its' definitely there.

i'm new here, too. i've had kp since my teenage years, and have tried many products both otc and not. the most effective products that i have found are made by st. ives. peach sorbet facial and body washes, as well as the body lotion. my problem now is that i can no longer find these products where i am now living!

Here is a link w/ some products w/ high glycolic acid levels
http://www.30glycolic.com/glycolic_acid_kit.html

Glytone Keratosis Pilaris kit has body wash w/ 8.8 free acid value & lotion w/ 17.5 free acid value.

Thanks all. I'll give BHA (salicylic acid) a try, although I think I used it once and it was much too harsh on my skin, and see if I can pick up some of those glycolic acid products.

(btw the pic above is with using 5% glycolic acid, and it's as good as my skin has gotten)

Hey Kiwaku:

I know this is a strange compliment, but the photo that you posted is probably the best, high resolution photo that I have ever seen of kp!!

My wife has mild kp, and we tried taking a photo of her arm, to do a 'before and after' comparison, but our digital camera couldn't focus very well close up. So it was hard to record the hard evidence of the benefit of the treatment (using Koru KP Cream).

I was wondering if you would be able to do a favour for me (and everyone who is part of www.keratosispilaris.org)?

When I make up another batch of Koru KP Cream (in the next 3 weeks), I would like to send you out a free jar.

Would it then be possible to take photos of the same part of your kp: before treatment, and over a period of time during treatment, and to post your photos on this website?

This way we can all clearly see your progress with a decent set of high quality photos.

Hope you agree, it would be really cool to see your results!

Please forgive me if this request causes any upset feelings, but my idea comes out of a genuine interest to do something about kp.

Thanks in anticipation!

Annuu

west_harbour@hotmail.com

Annuu
i would be willing to take pics of before and during using your lotion. Please let me know when you will make another batch. the kp on my skin looks different than the pic on kiwaku. Since i've had them for more than 20 years, i have been tanning (dark) everytime i get a chance to see if they will not become as visible, but what happened is that yea my skin gets a nice tan but then my kp only gets darker. So now i have dark spots, my skin is smooth where i have tanned, but where i have not tanned, they are still bumpy. I as well tried picking at them and pulling the curled up trapped hair in them hoping that if i do this to every bump, they will disappear, but they only keep coming back and not growing all the way thru the skin and back to the bumps i go.
i am as well desperate to try anything. meanwhile i have been using the Paula's Choice 2% BHA lotion after scrubbing with Dove Scrub and still tanning as well, and i do see a little differnce only on my thights not on my arms which the spots are darker because of the sun exposure everyday. I do now, expose my arms in the summer, i used to be embarrassed, but i learned to not care what others say behind my back. I have seen alot of people with the same problem and see that they don't care as well. So i go with that attitude as well, but it does bring me down and depressed at times, especially when with your loved one or wanting to wear a bathing suit.
By the time a new batch is done on your lotion, i will probably finish the bottle from Paula's Choice and see how much improvement (if any) with this and will go on to the next treatment (yours) until i find what works for me.

We really appreciate what you are doing to make us feel better about ourselves by finding a solution to this ugly problem.....You Go Girl!
i know you will one day!!!
thank you dearly

Hi Deejay:

Thanks for your interest in Koru kp Cream. I will be making up another batch in about 3-weeks' time (I'm waiting on the arrival of a key ingredient from Switzerland), so I will be in contact again soon.

Thanks for the kind offer to take before and after pics, everyone relates well to seeing pictures of kp, so that would be great.

I am thinking about making three different types of cream: 'light', 'regular' and 'rich butter' to suit different peoples' skin types. Please see the discussion in "Who would like to try this?" board to learn more. How about we start with Koru kp Regular Cream, and see how it works out for you?

Oh, and by the way, the cream was originally developed for my wife's kp!

...so...Go guy!!


Annuu

I would like to try the cream, so count me in. If you make three different bases then I would like to try the light one for I believe that greasy products make my KP worse. In any case, count me in. I will post pictures.

I've had a bad case of KP on the back of my arms since early teens.

I pick but I don't scar.

My wife works for a dermatologist. They first tried lac-hydron on me which didn't help.

Then they tried Tazorac which is a strong retin-A.

I put that on once per day for 4 days straight. About 4 days later the top layer of skin just bagan to peel off. There was some redness too. For the next 2 weeks it was a bit angry (red) and skin was just sloffing off like crazy. It was a bit gross as I was leaving dry skin in my shirts and around where I work. Once this all subsided my arms were baby smooth. They looked awesome!

But you have to continue to use the tazorac. I'm getting good results at twice per week to maintain.

But once in a while I forget and stop using it because it looks so good. Then I flare back up again and have to start all over. If I see a flare up I start to pick too which makes matters worse.

I really like the strong retin A. Very little work at all and it's the most exfoliation you will ever see. Mechanical exfoliation was always too much work and pain for me. I never stuck with it.

Tazorac will cost you though, it's perscription.

Hi Ama-KP

I am pleased to report that I have now successfully made the three base formulations: light lotion, regular cream and rich butter (sounds like a buffet...

None contain any mineral oil or vaseline, instead they contain avocado, sweet almond and coconut oils as the emollients.

They also do not contain any parabens preservatives or fragrance, to make them as mild as possible.

As soon as I receive the active ingredient from Europe (it will be dispatched next week), I can get busy and make some more "Koru kp", this time we will have the 3-varieties: lotion, cream and butter!

Annuu

Thanks Annuu.

Just let me know what to do.