I've had keratosis pilaris—i.e. the bumpy “chicken skin” most commonly found on the backs of your arms, cheeks, and thighs—my entire life. “You’ll grow out of it,” dermatologists would tell me, but puberty came and went, and little ol’ me continued to wear long sleeve shirts, embarrassed by my rough, red, blotchy arms.
Fast forward to a decade later, and I'm still dealing with KP. “But where’s the happy ending?!" I hear you shout. Yeah, well, sorry to burst your bubble, but there are no real “cures” when it comes to KP, because it’s something that’s simply part of your DNA. “Keratosis pilaris is a common genetic skin condition that’s caused by a buildup of keratin in the hair follicle, forming rough, hard plugs that can look inflamed and red,” says Dr. Melissa Kanchanapoomi Levin, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Entière Dermatology.
Despite the fact that it occurs in about half of all adults, there’s still no tried-and-true treatment that works for everyone. And trust me; I've tried every possible “cure” unlimited internet access could find. And despite all of the potions and prayers, I never found a cure. I did, however, discover a ton of really excellent treatments that have either completely cut the redness, smoothed the bumps, or done a bit of both. So to prevent you from either destroying your skin or your sanity, I present to you the only products that have ever really helped my keratosis pilaris, in hopes that one of them might just help you. May the odds be forever in your favor.
Exfoliating Scrub
Don't you wish you could instantly erase signs of KP once and for all? Well, look to First Aid Beauty's KP Bump Eraser to wipe away those imperfections, obviously not instantly, but with consistent use. "An effective KP treatment option uses exfoliating ingredients such as glycolic and lactic acid—[both found in] this FAB Body Scrub—but without being too irritating or drying. Calming ingredients like bisabolol and moisturizing ingredients like glycerin and dimethicone help relieve irritation, inflammation, and still provide moisture to the skin," says Dr. Levin.
What makes this exfoliating scrub so top tier is how quickly visible results can we seen. After eight weeks of using it just once or twice a week during her shower routine, my best friend raved about the significant difference in her once-strawberry-like legs.
Hydrating Lotion
It sounds simple: Use an ultra-moisturizing body lotion to get rid of pesky dry and flaky skin. But there are so many options out there. Now Eucerin, known for its range of lightweight to rich moisturizers that target skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, makes a formula for keratosis pilaris. "This is a great over-the-counter option that combines urea and ceramides, both effective moisturizing ingredients. Urea is also a chemical exfoliant, and interestingly, has been demonstrated to increase the permeability of other ingredients," explains Dr. Levin.
Don't get discouraged if your KP doesn't disappear overnight. With consistent use of this emollient-rich hydrator, your skin will feel immediately smoother while it works on improving the bumpy appearance of KP over time.
Gel Treatment
Here's a KP treatment that's worthy of a soothing body massage: Skinceuticals Body Retexturing Treatment. "This is a gel retexturing treatment with moisturizing ingredients including urea and glycerin, but also with the anti-inflammatory calming ingredient niacinamide to soothe and repair inflammation," explains Dr. Levin.
This cooling gel is also formulated with sodium lactate (a derivative of lactic acid) and hyaluronic acid. These powerhouse ingredients do wonders to even out skin tone and smooth out the rough texture of extremely dry areas like elbows, knees, and heels. And the formula is gentle enough to use daily, post-shower. You'll be amazed at how soft and silky your skin feels after just a couple of weeks of consistent use.
Exfoliating Body Wash
In case you haven't noticed: The use of exfoliating acids is a major key in smoothing keratosis pilaris. "Glycolic acid is one of the most effective and reliable exfoliating ingredients to gently break up dead skin cells and loosen the impacted keratin in the hair follicles," says Dr. Levin.
Glytone's three-piece KP Kit comes complete with an exfoliating body wash, body lotion, and exfoliating pouf and smooths troubled areas in record time (within four weeks). One caveat: the body lotion is pretty thick and tends to sting a bit upon application. To avoid irritation, start by incorporating this set once a week then work your way up to using it two to three times a week—or as often as your skin can withstand.
Buffing Scrub
Anytime I would talk to my sister on the phone in the past couple of months it would always start out with, "Have you tried it?" I'd roll my eyes awaiting the dreaded yell when I told her I hadn't. The product in question? Soap Glory's Scrub of Your Life.
Months ago, my sister deemed this product the holy grail in getting rid of her KP. At any family function, she would ask my brother and I to feel how silky smooth her arms were. So I finally threw in the towel, ordered a bottle for myself and purchased an exfoliating loofah to go along with it. My worst fears came true: my younger sister was right.
Since the product is indeed a scrub, I only use it about two to three times per week. I found myself totally intoxicated with the smell of fresh bergamot, mandarin, rose, jasmine, peach and strawberry. Post-shower, I dry off and apply Eucerin's Advanced Repair Lotion ($10). After a couple of weeks (patience is a virtue, my friend), the back of my arms were visibly smoother. This product is now my holy grail.
Sulfur Soap
What a sexy, sexy product, huh? Welp, what it lacks in bells-and-whistles packaging, it makes up for with a legit combo of ingredients: three-percent salicylic acid and 10-percent colloidal sulfur. “Topical sulfur is a known keratolytic agent, which means it breaks up the bonds in keratin plugs, helping shed them away,” says Dr. Levin. And, when combined with salicylic acid, another keratolytic ingredient with anti-inflammatory properties, you’ve got a gentle, yet really effective solution for KP (and also acne, which is an extra bonus).
Plus, if you do it the way I do, which is by rubbing the actual bar over my arms and thighs, you get the added perk of a gentle exfoliation, which can help loosen plugs without irritating them. Just be warned: This soap is unscented, so it will smell like sulfur in your shower for a few minutes. But thankfully, the smell dissipates from your skin as soon as you dry off. You can also try sulfur-infused face washes, though, in my experience, they’ve been too drying and irritating for my sensitive skin (yes, even my legs and arms), so I stick with the bar, instead.
Lactic Acid Lotion
There’s a reason why this is the cream you see over and over again in your search results for “how to fix keratosis pilaris”: It really works. But only if you use it consistently—like so, so consistently. I’ve thrown away and rebought this lotion a dozen times, always convinced it doesn’t work for me, and always convinced I should try it again.
So finally, last year, I made a promise to apply lactic acid lotion every single night for a month straight, without skipping a day, and what do you know? My KP decreased by a good 70 percent. Which shouldn’t have been that surprising, considering it’s filled with lactic acid (i.e. a sugar-derived alpha hydroxy acid, or AHA) that not only hardcore moisturizes skin, but also dissolves keratin bonds for way fewer bumps. You just need to stick with it—I took a weekend off and my KP came back 100 percent, as if I had never applied it all. Yes, it’s slightly sticky, and it stings like hell for a minute if you have any open cuts, and it doesn’t smell great, but it really does work.
Retinol Oil
I actually hadn’t intended to use this one for my KP—I had a group of retinol oils (which are way more gentle and soothing than usual retinol treatments) sitting in my cabinet after testing them for a story, and, on a whim, started slathering them on my arms. If retinol is good for your wrinkles, dark spots, acne, and literally every other skin issue, it’s gotta be good for your keratosis pilaris, right? And, as it turns out, it was.
“Vitamin-A derivatives such as retinols and retinoids speed up your skin cell turnover, which prevents buildup of skin cells and, in turn, keratin, in the first place,” says Dr. Levin. Technically, acids, like AHAs and BHAs, are still the quickest, most effective way of dealing with KP, but because everyone’s skin is different, they may not work for you at all, whereas retinol could be your game-changer.
For me, I noticed an all-over improvement in my arms and thighs after a few weeks of diligent, every-other-day use; both the bumps and redness had decreased, rather than a one-or-the-other situation I experienced with the lotion and soap. Annoyingly, though, it’s a rather expensive method, since retinol oils tend to be so pricey, so I haven’t really kept up with this method. However, if you don’t have especially sensitive skin, you could easily get a generic retinol cream, like this $20 Amazon favorite, which has more than 2,000 glowing reviews and would definitely get you similar results.
Medicated Spray
I've long turned to medicated sprays for body acne for a few reasons. For starters, they're typically formulated with acid-based exfoliants, which won't bleach your clothes like some benzoyl peroxide based treatments. Also? I find the application is easier for hard-to-reach places. While I technically can reach every square inch of my back to lather it with treatment lotion, a spray sure is a heck of a lot easier.
I figured the same principles would apply for treating KP—and I was right. This rather intimidating-looking spray combines ten percent glycolic acid with two percent salicylic, for a non-irritating mist that gently sloughs away dead skin cells that cause build-up. It also dries down almost immediately, meaning you don't need to build any wait time into your AM or PM shower routines.
Exfoliating Towel
While this may seem like a rather obvious solution, it also may be one of the most effective. This exfoliating towel is woven from two different widths of recyclable nylon—a thinner lathering thread helps suds up any soap or gel, while a thicker width exfoliating thread works to loosen dead skin cells. The towels are said to last three to six months; testers have had theirs up to a year and say they are still going strong. (With nary a white bump in sight.)
In Conclusion...
That’s it. Yup, a lifetime of KP-cure testing, and only a few products have been deemed worthy. Of course, your mileage may vary, and maybe a cult-favorite cream like DermaDoctor’s KP Duty Lotion will work for you (for a friend, the combination of glycolic acid and urea made her skin itch, and it was too expensive to keep re-buying every four weeks), or some other DIY potion on the internet (as long it doesn’t include excessive scrubbing, or baking soda or lemon or apple cider vinegar, which I promise you will truly ruin your skin).
Regardless of what you end up trying, though, make sure you use in conjunction with sunscreen, as all acids make your skin sensitive to the light, which can cause intense burning and skin damage. But other than that, please, for the love of your sanity, get slathering.
