Beauty Skin Care This $13 Treatment Makes an Enormous Difference In My Cystic Acne Within 2 Days Reviewers agree it “works like a charm.” By Rachel Nussbaum Rachel Nussbaum Instagram Twitter Rachel Nussbaum is a journalist, writer, and editor who specializes in beauty and wellness topics. Shape's editorial guidelines Published on September 18, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Photo: Amazon Over my many years of working in the beauty industry, I've tried countless hyped-up treatments for cystic acne. I'm an optimist, despite knowing better; my dermatologist has assured me that my under-the-skin bumps are outside the reach of topical treatments, so I take oral spironolactone daily to ease the symptoms. It's helped immensely, but every few weeks, I still get a swollen volcano taking up residence on my face, so my hunt for a helper continued. I was browsing Amazon one day when the algorithm surfaced De La Cruz's 10 Percent Sulfur Ointment before my eyes, one of the few remedies I hadn't yet tried. Of its more than 2,000 ratings, over half of them gave the fix a full five stars for its effect on resistant zits — and with reviewers calling it "magic in a jar" and "the only thing that actually works," I was intrigued. After around three months of turning to the solution weekly, I now completely understand. De La Cruz's 10 Percent Sulfur Ointment Key Features How I tested: As recommended by the brand, I used the sulfur ointment on cystic acne for 10 minutes a day until the bump shrank, over a span of three months. Perfect for: Anyone who gets under-the-skin zits, whiteheads, blackheads, fungal acne, rosacea bumps, eczema, or hormonal pimples, and wants to shorten their lifecycle. What you'll love: At $13 for a generous tub, the price can't be beat — especially because spot-treating with a small dab of the ointment makes stubborn zits disappear within one or two days. Key ingredients: Ten percent sulfur, which exfoliates the outer layer of skin cells and inhibits the growth of acne bacteria, according to Acne.org. De La Cruz's 10 Percent Sulfur Ointment Review Amazon BUY IT, $13 De La Cruz's 10 Percent Sulfur Ointment Review It feels like I'm perpetually playing Whac-a-Mole with hormonal acne, and while not the end of the world, it gets frustrating to always be tiptoeing around sensitive, inflamed areas. I'm not sure what's worse: The days when cystic acne has yet to surface and just lurks like a swollen menace or when it's peaked into a whitehead with a red, angry perimeter. Yet in both cases, De La Cruz's Ointment intervenes like a knight in shining armor. The first time I knew I was working with something unusual was when I used it for about 10 minutes on a lurking situation and realized the next day that the painful bump had almost entirely disappeared. I tried it on the next whitehead I got and saw equally stunning results: A pin-sized dab, again left on for 10 minutes, turned the formerly juicy spot into a dried husk of its former self, which promptly vacated my face. For $13, I was shocked — but I guess that's just the power of sulfur for you; the same ingredient features in best-selling acne treatments from Mario Badescu and Sunday Riley, but with the De La Cruz ointment, there's no reason to pay more. The only negative I've noticed is the smell: As you might expect from sulfur, it's not the most pleasant whiff, but the scent dissipates quickly, and the clearing capabilities make it more than worth the trade-off. Other users are just as impressed as I am; the ointment has garnered raves for clearing up 95 percent of one person's cystic acne and eczema, and another said it works "like a charm." As one more person wrote, it outperformed retinol and antibiotics for their teen's acne — and calmed down inflammation so well, they decided to not go on Accutane. Some people note that it can be a little drying, but a good moisturizer easily counters the effect. And for the results it consistently delivers within a matter of days, it's no wonder a last shopper dubbed it the first thing they've tried in 15 years that actually works. Get De La Cruz's 10 Percent Sulfur Ointment for $13 at Amazon. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Shop More Shape-Approved Picks The Activewear Brand Jennifer Garner and Jennifer Lopez Wear Has a Hidden Section of Comfy Workout Underwear The 5 Best Amazon Weekend Deals for Up to 75% Off, According to Shape’s Shopping Expert Zumba Lovers Rave About These $80 and $37 Sneakers for Preventing Foot and Joint Pain, but Which Pair Is Best?