Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The two reviews on this product are worthless to most because they just say it is good or something of that nature. This does appear to be salicylic acid powder, which is about as much as you can say for the product. However, the powder by itself cannot be used. It must be mixed into some solvent. That solvent could be 90% isopropyl alcohol, but that can be quite damaging to the skin. The best solvent is propylene glycol which can be purchased on Amazon. It is not all that expensive and is a common ingredient in many skin creams and beauty products. Some claim to react to propylene glycol, but if you see it on your skin creams like I do and those skin creams have not caused any reactions, it likely won't in this case. Salicylic Acid dissolves fully in propylene glycol in the proper ratios. You can just use the mixture of propylene glycol to 2% - 4% salicylic acid and apply it with a cotton ball , swab or other sterile applicator. Most appear to want to mix it into a skin cream. One person suggested in a review of a similar product to just mix it directly into the skin cream. This may work in part because many skin creams have propylene glycol and glycerine in them and that portion of the product may mix with the salicylic acid to make it effective. However, what does not dissolve will merely dry on the surface of the skin and not have the desired impact of a product absorbing into the skin. In other words, most of the product would be wasted. What is comical about the reviewer that tried this is he or she mixed the acid at equal ratio to the skin cream. If the acid was fully activated in such a mixture, it would be a 50% product, which would badly burn the area of the skin to which it is applied. Even the prescription products are only 4%. Some have suggested 20% or more for peels done on occasion, but that is way out there in terms of experimenting on your body. You can make a slurry of propylene glycol and the salicylic acid powder in a bowl and then mix that with skin cream. The slurry is made by adding the solvent to the powder gradually and mixing it into a milky solution into which all powder is dissolved. This will likely be a 50% mix or thereabouts. Then you can take that and mix it into skin cream. Mix thoroughly with about a 20 to 1 ratio of skin cream to the slurry to get an approximate 2.5% mix. This is not exact however, because the slurry percentage is inexact. So start with a higher ratio of skin cream to slurry and add more slurry gradually over time if you do not see the desired results in a week or so. Keep the slurry in an airtight container and in a dark cool place. The alternate route is to mix about a 2 to one ratio of salicylic acid powder to banking soda in a bowl and crush the mixture together. After the powders are mixed and crushed, add a small amount of water to the product (proportionate to the amount of other products). The products mixed will foam as you mix the water in. When it is all foamed, you then dry the resulting product by heating it (I did it in the oven at about 170 degrees). The result is a salt that is as effective as the acid in the same mixing quantities. I found this process extremely easy, but it is messy. You should likely wear gloves and a mask. The resulting product sticks to the sides of the bowl and must be scraped off, requiring gloves and mask and introducing spillage as another safety problem. And while the product is being dried to remove the water and create the final powder, the water vapor can be harmful. You can let it dry on its own over time, but do not cover it too tight, because the chemical reaction continues for some time after the products are mixed, and the pressure in a closed container could be a problem. For example, when you pop the lid and some of the product is expelled into one's face. The propylene glycol solution is the easiest. But anyone that is using this powder straight into skin cream has no idea what they are doing and is wasting the bulk of it. They also probably should not be dealing with any product such as this, because they assumed it was ready to use and warnings on the package state clearly it is a raw product and is not ready to be used in its powdered form. Always wear gloves and a mask when mixing this product. You likely should also wear eye protection. It may be unlikely to hurt you in small amounts, but an accident could cause problems if this is inhaled or ingested, or if it gets into one's eyes.