Lion

Pair Acne Cream.

Acne

About this product

Japanese acne cream formulated with ibuprofen picol and an antibacterial ingredient to target inflammatory breakouts. Suitable for spot treatment or wider application.

Best for

Acne-prone skin

Type

AcneCream

Formula notes

Contains fragranceNo drying alcohol

Full ingredients

Ibuprofen Piconol (3%), Isopropyl Methylphenol (0.3%), Stearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 60, Disodium Edetate, Parabens, Diisopropanolamine, Octyldodecanol, 1,3 Butylene glycol, Carboxyvinyl Polymer, Fragrance

Guru Score

86%

Approved

Early verdict · Few reviews so far

2Gurus

2Approved

0Mixed

0Skip

What the gurus are saying

This cream's ibuprofen-picol and antibacterial formula earns consistent praise for calming inflammatory acne, the red, tender breakouts that adapalene or benzoyl peroxide sometimes leave untouched. It targets inflammation rather than comedones, so people with painful, swollen acne see the strongest results. Reviewers layer it with their existing actives and report overnight visible calming.

Synthesized from 2 expert reviews · most recent take October 2025

Where to buy

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How it works Independent by design. Every take comes from a creator we have no relationship with. We do not ask anyone to review, and affiliate links never move a score.

Every take, in full

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

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AliceintheRabbitHole

59k subs

✓Approved

"Lion Pair is such an incredible anti-inflammatory product. If you deal with acne that is of the inflammatory nature, I think you too will absolutely love this Japanese skincare product."

All 5 takes from AliceintheRabbitHole

Skincare EMPTIES (& products that expired!!): Playing Favorites

"Lion Pair is such an incredible anti-inflammatory product. If you deal with acne that is of the inflammatory nature, I think you too will absolutely love this Japanese skincare product."

UNDERRATED K-Beauty Products

"After I finish applying the R&W serum I like to follow with the Lion Pair Acne Cream. It's considered a spot treatment but I apply it in a bit of a wider area all around the breakout, and I feel like this product addresses one main thing, inflammation. I was really having a bad breakout and my standard adapalene and benzoyl peroxide washes weren't cutting it, so I added these two in, and I'm actually finally seeing that breakouts start to clear up. These products are in my top 10 list and I do not ever want to run out of them."

I Changed My Mind! | How I See Skincare in 2024

"This is a different approach to fighting acne, from J-Beauty. Per the YesStyle website, it uses a topical form of ibuprofen combined with an antibacterial ingredient. This is such an effective product for fighting inflammation."

Skincare EMPTIES! How Long to Finish Products, Why I Go Back to Affordable Picks...

"This stuff is incredible. I feel like this fights inflammation for me like nothing I've ever tried. So glad we tried some J-beauty products."

I Tried a J-Beauty Skincare Routine: My Results/Ranking!

"It is the Lion Pair Acne Cream. I have dry acne prone skin, which is a difficult combination because to treat the dryness I need heavier products but to treat the acne I often end up using more drying products. The reason I love this so much is that I cannot get over what this does for any kind of inflammation I'm dealing with. It's a spot treatment you put on any kind of irritation, any pimple, and overnight it calms your skin. I'm almost out of this tube and I already placed another order for two more because I am not kidding when I tell you this has been so helpful. The ingredients list does list fragrance, but I don't smell anything at all in this product. It does not irritate my skin at all, it just calms it."

Dr. Jenny Liu

319k subs

✓Approved

"I personally love it because it is very different than the traditional acne treatment that we have here in the US, at the very least the way it targets acne, the active ingredients. It's a cream that you can basically spot treat areas of acne, and the way it's formulated and just the active ingredients, how they work, it's pretty gentle and honestly suitable for all skin types. It's at the very least a great adjunct to the topicals that we have right now like adapalene, benzoyl peroxide, or salicylic acid, and it helps to target acne without adding additional irritation. [...] It contains 3% ibuprofen picol, which is an anti-inflammatory, [...] and at 3% concentration it actually has been shown in Japanese publications to be really helpful as an over-the-counter ingredient in treating inflammatory acne. It also contains 3% of an antimicrobial ingredient called isopropyl methylphenol. The two together is great at targeting those red ingredients, so not your usual blackheads or whiteheads, but the ones that are red that may be painful, that are swollen, that are tender. This cream would be great for them, and at the very least may help to more quickly shrink them down."

Common questions

Frequently asked.

What is Lion Pair Acne Cream?

Japanese acne cream formulated with ibuprofen picol and an antibacterial ingredient to target inflammatory breakouts. Suitable for spot treatment or wider application.

Is Lion Pair Acne Cream worth it?

Yes. All 2 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 86%.

What is Lion Pair Acne Cream's Guru Score?

Lion Pair Acne Cream holds a Guru Score of 86%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 2 expert reviewers we have collected.