For the past 3 years I've had acne on and off. I think it got progressively worse after I had my daughter in June of 2008. Your hormones go
crazy, stress and bam! Acne.... your own worse enemy. Like the normal teenager, I have had some acne problems in high school, and at the time I had gone to the dermatologist and had been prescribed Retin-A and some other cream medications. I used to hate them at the time, because they used to dry my face so badly, that I'd have peeling skin on my cheeks and nose. NOT pretty. To make a long story short, most recently I have had some acne on my cheeks. I do not have oily skin, at all! I'm pretty pale so the problem areas would be red. I use concealer to cover it up. It works pretty well to conceal, but you can still tell that I have some. Some of the skin care products that I have been using include Clean & Clear face washes (still do), Neutrogena washes, Clean & Clear acne gels/creams, anything cheap and from the drugstore. None of these things have worked in the few years! My pimples would disappear for a while but reappear later on.
I considered buying Proactiv b/c I was getting desperate. However I went to Sephora to see what they had and bought Clinique Acne Solutions. I bought the cleansing foam ($18 for 4.2oz), clarifying lotion ($13.50 for 6.7oz), Clearing Moisturizer ($16.50 for 1.7oz), and Emergency Gel ($13.50 for 0.5oz). I've been using everything twice a day since last Wednesday, with the exception of the emergency gel. That item is for "breakout emergencies" and I haven't had one yet. (Sorry for the 'stock' picture.... it wouldn't look any better if I took it with my own camera.)
The products seem to be clearing up my acne, slowly but surely. It has not dried up my face at all!! :) I like the fact that Clinique is 100% allergy tested and fragrance free. I don't care for scented facial products b/c I have headaches easily.
The active ingredient in the Cleansing Foam and in the Clarifying Lotion is salicylic acid. The Emergency Gel's active ingredient is benzoyl peroxide.
Based on my 1 week of use, I really like the product thus far. I will definitely keep using it so I can give you an update on my acne status!
PROS: Relatively inexpensive, easy to obtain, fragrance free,
non-drying.
CONS: Not an "immediate" fix, shouldn't be used as a makeup remover so you actually need to have a separate MU remover (this is not recommended for use by eyes)
While shopping Clinique I also picked up All About Eyes ($28.50). I have some pretty dark undereye circles so I wanted to test it to see if it could help at all with the discoloration. It is definitely a great moisturizer under the eye area.
For my eyelashes, I picked up Fiberwig mascara ($24) and the Sephora brand heated eyelash curler ($16). I debated b/t that e/l curler and the Shu Uemura, but the sales associate recommended the heated one. I had been wanting the Panasonic one for a while after watching Eki's youtube video, and I was so excited when I saw Sephora carried their own. Now I haven't mastered it yet, so I will review it in the future once I learn how to make it work.
And last but not least, I will have another MAC haul soon. My friend should have picked me up more items including some e/s and blushes to add to my arsenal collection.
xoxo & tty soon
