Background:
I've always had rubbish skin and as such I've been through many phases: the tea tree oil phase, the witchhazel stage, the benzoyl peroxide era... eventually, as I'm now the wrong side of 25 and still suffering from spots, I decided it was time to throw some money at the problem so decided to try Clinique Three Step.

The product:
Clinique three step sells itself as 'three minutes, twice a day' to get better skin. It involves first washing your face with a liquid soap, then using a type of cleanser/toner liquid on a cotton wool pad and finally moisturizing using their 'dramatically different' hydrating gel. These three products definitely enhance the sophisication of your bathroom in their classy green, pink and yellow hues, but even more importantly they seem to work! They come in different 'strengths' depending on your skin type and particular skin issues, and you can work out which type is best for you by either using the online questionnaire or popping into a shop that stocks it (such as Debenhams, House of Fraser or a big Boots store) and having a short consultation.

My experience:
As soon as I started using the Clinique three step my face felt softer, and when I looked in the mirror it somehow started to look better - almost like I was wearing light foundation when I wasn't. Even my husband, who usually gets nil points for his powers of observation, recently noted my skin was looking nicer. A month in I still get an occasional spot at that 'time of month' but the rest of the time enjoy far better skin and am overall very happy with it. Before I used it I always had problems with products I used drying my skin and then if I used moisturizer to correct this I got spots. With the third step of the three steps, the dramatically different moisurising gel, I seem to avoid dry skin and it doesn't seem to cause spots - excellent!!

Buying it:
I got mine from House of Fraser, who had a special offer on for the 3 'normal' size solutions plus 3 travel size ones for £54, which sounds like (and is) a lot of money but the lady estimated they would last for 6 months and so far I look to be on track for this, and around £2 a week for good skin is a price I'm willing to pay. Tesco value range provides my cotton pads at 36p for 50! If you don't fancy having a consultation/buying the 3 step range in a shop you can get it online from Clinique direct, but personally I think its worth having someone look at your skin and decide which of the different strengths of 3 step products are best for you. Bizarrely there also seem to be better deals in the shops than online at the moment.

Summary:
Its not cheap, but then it does seem to work and personally I'm happy with paying a bit more to have better skin.

**also posted on ciao under the same name**