Fight off those spots... a product that REALLY works. (Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Spot Treatment Gel)

Member Name: Gemma_C

Product:	Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Spot Treatment Gel
Date:	01/04/09 (465 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A bottle of this stuff lasts ages and it works extremely well!

Disadvantages: A slight drying out of the skin around the spot but not too bad.

I'm a fan of the Clinique Anti-Blemish solutions range, and this little gem has been by far the best product out of their range. I would say this is a must have product in the make up bag of anyone who suffers from spots and blemishes.


- About Clinique -

Clinique are an offshoot from the Estee Lauder company and were founded in 1968. Clinique claim to cater for individual's needs and realises that everyone has a different skin type. They are most famous for their 3-step skin care regimes, which consists of 3 products and often comes with the line '3 Products. 3 Minutes. Twice a Day' and they claim if you follow this easy 3-step solution for your facial skin type then you will notice a huge improvement in your skin. All of Clinique's products are allergy tested and many of them are 100% fragrance free.
They have products aimed at dry skins, normal skins, combination skins, oily skins... well, you get the picture. They also have their anti-blemish range for people who suffer from spots and blemishes.
If you are unsure what your skin type is, the consultants at their counters will give you a quick and free consultation and advise you on the best products to use. Alternatively you can take the online consultation which is quick and easy to do.

You can find their counters in Boots, Debenhams and many other department stores. Their products are more high end, and range from about £8 to £20-30. Clinique will often have a 'bonus time' gift special offer on. You usually need to buy 2 products and recieve a make-up bag with lots of Clinique mini's in and usually a full size product. I prefer to buy Clinique products when this offer is running as it's a great way to try out new products.



- The Product -

Clinique's Anti-Blemish Spot Treatment Gel is aimed at targetting spots and blemishes, or spots that you can feel starting to form. It's a quick drying gel and promotes healing and soothes irritation.

The full size product is 15ml. Whilst this does seem small the gel lasts ages as you only need a tiny amouny for each spot. I've had mine for over 6 months and it's still 80% full, and unfortunately I have to use it quite alot, so this is a great value product.

The Gel comes in a small plastic squeezy tube with a screw lid on the top. It's colour scheme matches the rest of the anti-blemish range, a cool pale mint green colour. The gel itself is rather transparent with a soft milky tone of colour to it. However I've found when applying this product it looks see through and seems to lose it's transparency once you squeeze it out of the tube.
The little nozzle is designed well, give the tube a gentle squeeze and a small amount of gel will appear out of the top. The way it's designed means you don't have lots of it coming out and being wasted, you can really control how much you need.

The gel has a very slight smell of it, similar to astringent, but it's not too strong and overpowering. This product is 100% fragrance free so I can only assume this smell consists of the chemicals used in making the gel.

Using this gel is very easy. I always cleanse, tone and moisturise before applying it. I then lightly squeeze a tiny amount of gel onto my finger and rub it directly onto the spot. If you haven't used a spot treatment gel of any kind in the past then the tingling might slightly alarm you, but users of this kind of gel won't think anything of it.
The gel dries within about half a minute, and you may feeling the spot starting to feel a bit dry and tight. If you look closely in the mirror you can see the spot has a light sheen in it, the gel dries and as a result the spot is covered with a light film.
I also apply this on a morning before make-up. I make sure it has dried properly and then simple apply my make-up as I usually would. If you've been attacking a spot with this stuff quite a bit then you may notice the slight dryness around the spot when applying your make-up, but it's not extremely noticeable and is much better than an angry red spot!



-Does it work?-

Yes! This gel is great! I will often get big red nasty spots, the type you can feel under your skin and are painful. I immediately start using this gel on the area and the spot doesn't really have a chance to become a full spot, it does start to appear, but within 2-3 days it's clearly starting to disappear.
At the moment I've had lots of red nasty spots around my chin, which is where I usually get them, so this gel has been vital in fighting these off. Most of the spots didn't ever have a chance to surface and the small angry lumps are already disappearing, and I only use this product on a morning and an evening!

The gel contains Salacylic acid, which is no surprise as it's often found in spot treatment products as it acts as an anti-eptic and an anti-inflammatory, this is also why you notice a slight dryness of the spot as salacylic acid causes dryness, and so this product should not be used all over your face!
It also contains witch hazel, again often found in many spot treatment products.


-Value for Money?-

With the current VAT cuts this costs £11.74 for the full 15ml size and it lasts AGES. I can not stress that highly enough, you only need a tiny amount per application and I would guess this will last you at least a year.
It really is worth it's price tag, I haven't owned such a good spot treatment gel before and really is a must if you want to fight off those angry red spots.

Summary: A vital product for those wanting to fight off angry red spots, even before they come to surface.