When I was 22 or 23 I read that Linda Evangelista used her first wages as model to buy the 3 steps system by Clinique because it was so effective.
So I went to the Store inmediately to fetch it, ready to put some supermodel glamour in my face instead of the drugstore creams I had been using.

Because I'm a polite good girl, and it was a big step, I put myself (and my credit card) in the hands of the salespersons at the Clinique stand (those that look like doctors with their white coats!). They made a first diagnosis of my skin in the little tester (the one where you slide buttons in each questions) and I answered several questions about my skincare. My diagnosis was combination to dry skin, and I was given the regular Bar Soap, Clarifying Lotion 2, and Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion (the yellow one).
I left very happy, ready to begin my new life of expensive skincare and glowing skin.


After one week of use morning and night: my skin was extremely oily everywhere, except in the areas where I had patches of very dry and flaky skin (in my nose and forehead, where I had been told not to use it or use it sparingly), and my eyes each morning became so puffy that after just a couple of days I began to have bags under the eyes (what I never had before).

I came back to the stand: they confirmed I was indeed using the 3 steps system properly, so they suggested to skip the eye area at night and to use the cream in the forehead and nose.

After another week, my skin was still incredibly oily and now the skin around my eyes was so dry, I began to notice wrinkles.
I try every possible combination by myself (using the DDML in the eyes in the morning and little bit in the night, not at all in the night, not at all in the morning, not at all in the face, little bit in the face....) Nothing worked. It was far too greasy for me, and where I didn't use it, my skin became extremely dry.

I ca
me back again. They decided then that my first skin evaluation was wrong and my skin was in fact combination to oily, so they sold me the Oil Free version of the Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion (the white lotion in the green bottle) and the Daily Eye Saver, for my eyes.

The Daily Eye Saver appeared to be an excellent moisturiser and I used it for years until I began to look for anti ageing creams.

The Oil Free Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion: how to explain it... This one coats your skin with a shiny, vinyl-like coat, so noticeable it looks like plastic, and under that, the skin is sahara dry. It doesn't get better after several hours: you still look like a vinyl/coated robot head... The make up slides over it and falls everywhere except in the lines of the face (when you smile, etc), where it get stuck...

I tried it another week, thinking maybe my skin will get used to it: no way.

I came back again and because I was clearly doing everything properly, the Clinique people decided that the system worked wonderfully, the problem was probably the water in the area where I lived.... maybe it was very hard (??) I told them I actually lived 5 minutes away from the store, so unless they had many complains from the rest of their customers with the same water supply than me, the explanation was no good enough...

I tried several products more during couple of months (clarifying lotion 1 alcohol free, for example) and always the Dramatically Different Lotion, wich is the core of the System, and things didn't go better at all, so I stopped using the DDML (any), but I kept the steps and 2 (soap and Clarifying Lotion 2), with another moisturiser.


I think the DDML (the yellow one) is probably a good basic moisturiser for very dry skin, and would be too much for normal/combination to oily or combination to dry skin.
I think the DDML oil free could be fine for very oily skin (
because it's fairly drying), if you like to shine like a mirror with a strange vinyl-like coat in the face (or maybe it disappears on very oily skin, I don't know...!)

I believe that any light moisturiser will do after the two steps of Clinique, so I couldn't see any need to buy the DDML.

And, finally: this lotion should be only for night time!! Actually everybody should use a sunscreen!!