Everyone seems to have a different opinion on how to keep skin healthy, quite frankly I don't think there is one miracle product out there to sort your skin out, but this comes pretty close!

Clinique Liquid Facial Soap in Mild first came into my life around 4 years ago after being surrounded by the buzz of their famous 3 step system. Although I've never been troubled with terribly bad skin, I always wanted to keep those pesky few pimples away and find something that would remove all of my makeup without having so scrub away with a makeup wipe beforehand. After a quick skin consultation with the girl at the Clinique counter (this can also be done online at www.clinique.co.uk if you prefer), she informed me that I was skin type 2 - dry combination and would be best off with the mild facial wash. She also advised that I follow up with steps 2 and 3 of the skin system mentioned earlier so that I would get the full benefits.

The soap comes in a tall, slender sea foam green bottle with silver detailing. The Clinique brand is printed across the front with the product name directly below. The front of the bottle also tells me that it is for dry combination skin so there will be no confusion. The back of the bottle lists the directions and ingredients in multiple different languages. The handy pump at the top ensures easy release when you have wet hands and will make sure that you don't go dropping or losing any lids. This also has a twist lock to stop any leakage when travelling - something that I really appreciate on a skincare product.

As with everything I put onto my skin or inside my mouth, I untwisted the cap first so that I could give it a bit of a whiff. I have a thing for sniffing things before they get any closer to me (yep, even the boyfriend!) so I was pleased to find out that this has quite a nice, fresh scent. The bottle does claim that this is 100% fragrance free which can be slightly misleading, however this just means that there are no additional fragrances. I also noticed that the soap is quite a runny, clear gel. Although it is runny, it isn't too liquidy so it won't be running down the sink before you can lather it into your face. Gel is my preferred consistency to wash with as I feel they cleanse better than creamy soaps, but that is just personal preference.

To use, I simply splashed my face with some water and then pumped some of the soap onto my damp hands before massaging into my face. The scent was totally unnoticeable during use and it lathered up extremely well. As I was wearing makeup at the time I spent a little longer massaging around my eye area to ensure the makeup was dislodged before rinsing. The best kind of cleanser in my opinion is one that will remove every trace of makeup without a need to use a makeup wipe or makeup remover beforehand - this is both laziness and because I don't like using too many cleansing products on my face for fear of drying my skin out. Luckily for me, this cleanser removed every little bit of makeup and I was left very fresh faced. I wear quite a bit of makeup - most of which is waterproof - so for a cleanser to remove it all first time is very good for me! I do always do a shorter second cleanse so that I'm not just simply washing the makeup off, but actually cleansing my skin.

After patting my skin dry I noticed that my face was left feeling quite soft and supple and I couldn't feel any of the tightness that occasionally comes with soap. I followed up the steps 2 and 3, as advised and have carried on doing this twice a day ever since.

Within around a week of using this system I'd noticed that any of the few pimples I'd had were now totally gone and I've been spot free ever since! Every so often I will get a hormonal spot (these are always around the chin area, so if you have spots on your chin that won't budge, that's why!) and they don't tend to go away easily, but those are the only kind of spots I get now, and even then it's once in a blue moon.

Obviously the other 2 steps have played a part in keeping my skin clear, but that doesn't take anything away from the cleanser whatsoever. The best start to a good skincare routine is a cleanser that works with your skin and luckily, I've found mine!

This facial soap is available from all Clinique counters and can be purchased online at www.clinique.co.uk. it comes in a 200ml bottle which will cost £14 and although that sounds a little bit pricey, it's the only thing to ever fully remove all of my makeup and keep my skin clear without drying it out. Miracle in a bottle! Even with using it twice a day, a bottle of this usually lasts me around 2 months which I think is a great deal for such a good cleanser.

Advantages
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- easy to use bottle
- smooth, workable consistency
- lathers well
- removes makeup
- leaves skin feeling fresh and clean

Disadvantages
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- can't be bought by the gallon
- doesn't taste the greatest when you accidentally pick it up and chug it instead of your water bottle. Suppose that's what I get for being too engrossed in my review writing!

I without a doubt would 100% recommend this soap to anyone with dry combination skin, but if you have another skin type then I'd recommend you try the other soaps too as Clinique can do wonders for your skin. This soap is also recommended for the very dry skin type (skin type 1), so maybe you should give it a go too!

Thanks for reading!