The Clinique Acne Solutions Spot Healing Gel* claims to be:
- Fast-drying clear gel helps reduce blemishes and promote healing.
- Soothes visible redness, irritation.
- Invisible under or over makeup.
And I find that it delivers on all three claims! It dries incredibly fast--by the time I put the top back on and grab my moisturizer, it has completely dried so that I do not have to wait to move on to the next step in my skincare. It reduces the appearance of blemishes within a night and gets rid of it completely in three days of applying it day and night. As soon as I see those pesky blemishes appearing, I dab some of this on immediately. For those that I catch early, the redness and swelling go down immediately by the morning after and are gone with no hyperpigmentation scars left behind. For the big monsters that you know will be painful, it doesn't have the same effect, at least for me. It will diminish the size but it doesn't heal completely for 3-5 days of continuous use. It also leaves behind a scar but that's how my skin is, even when I use other treatments. I find that it is not effective at all for treating the blemishes that are underneath the skin for a long time before they come to a head. They are usually whiteheads and when they do surface, tend to hurt and take a long time to heal. It's disappointing since those are the kind I get often and I have yet to find something that is effective at treating them.
As with all salicylic acid treatments, you should definitely start with one application a day, increasing it gradually to 2-3 times a day. If your skin starts to peel or burn, you should either discontinue use or use it every other day. Clinique's version contains 1.0% salicylic acid, which is high enough to be effective but low enough that it doesn't cause bothersome peeling or dryness on my skin. Clinique claims it can be used over makeup but I highly discourage that. I just feel that the product would be more effective if it comes into actual contact with skin, especially since it doesn't come cheap at $16 for 0.5 ounces.
The ingredients lists is as follows: alcohol denat, water, acrylates/c10-30 alkyl acrylate cross-polymer, hammamelis virginiana (witch hazel), laminaria saccharina extract, sea whip extract, butylene glycol, benzalkonium chloride [iln 32301]
The directions for this product is to start with a clean face and then apply a thin layer to the blemish daily. I usually apply this first and then apply the rest of my skincare, making sure to moisturize the spots where I've applied this treatment very well to prevent it form drying out. I've been applying day and night and so far, no peeling has occurred except around my nose. You can find it on Clinique's website or Sephora, who is having their annual VIB sale right now until November 11!
The ingredients list is as follows: Alcohol , Butylene Glycol , Capryloyl Glycine , Cedrus Atlantica (Blue Atlas Cedar) Bark Extract , Cinnamomum Zeylancium Bark Extract , Denatonium Benzoate , Fragrance (Parfum) , Glycerin , Hexylene Glycol , Hydroxyethylcellulose , Methylparaben , Portulaca Oleracea Extract , Propylene Glycol , Propylparaben , Sarcosine , Sodium Citrate , T Butyl Alcohol , Water
Again, it is more effective on my red blemishes but not so much the under-the-surface blemishes that take a long time to come to a head. Once they do come to a head, they've already grown pretty big so it takes a long time for them to completely heal, a week or more for me. Nothing I've used so far is efective at treating them, so if you have any suggestions, I'd like to hear them!
Between the two, I'd go for the Clean and Clear. Price-wise, it's the better choice and though it doesn't work as fast as the Clinique, it is still effective and works quickly. If you really hate the sight of blemishes on your face or need for the redness and swelling to disappear quickly, the Clinique may be the better choice. Hopefully, you found this post informative. If you have any other questions, leave them in a comment below!
XOXO,
MWAH ♡
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Disclosure Statement: All products mentioned were purchased with my own money. I am not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned above and was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own. Links are not affiliate links and are provided for the readers' convenience. Products marked with an asterisk (*) were either given to me as a sample or gift with purchase or given to me by my friends and family.
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