Review on "Clean & Clear" Advantage oil absorbing cream cleanser! =D

Hi Everyone! =D

I hope you guys had a great New Years celebration and are ready for the year 2013!

Today I will be reviewing the "Clean & Clear" Advantage Oil Absorbing Cream Cleanser!

This product costs about $7-8. You can find it at any drugstore or online. It contains 5 oz or 141 grams of product. It is supposed to have POWDERPARTICLES^™ technology that absorbs oil—even after you wash and leaves a soft, powdery-finish that helps control oil so your skin stays less shiny for the whole day. It contains 0.5% salicylic acid as an acne treatment.

What do I think of this product?
So I ran out of my regular Neutrogena sefdf cream cleanser and when I went to the store, they were sold out! =O But I needed a salicylic acid facial cleanser so I decided to pick this up instead.
And this turned out to be a fantastic choice! Currently, this is my favorite salicylic acid facial cleanser and I love using it!
First, I love the fact that this is a foaming cleanser! It does not say or tell us on the label that it is, but it foams up when I am using this to wash my face and I love foaming cleanser! To me, it makes me feel cleaner and that it works more effectively. Or maybe it just feels like it does something because it foams up. But I also enjoy the soft foaming texture as I wash my face.
This cleanser does have exfoliating beads, but they are the tiniest beads I have ever seen and felt! There are also not that much because this is not meant to be an exfoliating cleanser, which means it is more gentle on the skin.
Because this cleanser contains salicylic acid which makes skin sensitive to the sun, I only use it in the evenings before I go to bed. However, because of this, I cannot tell if it really controls the oil on my face during the day because I don't use it during the day. =P However, when I wake up in the morning, my face does not feel as oily as it used to and I have read reviews saying that it was pretty good in controlling oil on the face.
This is my current favorite acne facial cleanser with salicylic acid that I like to use at night! It is affordable, easy to find, and works great for me! =)

Here are a few pictures of the cleanser:

As you can see, it is quite a soft and creamy cleanser.

The exfoliating bead is super super tiny, I'm not sure if you guys can see it! It took me a bit of time to find it, but I can definitely feel it  when I was rubbing my hand and washing my face.

Do I recommend this product?
If you want something to help prevent acne or calm down red and inflamed acne I recommend this product! It does have salicylic acid so would rather use it in the evening (since salicylic acid makes the skin sensitive to the sun and you are more likely to get hyperpigmentation from acne and acne scars). But if you use it in the morning, it should be okay as long as you put on sunscreen afterwards.
This cleanser is gentle, foams up into a soft lather and the exfoliating beads do not irritate or damage the skin.
Also, this is an affordable easy to find product, which is something great to try without putting too much effort to find it or spending too much money at once. XP

So I hope you liked this review and it was helpful to you. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write them in the comment box below! =) Thank you for reading and have a great New Years Day!

Review on Clean and Clear Advantage Mark Treatment

Hi Everyone! =)

It is summer now! Yay! And that means, summer school, research, hospital shifts, and lab work XD haha, not the most amazing things to be doing but probably good for me =P
Currently I'm at my parent's house, so the majority of makeup and skincare products I have are at my place in SD, which means I can't do as many reviews as I like. =/ But I will get back to blogging more when I return to SD! =D

Today I will review on the Clean and Clear Advantage Mark Treatment:

This contains 0.5 fluid oz or 15mL of product. You can find it at any drugstore, online, or at Ulta. It costs around $7. It contains 2% of salicylic acid. It's purpose is to treat breakouts fast and diminish the look of postmark acne effects such as scarring and hyperpigmentation.
Directions: After thoroughly cleansing your face, apply a thin layer onto affected area 1-3 times daily. If your skin gets too dry from this, start off once a day or once every other day and increase application if need be.

What do I think of this product?
This product comes out as a clear more fluid-like gel. It has a very smooth runny consistency. I generally have mild acne, so I like to spot treat my acne. It is healthier for my skin not to put so much product on it, especially more medical treatment products. I apply this only once a day, before I go to bed. I cleanse my face and then apply a thin layer onto my acne. Don't put this onto popped pimples, it stings =(.
I have been using this product for about a month and I really like this product. Because I apply only once a day, I don't get any drying effects. And it really helps reduce the redness and swelling of my acne the next day when I wake up! It's like it was never there! When I apply it, it sort of has a cooling effect, which I like.
I think, that it helps with scarring and healing but helps hyperpigmentation indirectly.
Here's why: It helps prevent bad scarring because when you use it, you're less likely to pick and scratch at them which causes worse scarring and it's less likely to become inflamed on it's own causing more internal damage. More damage and scarring causes hyperpigmentation. However, hyperpigmentation is basically when your acne gets tanned by the sun when it's healing, which means that tanning of the skin will go deeper into the skin the deeper your wound is. This can only be prevented by sunscreen and helped by exfoliation. The gel is not a sunscreen or an exfoliant.
Here's what I think: The more you scratch your acne, the deeper the wound gets, which goes down the skin layers. The deeper the damage, the worse scarring and also, the deeper the damage, the deeper hyperpigmentation will penetrate. Because this gel helps heal acne faster, you're less likely to pick at it and it's less likely to get irritated and more damaged. Therefore, the acne will heal with less scarring and less hyperpigmentation.
The reason why I apply this only at night, is that salicylic acid makes your skin sensitive to the sun (and actually can cause hyperpigmentation), so you are more likely to get burned or tanned. That is why I apply this before I go to bed and then in the morning, after cleansing my face, I put on moisturizer and sunscreen.

Do I recommend this product?
Yes! If you like to spot treat your acne, then I recommend this product! It works well and it is easy to find and affordable. I would advise using this product at night or when your inside a lot, to avoid sun damage and hyperpigmentation. Just make sure to use sunscreen when you go out after a night of using this. I also, don't know about putting on sunscreen on top of this product, I have never tried, but I'm not sure it's a good idea.
Try to start off minimally, like a thin light layer and once a day. I know everyone wants fast amazing results, but really, less is more. Putting more product or medication, and increasing the concentration, does not mean it will treat your problems better or faster. In fact, it might be harmful because it is too strong. Just be patient and the results will start showing soon enough! =)

I hope you liked this review. Thank you for reading and I hoped it helped you!
Have a great day! ^_^

Review on Clean & Clear advantage Popped Pimple Relief Drying Paste!

Hi!!!

So, omg, i just finished the 2 worst finals this quarter, ochem and molecular biology, they sucked, but they're finally done! I have one more on friday but that's a psych final, so it should be okay, hopefully =P

Today I will be reviewing on the Clean & Clear Advantage Popped Pimple Relief Drying Paste:

This product can be found at any drugstore and at Ulta. It is about $5-$7 (if you are paying more than 9, you are being ripped off). It contains 0.5 oz or 14 grams of product. It is designed to dry up acne pimples, and said to allow skin to heal.

Directions: After cleansing face, apply a light layer/film on the popped pimple and allow it to dry. It is a light blue color that will become white when it dries so you know it is working. It may dry out your skin so they recommend to start application once a day and increase to 2-3 times a day as needed.

On the package but not on the tube, it says overnight. Which means you can leave it overnight or you can leave it for long periods of time without any problems.

What I do:

I put a thicker layer and leave it on overnight, I don't have excess dry skin from doing this overnight. And when I wake up in the morning, I just wash it off.

First Impression

I'm a pimple picker, I can't help it. But it is dangerous and unhealthy for the acne to be picked because of the possible infections and definite inflammation. That's why I decided to try this product. It comes out as a light blue gel-like paste to apply to the skin. For the first time, I applied a thin layer like the directions said on my popped red swollen pimples. And the next day, they were gone! It was so amazing! Like, of course the acne was still there, but the pimples weren't raised, they were flatter and they were not red and irritate! I was so happy!

But, the next time I tried it, it didn't work as well. I would say it's about 50-70% of it's original effectiveness. Which was kind of disappointing. I talked to other friends who used this, and they had the same issue. For some reason, it works really well the first time, and the rest of the times, it's pretty average. It's not bad, it just doesn't give as amazing results as the first time.

What do I think of it now?

So, I have been using this product for 3 months now for spot treating acne. And instead of putting a thin layer like they say, I put a small but thicker layer on the pimples (like I said earlier in What I do) and I leave it overnight, which is about 8 hours. Putting a thicker layer causes it to dry out the skin more and for me, it is more effective. I don't like putting it on during the day, unless I'm at home the entire day. And I like this product! =) It does reduce the swelling and redness of my pimples after I picked and squeezed them. The fact that it's not as effective as it is the first time, doesn't bother me because I just put on a thicker layer and it works fine.

Do I recommend this product?

If you don't have much acne and it tends to be spread out, then I do recommend this product. Doing this kind of spot treatment is probably healthier for your face than washing the entire thing with an acne cleanser that might be too strong and damaging for your skin. Remember, less is more. Use acne facial cleanser when you need to.

If you do have very dry sensitive skin, you should make sure if this product is right for you because it might dehydrate your skin too much and damage your skin. My dry sensitive skin areas don't have acne, so I don't use it there. I usually get acne on the oily areas of my skin.

Also, this product is good for small to normal sized acne. This will not work for cystic acne or other really deep acne, it just isn't strong enough to dry it out.

So, I hoped you like this review! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write in the comment box below! =D
Thank you for reading!

P.S. I have reached over 1000 views on my blog. Thank you my viewers! I am so happy and I hope that I have been helping you with whatever you have been searching for. I will do my best to give the most detailed, clearest, and honest reviews of my opinion and will continue to do so. Thank you for your time and I will talk to you soon! ^_^

Review on "Clean and Clear" Daily Pore Cleanser

Hi Everyone!!! X)

So today I am going to talk about the "Clean and Clear" Daily Pore Cleanser!

This product can be found at any drugstore, it is very affordable ($5-$7) and I'm sure you can buy it easily online as well.
It contains 5.5 oz or 156 grams of product.
It is oil free and said to gently clean with smooth, round micro-scrubbers.

What do I think of this product?
Actually, I have been using this pore cleanser for at least 5 years now. The container has changed over the years but the formula has stayed the same.
It's consistency is smooth and a bit watery, with tiny tiny white cleansing beads.
I do not break out from this product and it doesn't irritate my skin.
I actually use this as an exfoliator, not a pore cleanser. It's funny because on the back it says it exfoliates but on the front it says it's a pore cleanser...why? I don't know. Maybe it intends to do both.
The thing about this cleanser is that you have to use it correctly. The microscrubbers and formula itself is not irritating but if you use it wrong, it will irritate your skin. If you wash it too harshly on your skin, putting too much pressure/trying to really scrub your skin hard, it will hurt your skin, making it red and raw.
To use it properly, use a small, amount and gently massage it on the face. Especially if you have dry sensitive skin, otherwise it will hurt! I know from experience! XO
Does this product clean my pores? Yes, I think it does haha. Does it reduce pore size? Not that I can tell. But, I get less clogged pores from this product, and therefore less acne, so it does a good job in exfoliating dead skin cells, and not bad in cleaning pores.
I realized I can't use this too often, because it is strong enough to exfoliate my sensitive skin, it can do damage if I use it too often, even if I'm gentle. So, if my skin feels really "sheddy(shedding dead skin that I can see...-__-)" like I have a lot of dead skin on my face, I will use it, especially when it does not feel smooth. Otherwise, I would probably use this 3-5 times a week, and that's enough for me!

Do I recommend this product?
I think this is a good product for normal, oily, combination normal-oily skin, so I do recommend it for people with those skin types.
For dry and/or sensitive skin, I do lean on the "yes" side but only if you use it gently and properly like I described above. If you don't, it will be harsh on your face and you're not gonna like it. I do think it's worth a shot but don't think that the harder you scrub, the cleaner and smoother your skin is going to be. No!  Be gentle =) If you do think that this may be too harsh on your skin, there are a couple more exfoliators/pore cleansers that are more gentle which I will talk about in later posts!
However, if you are looking for something easy to find, that affordable, I think this is good to try. First try it on the  back and palm of your hand and if it's okay, then try it on part of the face. If you feel it's too harsh, then I trust your feelings and how your skin feels, so don't use it. If it's okay, then great =)

So I hope this post helped people who are looking for a decent exfoliator/pore cleanser. If you  have any questions or any thoughts on this product, feel free to write in the comment section below!

Have an awesome day!
Byeee! XD