Wow, I cannot believe it's been this long since my last product review :| I hope you still find my blog useful and hopefully I'll get back into the habit of doing more frequent reviews! :)
Long story short - I had came back from a two weeks business trip in India back in August and my skin took a turn for the worst :( It might've had something to do with the food that I had consumed while I was out there but most importantly - their poor water quality. India is one of those places where even doctors would recommend you brushing teeth with bottled water due to their water issues. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford to wash my face with bottled H2O as well so it became extremely bumpy and I had gone through rounds of break outs for weeks after this trip...
While trying to rescue my face, specifically targeting these crazy break outs...I came across Paula's Choice CLEAR Acne Kit. Paula's Choice hasn't really being on my radar in the past because you typically don't see their products at Sephora or any of the beauty section in Macy's/Norstrom so I was a bit skeptical on the quality and effectiveness of it. For USD$13, I was able to get 3 trial size bottles so I figured why not give it a shot. Additionally, they claim to be fragrance-free and suppose to be great for sensitive skin to use as well.
Let's go through each of these products - first, the CLEAR Pore Normalizing Cleanser: I actually like this cleanser quite a bit because it just feels...clean! My face doesn't feel dried out after each wash and it also doesn't leave any residue which is a major plus. Personally I don't like those cleansers where they claim to keep your skin "moisturized" by leaving an invisible layer of oil of some sort that could never be washed off so Paula's Choice won my heart in round 1.
CLEAR Anti-Redness Exfoliating Solution - This is step 2 of the kit and counts as their "leave-on toner". I thought it was a little strong for me in the sense that after you softly wipe your face with a cotton ball filled with this solution, it exfoliates the top layer off of my face to the point where my skin turns a bit red. It also smells a little funky, potentially has to do with the 2% salicylic acid inside. I don't enjoy using the solution in the morning as much since I have to follow up with sunscreen and other make up products which occasionally causes some irritation to my skin. but I do like to use it at night because it does make my skin feel and look much smoother the next morning!
CLEAR Daily Skin Clearing Treatment - As the last step, you're suppose to apply this product on acne prone/active area. This step dried out my skin quite badly unfortunately so I tried to minimize the use of it unless my skin is extremely inflamed. Similar to step 2, I tend to use this product at night only. It contains 2.5% benzoyl peroxide that's meant to prevent acne breakouts - I like to use it as a way of reducing the redness of my active acne overnight so that I can wake up to a much better looking and calmer face.
All in all - I'm pleased with this line of products and I actually ended up buying the full size cleanser (USD$12) and the exfoliating solution (USD$26) because I did see an improvement of my skin after the first 2.5 weeks of using the trial kit.
I will most likely try out more of Paula's Choice products and will let you know how they are afterwards!
Thanks for dropping by and happy Friday :)
