Clinique Blemish Solutions Clinical Clearing Gel

I've babbled on about my terrible skin on here more times than I'd care to remember. I had hoped that when I turned 20 that would be the end of my teenage skin problems and hello flawless face. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Whilst things are much better in the blemish department I do occasionally fall victim to the odd spot and I like to keep a few goodies within reach to help tackle them as soon as they make an appearance.

When I first saw the Clinical Clearing gel pop up I wasn't overly interested. I'd tried Clinique's Blemish Gel years ago ( I used to use their full 3 step system) and I thought it was okay but I found it really dried my skin out and this looked pretty similar. Fast forward a couple of months and cue a very generous in-flight discount and I'd purchased a bottle. Oops.

On first use things did not go well; I applied it all over as the instructions suggested - big mistake. I have a tiny patch of dry skin at the edge of my nose and this made it sting like crazy which I guess is no surprise considering alcohol is one of the main ingredients ( for more on ingredients visit Paula's choice). The product itself is quite nice however. It's quite a thick gel but it doesn't dry sticky and there are no problems when applying make up over the top. Another slight moan for me is the smell. It smells like a hand sanitizer and whilst it's not the end of the world it's not the most attractive scent ever.

I have to admit that I'm probably not the target market for a product like this and although I do get the occasional break out it's more the odd spot here and there and not something that would require a product all over my face. As an occasional blemish treatment I think this would work quite well. It dries spots up almost over night and they're definitely looking a whole lot less angry come morning. It's not something I would put all over my whole face though. It seems too harsh and too drying to use twice a day and I honestly think it would make my skin worse if I were to use it like that. It does come in a 15ml size too so if you're curious whether it would work for you then it might be a good idea to try a smaller size before investing in the full size.