A few years ago I hit a milestone age and I thought it was about time I started paying some attention to my skincare ((Ok, then, it was 30). We were shopping in Lakeside and I was feeling a bit free with my credit card, so wandered around all the make-up counters in one of the department stores.

THE "OVER-THE-COUNTER" ASSESSMENT
I was dreading this bit. I'm not all that keen on those heavily made-up counter assistants and their condescending attitudes, so I was quite nervous and picked on a young looking one (I thought she wouldn't be able to patronise me too much :-)). The assistant was quite green behind the ears and genuinely very enthusiastic about the Clinique products (it transpired she had just got back from a training course that they put all their sales staff through), but went through the skincare consultation and demonstration. The skin typing was a series of questions and answers that these days you can do on-line (see below). The demonstration consisted of exfoliating the back of one hand, then applying moisturiser to both hands so that I could feel the difference. The technobabble didn't really impress me, but I could feel the difference in my skin. The treated hand was much smoother and felt tighter, so I went ahead and bought the product. Of course, the skin on your hand is very different to the skin on your face (which is much thinner), but this didn't occur to me until I got home! Anyway, by this point I didn't really have enough courage left to try another counter, and the free gift signs were waving in front of my eyes :-))

There is a button at the bottom that you should choose if you are a man. You will then be recommended the men's products instead of the women's. In general men's skin is thicker and stronger than women's and tends to be less dry, so skin types differ between the sexes.

THE THREE STEPS (or 4 steps)

**Cleansing**

The mild soap is a plain white colour and the stronger soaps are slightly yellow. One of the great things about Clinique's products is that they usually list all the ingredients so if you know that you are sensitive to a particular chemical, then you can avoid it. For the soap, the ingredients are listed both on the box, and on a separate leaflet inside the box. Each of the soaps comes individually wrapped inside the box (either one big soap or three little ones - see below for prices). Most of the chemicals listed are fairly innocuous and necessary to the products. One of the features I really like is that each of the soaps in the range comes with its own soap dish and lid, but at £8.50 for 100g bar they can afford to add these little niceties! It sounds expensive, but you have to remember that this soap isn't for washing your hands with and lasts for ages. My husband's bar lasts for months at a time.

**Exfoliating**
There are 5 different Clarifying Lotions for women, though I can't personally see any difference between "No. 1" and "Mild". The lowest number is for the driest skin, and as your skin gets oilier you are recommended a higher number. The Clarifying lotions 2, 3 and 4 all contain alcohol, so can be drying for the skin.

The idea behind exfoliating is to remove the dead skin cells from the surface of the skin. Make-up companies claim this encourages the growth of new skin, though I am not sure that there is much scientific evidence for this. However, they do seem good at keeping my skin clean, and certainly work for my friends with oily skin too, so there must be something good happening. I suspect the clarifying lotions work so well because of the antiseptic properties of the alcohol keeping bacteria at bay, preventing spots forming in the first place.

When you first start using Clarifying Lotion, it feels a bot strange. There is a cold sensation (caused by evaporation of the alcohol), and it can sting a little (though not in a bad way, just that it feels like something is happening!). This latter sensation only happens the first few times you use the product and disappears after a while, as your skin gets used to it. After using the Clarifying lotion, my skin feels lovely and smooth and clean. Years ago, I remember using Clearasil lotion. I was swayed by the advert on the TV showing a girl using this lotion on a cotton wool ball, rubbing her face and bringing off loads of dirt. I bought some and was really annoyed that the cotton wool wasn't dirty after I used it! The Clinique product does what that other one promised to do - it actually leaves your skin feeling really clean :-)).

**Moisturising**
Everyone gets the same recommended moisturiser, but I don't really feel it's necessary if you have oily skin. I use it in drier areas, around the edge of the face, cheeks and on my neck. After cleansing and exfoliating, my skin just drinks up the moisturiser and it never leaves my skin feeling greasy the way some moisturisers can. I also never have any trouble with spots, although I wouldn't recommend any moisturiser to someone who suffers qith oily skin. I use a separate gel moisturiser around my eyes as I feel that normal moisturisers are a bit heavy for the eye area. Having said that, the "Dramatically Different" Moisturiser really is exactly what it says on the tin - dramatically different! It's light and smooth and oil-free, easy to apply and goes a long way. I prefer it to any other moisturiser I have tried. For example, it is much lighter than Oil of Ulay, and easier to apply than Nivea. It soaks in better than any of Lancome's moisturisers. Long ago, a dermatologist told me that all moisturisers are basically the same and you may as well use Vaseline. This may be true from the point of view of preventing wrinkles, but I wouldn't like to suffer the spots! The other thing I really like about it is that it doesn't smell. Once again, there is no added perfume.

THE RESULTS
As I have said before, I suffer from eczema. Before I started using Clinique make-up, I used a motley collection of products from Boots No. 7, L'Oreal, that sort of thing. I used to suffer a little from facial eczema, but not too bad. After using Clinique's skin care products, my facial eczema completely disappeared. As long as I use it, the eczema stays away. When I get lazy, it starts to come back. I've mentioned how good this is for my skin to a few Clinique counter staff and they always say Clinique doesn't make any claims for treating eczema. I think this is a very responsible attitude for a company, who obviously train their staff well. Of course, not everyone's skin is the same and you should probably test a small area of your own skin before going the whole hog. To this end, Clinique counters will give you a free consultation and a free small sample 3-step pack to take away so that you can find out for yourself if this product is for you before shelling out big money.

The Men's moisturiser is called "M Lotion". Apart from the packaging, the product appears to be identical to the Dramatically Different moisturing Lotion recommended for women.

The soaps are pretty much the same, but the men's soap dishes are a dark grey colour, while the women's are creamy coloured.

GREAT FOR SPOTS
If you suffer from oily skin, and stick to the first two steps, then Clinique's products should really help you. They also have some brilliant "under-the-counter" products (such as Clinique's "Anti-Blemish Spot Treatment", but I digress...).

Register on the website to print off a voucher for a free full-size free Colour Surge lipstick from Boots Clinique counters.

BONUS PROMOTIONS
The Clinique promotion of giving a bonus gift with two purchased products is a regular feature of their counters, and their website (see below) gives details of all the forthcoming promotions (dates and locations). I have blond eyelashes and always wear mascara, but haven't had to buy any for years - they always seem to give one away. Whenever Boots has a bonus promotion, I stock up on skincare products, get my bonus gift and earn Boots points too. Actually, I often use my Boots points to buy my Clinique, but that's another story...