All beauty care manufacturers promote the cleansing regime of: cleanse,tone and moisturize. Having spent years religiously following this regime, I always found that whilst I had the perfect cleanser and moisturizer, the toner part of the regime let me down. They were either too weak and watery and so totally useless or they were like applying paint stripper to my face - not a nice experience I'll add. On my quest to find the perfect toner I've probably tried the lot from the cheapo one's in Boots to the "It costs how much?" on the Elizabeth Arden counter. A year ago I was browsing the Clinique counter in a department store and spotted their version of a toner -Clinique Clarifying lotion.
Clinique state firmly that the Clarifying lotion is not a toner, it's an exfoliation lotion. The fact it looks like a toner and works just like a toner made me think the exfoliation part was a load of manufacturers marketing hype. Apparently by sweeping (- yes sweeping
not rubbing) a little of the lotion on a cotton wool pad you will help to sweep away dead surface skin cells there by helping to promote skin cell re growth, remove grease and you should end up with smoother, softer skin with a healthy clinique glow. My first bottle of the Clarifying Lotion came as a promotional size as part of a special offer on the Clinique 3 steps Cleansing regime.
Clinique manufacturer the clarifying lotion in 5 different strengths
Prior to any impulse purchase it is important to get your skin type assessed, this can either be done online on the clinique website or by having a 2 minute assessment done by a member of staff on your local clinique counter. This way you will find out the correct Clarifying Lotion for your skin type.
As with most Clinique products the packaging is very understated and excusing the pun clinical looking. The Clarifying lotion comes in a slightly frosted plastic bottle, with a large peppermint green coloured lid.On the bottle it's self you have the trade mark Clinique C in silver along with the name of the product again in silver.On the back you have the usual blurb telling you about the lotion. One design fault I found is the fact that the bottle opening does not have a small hole like you get on say shampoo bottles. This means you have to be very careful when pouring out the lotion as you can end up with far too much on your cotton wool pad. Depending on which strength lotion you have bought the contents of the bottle can either be a muted green, a dark bluey green or a pale pinky lilac colour.
Cliniques Clarifying Lotion is easy to use, simply unscrew the lid and pour out a little bit onto a cotton wool pad, then gently sweep across your skin. I have tried using this with normal cotton wool balls but found it simply soaked into the cotton wool, so I now use a cotton wool pad, split into half. When pouring out the lotion due to the opener on the bottle, it is advisable to put the pad over the top of the bottle and do a very quick turn over of the bottle. You should then have a small round amount of the lotion about the size of the bottle opener -that's all you need, a saturated pad is far too much.
On applying the Clarifying Lotion to your face, you will notice a very slight tingling sensation and a subtle tightening effect to the skin. I find this wears off very quickly. The tingling sensation does come back very slightly when you then go onto the next stage of applying your moisturizer.
Many former users have stated that Clinique's Clarifying Lotion is akin to pouring paint stripper on your face. Having used the Clarifying Lotion for just over a year now, I've yet to encounter any problems with the Lotion apart from one time when my skin was rather dry due to the cold weather - it did sting a bit then.
Clinique state that the Clarifying Lotion will make you skin feel smoother, softer and have more light reflecting qualities - I'm assuming the light reflecting qualities are due to the exfoliating effect of the lotion in removing dead skin cells. Having used the lotion for just over a year, I'll admit that my skin does feel softer. During the winter months it didn't look as dingy has it has done some winters. Whether this was entirely down to the Clarifying Lotion is hard to say.
Clinique's Clarifying Lotion is not the cheapest toner on the block by a long shot. Each of the different strengths apart from the Mild comes in two different sizes - 200mls and 400mls. The Mild only comes in 200mls according ot Cliniques UK web site. At £13.50 and £21.00 respectively the Clarifying Lotion is not cheap. BUT over the year I have been using it twice daily I have bought only two bottles - the first being the 60ml promotional pack size and the second bottle a 200ml size. I still have about 50mls left of the second bottle. So it might well be a pricey initial outlay but it lasts far longer in my experience than other cheaper toners so in the long run it is probably just as economical for me to use this toner than a cheaper one.
Various websites sell the Clarifying Lotion, but one site that sells it at a bargain site is www.strawberrynet.com - where you can purchase a 400ml bottle for practically the same price as a 200ml bottle direct from the clinique counter.
www.clinique.co.uk
Thanks for reading xx
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Clinique Clarifying Lotion 4 (CLQ6131) for Oily Skin Types. This lotion is the 'difference ... more
making' step of the 3 Step System. This lotion removes the daily build up that makes skin look dull and uneven and speeds up cell renewal. It works to unclog the...
Postage & Packaging: refer to website Availability: In Stock
Spend over £25 and get a free £25 cosmetics pack and free delivery. For very oily skin. ... more
Sweeps away surface dead skin cells. Skin appears smoother, softer, with more light-reflecting qualities. Allows more effective moisturisation. Makeup goes on more ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.95 Availability: 5 - 14 working days
Advantages: Helps my skin, doesn't contain harsh chemicals, doesn't leave my skin with that 'tight' feeling Disadvantages: Only comes in the 200ml size, quite pricey.
Apr 3rd, 2004
very helpful by (100%):
