Clinique Clarifying Lotion > Reviews > Clearly Clarifying

Author's product rating:   

How does it affect your skin?	It irritates / stings
Does it dehydrate your skin?	A little bit
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	tones and tightens pores, nice packaging,
Disadvantages:	can sting slightly, can be drying, expensive, smell

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I recieved this product as an extra christmas present last year along with other clinque products.

I asked for this clarifying lotion because i had heard amazing things about it, both on here and from other people i knew... so on to the review!

Clinque have a three step care system for the skin, designed to cleanse and remove dirt from the skin, exfoliate and leave the skin smooth whilst tightening the pores and finally to moisturise the skin, leaving it silky soft.

The clarifying lotion is actually a toner. A toner is a product deisgned to be used after you wash/clense your skin. Toners are generally liquid, you apply the toner to cotton wool and sweep over the skin whilst the ingredients work to remove any remaining cleanser whilst tightening the pores helping to create a flawless finish.

Most tones i have used have been in the region of £3 to £5, some working better than others, however none have worked as well as this, But at £14 for a 200ml bottle what else can you expect?!

Clinque's dermatologists have developed a toner for 4 different skin types. I, II, III, and IV. From senstive skin through to normal, oily, oily to combination and very oily.

My skin is combination to oily so i opted for skin type III.

If you arent sure what your skin type is then the clinique website offer a questionaire to inform you of your skin type and suitable products, or you could just go along to one of the clinique counters in department stores or the larger Boots stores.

its allergy tested and 100% fragrance free

The Packaging -
The clarifying lotion comes in ethier 200ml or 400ml bottles. The 200ml costs around £14. I started using mine in late december and am coming to the end of the bottle at the end of March, having used it twice a day.
Clinque packaging is simple and understated but quite classy and grown up! The bottles are clear but slightly frosted and come with a large green screw lid. The effective design of the lid means that you wont accidentally spill any because it fits on nice and securely. The III combination lotion colour is a transparent pale pink colour. My housemate has the II type for normal skin which is purple.

Use of the product -
To use this product effecively, gently tip the bottle upside down onto a ball or pad of cotton wool. Then sweep the cotton over your face is upwards motions. This motion will help the toner to remove skin cells and refine the skin. It works as an exfoliant but doesnt have any harsh abrasiveness to it. Its quite amazing!
The proof of it working it the colour of the pad once youve used it on your face, even though you may have just washed your face, using the toner shows up dirt on the cotton wool that would have still be on your face had you just left it! No other tone i have used has removed dirt like this, but to be fair, i havent used expensive toners like this before, so other toner products like clarins might be just as good.
A downside to the product is the fact that you must be careful when putting the toner onto the cotton wool as too much can come out of the bottle due to the open neck design.

Also it is important to get the right toner type (I,II,III,IV) for your skin type. I have found that using this product can make my skin sting alittle when first applied. This may be due to the salicylic acid used. Also the smell isnt that great, it doesnt smell nice at all, but wont linger on your face. Its worth it to remove all that rubbish from your face!

I have also found that this product can be quite drying, but again, this may be because i need to use a skin type II instead of III. So make sure you moisturise fully afterwards.

I would definetly buy this product again and would say it does make the world of difference. Ive had fewer skin breakouts and my pores have looked more refined. If you are looking for a skin product i would recommend a good quality toner such as this as having clean well cared for skin is far better than an expensive foundation. The problems i have experienced with this product, e.g. dry skin have only been slight and can be solved with using a good moisturiser