Clinique Redness Solutions Products

I have a confession. When it comes to skin care (or really just beauty products in general), I can be a little clueless… Okay, totally clueless. When I was younger, I was thankfully blessed with good skin. Sure, my skin has always been sensitive and I suffered from a little dryness but in general I didn’t need to wear make-up and I never did much other than moisturise my skin. I am sure many will be reading in horror when I say I didn’t even think about a proper skincare routine. I would wash my face with water in the morning, use a moisturising face wash by Simple in the evening and moisturise twice a day with Simple’s kind to skin light hydrating moisturiser. I guess you could say I kept it simple!

Unfortunately for me, I started to suffer from redness a few years ago, which can vary between being mild to very obvious. It affects my cheeks, across my nose and my chin. I began to use Clinique’s redness solutions daily relief cream in the run up to my wedding in 2012 and I have used it ever since. I chose Clinique due to my sensitive skin. Clinique products are allergy tested and fragrance free so they are kind and gentle to your skin. I really like the relief cream and, though it does not rid my skin of redness completely, it certainly helps to reduce it and calms my skin. It doesn’t feel greasy, it moisturises well and a little goes a long way. Though it is expensive, I kid you not when I say that little tub lasts me for around 6 months.

More recently, my skin has been looking dull, drab and not-so-healthy. I know they say that fibromyalgia is an invisible illness, but when you have been suffering from it for a long time it begins to show clear as day on your face. One thing I was particularly hating (besides the dark circles under my eyes) was the fact that my pores had become really obvious. I began to read some beauty blogs and I would like to say I felt more informed but the opposite actually happened. I felt overwhelmed! There are so many products out there and everyone seems to do things a little differently. In the end, I decided to go onto Clinique’s website (since I have been happy with their moisturiser) and filled out their skin care survey. They recommended three products to me: their anti-redness solutions cleanser, daily relief cream and daily protective base SPF 15.

I of course already owned the daily relief cream and, after a quick rummage, realised I also had the cleanser; I was using it as a make-up remover (though I rarely wear make up, hence forgetting I had it!). I began to use the cleanser every day and I also ordered the daily protective base. The difference in my skin from using the cleanser has been amazing. It is now looking a lot healthier. My pores are not as obvious and my skin has a glow back to it. It does help to calm my skin too and I would highly recommend both the cleanser and the daily relief cream.

The daily protective base I bought because of the SPF 15. Now that we are coming into Spring, I do like to have a product on my skin that will protect it from the sun. However, I find sun cream is so thick and after a while it makes me feel a bit gross (maybe I’m just weird?!) so I reserve it for days where it’s especially sunny or days when I know I am going to be out in the sun for a long time. Ideally I would like something higher than SPF 15 but it’s fine for this time of year in Scotland. I confess that I didn’t actually read much about the product before buying it. I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived and I found out it is actually a primer that has a green tint to it that helps to even skin tone and correct redness. Considering I’m not one for wearing make-up on a regular basis, this sounded good to me. I figured it might be good to wear on its own in addition to under foundation. I was skeptical as to whether this primer would be able to achieve what it claims to do and my first impressions of the product weren’t brilliant. It is thick and, though it is fragrance free, it does have a smell to it that I don’t like; it randomly reminds me of Alpro coconut milk, which I’m not too keen on personally. I guess the smell is due to the SPF component in it.

Despite my initial concerns it applied okay and, like the daily relief cream, a little went a long way; you only need a pea-sized amount. Once it was on my face, I didn’t notice the smell at all and I didn’t feel like it was heavy either. In fact, it doesn’t feel like you have anything on your face at all, which is great. I would say that it can correct mild redness and I was quite impressed by how quickly it achieved this. However, if you suffer from moderate to severe rosacea you would probably need to use this as a base to foundation rather than wearing it on its own.

I’m still undecided on this product. It does well to correct the redness and it does even the appearance of my skin. It also helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines. However, I personally think the product has a whitish appearance to it. I don’t know if I just think this because I am so used to seeing redness and you could argue that I am looking a bit ‘peely-wally’ anyway due to my fibro. So I guess without the redness I have even less colour about me than normal! I just feel it makes my skin look a bit flat. In the photo above I have a little bit of concealer under my eyes because my dark circles are awful but I’m wearing no other make-up, just the daily protective base. I think I look really pale. I will continue to use this product for a while longer until I completely make my mind up about it but I doubt I would buy it again. I will stick to the cleanser and daily relief cream as I think these are great but I will be looking into products that may suit my skin better than clinique’s primer.

Have you tried these products? What are your thoughts? Be sure to tell me your skincare tips in the comments below and also let me know what your favourite skincare products are.