Rave Review! AC Clinic Daily Skin Care Line

Whenever I want to write a product, I try to only write about those I've tested and feel confident and secure about how I feel about them. This comes especially with skin care products. Skin care products are trickier than make up in such a way that they can take several weeks before you can really see their effect. You can also change your mind about skin care products. There are cases wherein you have been using a particular product for a very long time, years even, and then suddenly get allergic to it. So, a little disclaimer here: What works for me, may not work for you and vice versa.

I've written a little while back that I've been suffering from adult acne. It actually started several months ago, April to be specific, when I began taking medications for something I have (I'm not willing to discuss that here and it's boring lol). The acne was a side effect that I had no control over. I used to have clear skin and then suddenly BAM! Uncontrollable acne! I'd have three zits at a time and those gone would leave scars. It was a hit on my self esteem. Whereas before I'd go out with just an SPF moisturizer, powder, mascara and tinted lip balm, I could no longer live without concealer. I only used to conceal my under eye area but to conceal acne scars and sometimes pile it on because the darkness would always peek through, the whole thing just frustrated me to bits.

Over the past several months, I have purchased different acne solution products. I thank God now that I did not have to wait too long to come across something that was effective for me. And, oh boy, is it really effective for me. I've been acne free for the past two weeks now. I have not used my spot treatment for two weeks! I still have to conceal my acne scars, but they are fading away nicely now.

So, what have I been using lately? Etude House's skin care line the AC Clinic Daily line, particularly, the AC Clinic Daily Acne Foam Cleanser (Php 478) and the AC Clinic Daily Gel Lotion (Php 548). These products are my new holy grail, ride or die, I could shoot the postman products now. The effect was immediate! By the third day of using this, the acne was no longer coming on! I was so surprised, but I had to wait at least a couple weeks before writing about this because I had to confirm that these babies were working effectively.

The products in this skin care line are salicylic acid based. I've tried my hand at the natural stuff, you know, the tea tree oil based stuff and those things just did not do shit for me. Waited for months and na-dah. Nothing. So I started looking for products with different active ingredients and came across these. 

Well, I am not surprised. Korean skin care products are well known for their efficacy. The legend is valid. God bless the Koreans for making skin care products which are tough on acne but gentle on the skin. I don't feel any tightening of sorts on my skin when I use these. Salicylic acid on its own can dry your skin out and cause burning sensations. These products don't do that at all for me. The foam cleanser is very gentle to use, I don't even feel dryness on my face afterwards when I pat it dry with my towel. The gel lotion is equally fantastic. It's watery and sets quickly on the face. Once it sets, it feels so smooth and the finish is not dewy, not matte either. It's a perfect satin, almost powdery, finish.

I use these both day and night. At night time, since the lotion is not exactly moisturizing enough for over night use, I just boost this by using a serum beforehand.

If you've been forever looking for products for your acne problem, I highly recommend these. They also have a toner and some spot treatment products in this line. I'm already considering purchasing them, although I'm not a big fan of toners and these two have rendered using spot treatments useless. At a combined cost of Php 1026, this is already very wallet friendly lol! And you get a lot of amount of product for their price. These were exceedingly effective for me, I cannot speak highly enough of them. 

DISCLAIMER: Please don't use this if you're pregnant. Salicylic acid is not good for pregnant women.

August Haul

So, I went a little crazy this August. I've actually purchased more this month than I'd have any other month except for July of last year. I think something happens to me every mid-year and I buy stuff as therapy. Lol, that's still no excuse.

I got a little skin care stuff and a "few" makeup items. All of these I will blog about in the next few weeks as I'm still trying to get the feel of them and I'm still unsure of what I really think about them.

First up are the skin care products: the AC Clinic Daily Acne Foam Cleanser (Php 478) and AC Clinic Daily Gel Lotion (Php 548) from Etude House Philippines. I've been using these for a little less than two weeks now and I think these are phenomenal (so far). I haven't used my spot treatment for a few days now because I don't have any zits! I only bought the facial cleanser and the moisturizer because I'm not a fan of toners. They also have spot treatment and spot masks in this line.

Now on to the fun stuff. I purchased a mid-range (high end here in the Philippines) foundation from Benefit (well, their only foundation lol), the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Brightening Makeup (Php 1,900) in the shade Petal. I was contemplating on whether to purchase Champagne, which seemed a better shade match for me, but upon comparing the two, I noticed Petal had more yellow undertones and I'm quite a yellow girl. I've used this thrice and it's been pretty good so far. It's lightweight and it does not feel sticky even after being worn for 12 hours on a hot, humid day. I haven't tested this with flash photography yet, but I'm expecting some flashback because of its SPF 25 PA +++. This foundation is oil-free and non comedogenic, and it hasn't caused me any break outs at all.

Upon purchasing the Benefit foundation that day, I told myself why not just go to town and purchase a well known good concealer. So I got the MAC Pro Longwear Concealer (Php 1,250) in NC30. And, yes, it is the best! This does not crease and does not budge at all! I haven't tried using this alone as I always set my concealer with powder, but even without baking my under eye with this, it really does not crease. This will be my last MAC product purchase upon learning they've been testing on animals. I will not purchase any more until they are cruelty free again.

I got another beauty blogger essential, which is the Inglot AMC Eyeliner Gel (Php 995) 77. AMC stands for Advanced Makeup Components. Inglot in SM Megamall had kindly held this in reserve for me. The first time I went this was out of stock and I inquired via Facebook afterwards when they would have it again. They informed me immediately once these babies were back in their inventory and had sweetly held one for me.

It's been said to be the blackest, mattest gel liner out there. I have found it easiest working with gel liners. I haven't had much luck with liquid eyeliners. They always dry out on me within a couple of months it's so annoying! We'll see how it goes, I haven't even popped this open yet teehee.

I got a few items from NYX as well. NYX is a drugstore brand in the US and they're cruelty-free! I've already had experience with their matte lipsticks and butter lipsticks and I've really liked them.

I purchased the NYX HD Concealer (Php 360) in CW05 Medium. I've heard good things about this concealer. I've used it only once so I don't know how I feel about it yet. 

It has a doe foot wand applicator just like my all time favorite drugstore concealer, the Maybelline Pure Mineral Concealer. But whereas the Maybelline concealer is yellow, this one has pink undertones. I guess it's good for the under eye which is what I've used it for, but I haven't worn it long enough to see how it wears throughout the day.

Since I've recently been on a roll with concealers, I've also purchased the NYX Dark Circle Concealer Correcteur (Php 390) in Medium. 

As can be seen it's a peach corrector for the dark circles in the under eye area. I've used this thrice and I don't know if I'm just not applying enough, but I really don't want to apply too much product in my under eye area and emphasize the fine lines even more. But no matter what I do, I don't think it makes any difference! Maybe you can comment down below to give me some tips on how this can be used? I'd be forever grateful!

I also picked up two eyebrow products from NYX. I really wanted to get the eyebrow gel, unfortunately, it was out of stock when I went to their SM Megamall store. First up is the NYX Tame and Frame Tinted Brow Pomade in Brunette (Php 460). I've used this thrice now and I've been loving it so far! 

Beware, eyebrow pomades are not for beginners, especially if you have a heavy hand with application. A little of this product goes a long way. This is fantastic really, it lasts a long time even by itself without using a brow mascara to set the brow hairs. Also, Brunette, is a great shade match for me. It's a lighter brown than my actual hair color, but has grayish undertones. It's not shiny either. Don't you hate it when your eyebrows are shiny? Lol!

And, lastly, I picked up the NYX Micro Brow Pencil in Brunette (Php 650). I think it's a little crazy that such a tiny eye brow pencil would cost so much. I've heard this is a great dupe for the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz, which cost I think is even more insane! I'm not about to drop more than a thousand bucks for an eye brow pencil, come on.

Brow Product

Spoolie 

It's a two ended pencil with the retractable product on one end and a spoolie on the other. It's pretty convenient. I haven't used this one yet so I don't know what I think about it yet. It's pretty new to me since I'm used to a sword type pencil. 

Aaaaaaaannnndddd, that's all! I was going to get a new highlighter too, thank God, all the ones I wanted were out of stock, else my wallet would probably have a huge crater by now if it doesn't already. Feel free to give me suggestions on what other products I should try! 

Is It Effective? The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil

I used to have clear skin. It was not perfect in such a way that I never had zits, I did have the occasional break out. But it was not as bad as what I have now.

I'm currently suffering from adult acne which is caused by injectable contraceptive. I used to take my skin for granted and I'm so disappointed with myself. It's so unfair because now I have like a crap ton of skin care products sitting here on my vanity, using all of them for a time hoping that this problem goes away. Well, life's unfair, gotta deal with it. I know a lot of people have way worse problems. It's just that having acne really chips away at someone's self esteem and confidence.

One of the products that I've tried is The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil (Php 565). It's one of The Body Shop's most famous products, and they claim it sells every second worldwide. It's basically 15% tea tree oil, they have to dilute it, God knows how potent 100% is.

It comes in a teensy weensy green glass bottle containing 10mL of product. The cap is child-proof and spill-proof, you have to twist it in a certain way to open it. Once opened, there's a sort of stopper on the bottle.

Let me just say, I fucking hate the packaging. It's so hard to get the product out! I either don't get anything or if I do, it's too much and there are excess drops and it's a waste. This is great to put in your bag though, you can rest assure no matter how you jiggle your bag, it's not going to make a mess. 

I use this product for spot treatment. Ideally, what I do is I wash my face with a cleanser, use toner, apply my eye cream and then spot treat my blemishes with this product before moving onto moisturizer. It gets absorbed quickly into the skin, doesn't leave a greasy feeling so it's alright to use under makeup.

It does a fairly good job at taming the redness and soreness of zits. But it does nothing to dry it up. And I have tried using this twice a day, in the morning after I take a bath and in the evening before I go to sleep. It doesn't do anything drastic. 

I guess tea tree oil just doesn't cut it for me. I fared better with the AC Clinic Daily line from Etude House which is salycilic acid based. 

Also, for what it's worth, you'd be getting too little product for too much moolah. I use this to tame my zits and after a couple months, I'm more than halfway through the bottle. 

If tea tree oil works for you, this should be a great product. Otherwise, or if you're just experimenting, better skip this one.