Review - Kairos Clarifying Complexion-Clearing Shampoo

Kairos CLARIFYING COMPLEXION-CLEARING SHAMPOO is a unique dual-purpose complex that clears blemishes and helps to prevent future breakouts while cleansing and detoxifying hair — leaving it shiny, silky, and residue-free.

I had my doubts about this shampoo, which claims to assist in keeping your skin clear via a small amount of salicylic acid in the formula. "Really, Kairos?" I thought. "You're going to keep my face blemish-free with stuff I put on my head? SURE."

These doubts turned out to be very founded - I have not noticed a significant difference in the level of breakouts on my face, which is typically high due to my inherited grease factory face. However! I think the salicylic acid is doing something, because before I started using it, I could go approximately 1 day without washing my hair before I started to look like a hobo (once again, the grease factory). Now, it's more like 1.5 days, so I can skip a wash now and again! Yahoo! I was also pleasantly surprised that it worked as well as it did, just as a shampoo - I was suspicious that it would be less effective somehow, but it is perfectly serviceable.

The one warning I will give to you is that this shampoo is surprisingly liquid - most shampoos range in the honey-level of viscousness. This one isn't a liquid as, say, milk, but it's definitely edging that way. Maybe heavy cream? In any event, beware! It comes out of the bottle faster than you think!

Review- La Roche Posay Effaclair AI

The first and only product to combine a derivative of Salicylic Acid with Benzoyl Perozide in one effective formula. Effaclar AI has been rigorously formulated with: 5.5% benzoyl peroxide acne medication to target acne deep in the pores to help control and correct breakouts. 0.4% LHA to micro-exfoliate the skin and stimulate cell renewal to help prevent residual marking.


This product is amazing for us girls that worry about breakouts. Just one dab on an emerging pimple in the evening, and that thing is long gone in the morning! It works just as well on those big scary fully blown pimples. The formula is super gentle, not at all irritating, yet works so effectively. If you're looking for a new spot treatment for your skin care regime, this one would definitely top my list.

Review - DDF Acne Control Treatment

A night treatment that deeply penetrates pores to normalize skin by combating existing blemishes while also helping to prevent future acne.

Used as part of a tripartate skincare system, this DDF Acne Control Treatment is the night counterpart to the daytime "Protect" cream. The main thing I will say about this cream is that a little goes a LONG way. It took me several days to figure out the amount that I needed, so definitely start small and add more if you need it to avoid wasting this precious, precious cream. I've been using the whole system, along with the Foaming Cleanser, and I've been very pleased with the results - my skin is definitely more like an adult woman's instead of a sullen teen's now! Fewer breakouts for sure, and a reduction in overall redness (another issue I tend to have). Now, if only it were just a little less expensive...

Malikah says: This is the most amazing acne product I've ever used, and trust me, I've used A LOT! I've battled crazy acne throughout my teen years and still have fairly frequent breakouts. Most products on the market are way to harsh for my sensitive skin, but the DDF Acne Control Treatment is effective, yet gentle. After using it for just 3 days, my breakouts had completely cleared up, and I haven't had a pimple since. And yes, a little bit does go a very long way! I use like half of a pea-sized dab for my entire face, which is great because even though the product is costly, you will get plenty of use out of it!

Review - Burt's Bees Acne Spot Treatment

I got a bottle of this stuff to try out thinking, well... it's salicylic acid, so it's going to work like all the other products with that ingredient, right? Um, NO. Clearly there's some heavy duty business going on in this little bottle, because zzzzzzzzzap, the break-out I was suffering from disappeared in record time. The coolest things about this product are that it's liquid, and goes on invisibly and dries literally in seconds. It also smells very woodsy and natural, like it has licorice in it or something (that's a guess). Also, it has way more drying power than other cream products and seemed to be magical for me. On the flip side, I wouldn't recommend smothering this over your entire face (thus, it's called spot treatment, but you never know what we'll do in a moment of distress), it could definitely dry you out too much. But a little on a q-tip does the job nicely and didn't leave me with any extra-dried or peeling skin. I'm going to buy another gigantic bottle and keep it on lock down for future problems because I love it so much. Oh, and a teensy bit goes a very long way, so I imagine that it lasts forever.

Review - Pevonia SpaTeen Blemished Skin Line

I'm not a teen, but my face still thinks I am, so this line is probably appropriate for me. This line includes five items: a cleanser, a toner, a mask, a moisturizer, and a spot treatment called "Blemish-B-Gone." I'll discuss each a little bit.

SpaTeen Blemished Skin Cleanser: I love this cleanser. I know that's not enough to say in a review, but seriously - it is wonderful. It has just the right amount of scrubby grit in it to make you feel like you're accomplishing something, but not so much that your face will revolt and turn red. I didn't notice a huge difference in the number of breakouts I had when I started using it, but I did notice that when I stopped using it, my face was like "wait, what? No! We liked that!!" I don't know if this means that I have to use it forever or what, but in any event, it is effective.

SpaTeen Blemished Skin Toner: I'm not so great at remembering to even use toner, but for the purposes of this review, I tried to be diligent. This toner smells a little weird to me, but it was refreshing after a hot shower.

SpaTeen Blemished Skin Mask: My face felt nicely tight after using this, like I'd just had a mini-facial. (note: I have never had a facial, so I guess it's "like I imagine a mini-facial would feel like.")

SpaTeen Blemished Skin Moisturizer: I loved this stuff. It's light without being ineffective, and pleasantly ungreasy. Four thumbs up!

SpaTeen Blemish-B-Gone: I got two tubes of this - it comes in a tube that looks like it might be lip gloss, except that it's white and has a lime green cap - and I couldn't be happier. For spot treatments, this stuff is great. One time, I even managed to catch a little baby blemish and zap it literally overnight (obviously, larger ones will take more time).

Overall, definitely worth a try if you're a teen (or just have skin like one), and the cute packaging doesn't hurt.

Review - Cosmedicine Speedy Recovery Acne Treatment Exfoliating Cleanser

This highly-advanced, fast-acting exfoliating cleanser with its proprietary oil-stopping complex and micro-fine granules not only fights breakouts and eliminates acne symptoms, it actually leaves your skin in healthier and better condition than before your acne problem began.

Man, I love exfoliating cleansers. I love the super-clean feeling my face gets when it's been scrubbed juuuuuust enough to get the icky stuff off my face (and city living can really do a number on you). Cosmedicine's exfoliating cleanser is probably one of my favorites - the "micro-fine granules" they mention in the description? That's totally true. The exfoliating sand in this cleanser is so tiny that even very sensitive skin will be happy afterward, but you still get that great, clean feeling. Now, I don't know whether this cleanser reduced my breakouts, but I will say this: I stopped using it for a couple of days after I forgot it at home when I was housesitting, and I did notice that I had a bit of a breakout when I stopped using it. The only complaint I had about this cleanser was the scent - now, I know for something to be super-effective it needs, like, crazy ingredients from the ocean or something, but this stuff smells a little bit like liquid nori. Not necessarily a bad smell, if you like sushi, but also not necessarily something you want on your face. Overall, give it a go as part of the whole Cosmedicine line!

Review - Cosmedicine Speedy Recovery Acne Treatment Nighttime Blemish Powder

Speedy Recovery Nighttime Acne Treatment is a nighttime powder with a soothing botanical complex. Our Speedy Recovery nighttime powder works overnight to fight breakouts and eliminate acne symptoms. Speedy Recover nighttime Treatment, for no BS, overnight, results.

I think I like the idea of this product better than I actually like the product. Typically, acne spot treatments come in a gel or cream form, making them easy to apply, but also making it easy to use a lot more product than you really need to. I thought perhaps a powder would make it simpler to really target the blemishes without putting a lot of product on the surrounding unaffected skin. However, I found the powder a little unwieldy to work with - the packaging suggests you use a cotton ball to apply it - dry - to affected areas. It just didn't really work for me. I gave it another go by dipping a cotton swab in water and then in the powder to make sort of a paste, like what you would make out of baking powder and water for a bee sting, but that was also really tricky. I like the Cosmedicine line, but I'd rather stick to gels for my spot treatment needs.

Review- Cosmedicine Speedy Recovery Daytime Blemish Lotion

"Speedy Recovery Acne Treatment is a fast acting, pH balanced acne-fighting lotion with SPF 15 UVA/UVB protection. Our Speedy Recovery daytime blemish acne treatment eliminates excess oil and debris with proprietary oil-stopping complexes and micro-fine granules. Speedy Recover Daytime Treatment, for no BS results. This fast-acting treatment lotion with UVA/UVB sunscreens not only works all day to fight breakouts and eliminate acne symptoms, but actually leaves your skin in healthier and better condition than before your acne problem began." $40 for 2 fl. oz.

I have always wondered why it seemed that companies thought that acne only came out at night? I can count on one hand the number of daytime treatments for acne I know of. And of those treatments, most are spot treatments, not an overall product to keep your skin clear. Not only does this cream treat acne all day, it doesn't irritate your skin. True I do experience some extra dryness when I'm using it, but it's nothing a strong moisturizer won't take care of and it's only in the major culprit areas- the creases going from my mouth down my chin and around my nose. I mainly use this product during the time I have PMS, because that's mainly when I break out. I have to say, my breakouts have been seriously reduced since I've been using this cream. Plus the fact that it's got my beloved SPF. I recommend this product for anyone w/ moderate acne, especially since I apply it once a day, but the instructions say to apply it up to 3 times a day, in other words, you can tailor it to your level of acne. It's very light and sits well under makeup, so there's no complaints there. This is the perfect solution for those of us for whom nighttime treatment of acne just isn't enough. With this you can be fighting zits 24 hours a day!

Movie Maven says: I found this product to be a great companion to a more intense nighttime treatment for blemished skin. Because my skin tends to be less dry, I didn't experience any problems with overdrying, but I probably could have been applying it more than once a day for better results. As it was (I used it once a day), I saw some mild reduction in breakouts. I especially liked that you can couple this product with other products in the Cosmedicine line for maximum effect. Overall, this is an okay product by itself, but I suspect it reaches its maximum efficacy when used as part of the line.

Review - Dr. Michelle Copeland Advanced Acne Solution

Developed by renowned New York Plastic surgeon, Dr. Michelle Copeland, this advanced acne formula contains powerful azelaic acid, salicylic acid and BSF (balanced sebum formula) for resistant acne. While powerful, it doesn’t cause drying or flaking. This formula also contains soothing aloe and cucumber to reduce inflammation and lipoic acid and antioxidants to stimulate cell renewal.

This spray solution, containing 2% salicylic acid, is an easy, spray-on way to treat acne-prone skin from my favorite, Dr. Michelle Copeland. Her line has never failed to impress me, and this one is no exception. Aside from the fact that it's easy to apply (the little spray bottle makes it simple), this stuff REALLY works. I started using it, and about a week later, saw a friend of mine who actually asked what I was doing to my skin, because it looked really "clear and luminous." If you ask me, that's the real test, and this Advanced Acne Solution passed with flying colors! It's fairly expensive, but it lasts a long time (the fact that you spray it means that you use less than you would with cotton balls), and I've found I can use it every other day rather than every day with similar results, since it tends to be a bit drying (obviously, since it's acne-fighting). Still, I'd recommend it for teenagers or young women with moderate acne.

Hillary says: I am "fortunate" enough to have dry skin, slight wrinkles and occasional acne. I assumed right off the bat that this potion would be too drying for me to use, but I gave it the old college try anyway. Amazingly enough, even though it contains salicylic acid, it left my face acne free without drying it up. I use a prescription retinoid, so I alternated nights with that and this solution. My skin looks wonderful with this one-two punch. I recommend this for women and men with any skin type who break out.

Amanda S. Says: It's absolutely official. I will never use an acne treatment that isn't from Dr. Michelle Copeland's line. I have had a horrible run of things lately, my skin is frazzled and I'm breaking out for the first time in my life. I went through so many products and each one burned or turned everything more red, at the least, the just did NOTHING. I am so relieved to be using this line of products now so I can show my face without wondering how awful my skin looks all day.