Review - Clean and Clear Deep Cleansing Lotion

I don't often change up my skin care routine.  I had a complete skin care overhaul about a year ago, and since then, besides the odd hormonal break out it hasn't been too bad.  Still horrendously oily, but spots-wise I was pretty happy.  One of the key items in my skin care routine is toner.  I live in an area with hard water, and the high mineral content means that my skin doesn't get properly cleansed with just my face wash and water.  I'm not even sure that it's just that cleaning products don't get rinsed off as well.  It seems the mineral deposits from the water that are left on my skin also contributes to my acne.  For most of the past year I've been happily using Vichy's Purete Thermal Hydra Perfecting Toner (£11).  It's not the most expensive toner, but when my toner ran out in the same week that I spent all my money on a new car, I decided that I'd give something a bit cheaper a go.  So long as it removes all the crap from my face I should be fine, right?

I chose Clean and Clear's Deep Cleansing Lotion (£2.99) for Sensitive Skin.  Here's what Clean and Clear say about it:

"Oil fighting formula cleanses effectively and helps reduce spots. Suitable for sensitive skin, it cleanses your skin gently to remove everyday build-up of oil, dirt and grease. Can also refresh, tone and tighten pores."

Sounds like just what I need!  Before I go into the how well it worked, I'm first going to tell you about the first thing that I noticed about this blue liquid; the smell.  Jesus, the smell.  It'll burn the hairs right out of your nose.  Ok, so that's a slight exaggeration, but still.  If it goes even close to the eye area (such as cheeks, top of the nose) and the fumes get into your eyes it'll sting.  And whatever you do, don't breath in while you're using this.  It gets right to the back of your throat.  Not pleasant.

Another thing that I think most people will find with this is how harsh it is on the skin.  The smell should have been a big give away on this.  I have super oily skin, but my skin absolutely drinks my Clarins oil after using this.  It doesn't do much good during the day for oiliness either.  It's as if my skin tries to over compensate for how much the lotion has dried it out, and therefore produces more oil!  I find it hard to understand how they've labeled this for sensitive skin.

So how does it work?  Well it contains both salicylic acid and benzoic acid, both of which are meant to be great at clearing up acne.  But for whatever reason, this didn't work for me.  Not at all.  I had a hormonal breakout a couple of weeks after I first started using it, and since then my skin just hasn't calmed down.  White heads, black heads, cystic spots.  You name it, I've got it.  I've been using this for the past two months, and I think I've given it enough of a chance.  My skin just does not like this (neither do my lungs!).  Of course, how effective it is is probably entirely down to my skin.  What works for one may not work for another.  

So there we have it.  Clean and Clear Deep Cleansing Lotion for Sensitive Skin gets probably one of the biggest thumbs down I've ever given a skin care product.  Even if it did help with spots, how harsh it is totally puts me off of it.  It's definitely time to switch back to my tried and tested toner.  I'm now realising that it's totally worth the money!