I've mentioned in a few posts now how my main problem is no longer with acne, but rather the awful marks left behind that lots of girls will understand all too well. These can take months to completely disappear and can make your skin look a whole lot worse than it actually is.
Medically speaking, these marks are called 'Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation', or PIH, and are a result of the skins natural response to inflammation. When your skin is inflamed by acne, the skin produces an excess of melanin, the pigment causing skin to become darker. This is left behind after the skin has cleared up and can take up to 24 months to clear - 2 whole years!! However, there are products on the market designed to combat the problem - usually either through brightening of the skin, or exfoliation. When Clearasil offered to send me a few products to try designed to combat this, I jumped at the chance!
The new 'Ultra Blemish and Marks' range are designed to combat not only to prevent acne, but also to clear up these marks to provide the ultimate clear skin, and include a Scrub, a Wash/Mask and a treatment cream. I chose to try the scrub and wash/mask, as I already have a prescribed treatment cream that works well for me. I've been trying the products for a few days now, so without further ado, here are my first impressions!
Blemish + Marks Scrub
This is probably my favourite out of the two products - an exfoliating scrub designed to exfoliate away skin cells and renew the skin. The first thing that struck me with these products is that they smell incredibly weird when you first open the bottle, but then as soon as you apply to the face, it begins to smell all fresh and lovely and apparently (according to my sister) a little like watermelon? A good scented face product for me, is always necessary! The scrub is very effective and has very small particles in it's formula, meaning it doesn't feel rough on your face but still leaves your face feeling incredibly smooth - to the point where you will walk around having to resist the urge to stroke your face (that might just be me...).
Blemish + Marks Wash and Mask
Woah, what's this?! A wash and mask in one?! When I saw this it struck me as totally weird, but thinking about it, as long as it works it does make perfect sense and is very handy! I first tried the face wash and to be honest it was tough competition from the word go - I have a deep emotional connection to my Liz Earle Cleanse+Polish, and a slight 'bit on the side' connection with my Body Shop foaming cleanser, so it was always going to be hard! This wasn't great at removing makeup, but worked effectively as a cleanser after using a makeup remover to cleanse my skin. I used it as a mask a few days later and in my opinion, it works much better as this! I applied it heavier this time and let it set for around 10 minutes - it's a slightly runnier formula than the usual mask because it's also a wash, so won't harden - though if applied lightly it will dry on the face. It had the usual slight sting of a face mask working its magic when first applied, but fades after a few minutes. I quite like that, as it makes me feel the product is actually doing something! It was easy enough to wash off with a flannel as it instantly softened when met with water. Bear in mind also that the face mask creates a break out the day after, as it will bring all the layers of dead skin cells, sebum and other dirt concealed in your pores to the surface - but after this I had no problems.
I did really enjoy this as a mask, but I do wonder why it wasn't marketed as a separate product, as the wash just wasn't that effective for me! Something to bear in mind when used as both a wash and a mask is that this product is extremely drying on the skin - I understand this is to combat acne and is due to the lactic acid and salicyclic acid in both products, but it is definitely necessary to use a moisturiser with these products so they don't completely dry your skin out. I would also recommend using the products no more than once a week for the mask, and two/three times a week for the scrub - and these are definitely only suitable for people with combination/oily skin! If used this regularly, I would definitely say these products would be effective in preventing acne, as long as you monitored the dryness of your skin!
I can't yet comment on the effectiveness of the mark fading, as this can take 4-8 weeks to work, but I will definitely do a follow-up post with before/after photos to let you all know how it's worked!
Liv
As mentioned in the post and as marked with an asterisk (*), this was a sponsored post and the products were provided by a PR company - however all views are my own and will not be influenced by any external factors other than my experience.
