As a beauty blogger, I want to review EVERYTHING that comes my way, but sometimes products just aren’t for my skin type or colouring. Normally, I would have just given these products away, but this time around I sought help from a beauty loving girlfriend of mine whom I met in my computer science classes and also has a biology background like myself. I trusted that she would give you guys the same unbiased reviews as well as a bit of sass. Everyone, please welcome the lovely Jessie!Introduction
In my teen years, I was lucky enough to not be plagued by any acne. But started in my early 20's, my forehead became a hotbed for acne. I tried various masks, exfoliators and spot treatments, but nothing seemed to be very effective. Until a month ago, I could count the number of days that I had no acne on one hand. So what changed this past month? I started using the Avon Blemish Clearing Overnight Treatment*! Before I pronounce it the greatest $6.49 CDN you will ever spend for blemish-free skin, let's look at how I got there.
Hypothesis
Salicylic acid, when applied topically, is known to exfoliate skin, and clear clogged pores. Each bottle of Avon Blemish Treatment contains 2% salicylic acid, which is the highest concentration of salicylic acid you can find in a non-prescription topical treatment. I used the treatment over 2 weeks and myself three questions: 1. Does the treatment accelerate the healing of existing acne? 2. Does the treatment prevent the occurrence of acne? 3. Does the treatment lighten previous acne scars?
Method
My usual evening skincare routine consists of: foam cleanser, brightening toner, antioxidant-rich serum, and a basic moisturizer in the evening. To fit in the Avon Blemish Treatment, I applied it to my entire forehead, extending to and including the temples. For the rest of my face it was business as usual.
During the day, my routine consists of rinsing my face with water, toner and moisturizer with SPF. Again, I applied the treatment to my forehead, and applied moisturizer on top. Note: the FDA recommends the use of sun protection when using skincare products containing salicylic acid on sun-exposed skin areas.
The above process was repeated daily during a period of 2 weeks for a total of 12 days. I did not apply the gel for two days half way through the duration.
Results and Discussion
The treatment does not smell medicinal, which is nice. In fact, it smells exactly like the Benefit moisturizer, or olden day facial cream. Minutes after applying the treatment, I felt the tightening sensation that I usually associate with acne treatments. The surface of my forehead would then stay sticky for about 10-15 minutes.
During the time I was using the treatment, I did not feel my acne was healing at an accelerated rate. During the two days that I did not use the treatment, there was no difference in the rate of healing of my existing acne. However, two things were rather significant. Firstly, I noticed that a cluster of old acne scars had lightened quite a bit. Secondly, there was no additional acne appearing on my forehead when I regularly applied the treatment. I was rather pleased with the second effect, until I noticed the effect persisted after I stopped using the gel. So something else must have changed: I stopped drinking coffee and started drinking green tea instead.
Conclusion
I have read anecdotes where people stopped drinking coffee, and their acne improved. So while my acne may not have been improved because of the Avon Blemish Treatment, I was rather pleased with the fact that my old scar had lightened up, revealing the clear skin underneath. For $6, aka the least expensive skincare product I have used in a decade, it was a pleasant surprise. I may even use it occasionally after my acne flares have healed.
Reference
Salicylic Acid Topical. nlm.nih.gov. US National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2015-09-21
Salicylic Acid. Wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2015-09-21
Thank you Jessie for such a thorough review! For those of you have been written lab reports, THIS is how scientific studies are written up. Let us know if you like or dislike this type of format! The Avon Blemish Clearing Overnight Treatment can be purchased from www.avon.ca or from your Avon consultant.
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