two thumbs up!

i'm fairly sure the "product" reviews i've done on here have been focused on restaurants, books, movies, and yummy ingredients. it's high time i branched out to beauty products! this might not interest all of you, so feel free to go eat some fruit and cheese instead.

after ogling it a few times at my local drugstore, i finally decided to invest in a clean & clear advantage blackhead eraser* on the basis of a review on cosmo's website - by a man!

a little background on what informed this tremendous gamble: most face cleansers cause problems for me, because i have normal skin most places, dry skin on my forehead, around my eyebrows, and along my jawline, and blackheads but not super-oily skin on my nose. biore strips remove the blackheads but leave the pores wide open for attack - and that's not something cold water can fix. exfoliating masks don't get inside the pores, either. it's not that i'm uber lazy... but i don't care for laborious or costly attempts at solving this. as long as my skin is basically clean and healthy, i don't worry too much about blemishes and such. however, if this product could do what it promised - actually *reduce* the chances of recurring blackheads - it was worth a try. plus, facials are fun.

short of an actual scrubbing pad, which clean&clear makes and i've purchased many times before, this is the simplest thing ever. also, it's kind of fun. you attach a medicated pad onto the velcro top, turn the little device on, and quickly run it under the tap. as you slowly rub it all over your wet face, it vibrates, removing dead skin and applying that magical ingredient (salicylic acid, embedded in the pad) which "dissolves blackheads." um: it really does. a final wash with cold water removes the suds and leaves your face feeling smooth and beautiful. or, you know, clean and... clear.

they recommend repeating this process every three-four days, which means i'll need a refill pack of medicated pads (about $7) every ten weeks. that brings the annual total cost to about $54. seems quite reasonable to me.

experience: a
results: a
long-term: ?

i'll keep you updated! i know you'll be waiting on the edge of your seats ;)

*note that the price listed on the website isn't what i paid. at my shoppers drugmart, that kit was $25.99 and included the device, 20 one-use medicated pads, and the requisite AA battery.