Avene : Cleanance K

I love the Avène range as it caters for oily, acne prone and sensitive skin, yet is powerful enough to remove excess sebum and diminish breakouts without leaving skin irritated or over-cleansed. Since a main cause of acne happens to be irritation, I thoroughly recommend the Cleanance line for any acne sufferer who is unhappy with their current regimen products, whether they be too gentle (I found this was apparent with Cetaphil) or too harsh like most brands for targeting acne (Proactiv, Neutrogena, etc). Cleanance K is an exfoliating moisturizer containing aha and bha's to clear blackheads and help heal breakouts. I don't use this as a moisturizer as such, although it is regarded as one. I use it more as a nightly spot-treatment/exfoliator all over my face after cleaning with the Cleanance Soapless Gel Cleanser, then in the morning I use the Cleanance Anti-Shine Regulating Lotion as a moisturizer underneath makeup. Beware, if applied to some parts of the face particularly open lesions it will tingle or even sting to the point where the only relief is to remove it with cold water. I find this only really happens if I have cleansed a little too vigorously beforehand. Do not let this dissuade you from trying this great product, as I believe it really does deliver if used properly to help blemishes to heal as well as provide a gentle exfoliating action.

So I've been using Cleanance K for about 3 weeks now. I purchased the Avene kit, with the soapless cleanser and the thermal water spray. In addition to that, I've been taking 50mg of Zinc and Cod liver oil tablets. A background to my skin - I have combination/oily skin which is extremely sensitive. I can hardly ever wear make up without breaking out. I have mild to moderate acne. I am also a skin picker, so I have pretty bad scarring. SO initially, this product dried out my existing pimples, hydrated my skin and smoothed it out almost overnight! I was ecstatic. However, a few days in, I broke out BADLY and kept breaking out. I read up on it and realised it was my skin purging due to the AHAs and BHAs and decided to stick with it for atleast 2 months to see how it goes. So its been three weeks now, my skin has been on a rollercoaster. Overall, many of my acne scars have faded! YAY. It works well at drying out pimples overnight, but I still break out in new ones (although fewer than my initial purging stage). I will update this review and/or on a blog post after some additional weeks.