I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Clearasil. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
My 13-year-old son is a pretty handsome dude, if I do say so myself. He’s got beautiful hazel eyes and thick brown hair that has just a bit of that mischievous curl you see in young kids and a smile that lights up the room. He also complains about acne and asks me almost daily to take him to the doctor so he can get “laser treatment or something like that.”
Yeah, not going to happen.
Acne is a pain in the face. Not only can it be uncomfortable, but it can be a confidence-killer and a “girlfriend repellant.” Acne has a lot of triggers but sometimes despite all we know about it, we can figure out what makes some kids get it, others not, and why those who do get it range from very mild to very severe. For Little Dude, we haven’t found any real pattern but as he gets older and more into girls and extra-curricular activities, the more bothered he is by any blemishes, even just a couple. He has longer hair and that means hair falling in his face, something that happens a lot when he’s in Tae Kwon Do and can’t move his hands around to move the hair out of his face; this means more acne in those places. He loves the long hair but realizes that it comes with a price, so it’s even more critical to him to get a good face wash protocol that doesn’t take him a lot of time, as Tae Kwon Do keeps him pretty busy in addition to his advanced classes, and works without having to follow a lot of steps.
And then you have all the acne products on the market, from inexpensive creams to expensive strong brands and/or prescription medications. It’s confusing and you don’t know where to start. Stand in the acne medication aisle in the store and before too long, your head sill spin and you’ll be ready to grab anything just to get out the door.
For my little dude, we’ve tried almost every product in the store. He’s very particular about his facial cleansing products – they can’t smell horrible, they can’t sting, and they can’t be obvious. They have to be easy to use and not take a long time. And did I say they can’t smell bad?
When I told him he was going to be able to test out a new product by a brand name company, he wasn’t too enthused. “One more thing? Nothing works!” I assured him that this wasn’t the same as the rest, and was made by Clearasil, a company that knows what they’re doing. He agreed to try it out but did it with the attitude of “Okay, it sure can’t be any worse than anything else.”
Fast-forward two weeks. He’s tried both products we were given – a bottle of Clearasil Ultra Rapid Action Gel wash and two bottles of Clearasil Daily Clear Hydra-Blast Oil Free Face wash – and given me his opinions on them, which I’ll share below, along with pictures of the products so you can get an idea of what they are and what they look like. Both products are dermatologist-tested and scientifically formulated to result in clearer skin fast.
He first tried the gel wash, known to make a difference in as early as 12 hours. He liked the color and it is different than anything else he’s tried. It passed the smell test, the sting test (it doesn’t sting) and it didn’t leave a residue on his skin. He really liked that you could easily pump out the product, make it foamy and quickly wash his face. (Any mom of a teenage boy knows that while they don’t want acne, they also don’t want to have to spend a lot of time worrying about it.) He was happy that neither of the two products required a dab that would remain on his face, feeling dry or pulling at his skin. Once he washed off the gel, it was gone and there was no residual feeling other than that it felt “clean and tingly.” Score one for Clearasil!
He then tried the Hydra-Blast for a week, which tests prove can clear up skin up to 85% in just four weeks. He had the same positives to say – most importantly, it didn’t smell bad – and has proclaimed that he likes this one better.
See that beautiful hair? (And he was happy that I told him he didn’t need to do a full facial view. The joys of teens.)
I didn’t use the products myself, but I did feel each product and do the smell test along with him. I liked the consistency of both the gel wash and the Hydra-Blast and both smelled clean and fresh.
In the end, he feels like the Hydra-Blast worked better overall, and not just because he liked the feel of the product better. His face is clearer than it was a week ago at this time, with the exception of his newly shaved moustache area, but that’s related to the new process of shaving, not acne. That boosts his confidence (particularly since they had a school dance yesterday) and he’s happy with it; if he’s happy, I’m a happy #Clearasilmom. Thanks, Clearasil, and thanks #MC for this #sponsored post opportunity.
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