Clinique Redness Solutions Soothing Cleanser

I have been talking about face creams for the past few weeks and have been trying to purchase products that will help to reduce how dry and red my face gets this time of the year.  In addition to skin creams, I am also investigating new face washes.  I have finally run out of my last tube of C.O. Bigelow face wash and I decided that I wanted to try something different this time around (I have gone through three tubes of this wash and I need to see what else is out there).  I wanted to try a product that would be creamy and soothing and initially was considering purchasing a tube of the cream cleanser from Caudalie again.  But based on my current good luck with Clinique skincare products, I decided to try one of their face cleansers out.  I don't have any recent memories of using face washes from Clinique and I am not totally sure if I have used any of their face washes before but I wanted to give it a go this time around.

I have been interested in the Redness Solutions line of face products from this company ever since I first heard about it.  My skin is so dry and red in the winter months and I wanted a product that would not strip my skin and make the look and feel of it even worse.  I went with a cream cleanser formula, a gel or a foam would be a bit too risky this time of the year and I am not about starting the winter with bad skin. 

I have been using the Clinique Redness Solutions Soothing Cleanser for the past week and am beginning to finally see a very small bit of difference in my skin.  I know that face washes will not change my life but I was expecting a bit more from this formula (knowing much Clinique puts into their skincare products and how well I tend to do with their treatments and moisturizers).  First we will look at how the product is described on the Sephora website and then we will delve into how it has been working for me.

"An extra-gentle cleanser for redness-prone skin.  This extra-gentle, non-drying cream-gel helps calm visible redness and irritation while melting away makeup and impurities. It leaves skin clean feeling comforted.  Helps maintain skin's moisture balance. For all skin types."

My issues with this product are more with the promised results since a face wash is not designed to reduce facial redness, any product that is rinsed off will not have a lasting effect to the skin and I think that the description needs to be edited.  What does this product do well?  It is a very thick cream cleanser with no foaming action at all.  It effectively removes makeup and doesn't contain any ingredients that strip my skin or any perfumes that can add to irritation.  Realistically, this cleanser is an effective part of a hydrating and redness reducing skincare regime but it is not a product that can stand on its own against redness.

If this product was described as an effective first step of a redness reducing regime that sets skin up to reap the benefits of treatment products, I would be all about this product.  I was a bit disappointed with the description since this will upset many people who are looking to see major results from this product.  This product fully washes off my face makeup (I am not even trying it on my eye makeup - separate eye makeup remover is needed for me!) and therefore I do not need to use any kind of toner to get the last bit of makeup residue off and therefore I don't need to use a drying product on my skin during cleansing.

The texture of this product was slightly off putting the first time that I used it and I had to use it a few times to get the correct amount needed figured out.  The first time, I used way too much and the second time I used much too little.  I figured out that I need a blob about the size of an M and M (slightly more face wash than I typically use) and this was enough to cover my whole face and not be wasting product. 

Overall, I like this face wash and I don't regret buying it at all, it helps to clean my skin without stripping it and sets it up for a face serum and the rest of my skincare regime.  I want to clearly state that this product doesn't reduce redness and face cleansers are not designed to work this way.  However it will not strip skin and will eliminate the use of a toner to remove makeup.  I don't see any reason that I wouldn't buy this product again but I don't think that I can consider it one of the best washes that I have ever used.

photo courtesy of Sephora