Clinique's Total Turnaround is Totally Impressive!

When it comes to reviewing skincare I tend to err on the side of caution. I wait a month or more of consistent usage before I rave about it. This is one product however that I feel confident about reviewing after only 2 weeks of intermittent use. In fact I'm pretty sure I could review it after using it only twice! The results were THAT rapid.

Clinique's Total Turnaround Concentrate is a treatment serum designed to"speed up the skins renewal process" and "bring new skin to the surface". To me, it's a gradual exfoliant that chemically sloughs off top skin cells, unclogging pores, and speeding up the skin's turnover rate.

Its active ingredients include Salicylic Acid (an exfoliant and anti-acne agent), Glucosamine (purportedly to aid skin renewal as it is found in body tissues, but I can't find proof that it is effective topically), and Chestnut Extract (frequently used in "brightening" or "whitening" skin-tone evening products). It also contains antioxidants, as well as cosmetic light-diffusing particles to help even out skintone.

The included instructions recommend that you use this product twice daily. Frankly I believe this to be the usual Clinique ploy of encouraging overuse of their products so you'll use it up faster and buy more. Another example of this is their tendency to recommend a Skin Clarifying Lotion one step LESS than you need, so you have to use it twice a day instead of just once at night for the same degree of efficacy.

There is no way I would use this strong serum twice daily. The first time I used it, I was shocked at how much fairer I was at the end of the day. My face appeared radically different from my neck. As such I use it almost as a treatment whenever my skin appears to need a boost. For daily use I stick to the much milder Vitamin C Skin Serum from The Body Shop that Beetrice so heartily recommends (In many ways I feel that the Vitamin C Skin Serum is a much milder version of Total Turnaround).

What I love about this stuff is that it fades acne scars like no tomorrow! It also helps clear up pimples a lot faster - they just slough off. The downside is, as mentioned above, that it fades tans rapidly and your neck and face may take on different hues if you're not careful

Another lovely bit about this serum is that a teenie tiny bit goes a long long way. In fact I strongly suggest you avoid slapping it on, but instead take a tiny amount on your fingertips and really work it into the skin and allowing it to sink in before applying moisturiser.

I received a 7ml sample of this product in a skincare kit along with large sample sizes of the Total Turnaround 15-minute Facial (which to be honest, is fun but a little messy and failed to impress. I believe that the humble aspirin mask, not to mention S&G's Scrub Your Nose In It outdoes it by miles), and City Block Sheer SPF 25 (which broke me out, boo!). So out of the three, I'm terribly glad the concentrate rocks and I discovered a gem!

At the moment my sample is still going strong, but when it runs out I have no hesitation is running straight out and buying the full-sized 50ml jar at RM190! Even though it's expensive I know it works like nothing else, and it'll last me forever.