My forehead is having another “screw you whitney” phase and it’s breaking out faster than me running for free food. Last year (which is already more than four months ago) I received the Philosophy Clear Days Ahead collection. I’ve been trying it long enough to write a review that I feel comfortable about. I rarely use everything from one collection so it was neat to have this experience; and my breakouts are active enough that this line aligned with my skincare problems.
I thought my “stress” from writing the engineering professional practice exam (WHICH I PASSED!) triggered breakouts. Not the case though, breakouts have not subsided one bit. 🙁 🙁
The collection has four products:
- clear days ahead oil-free salicylic acid acne treatment cleanser
- clear days ahead oil-free salicylic acid acne treatment & moisturizer
- clear days ahead overnight repair salicylic acid acne treatment pads
- clear days ahead fast-acting salicylic acid acne spot treatment
Philosophy’s Clear Days Ahead oil-free salicylic acid acne treatment cleanser ($30) contains 1% salicylic acid. This helps unclog pores, targets existing acne blemishes and helps prevent future breakouts. It also contains a coconut-based cleansing agent (cocoamidopropyl betaine) to cleanse and remove makeup from the skin. It also has panthenol (vitamin B5) and jojoba esters to calm the skin – in case it dries out.
The cleanser has an orange scent, which I’m not jumping up and down about, but it’s not bad either. If you’re not used to salicylic acid, I wouldn’t start using this in morning/night everyday or it could be too drying. I have used a bit over 1/3 of the bottle so far and overtime, I can see my scars lightening a bit and my skin feels a lot cleaner with one use.
I really like the Clear Days Ahead overnight repair salicylic acid acne treatment pads ($49) but ugh..why is it so pricey!! I can eat a steak and a dessert for this. One container contains 60 pads which averages to $0.81/pad. I’ve been cutting them in half to maximize its use. Let me break it down to of what is in the formula the pads are soaked in:
- 0.5% salicylic acid
- peptide complex (myristoyl tetrapeptide)
- glycolic acid
- mandelic acid(alpha hydroxy acid)
When I use this I have to remember there’s no need to exfoliate before as glycolic acid does the job for me. The peptide complex improves the benefits of salicylic acid by 4 times as much! It claims to penetrate the pores effectively and clear them of dead skin cells. Mandelic Acid also helps with gentle exfoliation and skin brightening. I had a lot of scarring after my first wave of breakouts and when my skin cleared up, it cleared up GOOD. My brother couldn’t even tell I had pimples thrown all over my forehead before. Not entirely sure if it was a combination of products I used (in addition to the clear days ahead line,) but I felt like these treatment pads did help.
Debating if I would buy them again, $49 may be a bit too pricey- what do you think?!
The Philosophy Clear Days Ahead oil-free salicylic acid acne treatment & moisturizer ($46 CAD) was my least favourite of the collection. It’s alright, but it’s not $46 good. I feel like if I used a good cleanser and toner, and I followed up with a spot treatment after, I wouldn’t need a moisturizer like this either.
The Clear Days Ahead Moisturizer contains 1% salicylic acid. It also has oligopeptide-10 and works to prevent the skin from developing new acne blemishes. The moisturizer also claims to provide oil control and deliver oil-free hydration. I didn’t find it moisturizing enough (mostly for a night time cream, I used a face oil on top of it.) I prefer using The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil Night Lotion for helping with my acne as I notice a quicker improvement (plus it’s cheaper!!)
One more comment – the packaging is kind of annoying. I want to squeeze a little bit but a lot of lotion pops out. And now I have a bunch of dried up, wasted lotion sitting around the mouth of the tube. 🙁
If there’s one product in here that I feel like it’s truly worth my money to purchase again; it’s the Clear Days Ahead fast-acting salicylic acid acne spot treatment ($25 CAD.) In fact, I already purchased a backup a few days ago during the VIB sale. I usually use the Clean & Clear Spot Treatment, which is less than half the price, but it definitely works slower than the Philosophy Spot Treatment.
The Clear Days Ahead Spot Treatment contains 2% salicylic acid – which probably explains why it dries up those effin’ spots and bumps and zits on my forehead so much faster than before. It also has 2% glycolic acid and polysilicone-11 to absorb oil. The spot treatment DOES have a bit of a silicone-y texture to it but I never had any problems with that. I find it easier to dab the product on and my have my skin absorb it. I’ve seen spots dry up and disappear as quickly as overnight and the giant arse bumps shrink quickly when I used this product.
If you have dry or sensitive skin easily, start slow with these products or you may end up having flaking skin. I had some super dried up spots where the skin was peeling off in flakes, flakes big enough that I found it fun ripping off my skin. TMI – but sometimes it’s a thrill to rip off stuff like that, like how big of a piece of nail polish can you peel off your nail? It feels so bad but feels so good. #notacrazylady
Philosophy Clear Days Ahead is not the most affordable acne killing collection out there; but there are a few good ones in here. Also, this is the first time reviewing Philsophy products on here and I hope to try more and talk about them! Off to a shower now then put some more acne spot treatment on my face (so glad I already got a backup.) The road to blemish free skin isn’t easy!!
You can purchase Philosophy Clear Days Ahead Collection online, or in stores at Sephora.
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Disclaimer: Press Sample provided, all opinions are my own.
