What it is: Skin Abstract‘s Blemish Potion, a bi-layered 5% sulpher spot treatment in the strain of Mario Badescu’s Drying Lotion. (Which, unfortunately, I haven’t tried, so I can’t make comparisons!)
The basic gist of things: Normally, I pay very little attention to skincare press releases — I have my skin routine pretty much figured out, and while it’s boring, I wouldn’t want to sacrifice clear skin for my short attention span! (That’s a lie. I totally want to. But I won’t, and that’s what’s important.) However, when I noticed that the Blemish Potion is paraben-free and based with sulpher (my favourite acne-fighting ingredient,) I had to give it a try. My Potion is in the shade “light,” but it comes in “white” (for the nighttime) and “dark” as well. I have to admit, though, its downfall is that it doesn’t exactly smell great!
Application and wear: I didn’t love the unsanitary nature of using a re-dippable wand and touching it to acne, so I use the wand to get product on a q-tip, then use the q-tip to actually apply product to my skin. Problem solved? Probem solved! Edit: I had a chat with Karen, one of the brains behind this beauty, and she let me know that the top layer of this bi-layered Potion is actually alcohol — which cleans the wand every time you pull it out or dip it in. It’s brilliant!
Anhow… the Blemish Potion dries very quickly, and once it’s dried it doesn’t budge. Like my other favourite sulpher-based acne treatment, the Potion really helps cover up redness, acting almost like a colour-corrector underneath your base products. Though “light” is too dark for me, putting foundation or concealer overtop the Potion (once it’s dried) basically creates a perfect finish, no additional finicky green-colour-correcting needed!
Note: it’s the perfect shade for my sister, so it doubles as a concealer and a spot treatment for her. And it looks flawless!
But was it effective? Can you give me a Y? Can you give me an E? Can you give me an S?
Please? Please can I have them?
Alright, FINE. If you won’t give me a “yes,” I’ll give you one: YES!
While my skin’s doing quite well on its own, I do still have the occasional zit — and this takes care of them lickety-split. It brings acne to the surface and then to a head in about three to five days, for me, which is ages better than the two or three weeks that those deep bumps would normally take to go away! The only downside to this is that, if you have acne all over your forehead, it won’t make the best all-over treatment. But, I mean, that was pretty darn obvious.
The verdict? Je l’aime! While I’m not sure if I’ll leave my Drying Cream for this (this is more expensive and seems to be used up more quickly,) I am very happy with it. It’s $18-20, depending on where you pick it up, and I’d definitely recommend it for ladies who either can’t find the Mario, or who have darker skin. (The Drying Cream only comes in one shade, and though it’ll work for treating acne, it won’t help you with that concealing! This one, on the other hand, comes in three.)
