I was horrified when I went to Clinique to purchase my superfit foundation that I've worn for years and found out it was discontinued. The SA gave me generous samples of the Even Better and Acne Solutions to try. My skin is combo more on the oily side, uneven redness, sun freckles, old acne scars (I'm mid 30's now so they are like teen & early 20's old). I switched between the two samples and decided to go with Acne Solutions since it was mattifying and really kept my face oil free throughout the day and I didn't have to use powder. After two weeks of using it staright my skin on my cheeks was slighty redder, burned after washing and flakey/peeling patches with little red bumps. Then it occured to me that it was the foundation it contains salycic acid for acne treatment. Not so great if you don't have acne. I hate to be the one to take makeup back after using it but, I couldn't justify keeping it. When I took it back the sales associate said she would never have recommended Acne Soultions for me since I don't have a problem with acne but suggested Superbalanced she said that has the mattify that I need. So I will try that one and give me review later. continued >>

So I'm over 40 and still have acne. Hooray!!! Really thought this would go away in my 20s or 30s, no dice. My co-worker told me that it makes me look younger... :) I got a sample of this foundation from Sephora as a substitute for the sample I actually ordered. I figured why not try it out. I wore it around the house on a saturday and then again on sunday. The sample was 2 shades too dark for me, but I liked the staying power and the texture. It reminded me a little bit of Dior Nude texture-wise, but it was a teensy bit more matte.


I needed foundation anyway, so I Went to the clinique counter and bought a full size in the proper shade. I'm MAC NW20 and Diorskin Nude 022, and ended up in the lightest shade of this - Fresh Alabaster. There is no ultra fair shade unfortunately, as my daughter could have really used that.


So now that I've worn it for about 3 weeks, I can say that either I had some very unusual turnaround in my skin happen coincidentally as I started using this (really, 25 years of acne just magically ending doesn't seem plausible to me), or this foundation has really made a difference. I had these little bumps on my chin, close to the sides of my mouth. I literally had them for as long as I can remember. After wearing this foundation for a week... they were completely gone and are still gone. I made it through that time of the month without even a single blemish. All the blemishes I had when I first put that sample on... also gone. I'm shocked by how good my skin looks without makeup. I didn't use any different kind of skincare or change my diet dramatically. If anything, my diet was probably worse because of holiday eating!


Despite having acne, I also have issues with surface dryness. I live in the desert, it's almost impossible not to have that issue. This hasn't caused any additional dryness, surprisingly.


The active ingredient is .5% salicylic acid. It's on my face now, all day. Maybe that's what I needed?


Do I think it's a miracle product? no. Nothing is right for everyone. Am I completely shocked by the way my skin has reacted to this? Heck yes. A clinique foundation didn't seem like it would be the product that would make a difference in my skin. I mean really... a foundation?


If you suffer from acne, I think it's worth a try.

The coverage is medium and it stays on extremely well throughout the day ($31 at Sephora). I have very sensitive/oily skin with minor breakouts and thought this hypoallergenic foundation would be my savior. I didn't break out as much as other foundations and used this foundation for 2 months, but it still didn't work for me as I was still irritated (stopped using it and after a week my skin cleared by 75%).

I'm trying no foundation with concealer in problem areas as I'm still on the hunt for something that won't clog my pores.

I’ve been using this, as well as the Acne Solutions concealer and powder, for about a month now, and I adore it. I was hesitant at first about purchasing because I was afraid the salicylic acid would be drying and would interfere with the rest of my acne-fighting routine. It turned out that, not only do I barely feel it on my skin, my face feels healthier with the makeup than without it. I’m not quite sure if it’s helped with my acne because I started a couple different medications around the same time, but it certainly hasn’t made it worse. I use the lightest shade, and it goes on incredibly smoothly; I have pale skin with pink undertones, and I never find that the makeup is too yellow or orange. My one problem is that the powder seems to be pretty yellow, so I can’t imagine the entire routine being suitable for a single person. This being said, if you have golden undertones, you may or may not find the foundation and concealer a little too pink, but the powder might be to your liking. The foundation and concealer seem to have pretty good staying powder, though at the end of some days it’ll look sort of grainy on my face, but that might have more to do with my other acne products drying me out. Overall, I am definitely purchasing again.

I recently bought this foundation and have been using it for a few days. I can usually tell if I'm gonna like a foundation after 1 use. I do like this alot. On my very oily, acne prone skin, it last all day, with a medium coverage if I use my Mac 190 foundation brush, and a medium to full if stippled with my Mac 187 brush. The only problem I have with this is that the lightest shade, in my opinion, is a wee bit too dark for my skin. It's not very noticeable though, so I think when summer comes around, I'm gonna get me a tan :) But another reason why I like this is bc it does help my acne. Even though my acne isn't really that bad, it really bothers me ALOT! And within the few days I've used this, I've noticed some improvement, without changes to my skincare routine. So I'm hoping to keep using this product and hopefully my skin will improve as I go on. I am giving this 4 lippies bc I just love this so much, but 1 off for the color selection not being light enough for us fair complected ladies:)
***EDIT*** I have stopped using this product primarily bc of the way this just oxidizes so much thru the day. I also took off another lippie bc of this, which is very important, since I, as well as everyone else, don't want to look like an Oompa Loompa by the end of the day. I think that if you have darker skin, you could buy a lighter shade to match when it oxidizes, but it doesn't help for someone like me, who has to use the lightest shade.

I have a love hate relationship with this foundation and have been using it on and off for about 3 years it has medium to full coverage and lasts all day on my oily/combo skin needing to be blotted no more than twice a day. I can also testify to this foundation helping to clear up my acne as another brand of foundation which I tried (but cant be 100% sure broke me out) so I went back to my clinique acne solution and I can already see an improvement so watever is in it is definitley working.
In the summer however when its really hot it can get quite messy and has a tendency to oxidise. rrrrr! My only other problem with this is the colour selection 02 is a tad light and 03 is a little dark for me nw25-30 mixed together they create the perfect shade. I am always trying new foundations but when they dont deliver I always return to this.
Im giving this a 4 as when its good it really works! I have also reccommended this to my mum and sisters who also love it!

*I realise that this is a really mixed review but I just wanted to put across my own opinions on this because I feel it get a really bad write up from most.

I have been using this for the past two months and have seen a great improvement in my skin. I rarely, if at all, have anymore break outs. It has pretty decent coverage, it covers all my acne scars. I love that once it dries, it doesn't feel heavy like other foundations do. It has definitely become my favorite foundation.

This stuff is a life saver. The shading is also great, I use Alabaster since I'm pretty pale. The stuff isn't cheap but it isn't overpriced. Love it and have been using it for awhile now.

i got this a while back. it was a good product....it covered my acne well and i liked that it helped treat it too. when u use this though u still need to use another product like clearsil or something cuz the foundation wont clear it all up on its own. however its pretty pricey to me. plus i found another foundation thats by neutrogena that helps fight acne as well and does pretty much the same job but its more into my price range. you can find it at target for sure. this product by clinique is still good but id rather use the stuff by neutrogena cuz it does the same thing for less. oh yeah and with the neutrogena foundation u still need to use another treatment as well...i use clearsil acne wash

This is my go-to foundation. I wear it every single day without needing to re-apply it. It definitely keeps my acne in check, and it covers up all blemishes flawlessly.

I usually apply it with my fingers, but it looks best when applied with a foundation brush.

I have two concerns with this product:
1) It tends to make skin a little bit dry, so it should be used with a moisturizer.
2) I had a difficult time finding the right shade.