Not all acne products work. You may have found this out the hard way, like when you really needed to make a blemish disappear, and the cream/serum/treatment that you turned to flaked on the job. Clinique’s Acne Solutions Clinical Clearing Gel is a rare find, in that it won’t let you down.

The new treatment, just released this spring, employs 1% salicylic acid to clear badly behaving skin. I use the gel as needed in the morning, usually around my forehead and chin. It can double as a spot treatment too, which comes in handy with an isolated zit situation. Clinique says that the gel works as well as a leading prescription treatment, which is good to know. The fact that it actually throws a sizeable dent into acne is even better to know. Just make sure you follow the clearing gel with a moisturizer, as it tends to dry even oily skin when left without an emollient chaser.