DHC Acerola 100

DHC is a Japanese mail-order cosmetics company most famous for its Deep Cleansing Oil, which is infused with olive oil and Vitamin E. The brand was basically built around its olive oil-based products and has since expanded its product lines. It is known among beauty junkies with sensitive skin looking for additive-free products. The brand can be somewhat compared to Fancl, another Japanese brand that started out as a mail-order company. Since Neova R2 Serum is a bit too much for my beauty pocket, good as it is, I couldn't help but look for an alternative. I found excellent reviews on DHC's Acerola 100 Serum. It worked very well for a variety of skin types, even those with rosacea. It is one of the harder brands to find (from where I live), so during a trip to Singapore, I got myself a bottle.

It comes in a girl-y pink box, which I wouldn't care for in skin care products. But the cute acerola berries (one in silver, another in white) and simple lay-out won me over. Leave it to the Japanese to entice.

The box comes with another layer of carton inside, which protects the glass bottle from breaking. 

The pink glass bottle comes with a clear plastic cap.

The back reveals this contains 30ml. The bottle feels very smooth and has a considerable weight that is nice to hold and feel.

DHC's Acerola line, which also includes toner, cream, and gel has the acerola fruit taking center stage among its ingredients. Every 100g of acerola contains as much as 1700mg Vitamin C. This serum promises to add clearness and firmness to skin. Aside from that, it can also treat skin damages and improve texture. Short of labeling it as a miracle-in-a-bottle, and no wonder, acerola is purportedly known as the "Miracle Fruit for skin and beauty." It contains only three simple ingredients to boot -- and is "free of colorings, fragrances, alcohol, and parabens."

I would normally hesitate when a product promotes such amazing claims, but most reviews confirmed that DHC Acerola 100 worked great for people with sensitive skin. 

The serum is yellow in shade and is very liquid in consistency. One pump produces the amount as pictured above. I should have known from the first moment I applied this on my face that it did not fare well with my skin. I used about two pumps because one pump did not feel like it provided adequate moisture. However, even while two pumps fully coated the surface of my entire face, the Acerola 100 just sat there. Not only did I catch its distinct sweet medicinal scent every few minutes, I felt the serum on my face throughout the day. It didn't absorb into my skin and also left a slippery, bordering on oily texture that was bothersome. Never learning my lesson and being stubborn (for I read reviews that one has to give this serum time to deliver its results), I continued with applying it day and night as my first skin care step for another week.

The only good thing I noticed was my face looked brighter, but other than that everything else was a disaster. My skin oiled up more, felt rougher (obviously no moisturizing properties from this serum), and worst of all, flared up my cheeks to crimson red and broke me out in tiny painful bumps, especially on the lower cheeks and near the mouth. I did not want to give up on it yet, so by that time I tempered the amount from two pumps to one. While my face did not feel as oily, the breakouts and redness continued. After 10 days with this acerola-miracle, I cut it off my regime. My skin has gotten so much better since I stopped using this. The acne has stopped, the redness drastically subsided, and no oily, uncomfortable feeling has been plaguing me. 

This is how it looks like when patted on the skin. You can see (with a sharp eye) tiny droplets remaining on the upper left corner. It doesn't really absorb into skin. I wouldn't recommend this to people with skin types leaning on oily or normal-to-oily, and especially not to those with rosacea. This seems to work out well with dry skin-type gals though, as evidenced by the glowing reviews of this blogger. 

The pamphlet introduces the product and includes usage instructions . . . in Japanese. 

Some more. Overall, a bitter disappointment of a serum. Never I mind, for I may use this on the neck, or on other body parts. Nary a product wasted!

Klenzit MS Microsphere Gel

I am of the spotted-kind. I get them every few weeks or so; they never stay away. They don't care that they're not welcome -- they just have to visit me at the very least once a month without fail. You can pretty much change anything now these days except genetics and skin. Well, you can change skin I guess, but I'm not into devouring potions or wielding knives. So I pestered the dermatologist for a good pimple murderer.

She paused for a while before muttering "Klenzit," as she scribbled out her prescription. 

It comes in a plain white soft plastic tube with a screw cap cover.

I have to be careful squeezing out the product for the opening is really huge. The gel is translucent in color. This drug is very potent; a little goes a long way. Although it has a tendency to dry out the areas applied on, it is simply the best pimple medication I have ever used, and that is a real compliment, because I've tried my fair share of acne busters from Differin, metronidazole, benzoyl peroxide, tea tree oil, etc. All those took weeks to zap breakouts, but Klenzit? Klenzit took under 2 hours for tiny ones, I swear. I don't even want to risk it losing efficacy by disclosing the great news, but it's really that good (knock on wood three times). Spots are visibly smaller in size after a few hours. Give a huge pimple one or two nights of consecutive application and it will say good-bye with a bang. You can see that it's really gone. As is always the case with unwelcome visitors, good riddance!

Above is an introduction to the product, which is made by an Indian pharmaceutical company. It is stated that adapalene, the drug of choice for this medicine is "delivered to the skin in a controlled time-release pattern after it has been applied." Differin, which I've used before, also goes by the generic name of adapalene, but I did not experience as spectacular results with it as I did with Klenzit, and I suspect it has a lot to do with the different technology applied on these two medicines, despite using a similar main ingredient.

The microsponge delivery system (read still shot above for more in-depth explanation) allows skin to absorb small amount of the drug over a period of time, which reduces or eliminates skin irritations. I didn't experience any significant skin reactions from Klenzit, aside from minor itchiness right after application that goes away in a few minutes. Dry spots are felt over medicated areas, but this is a minor price to pay and nothing that a good moisturizer can't address.

Klenzit has done for me what other pimple medications have never accomplished -- eliminate spots and acne, fast. I definitely recommend this to one and all.