The Acne Series: Guest Review 3 of Aphelia Cosmetology

I was lucky enough to get three acne skincare packs from Aphelia Cosmetology for guest reviewers with acne to trial for me. I think that this is important because the treatment of acne is such a personalised journey that it is good to hear about the results of the skincare from a variety of people.

In the third review of this series, Nalini from The Made Up Maiden has reviewed this acne set for me. Nalini is 30 and has troublesome skin. She has tried many products to fix it without a lot of luck.

Here is Nalini's review:

I've always thought the journey to clear skin can be quite a complicated one. There are just so many things that affect the condition of your skin; genetics, skincare, diet, hormones, weather, stress...the list is endless.

In my case, both parents had acne when they were younger, and I had hopes that my acne would fade once I left my teens. My skin isn't completely horrendous, but I do have some minimal scarring on my cheeks (which goes away after a little while), and the odd large pimple on my chin during those hormonal times, which goes away after a while but is still really frustrating when it happens! I'm 30 years old, so it looks like these problems are here to stay. I have contemplated taking hormonal pills or medication aimed at reducing acne, but decided that the possible side effects haven't really been worth the benefit.

As a result, I was really keen to explore the Aphelia Cosmetology range and see if it lives up to the promise of helping with acne troubled skin. I would classify my skin as combination, the t-zone gets a little oily towards midday, while the rest of my skin is pretty much classified as 'normal'. I received the following items.

Master Cleanse Deep Cleanse Fluid:

This was the foaming cleanser that I used morning and night. It's packaged in a slimline silver tube that you pump to get the cleanser out. Like all foaming cleansers, you only need a tiny amount for your entire face. All you need to do is dispense into wet hands, rub together, and gently apply in circular motions. I felt that it was quite good at cleaning my face and my skin didn't feel dry or tight afterwards. It's also unscented, which is good because certain scents can really put me off using a product.

Classic Skin Purifier Cleansing Oil:

This is the cleansing oil that is packaged with the treatment essence. I didn't mind this product too much, it's basically unscented and you apply it by dispensing a couple of pumps into your hands, apply all over your face, then damped your hands and massage to emulsify. I felt that this did a fair job of cleansing my makeup off, but I did feel that it didn't quite work as well as my much beloved Shu Uemura cleansing oil. I ordinarily double cleanse at night, once using the cleansing oil, and then follow up using the deep cleanse foaming fluid. Using this left my skin feeling quite supple and clean. What I liked most about this is it's packaged in a clear tube, which is very handy at estimating how much you have left before you need to repurchase.

Acne treatment 12+5 essence:

This is basically the star item in the range, as it's supposed to target the blemishes. I was initially a little put off by this. It's packaged in a pump-action, slimline tube, with the essence being a yellow, clear liquid with a very strong scent. I'm hard pressed to define it but I would say that it's quite herbal. It does fade a little while after application but it did take me a while to get accustomed to the scent. You're supposed to put this on after you've cleansed and dried your face, concentrating on blemishes before spreading the remaining product over the rest of your face.

Overall, I must say that I did notice a change in my skin. It's much clearer than it used to be and I don't get breakouts as often as I did. However, as I mentioned in my introduction, there are many factors that could have contributed to this, so I'm not really sure if it's because of regular use of these products.

I do like the range though and I would probably repurchase the deep cleanse fluid and the essence, the only downside is I find the essence a little expensive at $49 a bottle. It does come packaged in a set with the cleansing oil, which retails at $49.95 (making it much more affordable to get the set), but I happen to like the foaming cleanser more than I like the oil. This leads to me to believe that paying $49 for just the essence alone isn't quite justified.

Thanks for your detailed review, Nalini.

If you missed the two other reviews in this series, you can find them here and here.

If you would like to try Aphelia Cosmetology to see if it can fix your acne then you are in luck. I am giving away an entire set of the products that you have seen reviewed here. I will have the link to that giveaway up this afternoon.


What has been your acne Holy Grail products?


All opinions are my own or Nalini's own and we received no remuneration for this post. The products were provided to Nalini for her consideration.