Salicylic Acid 2% Solution.

"I used to absolutely be obsessed with that serum. The Ordinary is great for basically doing exactly what he's doing right now, targeting specific skin issues, and they're straightforward, effective, and affordable. It's at 2%, which is the highest percentage of salicylic acid you can have in a non-prescription formula. I would say that serum is best used as a spot treatment for any areas that are experiencing breakouts or blocked pores. And I [...] love that he mentioned that he doesn't use it at the same time as his retinol, which is amazing because salicylic acid and retinol are two of those ingredients that you really do not want to mix together. It can result in skin sensitivity, irritation, even more peeling, sensitivity, and dryness."

"The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Solution is a lightweight serum that exfoliates inside the pores to keep them clear. It helps reduce blackheads, whiteheads, and oily shine. Because it doesn't increase sun sensitivity as much as retinoids, it can be used morning and night. It is best for clogged pores, blackheads, or textured skin. The key ingredient is the 2% salicylic acid which clears pores, helps prevent breakouts, and minimizes oil. When you're minimizing oil you can cause dryness, so I wouldn't start doing this morning and evening right off the bat. The serum also contains niacinamide which will help reduce some of the inflammation and support the skin barrier, as well as panthenol and sodium PCA which hydrate and calm the skin. The Ordinary can be found in most drugstores and is very, very affordable."

"When I woke up for work the next morning and I looked in the mirror, I wondered what was all over my face. My initial reaction was that it was loads of spots. It kind of looked like I had 100 whiteheads on my face. I touched my chin and that's when something popped and I realized that they were blisters. All this clear and yellow liquid came out. It was horrible. [...] It felt like a throbbing pain on my face. It was burning and sore to touch, my forehead was where it hurt the most, as that was the deepest burn. [...] The packaging only warned about stopping use in case of persistent irritation and that the product could increase the skin's sensitivity to the sun."

"I would recommend the Salicylic Acid 2% in Hydrous Solution. This is one of their newest Salicylic Acids that they came out with and I much prefer this formulation over the original one because this one is water and oil-free but it's in a squalane base which allows this serum to be more gentle, more moisturizing, and it just feels more comfortable on the skin. Although I have combination skin I can break out from time to time, sometimes when I use Salicylic Acid this ingredient can be a little bit sensitizing on my skin, sometimes I do experience dryness and a little bit of redness along the way. When I use the in Hydro solution I never ever experience that. So if you are more that sensitive skin type but you have acne I would say go with the in Hydro. It is a little bit thicker but it's still very very thin and lightweight. It's thicker than the original Salicylic Acid 2% Solution as that one is a water-based serum, so very thin, it absorbs into your skin really quickly, and they do the exact same thing, it just depends if you want the squalane base or the water base."

"As an anhydrous solution, this doesn't have water in it; instead of being in a water base, it's in an oil base, in squalane oil. Squalane is a non-comedogenic or non-pore-clogging oil, so this is supposed to not cause acne. One of the main reasons I got excited about this is we get questions all the time about having acne and sensitive skin, and this is actually going to help fill that space, especially for the over-the-counter world, because this gives you a salicylic acid but squalane is just such a soothing, moisturizing ingredient. It's like a humectant and a moisturizer. This actually provides that dry, sensitive, acne-prone skin with an actual simple and easy to use product. If you're somebody that's wanted to use salicylic acid but you find that every salicylic acid product out there tends to dry you out, then this is the product for you because that squalane base really tends to hydrate the skin and have the benefits of salicylic acid that slowly over time concentrates in your pores but at the same time doesn't dry you out. I would use this product now."

"Salicylic acid is actually oil soluble. So it binds to oil and it goes into the pores. It flushes out dirt, debris, excess sebum, blackheads, sebaceous filaments, all gone. It just makes sense to have salicylic acid in an oil-based formula. And so it baffles me that no other brands seem to be doing this. There are a couple on the market, but they come with quite bougie price points. The Ordinary are, to my knowledge, the only affordable drugstore priced oil-based salicylic acid. And this could be a game changer. How I use it is a couple of times a week. I'd recommend once or twice max. I put a couple of drops of this onto my nose, which is where I tend to get my blackheads. And I massage it in and I keep massaging for a solid five minutes. And then almost you feel this gritty graininess on the hands. And that is all that excess oil, sebum, dirt, debris, and blackheads popping out of the nose, and you'll just be left with such a clear complexion. It takes a couple of goes of doing this to really kick it in. I'd say maybe give it five goes, and that's when you see those elevated results, but it's worth it. Inexpensive, it's less than £10, and you can get rid of all of your blackheads and sebaceous filaments by just doing that twice a week."