natural blemish-clearing products: Juice Beauty review

Disclaimer: I was sent these products for free in exchange for a review, but that in no way affected my review or opinion. Just keeping it real as always!

Just as much as I believe that you should be putting real foods in your body, I also believe you should putting real products on your skin.

What does that mean even? Well, let's hop real quick into my past:

Teenage Nancy had the typical hormonal acne; I tried a ton of different products, from Proactiv to drugstore to antibiotics. The only thing that ended up working was a combo of prescription topical medication and my trusty Clarisonic (and honestly, moving to college — I guess I grew out of it?).

But anyway, through it all, my dad, a chemist, would laugh and tell me he could basically create the products I was spending so much money on by himself at the lab. Hey dad, I did fall for packaging, but I was probably also the most knowledgeable teen on the difference between salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide, and various other ingredients commonly found in skincare and their effects. Because Google. And because I wanted a skincare fix.

My mother, on the other hand, had a very simple skincare routine: things like pure vitamin E oil, fresh aloe vera, sea salt scrubs... and her skin was unlined, usually unblemished, and glowing.

As I've grown into finding what works for me (and after a lengthy chat during my facials at Balans Organic Spa about the importance of ingredients), I look carefully at the ingredients in every single product I use on my face. Like processed foods, there are so many products where you read the back and are like, "I literally know none of this."

That's why when Juice Beauty reached out and asked if I'd be interested in testing out some of their new products, I was more than happy to. Their products are formulated without the use of the 11 top things you should avoid in your beauty products.

My skin was not super great after a combination of the humid Boston summer and a semester of stress, so I opted to try their Blemish Clearing™ Oil-Control Skincare line. They sent over 3 products: the Blemish Clearing Cleanser, the Blemish Clearing Serum, and Green Apple Blemish Clearing Peel.

I did a slow phase into these products, as I wanted to make sure my skin didn't react weirdly. (Yup, because on top of combination/oily, acne-prone skin, my skin is also super sensitive. Go figure.)

I tested out the cleanser first and honestly loved it. It doesn't smell very strongly, a little earthy, but not offensive. It's a thick gel cleanser that didn't strip my skin of oil but did a good job of making sure my skin didn't get overly oily later on in the day. I workout and sweat a lot, but I always felt my skin was properly cleaned after using this.

I then started using the serum next, first as a spot treatment and then all over my face. I was a little wary of it at first — my skin doesn't have a great history with salicylic acid, a common acne-fighting ingredient that's present in this serum. Instead, my skin tended to like benzoyl peroxide, the other most common acne-fighting ingredient. Here's a testament that skin changes: the serum didn't break me out and helped fade existing pimples.

It definitely wasn't one of those spot treatments where I saw a pimple disappear almost completely overnight, but it was definitely smaller and less significant.

Lastly, the peel. I recommend testing new skincare products in this way if you have sensitive skin — go from least harsh to most harsh. Like the serum, it contains salicylic acid, but this wasn't too harsh for my skin either. I also didn't see an immediate change, but skincare takes time (give it about a month — that's how long it takes for skin cells to shed and your skin to "renew").

Overall thoughts? I'm definitely grateful for the opportunity to try this line. I do feel like my skin has been clearing up, but I've also just come off winter break where I slept a lot (sleep does wonders for your skin), spent a lot of time in the fresh air, and also stopped eating dairy (which is a huge factor).

I do recommend trying this out if you like natural skincare and want a product with no weird ingredients — because who wouldn't?

Update: I've tried Juice Beauty and loved it; I've been playing around with a couple of different skincare products (all natural, of course!) over the course of the past year and have finally fallen in love with a mix between Marie Ackerberg's products and BeautyCounter products. To shop with me on BeautyCounter or learn more, click here!