Yes to Tomatoes Acne Repairing Lotion : Product Review

One thing that I don't write about all too often is skin care and there are multiple reasons as to why I don't. The first and most important reason being that I don't think I have great skin, so I find it difficult to stand out as an authority on skincare. Second, I am not well versed in what to do for dry skin seeing as how I have combo skin in the winter and oily skin in the spring/summer/fall. However, I sometimes come across a product that I think is amazing and I want to spread some info about it. This particular product, Yes to Tomatoes Repairing Acne Lotion, came up on Glamour.com the other day and I decided to try it out. Keep reading to find out why I like it so much.

Like I said in the intro, I have oily skin any time that is not winter, so that would mean that I have oily skin right now. I completely removed any item with benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid from my skin regimen a few years ago since I realized that I don't need them. To this day, I will never recommend that anyone use numerous products with those chemicals, because I believe that too much of has the opposite effect. So, when I got to the store and saw that this product has salicylic acid in it, I was a bit reserved. However, I had read in the Glamour.com article that this "lotion" worked wonders on the reviewers skin and she recommended to anyone with little bumps on their face.

I'm not one to be really drawn in by "natural" products, but in case you are, Yes To is a brand that really takes the natural thing seriously. Even though this contains salicylic acid, it remains 98% natural and I've included a photo of the ingredient list so that you can judge for yourself is something like this will work for you skin. Now, on to my experience with the product.

If you noticed up above, I put the word lotion in quotations because this is really not what one would think of when they see the word lotion; it's really more like a serum. It comes with a pump top on the bottle and a little of this product goes a long way. I imagine that this bottle will last me a few months, which is nice since it was $14.99. It does have a... odd scent to it; not odd as in chemical-y, but like an odd nature scent. It does not smell like tomatoes, just natural in a scence. I smear this on my face after I wash it at night and then I apply my moisturizer on top of it (Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel - it's oil free and lightweight). 

I didn't see a vast improvement over night like the original reviewer claimed to have seen, but after a few days, I definitely saw an improvement in my skin. It hasn't made my skin perfect by any means, but it definitely helps keep my seasonal acne (I tend to break out a lot when it gets hot and humid) and little bumps much more under control. I find that the salicylic acid in this does not dry my skin, especially when I use it with my moisturizer. Not only does it keep my very mild acne in check, I also think my skin is softer and the overall tone of it is better. I never really believe the hype of internet reviews, but this product does seem to be pretty damn magical.

However, I did skip a few days of using this repairing lotion and in those few days, my skin reverted back to its original state... much to my dismay. I've been using this "lotion" (serum) for about three weeks now and I plan to keep it in my routine for a while to come. I like it so much, in fact, that I bought a cleanser from the same Yes To Tomatoes line (without salicylic acid) to start using in the near future. 

All in all, I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who has mild acne and wants to get it under control. If you've used this product, let me know in the comments down below!

(all photos copyright Allison Richardson Photography and not available for use without permission)