Arethusa

^^ you're kidding... i know everyone's skin is different but i've tried pretty much everything over the years and kiehls does not suck.

totally forgot, def try shiseido men. i use to use the cleanser, scrub (but i needed something more gentle). they work really good. i still use the day/night cream!

I'm really not. They're ludicrously overpriced for rather mediocre products. I guess they don't suck as much as Zirh, in that they are not actively destructive. As with a lot of crappy lines, there are a couple of decent products (some of the hair stuff, mainly), but you can generally do far, far better for less money elsewhere.

And, yes, Shiseido's men's line is pretty decent. A bit overpriced, in my opinion, but not bad.

agree with lowrey, this is just plain logic. You can't take care of existing skin blemishes by drying them up with acids, that doesn't really address the true problem. Blemishes are the byproduct of bacterial infections- by the time you have a pimple the skin is already treating itself, anything in there inside your pore that you would see with the naked eye is your immune system at work.

Skin pores clog themselves and unclog themselves all the time and most don't become infected so long as you don't intake excess fat and oils or dehydrate yourself, so really, the important part of this is just addressing the issue of bacterial infection. Using something intended to dry and really attack the skin is the wrong way to go.

You don't dry your face out with acids unless they are extremely harsh (eg an acid peel). Most stuff that tends to dry out your face is actually mildly to extremely basic (eg harsh detergents; soaps, which are basic salts; benzoyl peroxide etc). The purpose of alpha hydroxy and beta hydroxy acids isn't to "dissolve blemishes" but to dissolve sebum and dirt buildup in the pores on your face in order to prevent clogging (which can lead to infection, blackheads, and more unpleasant forms of acne). And, as far as far as that goes, they're pretty effective at it, provided you find a product that works for your face. Diet is important, certainly, but most of the time, it isn't close to being enough.

Anyway, I mod over at MenEssentials, so I would unsurprisingly suggest going there if you're interested in finding out more about this. A lot of the suggestions here, especially in regards to products, are honestly not very good. Suggesting entire lines rarely works out well for people, and I don't think I know anyone who uses products exclusively from a single company.

And Kiehl's and Zirh suck.