Clinique Fresh Pressed Renewing Powder Cleanser for combination skin
High
- HighCombination Skin Fit
- HighEffectiveness
- HighSafety
A great choice for combination skin; a few products fit it even better.
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with combination skin: an oily T-zone, enlarged pores, and dry cheeks. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Offers moderate exfoliation for your combination skin due to salicylic acid and ascorbic acid, which help manage oiliness and provide antioxidant benefits. Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate and sodium cocoyl isethionate effectively cleanse pores, addressing your concern for oily shine.
- Sapindus Mukorossi Peel Extract offers soothing properties, contributing to a gentle cleansing experience suitable for your combination skin.
- The formula is safe for your skin, containing no harsh ingredients and including soothing components.
How to apply
- Could be used as part of your PM routine once a week. Start 3x/week and build up to daily use if your skin tolerates it well.
- Apply the enzyme powder cleanser after your regular cleanser and toner, but before your moisturizer.
- Pour a small amount into wet hands and rub together to create a creamy foam, then massage gently onto the face.
- Apply the enzyme powder cleanser on slightly damp skin to help activate the gentle exfoliating enzymes.
- Avoid the eye area and do a patch test before your first use to ensure your skin feels comfortable.
People Say
★4.2Overall rating based on 200+ reviewsUsers with dull, uneven, or mature skin frequently praise this cleanser for its ability to instantly brighten and polish the complexion, leaving skin feeling "glowy" and smooth. While the individual packet format is celebrated for maintaining Vitamin C freshness and travel convenience, some users find the packaging wasteful and fiddly to use, with a minority experiencing dryness or tightness after use.
Highlights
Travel-friendly design Often Mentioned
- “great for travel”
- “easy to pack”
- “perfect for gym bags”
- “no liquid restrictions”
Visible brightening Often Mentioned
- “visibly brighten my skin”
- “skin looks temporarily brighter”
- “super glowy”
- “awakens my complexion”
Fiddly packaging Often Mentioned
- “hard to open wet”
- “fiddly to hold”
- “annoying packaging”
- “powder spills easily”
Freshness and potency Sometimes Noted
- “sealed lightproof packets”
- “fresh Vitamin C”
- “activates with water”
- “no oxidation”
Gentle exfoliation Sometimes Noted
- “like a fine scrub”
- “polishes your skin”
- “refined texture”
- “exfoliates without grit”
High cost Sometimes Noted
- “quite pricey”
- “expensive for amount”
- “not worth the cost”
- “ripped me off”
Drying sensation Rarely Noted
- “robs skin of moisture”
- “tight as if sunburnt”
- “left face squeaky clean”
- “too harsh”
Wasteful packaging Rarely Noted
- “wasteful packaging”
- “too much trash”
- “lots of packets”
Sources: lovi.care, boots.com, adorebeauty.com.au, johnlewis.com, amazon.com, sephora.com, and more
Questions and answers
What makes Clinique Fresh Pressed Renewing Powder Cleanser a great fit for combination skin?
This cleanser is a great fit because salicylic acid and ascorbic acid offer moderate exfoliation that helps manage oiliness, while soothing ingredients keep the experience gentle. It also uses mild cleansers to effectively clean pores and tackle oily shine without harshness.
BioMed Research International, 2020Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
Which ingredients make this cleanser a good fit for combination skin?
Salicylic acid and ascorbic acid offer moderate exfoliation that helps manage oiliness on combination skin. Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate and sodium cocoyl isethionate effectively clean pores, while sapindus mukorossi peel extract provides soothing properties for a gentle cleanse.
What does Vitamin C do for combination skin?
Vitamin C helps brighten dull areas and smooth out uneven texture on combination skin while protecting against daily environmental stress. It may also help keep pores clear and skin firm by supporting collagen production, though drier spots may need an added moisturizer to stay comfortable.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2023
What does Salicylic Acid do for combination skin?
Salicylic acid helps clear clogged pores and balance oily areas while remaining gentle enough for dry spots on combination skin. It reduces breakouts and oiliness effectively with a low likelihood of irritation.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2023
Where does this cleanser go in a skincare routine for combination skin?
This enzyme powder cleanser goes in your weekly routine once a week as an exfoliating step, and you can carefully use it more often if your skin tolerates it well and sees good results.
Can I use this cleanser with retinol, and in what order?
You can use this cleanser in your routine when you use retinol, but keep them on separate days or use the cleanser in the morning and retinol at night to help avoid irritation. This cleanser contains salicylic acid and ascorbic acid, which gently exfoliate and manage oil, so pairing them with strong treatments requires care to keep skin calm.
BioMed Research International, 2020Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024
How often should I use this cleanser?
Start by using this cleanser once a week, and if your skin tolerates it well and you see good results, you can carefully use it more often. This gentle yet effective formula cleanses pores and helps manage oiliness while keeping your skin calm.
Can this cleanser clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for combination skin?
This cleanser is unlikely to clog pores or cause breakouts for combination skin because its ingredients help manage oiliness and effectively clean out pores. It also includes soothing components and has a safe profile that avoids harsh irritants, keeping your skin calm.
Is this cleanser fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol.
What the research says
A moisturizer containing licochalcone A, 1,2-decanediol, L-carnitine, and salicylic acid significantly reduced noninflammatory, inflammatory, and total acne lesion counts compared to a vehicle control in Thai patients during a 12-week maintenance phase.
BioMed Research International, 2020Twice daily application of a multitargeted dermocosmetic cream provided comparable efficacy to benzoyl peroxide 5% gel in reducing inflammatory, non-inflammatory, and total lesions in 150 Caucasian subjects with mild-to-moderate acne over 56 days, while demonstrating superior skin tolerability.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024The use of a salicylic acid-based dermocosmetic significantly reduces the needed quantity of benzoyl peroxide without impacting efficacy in mild to moderate acne, and as maintenance post-benzoyl peroxide allows a significant reduction of acne relapse compared to vehicle.
Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2023Sodium cocoyl isethionate micelles are too large to penetrate stratum corneum aqueous pores, resulting in significant steric hindrance that prevents skin barrier perturbation and explains its skin mildness.
Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2007Topical application of 5% vitamin C cream significantly improved global clinical scores, increased skin microrelief density, and induced elastic tissue repair in photoaged skin compared to excipient control in healthy female volunteers.
Experimental Dermatology, 2003Ascorbic acid 2-glucoside gel significantly reduced gingival melanin pigmentation after 4 weeks compared to placebo in 73 subjects with symmetric pigmentation.
Journal of Periodontology, 2009Topical application of VC-IP cream twice daily for 8 weeks reduces periorbital wrinkles in female subjects compared to a placebo cream.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2022Cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen achieved a higher cure rate (39%) than salicylic acid (24%) and a wait-and-see approach (16%) for cutaneous warts at 13 weeks in primary care patients.
CMAJ, 2010Treatment with 2% supramolecular salicylic acid hydrogel resulted in a regression and markedly improvement rate of 51.01% compared to 43.10% for Adapaline gel in patients with mild to moderate facial acne vulgaris, showing no significant difference in efficacy.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Topical 5% benzoyl peroxide plus salicylic acid achieved the greatest lesion reduction at early 2 to 4 week time points compared to benzoyl peroxide, clindamycin, and combination benzoyl peroxide/clindamycin, while 5% benzoyl peroxide plus salicylic acid and combination benzoyl peroxide/clindamycin showed similar efficacy at 10 to 12 weeks in acne patients.
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2010Vectorization of high molecular weight hyaluronic acid with clay enabled its penetration into deeper skin layers and led to a significant clinical reduction in fine lines in the crow's feet area compared to placebo after 28 days.
Skin Research and Technology, 2024Twice-weekly use of a clay mask over 4 weeks in 75 adults with oily or combination skin improved acne-related outcomes, sebum content, skin evenness, hydration, and reduced dryness and irritation.
Skin Research and Technology, 2023Clay jojoba oil facial masks reduced total skin lesions by a mean of 54% after 6 weeks in 133 participants with acne-prone, lesioned skin and mild acne compared to baseline.
Forschende Komplementarmedizin, 2012Sapindus mukorossi seed oil promoted wound healing, cell proliferation, migration, and exhibited anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities in cells and in rats compared to untreated controls.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2019Sapindus mukorossi flower water extract exhibited antioxidant, antibacterial against Cutibacterium acnes, and anti-inflammatory activities by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines in in vitro experiments.
Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 2025Caprine dermal scaffolds prepared using 5% Sapindus mukorossi fruit pericarp extract effectively achieved complete decellularization while preserving extracellular matrix architecture and promoted full-thickness skin wound healing in rabbits comparable to autografts.
Journal of Biomaterials Applications, 2025
Ingredients
Maltodextrin, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Kaolin, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Sapindus Mukorossi Peel Extract, Salicylic Acid, Allyl Methacrylates Crosspolymer, Cyclodextrin, Coconut Acid, Ethylbisiminomethylguaiacol Manganese Chloride, Water, Disodium Edta
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
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Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
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Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
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Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
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Victoria Derkova, MS
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist
How does it fit your skin?
Scan your face, then any product: Lovi shows how well it fits you and what fits even better.

