Clinique For Men Face Scrub for combination skin
Salicylic Acid
Glyceryl Stearate
Methylisothiazolinone
Hexylene Glycol
Disodium Oleamido Mipa-Sulfosuccinate
Average
- AverageCombination Skin Fit
- AverageEffectiveness
- HighSafety
Works for combination skin; other exfoliants fit it 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, which aids in cleansing pores and managing oily shine. However, it lacks sufficient hydrating ingredients to fully support the drier areas of your combination skin.
- The formula is generally safe for your combination skin, as it avoids harsh or prohibited ingredients that could cause irritation.
- While it provides general cleansing benefits, its exfoliating function is not specialized enough to significantly address your primary concern of oily shine.
How to apply
- Use this exfoliant product in your PM routine starting once a week, then increase frequency carefully if your skin feels fine.
- Apply this exfoliant step after cleansing and toner, but right before your moisturizer.
- Gently press 2-3 drops of the exfoliant into your skin and wait a minute before layering.
- Apply the exfoliant to clean, dry skin to help control your oily shine comfortably.
- Avoid the eye area and do a patch test before your first use.
People Say
★4.6Overall rating based on 1.2k+ reviewsBased on a very large amount of data, this product is highly effective for oily and combination skin, frequently clearing pores and preparing skin for shaving. Users often report a smoother skin texture and reduced ingrown hairs. However, some users with sensitive skin find it too harsh, and a few mention stinging from menthol or difficulty dispensing the product.
Highlights
Leaves skin smooth Mostly Mentioned
- “Leaves skin feeling clean, smooth, and refreshed.”
- “Rinsed off, skin feels genuinely smoother.”
- “Leaves the skin feeling refreshed, smooth, and clean.”
- “Clears away dead skin perfectly.”
Clears pores Often Mentioned
- “Completely clears my pores and makes my skin feel so glossy and clean.”
- “Softens the look of congested pores over a few weeks of regular use.”
- “Good product... good at removing blackheads.”
- “Unclogging pores and removing dirt and oil.”
Excellent shave prep Often Mentioned
- “Excellent scrub both for making skin look fresher & for a pre shave.”
- “Game-changer for managing my coarse facial hair and prepping my skin before a shave.”
- “Few scrubs make the razor's job this much easier.”
- “Helps prepare skin for a closer, more comfortable shave.”
Reduces ingrowns Sometimes Noted
- “Noted for its ability to help with ingrown hairs.”
- “Helps reduce the likelihood of ingrown hairs.”
- “Fine rounded granules help lift beard hairs, reduce ingrown hairs.”
Harsh on skin Sometimes Noted
- “Wouldn't recommend it to someone with sensitive skin.”
- “You should know that this is a very aggressive scrub.”
- “How harsh it was exfoliating... literal scrub with no lubricant.”
- “Fast route to a stripped, tight, over-exfoliated mess.”
Hard to dispense Rarely Noted
- “Dissatisfaction with the current tube design, finding it difficult to dispense.”
- “Consistency quite thick, making it difficult to dispense from its container.”
- “I feel for the price paid, the tube should be bigger!”
Menthol stings Rarely Noted
- “Others find it stings... it is just menthol.”
- “Mixed opinions on recent formula changes, particularly regarding grit and menthol.”
- “Held back by menthol and a preservative.”
Sources: lovi.care, macys.com, sephora.sg, ulta.com, bloomingdales.com, kohls.com, and more
Questions and answers
How well does Clinique For Men Face Scrub work for combination skin?
Clinique For Men Face Scrub is an average fit for combination skin because it helps clean pores and manage oily shine with salicylic acid, but it lacks enough hydrating ingredients for the drier areas. A product of this type needs soothing and nourishing ingredients like plant oils, squalane, and barrier-repairing extracts to support both oily and dry areas without causing imbalance.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2023
Which ingredients make this exfoliant a good fit for combination skin?
Salicylic acid helps this exfoliant clean out pores and manage oily shine on combination skin. To work even better for this skin type, a product of this type needs soothing and nourishing ingredients, such as squalane and plant oils, to keep the drier areas hydrated and healthy.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Journal of Drugs in 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
What does Glyceryl Stearate do for combination skin?
Glyceryl Stearate helps keep combination skin soft and smooth by holding moisture in while feeling light on oily and dry areas. This ingredient is unlikely to cause irritation and is well tolerated by everyday skin types.
Where does it go in a skincare routine for combination skin?
This exfoliant goes into a combination skin routine once a week. Because this skin type features both dry and oily areas, an exfoliant of this type needs soothing and hydrating ingredients alongside pore-cleansing agents to properly balance and care for the skin.
Can I use it with retinol, and in what order?
This scrub can be used alongside retinol, but apply them on different days or times to avoid making your skin too dry or irritated. Because it contains salicylic acid and offers only an average fit for your skin, combination skin requires products that balance pore cleansing with plenty of hydrating ingredients for drier areas.
How often should I use it?
Start using this exfoliant once a week to see how your skin reacts, and carefully use it more often if you tolerate it well and see good results. Combination skin needs products that both clean pores and provide enough hydrating ingredients to support drier areas.
Can it clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for combination skin?
This scrub is unlikely to cause breakouts on combination skin because it contains salicylic acid to help cleanse pores and manage oily shine, though it lacks enough hydrating ingredients for drier areas. To care for combination skin, this type of product needs a balanced formula that provides pore-clearing ingredients alongside rich hydrators to keep dry spots soft and smooth.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2023
Is it fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
Yes, it has no fragrance and no drying alcohol.
What the research says
Twice 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, 2023A 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, 2020Cryotherapy 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, 2010
Ingredients
Water, Glyceryl Stearate, Silica, Hexylene Glycol, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Disodium Oleamido Mipa-Sulfosuccinate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Salicylic Acid, Stearamidoethyl Diethylamine, Butylene Glycol, Menthol, Trisodium Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Sulfate, Oleamide Mipa, Caramel, Methylisothiazolinone, Phenoxyethanol
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.
-
Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
-
Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
-
Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
-
Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
-
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
-
Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
-
Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
-
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.