Categories: Acne

Does Neutrogena Skin ID Really Work?

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Having personalized acne treatment is the goal of Neutrogena Skin ID. This makes sense as there’s hundreds of different skin types and combinations so a one-size-fits-all treatment isn’t very logical. They’ve numbered all of their different products, and the system is designed to give you your special code that will unlock the joys of pimple free, clear skin. But does this really work, or is it just a gimmick used to sell more Neutrogena product?

Overview
It’s easy to see that a customized skin care program would be better than just going with something designed to treat everyone. So the real question here is whether you believe the products that are behind the Neutrogena Skin ID line are actually formulated differently than one another, or what’s already available in stores, and whether you think their evaluation process succeeds at pinpointing what you need. These are two big questions so let’s get to work on an answer.

The Claim
Neutrogena Skin ID claims to present you with your own unique product recommendations by asking you a series of simple questions. By going with their recommended lineup of products, they claim that you will have fewer breakouts, better skin tone all around, and less sensitivity that you would with conventional, or store bought products.

The Hype
The hype is that this could all be a ploy in order to sell more products. Is their evaluation process something that actually matches you with products that work for you, or does it just give the appearance that it is doing something scientific? Marketers are very clever these days, and coming up with a system that acts sophisticated like this can be done pretty easily. The end result is you’ll be presented with 3 different products, not just one, so this could be a way for Neutrogena to boost sales artificially.

The Cost
Neutrogena is well-known for being one of the more expensive products on the beauty shelf of the local supermarket. Because of their higher priced items, they have also been perceived as being of a higher quality than your other choices. The prices seem to range from about $7.50 to $20 depending on what you’re getting. The combinations packs come in at about $20-$30, or about a dollar a day or less.

The Commitment
Getting rid of your acne is not a passive activity. You have to be sure to stay with any treatment that you go with, whether its Neutrogena Skin ID or something else. Following the directions is vital, and keeping to a set schedule is key. Only be perfecting your own

The Process
First you start off with an evaluation, an 18 part questionairre that is supposed to determine what sort of products you should use for your personalized skin care regimen. This ends with them recommending a suite of products targeted at your problem areas, and geared to be an overall skin care solution. Each of their products has a number, so they give you your result which looks like a date. Mine was 07.32.53 which includes an Anti-Acne Treatment, a Cream Cleanser/Mask, and a Moisturizer.

What’s interesting to note is there might not be as many SkinID’s out there as they’d have you believe. Seems there are plenty of people out there that have the same ID as me, so there’s probably only a handful of combinations that they recommend.

I like how they take into consideration products you tried in the past, as well as where you live geographically. These sort of qualifications are things that you don’t really think about as you’re standing in front of the wall of skin care products at the local store or pharmacy, and should definitely be factored in.

The Neutrogena Skin ID ordering process is a little clunky. They already collect some of your data to start the evaluation, such as your first name, your gender, and your age. Once you’re ready to buy they force you to create an account at their site, and once you do that they take you to your shopping basket, but not all of your recommended items are in there, and you have to go hunting for them in the shop. It would be much easier if they would place your suggested products right into the shopping cart, allowing you to easily check out if you’re happy with what they’ve come up with. It would be easy enough to remove an item if you didn’t think it was necessary.

What People are Saying
Apparently they put you on an auto-refill program and they set it up to ship and charge before the 60 days are up. That’s a long time for anyone to remember to call and cancel before they get charged, so be sure to mark it on your calendar and call ahead of time if you don’t want to re-up.

The reviews for how well it works are mixed. Some people say it’s great and that it works better than prescription medication, while others say that it didn’t do anything, or caused them to break out more, and some raised suspicion of whether or not it was even personalized.

Final Neutrogena Skin ID Review

We still have our doubts as to whether this is a reliable system that really pairs you up with customized acne fighters and skin conditioners. However, there’s nothing specifically that gives any doubt that they’ve given it their best try. So don’t get your hopes up that this is the miracle you’ve been waiting for, but don’t pass it over either as it might be just what you need to get on top of the situation.

Our Recommendation
If you’ve been struggling to find a solution for your acne, you might consider giving Neutrogena Skin ID a try. It may or may not be personalized accurately, but it is a quality product that should be beneficial to your skin. While no 18 question survey will be able to accurately gauge which products you should be using, and no company has been able to come up with an acne product that works for everyone, this tips the scales slightly in your favor of finding something that actually works.