I Tried Glossier Solution So You Don't Have To!

Glossier announced a new addition to their skincare line last month - Solution. A chemical exfoliant touted as an "exfoliating skin perfector," Glossier claims that their Solution will "transform skin in four weeks." Naturally, as a skincare aficionado and a lover of a good miracle, I accepted the bait and purchased Solution. I also bought the Glossier branded cottons for $4, since buying the two enabled me to get free shipping under their normal free shipping threshold.

Glossier Solution

Glossier has great turnaround time and shipping, and after ordering on a Thursday, my order was in my greedy little hands on Monday. Unfortunately, Glossier shipped the Solution and the cottons separately, which is just a lot of excess packaging. I did, however, receive two sheets of stickers and two fragrance samples, so I got that going for me.

Let's quickly discuss the packaging. Both Solution and the cottons come in silver bags with product information on them. The bag for the cottons had a zip top, and the Solution bag was a tear open. Solution comes in a trademark millennial pink bottle that has a pump top. I love this pump top! It's easy to depress and doesn't squirt out too much product. I really wish more skincare came in packaging like this, or in pump bottles in general. Keeps everything nice and clean. The Glossier cottons are nothing special - regular cotton rounds embossed with the Glossier G. They did fit on top of the pump top perfectly, though.

On the product page, Glossier claims the following about the results of using Solution regularly:

"In a clinical trial of Solution daily users, 3 out of 4 people said...

AFTER 24 HOURS
_Skin felt cleaner and softer; they felt Solution working right after they applied it.

AFTER 1 WEEK
_Skin looked smoother, brighter, and clearer.

AFTER 2 WEEKS
_Pores were smaller and skin looked glowy; Solution reduced blackheads including around the nose.

AFTER 3 WEEKS
_Solution unclogged pores and reduced redness; skin was more even.

AFTER 4 WEEKS
_7 out of 10 people said skin looked transformed.
_3 out of 4 people said this was the solution they were looking for.
_In a poll of Solution daily users with acne-prone skin, 94% said their skin was clearer."

To test this, I decided to quit using all other chemical exfoliants/actives, and use Solution daily as apart of my nighttime routine. I decided I would do this for four weeks, to test their claims. Thankfully, I also bought their cottons, so I wouldn't be using one of my precious Shiseido face clouds every night during the experiment.

One of the big controversies about the release of this product is that Glossier does not provide the exact amount of each acid in their product. Directly on the bottle, the only Active Ingredient listed is Salicylic Acid (a BHA) at 0.5%. Glossier states that there is a "particular 10% blend" of BHA, AHA, and PHA within Solution, and many requests for the particular amounts of each have gone dodged or unanswered. Since reactions to actives like these really varies from person to person, many people want to know what the hell they're putting on their skin, and with good reason. I was (#)blessed with pretty resilient skin, so I decided to dive right in.

In the name of full disclosure, the following was occurring in my life during the experiment:

• I was about two weeks out from my period when starting use of Solution.
• I had recently changed birth control, switching from the pill to a hormonal IUD. I had the IUD placed in two weeks prior to starting Solution, and had not had any adverse skin effects in that time.

Now that we've gotten the packaging, secret formula, and intimate details of my life out of the way...let's talk about results. Please excuse the not great quality of the photos, as I took them in my bathroom with my phone. They get the point across, though. Here is my skin on the first day I started using Solution:

Glossier Solution - Week1, Day 1

My skin is okay here. Not bad at all, room for improvement with some redness and enlarged pores on my cheeks. Nothing some good ol' BHA can't fix, right? I used Solution after cleansing every night for a week. According to Glossier, 3 out of 4 people felt the product working in the first 24 hours.  I was that 4th person. Here's my Week 2 check in:

Glossier Solution - Week 2, Day 1

I was disappointed to see new breakouts occurring. Daily use of actives should be working against that, right? I also saw no reduction in the side of my pores on my cheek or nose. My skin did look a a little brighter, however. I kept using the product for another week, to really see if I would get the promised amazing skin transformation. Here's the start of week 3:

Glossier Solution - Week 3, Day 1

I was really unhappy with my skin at this point. I had several new pimples, and my pores still looked the same. My skin's texture wasn't smooth. I can't tell if I was glowy or greasy, but I didn't like how my skin looked. After two full weeks of using Solution, I was seeing none of the effects of my usual actives - forget about any of the skin transformation that Glossier claimed I was going to undergo. At the start of week 3 I quit using Solution and went back to my regular actives. My skin calmed down within the first couple of days, and this was during the start of my period!

While using Solution daily, I did not feel my skin was getting overly dry or tight. Thankfully, I did not seem to over exfoliate my skin while using an active daily. Again, not knowing what is in the product can lead to some unsavory side effects like over exfoliation when using something new daily. I will also admit that I did not test the pH, mostly because I did not buy any pH testing strips (my bad.) Glossier has stated that the pH is between 3.5-3.9. The product absorbed into the skin quickly, and did not feel tacky after it dried down. I only ever applied with a cotton pad, I never used my hands for application. It didn't have any super memorable or offensive scent, and the liquid was clear. Additionally, after two solid weeks of use there was plenty of product left. It's good to see that a product that asks to be used daily won't run out every month.

As always, I have nothing but praise for Glossier customer service. I requested a refund from Glossier, and they refunded me the full amount that very day, even though I had used store credit to pay for a portion of my purchase. I was able to keep the bottle of Solution as well, which I promptly rehomed. (I hope the new owner is one of the 3 out of 4 that has their skin transformed!)

I honestly don't know where Glossier is pulling their "3 out of 4 people absolutely lost their shit over this product!" claims. I kept thinking that maybe they didn't send this to people with established skincare routines, so the inclusion of a gentle everyday exfoliant literally changed their entire life around? Clearly they aren't looking to win over the established skincare routine crowd, simply by not disclosing how much of each acid is within the product. I wasn't pleased with this product, but I'm happy that I had a good customer service experience at the very least.

Pros:

• Pump top bottle!!
• Did not dry down tacky or sticky.
• Smells fine.
• Imparted a little glow that first week.
• Customer Service is top notch!

Cons:

• Literally no idea how much acid you are putting on your face.
• Fulfilled basically none of the claims.
• Actually made my skin worse while on my period than just being on my period alone.

Glossier Solution - $24 for 4.4 fl oz

Review - 1/5 (I really liked the pump top!)

If you want to check out Solution, or any other Glossier product and don't mind using a referral, my link is here. If you make a purchase using this link, you'll get 10% off, and I'll get $10 in store credit!