Beauty Stat - For the beauty obsessed who demand the facts not fiction.

The Next Big Thing comes in many forms – new ingredients, time savers, and fresh formulas for old ingredients. MaxClarity takes the latter two and wraps them up in a convenient acne-fighting package. The new acne treatment shares the same niche as Proactiv with its direct-to-consumer sales at MaxClarity.com, but other than that and the price point, the similarity between the two systems ends there. Dr. Julie Harper, a dermatologist and founding director of the American Acne and Rosacea Society, most often hears patients complain about the lengthy time a regimen takes and the heavy quality of the cleansers and lotions. To remedy this, MaxClarity employs VersaFoam for each step, so the cleanser, toner, and treatment all deliver benzoyl peroxide and salicyclic acid to the skin in a mousse sinks in quickly with no residue.

The MaxClarity cleanser contains 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, just like its Proactiv counterpart, but the foam irritates sensitive skin less than the grain scrub. In the mornings, MaxClarity recommends following the cleanser with the treatment foam, also containing 2.5% benzoyl peroxide. In the evening, skip the treatment and use the salicyclic acid toner foam instead. Both treatment and toner take less than a minute to dry on the skin, leaving the consumer free to move on to other things in the look-good-feel-great routine to which many of us subject ourselves. For those of us that struggle with and acne and wrinkles, Dr. Harper notes that since the foam aggravates skin less than other types of acne products, so it MaxClarity fits easily into an anti-aging routine that includes retinol.

To launch this acne system with the pomp it deserves, the company invites users to a Fresh Face Challenge. Simply record your journey using MaxClarity with before and after photos and a paragraph about a positive change you’ve experienced as a result, and upload them at www.freshfacechallenge.com before September 24, 2010. The winner and their guest score a trip to Los Angeles or NYC complete with a makeover and shopping spree. If you don’t win, you still have better-looking skin. I’ve heard of worse deals.

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- Katharine McKenzie