Clinique arrived in April 1968 with 117 products and a very serious idea: skin care should be simple, tested and a little bit clinical. Here is the cleanser-toner-moisturizer core, the makeup that grew up around it, and the men's line and the cocoa perfume that round out the shelf.
Clinique and the White Lab Coat: A Shelf That Still Feels Like 1968
Clinique premiered in April 1968 as the first allergy tested, dermatologist-driven line, and it launched with 117 products. The idea started a year earlier, with a 1967 Vogue article called Can Great Skin Be Created, written by the beauty editor Carol Phillips with Dr. Norman Orentreich. Evelyn Lauder carried it to Estée's attention. She also named the brand, after seeing Clinique Esthétiques signs in Paris, and she was the first to wear the white lab coat.
I love that origin story because the brand never really left it. Even now, Clinique feels like a shelf you would build with a friend who is slightly bossy about order. Wash, tone, moisturize. Repeat.
The All About Clean Liquid Facial Soap in the Mild formula is the first step for me, a wash that cleans without leaving skin squeaky. The Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm is what I use when there is makeup to remove, and it melts on dry hands and rinses off clean. The Clarifying Face Lotion Toner 2 is the classic swipe-on step, made for dry combination skin.
Then come the moisturizers. Moisture Surge 100H is the gel-cream I want on a hot day, bouncy and light. The Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel is made for supporting the skin barrier, and it is the one I would hand to anyone starting from zero. The Smart Clinical Repair Lifting Face and Neck Cream is the richer one, for evenings and drier weeks.
A small test: after a week of the same three steps, does your skin feel calmer at the end of the day than at the start. If so, stop adding things.
Clinique skin care
All About Clean Liquid Facial Soap, Mild
Clinique
$24.65
Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator
Clinique
$26.35
Clarifying Face Lotion Toner 2
Clinique
$19.55
Take The Day Off Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm
Clinique
$44
Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel for Skin Barrier Repair
Clinique
$34
Smart Clinical Repair Lifting Face and Neck Cream
Clinique
$70.55
The makeup that grew up next door
The makeup came later, and it kept the same temperament: plain, wearable, not trying to shout. It is the kind of makeup you can pick up in a hurry and wear without thinking about it.
Superbalanced Makeup Foundation is the natural-finish one, made for dry combination to combination oily skin, and it looks like skin with a little order imposed on it. Even Better Makeup SPF 15 Foundation is the one aimed at evening out the look of tone, with a touch of sun protection built in. Neither needs a brush, which suits me. Two fingers and a damp sponge will do.
The lip story is the more recent one. In 2021 the Black Honey shade of Almost Lipstick went viral on social media, and in 2024 the brand expanded into lip oil and eyeshadow. The Almost Lipstick in Black and Pink Honey pairs the famous shade with a softer pink, and the plain Almost Lipstick is the way to browse the rest of the shades. It goes on like a tinted balm and you can put it on without a mirror, which I do, often, in taxis.
High Impact Volumizing Mascara is the dark, clean lash coat, and the Quickliner for Eyes is a slim pencil for a smudgy line along the lashes. Use the pencil first, then the mascara, and you are done in a minute.
Match foundation at the jaw in daylight, not under shop lights. It is the least glamorous advice and the most useful.
For him, and one for a good mood
Clinique For Men is one of the quieter corners of the counter, and one of my favorites for anyone who says they do not have a routine. It keeps the same logic as the rest of the brand: a short list that you can actually follow.
The Daily Hydrator SPF 35 Moisturizer is the morning step, moisturizer and sun protection together, so there is one fewer bottle by the sink. The Moisturizing Lotion is the lighter, everyday option for the evening. The Face Scrub Exfoliator with Salicylic Acid is for a couple of mornings a week, and I would keep it to that. The Aloe Shave Gel is the shave step, and a small, easy pleasure in the morning. Anyone can use any of these, obviously. Shave gel is also very good on legs.
Then there is My Happy Cocoa and Cashmere. The original Clinique Happy was created in 1997, launched in 1998 and composed by Jean Claude Delville and Rodrigo Flores-Roux, and it leans on citrus: orange, blood grapefruit and mandarin, then flowers and musk. This one is the sweeter, warmer side of the family, built on cocoa, vanilla and musk, and I think of it as a cardigan in a bottle. Try it on skin for an hour before deciding.
What I would skip: layering an exfoliating scrub on skin that already feels sore from shaving, and doing it on the same morning as any strong active. Give your face a day of rest, use the plain moisturizer, and come back to the scrub later in the week.
How I would shop the counter
When I stand at any counter, I ask for three things: a cleanser, a moisturizer and one product I will actually use daily. Everything else can wait.
For dry or tight skin, choose the gel or balm first and add the richer cream in cold months. For makeup, pick the foundation by jaw color, the lipstick by how bare you want to look, and one lash product only. If you are shopping for someone else, the men's moisturizer with sun protection is a very easy present, and a perfume is a good add-on once you know their taste.
Give any new step two or three weeks. If irritation, redness or stinging lasts, stop and see a doctor or a dermatologist. Simple routines are not magic, but they are easy to keep, and that is most of the point.
