Zeno Mini Acne Clearing Device, Black

As a teenager, I was never really bothered by acne. Fate, however, was having the last laugh by causing me to have monthly outbreaks that seem to have gotten worse as I've gotten older. If you are a woman in your 40s, you may be experiencing the same thing.I wash my face at least twice a day with soap and water and I use a mild astringent or clarifying lotion about once a day. My outbreaks are cyclical, very much linked to monthly hormonal changes. Because my acne has been worsening, I asked my family physician for a referral to the dermatologist - and the soonest I can get an appointment is February 2009!Last month, I was in the skin care section of my local drugstore, looking for something more powerful than the usual benzoyl peroxide cream, when I saw the store display of the Zeno mini. Given the price tag, I decided to go home and do some research before buying, and I recommend you do the same if you are considering this product. What I read encouraged me. I chose the Zeno mini because it costs a lot less than the Zeno Pro and it takes standard AAA batteries (included) instead of relying on a non-removable internal battery that can potentially go bad. Since I was just starting to recover from two bad blemishes and noticed another big one coming in, I decided to upgrade delivery to overnight (only $3.99 with Amazon Prime).Here's what happened:Day 1: Big blemish starting to appear on chin. Ordered Zeno mini for overnight delivery.Day 2: The Zeno arrived by 9 am! I quickly inserted the included batteries and turned it on. It takes about 2 minutes to warm up. Read the instruction booklet. It advises you to wipe the metal tip of the Zeno with rubbing alcohol before every use. (Remember you are trying to kill bacteria, not spread it around with a dirty tip!) Once the Zeno was ready, it beeped and I applied it to the blemish. It beeps every 30 seconds during treatment to let you know it's working. Treatment lasts for 2.5 minutes. When I was done with the newest blemish, I cleaned the Zeno tip and used it on the two blemishes that were slowly improving, but still far from gone. The newest blemish flattened almost immediately.Note: you can only use the Zeno for up to three back-to-back treatments at a time, then you have to give it a break.I repeated the Zeno applications two more times on each of the three blemishes on Day 2. The heat causes a little localized redness. My complexion is very light and very sensitive, but the slight redness did not last long - perhaps 30 minutes.Day 3: Two old blemishes are looking much improved - better in 24 hours than in over a week of benzoyl peroxide applications. After three treatments, newest blemish was almost gone. The old blemishes looked and felt much better. However, my work was not done, as a new blemish was coming in on my forehead. It was big, red and painful - and all it needed was ONE ZAP from the Zeno to put it completely to rest.A month has gone by, and I have not had to use the Zeno in weeks. Usually, I would be getting a new blemish of the month by now - they tend to come back in the same places from month to month. Not this month! I did get one or two small whiteheads (gone quickly), and nothing in the usual trouble spots. This has been my best month in quite a long time. I can only conclude that this is because the Zeno dispatched the acne causing bacteria that had previously gain ground in those spots. The Zeno cost less than a visit to the dermatologist - and I didn't have to wait six months.Please note that the Zeno does not dry your skin out. Benzoyl peroxide dries your skin out, and makes it red and flakey while you are getting over a pimple. Zeno heats your skin and underlying tissue sufficient to kill the p. acnes bacteria. Before Zeno, I used to try using a super-hot wet washcloth on my blemishes, but the cloth did not stay hot long enough and I was not able to really focus it on the specific areas that needed attention.I am completely pleased with the Zeno Mini and the results it produced for me.Edited on 2/9/2009 to add: When I purchased the Zeno Mini, I hoped that it would help me keep monthly outbreaks in check once they appeared. Little did I expect that it would actually STOP outbreaks from recurring. I'm happy to report that I've only had to use the Zeno Mini ONCE in the months since I originally posted this review.

I got my zeno two days ago. First off, the batteries they sent with it didn't work which scared me because I thought I had a defective device. Thankfully my batteries worked and so far I have not had any trouble with the zeno working. I have tried it on several spots. It has been barely 24hrs and it has worked on half of the spots. The spots it didn't work on were either cystic acne just forming or acne that was already formed. The cystic acne is almost gone. The regular acne left turned into a white head after one treatment.The main problem I have is how time consuming it is. If you have more than three spots it may be better to get a device that treats the entire face. Treating three or more spots three times a day takes upwards to 15min a session. I have two small children and it is hard for me to find time for three treatments in a day. Thankfully, I have cyclic acne and likely won't need to use it that often. Also, according to most reviews, if the acne occurs in the same places I may end up with less and less breakouts. Hoping this is the case but have not had the zeno long enough to know.

First, let me be clear that this device did work for me. However, I am returning it because I had to replace the 2 AAA batteries every 6 to 9 treatment cycles. (It was 6 cycles with the batteries it shipped with, so I thought it was just old, tired batteries. But it lasted just 3 extra cycles using fresh Duracell Ultra batteries.) I think it's a huge waste of money to be replacing these batteries every 2-3 days, so I'd rather try the one that plugs in. I do think that the Zeno is a terrific product, but the Mini is disappointing with its battery performance.

This thing is a rip off. Dunno if mine was defective or what, but it definitely gave me scars on the treatment areas. It takes soooo long to heat up, and then it forces you to wait AGAIN every 3 times cycles. The metal disk designed to fit over the treatment area is super small. So small that it's easy to miss the spot you're aiming for & it's impossible to treat more than one pimple at a time, which turns out to be a waste of both time and money. At $1 a pop for each treatment cycle this really didn't have any major impact on my pimples.

This is my second Zeno and I have found them very effective against occasional adult acne. The sooner you treat the pimple, the better.It works by heating up a little metal disk at the top of the device. You place that disk against a single pimple and the heat kills the bacteria causing the breakout. It gets very warm but it’s not uncomfortable. You might see a little redness if you’re fair skinned.This device is a little different from the Hotspot: you hold the power button down until you hear the “on” chime. Then you wait for the power button to flash green on and off. When you press power again, it starts a bacteria-killing cycle of two and a half minutes. It gives you little progress chimes every 30 seconds, then a more elaborate chime when it’s done.I did find that after about eight months I had to replace the AAA batteries even though I hadn’t used it too often. So, take the review that said it was dead with a grain of salt. Maybe that reviewer just needed to replace the batteries. That said, there is no customer support for this product anywhere on the internet. I have found Amazon to be very responsive about products they sell when the manufacturer does not offer customer support so you’re not totally in the cold but I’m taking off one star because a consumer product that supposedly comes with a one year warranty should offer at least a warranty service address.If this review was helpful, would you click "yes" below? I dream of becoming a Vine reviewer someday.