I bought dr. althea 345 Relief Cream because the internet wore me down. It was everywhere. The same clips. The same glowing faces. The same claims about calming acne and saving a stressed-out barrier overnight. I told myself I was being reasonable. It is literally called a relief cream. How bad could it be.

It was bad. Not in a tiny, oh well, not for me kind of way. More like, why did I pay money to make my skin feel gross and look worse.

My skin is usually normal. Not super oily, not super dry. But I can break out easily, especially if something sits too heavy. So I am careful with creams that claim they are soothing. A lot of them end up being rich. Rich on acne-prone skin is a gamble.

This one started off with that exact trick. It felt fine for about five seconds. It spread easily. It did that smooth glide that makes you think, okay, maybe this is going to be one of those comforting creams. It even looked nice in the mirror right away. Like, great, a soft finish, maybe I overreacted about the hype.

It was basically pretending.

The first night I used it, I went to bed thinking I had finally picked something safe. I woke up and my face felt coated. Not hydrated. Coated. Like there was still a film on top that never really settled. It was not a healthy glow. It was the kind of leftover oily layer that makes you want to wash your face before you even fully wake up.

And then I looked closer. My forehead looked bumpier. My chin had two new spots starting. The kind that feel sore before they even show up properly. That was my first real moment of, oh no. Because if a cream is being pushed as acne-calming, this is not the direction it should go.

I did the annoying optimistic thing and tried again. Because I hate wasting products. Because everyone says you have to give skincare time. Because maybe it was just a bad skin day.

Second night, same story. That film feeling. That heavy, stuck-on finish. My skin felt warm under it, like it could not breathe properly. In the morning, my face looked shinier than usual and not in a good way. I could feel texture that was not there a week ago. Tiny clogged bumps that make makeup sit weird. The kind that are hard to ignore once they start.

I even tried using less, because I wanted to be fair. A tiny amount. Cheeks only. Not even the T-zone. It still left that coated feeling, just in a smaller area. And somehow my forehead still looked slick by midday, like my skin was overcompensating. That was when I knew it was not just me applying it wrong.

At that point I stopped trusting it. Not because I expected miracles, but because it was actively not matching the way it is marketed. Barrier support and acne relief are not the same promise. If you are going to call something relief, it should not leave you feeling like you slept in a greasy layer.

The smell made it worse. It is not a cute fragrance. It is not herbal. It is not clean. On me it read as plasticky. Not strong like perfume, but wrong. Like something synthetic and slightly off. It is the kind of scent you keep noticing because it makes you second-guess what you are putting on your face.

And then the packaging decided to join the chaos.

This is the part that still annoys me the most because it is so unnecessary. The tube looks like a basic ointment-style tube. Fine. Except it does not hold up to normal use. As I used it, the tube started to crease and stress in a way that felt flimsy. Then it actually tore. A small hole formed near a bend. After that, product started leaking out of the tear.

So now I had a cream I already did not like, plus a leaking tube that made everything messier. It got on my hands. It got on the cap. It got on the outside of the tube. It felt gross to store, like keeping a broken glue stick in your skincare drawer. I ended up wrapping it in tissue like it was evidence.

That leak also made the whole experience feel even less hygienic. If I am already suspicious a product is clogging me, the last thing I want is a container that is literally splitting open and smearing product everywhere.

I keep thinking about how the online hype sells this as a safe, calming choice for acne. For me, it behaved like the opposite. It did not calm anything. It did not make my skin feel settled. It made my face feel coated at night, shiny in the morning, and more textured over a short stretch of time. That is the exact pattern I try to avoid.

Could it work for someone else. Sure. Maybe if your skin loves richer creams and you do not break out easily. Maybe if you want a basic barrier moisturiser and you do not care about the finish. But if you are acne-prone, if you hate that greasy leftover feeling, if you are buying it because you saw people calling it a breakout saviour, I would not recommend taking the risk.

My biggest regret is that I believed the hype instead of looking for more honest reviews. Viral does not mean suitable. Trending does not mean gentle. This cream was not relief for me. It was a lesson. And I wish I had learned it with a cheaper product that did not also leak all over my shelf.