Monday, February 21, 2011

St. Ives Naturally Clear Green Tea Scrub


My skin breaks out from time to time, so to help keep my skin under control I enlisted St. Ives Naturally Clear Green Tea Scrub ($6.50). I've been using it about once week for the past few months and I have to say, I don't think it's the right scrub for me :(

On the plus side, it contains Salicylic Acid (1%) naturally-derived from willow bark and has a refreshing soapy, green tea kind of scent. On the negative side, the grains are REALLY abrasive! The product label claims that the 100% natural green tea in the formula helps calm and prevent redness, but I haven't seen much of a difference. Possibly because the exfoliants are countering any calming benefits by irritating my skin to heck. Check out the gritty stuff in the image below.

The ingredients list says the exfoliant is "Hydrated Silica", aka sand?! The grains are so rough I'm actually considering using the rest of the bottle as a foot scrub. If you have sensitive skin, you may want to pass on this scrub. Scrubs with gentler exfoliants like walnut shell powder, sugar, or salt will be easier on skin and less likely to irritate. If you have a few extra moments you can even whip one up at home - just mix some sugar or salt into your normal facial cleanser and scrub away. If you have normal skin and want to try this scrub I would recommend trying gentler exfoliants first and then purchasing it if you need more intense exfoliation.


Green Beauty Blog Rating: D

2 comments:

  1. Oh no, too bad about this! I've been using the Neutrogena green acne scrub that's supposed to help calm redness, and it works really well, but it would have been great to have found a more natural alternative.

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  2. Ooh, thanks for sharing! I may have to try that out if I can't find a good "natural" alternative.

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