St. Ive's Naturally Clear Green Tea Cleanser

As a teen, I religiously used pHisoderm's Anti-Blemish Gel Facial Wash. To this day I still love the stuff, and measure all face washes against it. There are plenty of great things about it: the gel cleans without drying, the formula effectively prevents my temperamental skin from breaking out and, HELLO!, it's cheap! There are only two problems with the pHisoderm face wash: 1) It's not very easy to find it Nor Cal drug stores nowadays, and 2) It doesn't contain a lot of natural ingredients. The ingredient list gives me flashbacks to my college chemistry classes. Over the past few years I've tried a few different cleansers in place of the pHisoderm wash...the replacement I purchased a few months ago is St. Ives Naturally Clear Green Tea Cleanser, $6.


St. Ives' Naturally Clear collection was released several months ago and includes washes and scrubs for both face and body (to read my review on St. Ives' Naturally Clear Green Tea Face Scrub, click here).

I was originally attracted to the Naturally Clear face wash because of the "natural" factor. It contains green tea extract, which St. Ives claims reduces redness, as well as moisturizing olive oil and olive leaf extracts. The product also contains Salicylic acid to fight blemishes, as well as extracts of:

-Ascophyllum Nodosum: brown seaweed (kinda cool, right?)
-Alteromonas: bacteria found in seawater (OK, less enamoured with this ingredient :P)
-Epilobium Angustifolium: Fireweed (AKA willowherb)

Brown seaweed is naturally high in nutrients and antioxidant willowherb has been brewed as a healthy tea for hundreds of years, so I can get behind those ingredients. I can also support the fact that this product does not contain parabens and phthalates. But I'm not so keen on the sulfates, propylene glycol, perfume, artificial colors, and other weird ingredients the products does contain.

Performance-wise the face wash is okay - it cleans and removes makeup without drying out my skin but unfortunately it does not prevent the stray blemish from erupting. Also, after using the product for several months I did not notice a decrease in the redness of my skin. To be fair, I have sensitive, acne-prone skin, so for people with normal skin and occasional breakouts (vs. my near perpetual pimples) this product may be a good choice.

The product has a low price point, which is a plus, but a lot of other affordable drugstore brands bring it a lot harder on the green front for about the same price. Overall....

Green Beauty Blog Rating: C+

Have you tried this face wash? What did you think?