Product Review: St. Ives Facial Scrub

As a woman I think beauty standards and looking your best, even during a pandemic, are important to a lot of us. Fashion magazines, online advertisements, and social media platforms, set the standards by which a lot of women, and likely some men, use in order to make the most informed decisions about beauty. Whether we are staying in or going out, we all want to look and feel our best and it starts with our daily routines and everyone's daily routines will be slightly different. Wake up, brush your teeth, wash your face, take a shower (unless you shower at night), get dressed, make your breakfast, feed the cat or walk the dog, and so on throughout the day. At night, if you wear make up, be sure to remove it, wash your face, brush your teeth, floss, put on lotion and/or moisturizer, brush your hair, and shower if you don't shower in the morning.

It's no surprise that the beauty industry, like most industries, are always looking to create the next big beauty product that will revolutionize the beauty industry. Mary Kay, Avon, Kylie Cosmetics, Clean and Clear, Proactive, St. Ives, and so many more. Some brands like Mary Kay and Avon offer not just skin care products but make-up products as well. I guess they knew early on that if they were going to make a sell a make-up product line that it was important to include skin-care products to help keep women's faces and skin feeling healthy and happy. St. Ives focus mostly on skin-care products like face washes, facial scrubs, and lotions.

That routine I talked about earlier, even for me can be difficult to stick with, even at 26. Living on your own you don't have your mom or dad there to remind you, "hey did you brush your teeth and wash your face." I grew up on skin care lines and make-up from Mary Kay and Proactive. Proactive was somewhat new, or at least new to me, when I used it back in 2007-2009. As a pre-teen/teen acne and oily skin were the worst. I would have dry skin in some areas of my face and oily skin in others. I played sports which made my breakouts work and Proactive really cleared my skin at that time. It's a good first product for young people to use because it teaches you all the steps that go in to skin care, the wash, the rinse, the toning, and the moisturizing.

I came across St. Ives a few years ago. I can't remember if it was my sister or one of her roommates at the time who used it, but I remember trying out the face wash and being genuinely surprised at the results. The first product I ever purchased of their was their lotion. I probably bought it 3 or 4 years ago and still have the same large bottle; I either don't use it enough or it's just that good. I usually put lotion on after a shower or after shaving my legs. The one I got had oatmeal and shea butter. After applying it to the skin and letting it sit, my skin feels soft but not oily. Face masks and facial scrubs are one of my favorite parts of skin care. It feels slightly luxurious because it's not a part of your every day routine. The apricot scrub from St. Ives is recommended to be used 3-4 times per week. I usually use it twice a week while in the shower, I feel cleaner somehow doing it that way. Facial scrubbing products do have a tendency to scratch and harm the surface layer of skin so always pay attention to your skins reaction when using any product.

I included this video by a skin care professional Hyrum. He gives facts about St. Ives facial scrub products specifically in this episode and goes into depth about the dangers of using abrasive facial scrubs on the face and skin. He gives a well informed reason for saying no to these products and also has other videos that address other skin care products that are harmful to the skin. I will personally still be using St. Ives products because I have seen positive results since using them; smoother skin, less acne, and a more even skin tone. If you have severe acne or abnormalities consulting a Dermatologist is always a good idea, they can make recommendations that people like myself probably wouldn't know about.