Even though I’ve taken to using the Konjac sponge during my face-cleansing ritual on a nightly basis, I still use a proper facial scrub once a week to give my skin a good ol’ exfoliation and remove the dead skin cells. It’s not a step in my skincare routine I’d readily give up just yet in favour of the sponge and chemical exfoliation.
Months ago, I had the opportunity to try out three different facial scrubs. Even with different descriptions to the products, each does essentially the same thing – remove dead skin cells. But I can still play favourites, can’t I? 😉
Comvita Olive White Brightening Facial Exfoliant (RRP $29.25)
Ingredients:
Aqua (water), Glyceryl Stearate, Mel (Manuka Honey HUNI(R) XA), Olea Europaea (Olive) Seed Powder, Cetearyl Alcohol, Macadamia Integrifolia (Macadamia) Seed Oil, Helianthus Annus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Sodium Lactate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Stearic Acdi, Cetyl Alcohol, Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Fruit Oil, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Liquorice) Root Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Nut) Butter, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Glycerin, Xanthan Gum, Gluconolactone, Lecithin, P-Ansic Acid, Tocopherol, Beta-Sitosterol, Squalene, Calcium Gluconate, Sodium Benzoate, Parfum/Fragrance (contains components of essential oils: Linalool)
The scrub is a light milky lotion with large natural micrograins. Now that sounds like an oxymoron, but the grains are actually quite big compared to the other two scrubs. In fact, the micrograins reminds me of the popular St Ives apricot scrub. It smells like digestive biscuits so if those biccies are your thing, it will be like tea time every time you exfoliate. 😛
Cosmecology PEEL Skin Exfoliating Face Cream (RRP $25.00)
Ingredients:
Water/Eau (Aqua), Cetearyl Isononanoate, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Behenyl Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Glycerin, Stearic Acid, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Polyethylene, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Cyclohexasiloxane, Pentylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Seed Powder, Ethylhexylglycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Triethanolamine, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract, Disodium EDTA, Maltodextrin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Limonene, Citronellol, BHT, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Citric Acid, Glyceryl Oleate, Iron Oxides (CI 77491), Iron Oxides (CI 77492), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140).
This scrub comes in a thick cream with much smaller micrograins. When I first saw the packaging, I actually thought it was a moisturiser with chemical exfoliants. Let’s just say it wasn’t a pleasant surprise when I used this after applying my serum, realised what it was, did a facepalm, washed my face and started the routine again :P. It smells like oranges and peaches, which is right up my alley. Yum…
Bioderma Sebium Exfoliating Purifying Gel (RRP $24.95)
Ingredients:
Water (Aqua), Polyethylene, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Xanthan Gum, Lauryl Glucoside, Ginkgo Biloba Extract, Glycolic Acid, Mannitol, Rhamnose, Xylitol, Fructooligosaccharides, Pro Pylene Glycol, Tridecyl Salicylate, Sodium Hydroxide, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance (Parfum).
This scrub contains the least ingredients compared to the other two scrubs. That’s because the tiny micrograins (smallest of the three scrubs) are manufactured and each grain is equal in size to the other. It’s an exfoliating gel cleanser with significantly more micrograins than the rest. In terms of scent, it smells just like the other products in the Sebium range (smells like regular soap).
In order of preference for the scrubs, mine would be the Bioderma Sebium, the Cosmecology Face Cream and the Comvita scrub. I didn’t have any issues with any of the products. These are good-quality scrubs that I would be happy to recommend to you. The Bioderma Sebium works best on my combination skin and I like how minute the grains are.
Now if only I can get the combination of the lotion from the Comvita, the fragrance of the Cosmecology and the size of the Bioderma Sebium micrograins, I dare say I’d have found the perfect facial scrub! 😀
Have you tried any of these facial scrubs before? What’s your favourite facial scrub?
Lightbulb: What happens if you combine all these three together, physically?
Wait, don’t try that. I don’t want to be responsible for adverse reactions :p.
dom recently posted..Review: Aviderm Immaculate Solution UV Pimple Concealer SPF30
You just reminded me of a time when I was about 7-9 years old. I loved my mother’s Wella shampoo and conditioner because they smelled like apples, but I was never allowed to use them because they were expensive. The only shampoo I used then were 2-in-1s by Rejoice (remember those?)
As I only knew 2-in-1s, whenever I took a shower, I sneakily combined my mum’s Wella shampoo and conditioner, mixed them on my palms and used them on my hair. The texture was kinda weird, combination of scents was rather awful and my hair didn’t feel nice.
So, erm, I think I’ll give the combination of scrubs a miss for now. But thank you so much for reminding me of good ol’ Wella and Rejoice times 😀
I did something similar when I was younger. Used one shampoo after the other, thinking that they would give me two separate effects (god knows how my brain is wired). Luckily I felt rather stupid after the shower so I didn’t do it anymore.
dom recently posted..Review: Aviderm Immaculate Solution UV Pimple Concealer SPF30
I’ve been really enjoying that Bioderm exfoliant as well, I think it smells like lollies 🙂
emmabovary recently posted..Watt’s Up. Freshly Candy?
How is it that the Sebium doesn’t smell like lollies to me? Hmm…I need to know what lollies you’re talking about 😉
I wish to try out the bioderma facial scrub:) Recently I read some reviews from the Bioderma products. It seems like the reviews are quite good 🙂 Tine , I could not order the Konjac Sponge from the website as did not allow me to choose my delivery destination. Too bad 🙁 did I miss out any steps?
Hi Michelle, I tried checking out on the Kuu Konjac website and faced the same problem as you did too. I think it’s a bug on their website. I suggest emailing them to let them know. In the meantime, there are other local (Malaysian/Singaporean) websites that sell Konjac sponges too (I saw reviews, unfortunately can’t remember exactly which blogs I saw them on). Perhaps you might want to check those out instead? Might be cheaper for you as well as you wouldn’t need to pay high shipping fees.
Good luck!