Monday, January 14, 2013

High-End vs Drugstore: Comparing Scrubs



Today’s post will be a comparison or two facial scrubs made for daily use: Neutrogena’s All-in-1 Acne Control Scrub and ARTDECO’s Skin Yoga bioLAB Scrub that can also be used as a facial mask. The former is a drugstore product whereas the latter is only available in beauty stores. 






All-in-1 Acne Control Daily Scrub by Neutrogena





This is one of my favorite scrubs. I have talked about it in the “Current Skin Care Routine” article and because of this product, I was exposed to the wonders of salicylic acid. I might have mentioned before how salicylic acid has almost completely erased my acne; I didn’t have a serious acne problem to begin with but during certain days of the month or when I was pulling all-nighters to finish school projects, my skin would break out. Stress is not good for the skin, but sometimes you just can’t help it. I thought that stress and hormonal acne was something I would have to live and deal with like many other people until I discovered this scrub. 

For as long as I used it, no matter where I was, how much/little I had slept or how stressed I was, I saw no acne on my face! And the fact that it’s a drugstore product makes this deal even sweater (^^) There are 125ml in each package and it will go a long way. You only need an amount the size of a walnut for the entire face; after gently scrubbing, wash it off with warm or cold water and move on with your daily skin care routine. 

This product is not meant for removing make up, it’s made for gently exfoliating the skin every day. Another good thing about this product is that it moisturizes as well, preparing the skin for serums, creams etc. 



ARTDECO’s Skin Yoga bioLAB Peel and Goji Mask






I discovered ARTDECO through their body butter products (which I highly recommend) and I had no idea this company made other beauty products as well. However, when I ran out of the Neutrogena Scrub and couldn’t find the same one in Greece, I came across this scrub/mask. The concept is simple: put the product on your face, covering your entire face and neck and let it stay for about 5 minutes and then gently scrub your face and wash it off. It promises to deliver fresh, energized skin and has Goji berry extracts, which interested me since there is so much fuss about the advantages of using Goji berries in skin care or just consuming them.

I must say though… this product has disappointed me a little. It’s not that it’s a bad product but it doesn’t do as much as the Neutrogena scrub did. My face doesn’t look as fresh and clean as it did with the Neutrogena scrub, it doesn’t cleanse as deeply as I wanted and I feel that the only reason I didn’t break out when I was stressed was because my skin was in a good mood :P And another, very important, thing: It doesn’t moisturize! I have a mixed skin type, so the areas that are dry, like the sides of my nose and cheeks were left feeling very dry after using the ARTDECO scrub and even became a little flaky, so I had to use an additional moisturizing cream for those areas. Also, for a high-end product, the amount that you’re given (50ml) in relation to the price (which is a lot higher than the Neutrogena scrub) is not worth it. To be fair though, when your skin is having a good day, it helps maintain that feel. 

The ARDECO scrub might very well work for people with very oily skin types since it does seem to remove a lot of the oiliness on the face (even though it was recommended to me by a representative at the beauty store, after I told her I had a mixed skin type) but for me, it didn’t cleanse as deeply as a daily scrub should. This is a high end beauty store product and you usually expect it to work wonders or at least do a pretty good job.


*S

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