If you’re a girl, you will be familiar with the overwhelming feeling when you walk into the Health & Beauty aisle of your local Kroger or Wal-Mart for a new facial cleanser. Do we go for the 2009 Allure recommended scrub with the fighting capabilities of salicylic acid or the organic and all-natural cleanser with the soothing properties of aloe? Being a person with sensitive skin, I’ve been through more facial cleansers than I can count and every time I walk in, I seem to get distracted by all the different products in front of me. Here are a few more well-known products I’ve used throughout the years, and my experiences with them.
Clearasil Ultra Daily Face Wash – I bought the Clearasil wash when I was going through a phase where my skin seemed to constantly be furious with me. Every morning, I’d see a new zit or a red spot and I’d spend too much time fretting over my newest skin problems. Clearasil offers consumers improvements within 12 hours, and using the fighting properties of salicylic acid, it definitely follows through; I saw improvements in my skin within the next day or so. It also helped prevent future break-outs. However, Clearasil also dried out my skin, and within a week I developed flaky-skin around my nose, mouth, and chin. If you have oily skin and acne troubles, I would definitely recommend this product. If it’s just the occasional zit, I would not risk the extreme drying that tends to happen.
Neutrogena Power-Clear Scrub, Oil-Free Acne Stress Control – I used this scrub when my acne wasn’t terrible, but my skin still wasn’t particularly great. After my successful yet drying experience with Clearasil, this Neutrogena scrub seemed to be what I was looking for. It contains salicylic acid to help fight acne, but is also a gentler product on the skin so that it won’t dry out your face. Because my skin wasn’t particularly terrible, I saw results after a few days. My skin definitely got clearer and I had fewer break outs. However, because this is a product with less fighting power than Clearasil, I would recommend it if you’re just having mild acne and redness problems. I still got the occasional zit, but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t handle with some toothpaste.
L’Oreal Paris Go 360 Clean Deep Facial Cleanser – This particular product, although it contains salicylic acid, isn’t made for people with acne problems. It’s created more for an all-around deep cleansing experience. However, it does come with what can only be described as a face scrubber; a small rubber pad with a hole for your fingers and little tiny pore-sized rubber knobs to unclog pores. It’s an oil-free cleanser and the “Scrublet” definitely helps to remove dead skin cells from your face, leaving you feeling nice and clean. It also contains mint, which makes your face feel cool and tingly after you use it. It’s effective for the occasional zit and helps with oily areas, but if you’re having trouble with acne, this product won’t really help.
Simple Refreshing Facial Wash Gel – Simple is the newest import in the skincare section. It’s from the U.K. and prides itself on using all-natural ingredients that are perfect for those with sensitive skin. This particular gel is 100% soap free and has pro-vitamin B5. It has no dyes, perfumes, or harsh irritants that tend to upset your face. I haven’t really used this product for very long, but it seems to be doing its job. My skin doesn’t feel dry and my skin hasn’t been very angry with me, which sometimes happens when I switch a skincare product. It lathers really well, so I only have to use a little bit at a time. It also leaves my face feeling refreshed and clean afterwards. If your skin is already relatively trouble-free and you’re looking for a new cleanser for sensitive skin, I would definitely recommend this product. It’s my new favorite!
Simple Smoothing Facial Scrub – In case you can’t tell, I’ve been on a little bit of a Simple craze lately. Personally, just gels don’t really do it for me. I like to use a scrub two or three times a week to remove all the dead skin cells on my face. This scrub contains pro-vitamin B5 and vitamin E, leaving your skin moisturized and glowing. Like all Simple products, it contains no dyes, artificial perfumes, or harsh irritants, making it perfect for sensitive skin. Unlike other scrubs, Simple opts to go all-natural, containing rice granules for exfoliation. Before this scrub, my skin was a little uneven because it had dried out thanks to the constant weather changes (Thanks, Blacksburg!). The rice granules are gentle enough so that it won’t damage your face, but firm enough to reveal a brighter, more even-textured skin. However, if you’re a fan of scrubs that really just rub at your face, the rice granules won’t be enough for you.
St Ives Swiss Formula Invigorating Apricot Scrub – If there is one thing that I can say about this product it is that it smells fantastic. It’s an oil free scrub that works to get rid of dead skin and is good for all skin types. Like all of St Ives’s products, it contains pure Swiss glacial water that supposedly helps moisturize your skin. Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of the product. Unlike the Simple scrub, the granules are very harsh and actually hurt my skin when I tried to exfoliate with it. I actually like my granules to be relatively firm, but not as firm as this particular scrub. My skin looked slightly brighter, but not by much. However, some of my other friends that have used this scrub absolutely swear by it.
*It is important to keep in mind that everyone’s skin is different and that your experiences may be different from my own.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Virginia Tech chapter.