Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub

$7 for 5 oz at walmart.com

Before I get into how this product works, let me tell you about my weird 8 day skin care schedule. For the first two days I use a gentle cleanser morning and night (I use a more moisturizing one in the morning, which is actually my night because I work at night), then I replace my regular cleanser with an exfoliating scrub with my wake-up routine, then use my regular bedtime cleanser. Then I use my regular cleansers for another two days and then use my exfoliating cleanser again. Then I use my regular cleansers for another two days and on the last day I use my regular cleansers but with my wake-up routine I follow my cleanser with a clay mask. Then I start the whole thing over again. I’ve been doing this for quite a while and it seems to work best for me.

I bought a travel-sized tube of this exfoliating scrub to see if I like it better than the normal exfoliating scrub I use currently (Olay) which I don’t really like very much. This scrub claims to “target what clogs pores.” I’m not exactly sure how it would do that but okay. Its a very thick, almost lotiony consistency with little blue exfoliating beads. In addition to the exfoliating beads it also has salicylic acid for chemical exfoliation. This is a surprisingly gentle scrub. The beads don’t irritate my face like other exfoliating beads I have used. It has a rather unpleasant minty, chemical smell but its bearable for the few minutes you are exfoliating. There also is a cooling tingly sensation once you start moving the beads around, which was actually rather alarming since I hadn’t read the ingredients and didn’t realize there was menthol in it. It is bordering on stinging but fades to a pleasant refreshing coolness once you rinse it and goes away completely after about 10 minutes. I did find a website (www.natural-homeremedies.com) that says menthol can be used to help prevent breakouts and sanitize the breakouts you have. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I know that the menthol in this scrub is wonderful. It is so refreshing and it makes you feel like your pores are just breathing in cool, icy, fresh air. I’m sure this is all part of their gimmick but I bought it. I was sure when I inspected my skin in the mirror that all of my blackheads would be magically gone just from one wash. Well, that didn’t happen. There was no visible difference but my face wasn’t red and irritated which is a good thing. It felt smooth and soft and much less tight and dry than my other exfoliating cleanser. In fact it didn’t feel tight and dry at all. It felt soft and moisturized. After a month of using it twice a week my skin is definitely smoother and I have less flaking (except for around my nose) but I haven’t seem much difference in the blackheads on my nose and chin. Despite that, once I use up my store of my Olay exfoliating scrub I will be buying this scrub.