Review: St. Ives Oatmeal Scrub + Mask

 

As much as I love my AHA/BHAs and the powerful chemical exfoliation they give me, I still enjoy using physical scrubs to buff away dry flakes and help other skincare products apply more easily.  My skin is acne prone so I'm wary of heavy duty scrubs but I've found gentler ones with smaller particles do just as well because I can adjust my scrub time and massage pressure depending on the dryness/flakiness of my skin condition to get the results I need.

St. Ives is a popular American drugstore brand and its Oatmeal Scrub + Mask is marketed as a gentle and nourishing exfoliating agent.  I picked up this item for its cheapness ($3 to 4 on Amazon!), positive reviews and its harmless-looking ingredient list (no acne triggers).  My purpose was to find a dependable scrub & not so much a mask (although I have a few comments on that).  After 2 months of 3-5x/week use I'm happy to say I made a good choice! =)

 The huge amount of product (170g or 6 oz) comes in a soft plastic tube with flip cap that is very squeezable.  Maybe a bit too squeezable, actually, because I always dispense more than I want... ^_^  (Good thing this scrub was crazy cheap, eh?)  The creamy white texture has tiny brown particles of oatmeal extract and looks exactly like the picture on the tube. 

I wish the honey or oatmeal ingredients made up more of the fragrance because I smell only cocoa butter (not my favorite, but oh well) and it lingers after wash-off.  It's not a deal-breaker by any means but it's definitely strong.  Oatmeal & honey are popular ingredients found in DIY acne mask recipes for their anti-inflammatory and antibacterial benefits.  Therefore, I was hoping to see some blemish-busting properties from these 2, but they're listed so far down the ingredient list for this product I really didn't have high expectations.

Quick off topic story: 

In the past I've tried oatmeal (blended to a rough powder) + water for a simple mask and remember liking its gentleness but I was too lazy to continue with it long-term.  The wait time was too much for me and I couldn't move my face or the drying splotches would shift and chunk off.  Trying not to move facial muscles is tough, like if I'm told not to breathe too loudly I inevitably become Darth Vader haha.  Gloppy masks are definitely clumsy but I can't stand using sheet masks, either, because it feels like such a time-out from real life to use them.  Many skincare enthusiasts find them relaxing and multi-task while they slowly dry but I'm constantly aware of their cold sliminess & fight the urge to fling them off my face within ten seconds of applying. 

Anyway...

Like I mentioned, I really only bought this product to function as a scrub but I was curious to how it would perform when used as a mask.  Unfortunately, the one time I tried it as a mask I had a rough time rinsing it off.  Even though I only left it on for a few minutes (less than the recommended 5-7 on the tube) the creamy texture congealed fast and was surprisingly stubborn to remove.  This totally defeats the purpose because any nourishing benefits gets replaced with irritation as I forcefully knead at my face to rinse everything off. >_< 

As a scrub I like to use it on a moist face 3-5 times a week (post oil-cleanse & make-up removal or in the morning), especially if I've applied an AHA the same day or the night before.  This way I can get rid of any exfoliated skin peelies and work with a fresh face ready to absorb my other skincare goodies.  Depending on how dry or abused my skin feels I massage anywhere from 10 seconds to a whole minute.  Sometimes I apply over my entire face but only concentrate the scrubbing to localized areas (chin, forehead, around my mouth, etc).  Washing off this scrub is always easy and quick in contrast to the failed one-time Operation Mask.  My skin ends up smoother and softer without feeling too abused and successive facial products apply more evenly.  Most importantly, I haven't had an increase in breakouts, either!

Finer scrubs/polishes give smoother results with less effort but (surprise surprise) they're also way pricier.  For the large volume, low price and decent results I'd say the St. Ives Oatmeal Scrub + Mask is a good money-saving, back-up product in my skincare collection.  A little goes a long way and I can see myself getting 1-2 years of use out of this tube (no joke, it's ginormous).  I would definitely repurchase!

Summary

• Packaging:     4/5 (hygienic; squeezable tube; product spurts out easily)
• Smell:             3/5 (strong; lingers; more cocoa/food-like than perfumey)
• Performance:  3.5/5 (decent scrub; hard to remove as a mask)
• Value/Price:    5/5 (<$4 for huge 6 oz/170g tube)
• Recommend? Yes (ok for normal/dry/sensitive)
• Repurchase? Yes