St Ives Elements Timeless Skin Daily Microdermabrasion Review

I've heard the word microdermabrasion thrown around in the past a lot, and I never really knew what it meant - till a few weeks ago that is, when I came across the St Ives Elements Timeless Skin Daily Microdermabrasion scrub in Tescos, 

(Goodness me, what a mouthful! >.<)

A quick Wikipedia search resulted in this definition:

'Microdermabrasion is a cosmetic technique that uses a mechanical medium for exfoliation to remove the outermost layer of dead skin cells from the epidermis.'

So basically it does what a face scrub does? 

Well I suppose, yes. It's a general term for the application of small, rough grains in order to scrub off the top layer of dead skin cells. This leads to smoother, younger looking skin because when your outermost layer of skin is broken up and taken off, your body treats it as though it's an injury, increasing blood flow to the area (which means more oxygen) and renewed skin cell production. It also means that it helps get rid of shallow acne scars, fine lines, and any blemishes from sun damage as well!

Claiming to be gentle enough for daily use, it contains fine mineral crystals, and is formulated without parabens and phthalates, which is always a bonus because they have been linked to cancer and I highly doubt anybody wants that, now do they?

It's consistency is actually quite odd: when squeezed out, this feels like a cross between a gel and a foam, but when spread onto the face it becomes slightly grainy but also more like a face wash. Quite hard to explain!

Nothing unpleasant though, and it always sticks to your face, unlike some scrubs which have a tendency to fall off and make a mess.

Anyhoo, I've been using this from the beginning of the month now, and I must say I have noticed a difference on the shallow scarring on my cheeks. Everywhere else.. not so much to be honest.

After about two weeks of using it, I started noticing that my T zone was becoming very oily, in fact far oilier than usual. I would wake up and my face would feel like an oil slick!

I was also getting loads of tiny little spots in my T zone area as a result, and had to use my Dark Angels as a mask more frequently to combat the influx of oiliness. I almost stopped using it, but then I thought almost everything has a 'purging-the-skin' phase, right? But nope, it was still the same a week after. 

So I decided to stop using it on my T zone as much, and focus on my cheeks instead. This resulted in not as many little spots on my T zone, and the scars on my cheeks faded noticeably.

Final verdict?

It does what it says on the tin I suppose, just not on the T zone - especially if you're prone to oiliness in that area. 

I doubt I'll repurchase it, I don't want a repeat of what it did to my T zone - even though they were little it  was horrible because there were so many, and the redness that came with it couldn't even be covered up properly. 

So overall, I'd say 3/5. I can't seem to find it on the Tesco, Boots, or Superdrug website, but I did manage to find it here on the Asda one, priced at £3 for 125ml.

Have you tried this before? Anything similar to this? Let me know if there are any others on the market to try ☺


Disclaimer: All products were bought with my own money unless stated otherwise. All opinions are my own.