I always use face scrubs as I have awful oily, blemish prone skin and so whilst people with a more normal skin type get away with using an exfoliator once a week, I use one nearly every day. Seaweed is not an uncommon ingredient in skin care products aimed at people with combination/oily skin as it helps mattify skin, and the Body Shop have a whole range of skin care products aimed at oily/combination skin and which all include seaweed. To be honest I've never been too impressed with the Body Shop's skin care products to date, their Tea Tree range makes no difference to my skin but when I had a gift card recently I decided to give this Seaweed Pore-Cleansing Facial Exfoliator a go.


~~ Exfoliate my skin! ~~
The Body Shop state that this is a mild and creamy, soap-free facial scrub. It claims to effectively deep clean out those blocked pores, remove dead skin cells, excess oils and the usual dirt and grime, basically what I expect from any facial exfoliator. They say it will leave the skin soft and smooth with a more clarified radiance and combined with massage movements when using the scrub, you will end up with a glowing complexion.
To help do all of the above it contains Jojoba beads which are small and will help exfoliate and give that good 'scrubby' feeling. It also contains Olive Stone granuals which are thicker and larger with a slightly rough texture, which makes it better to use on combination and oily skin. Last but not least, that seaweed ingredient, and in this scrub it's Community Trade Bladderwack Seaweed (appealing name!) which supposedly has a high mineral content, skin protective antioxidants and nourishing vitamins to balance skin tone, purify and clarify the complexion. The seaweed comes from The Roaring Water Bay co-operative, south west of Cork, Ireland. Set up in 1993 to address the problem so many communities face where local young people have to emigrate to find work, this co-operative protects the local environment and invests profits back into the local community.


~~ Using the scrub, is it any good? ~~
When I first used this exfoliator I was rather surprised at the appearance. Presumably due to the whiteness of the packaging I was expecting a white or clear, boring looking face scrub with a few beads in it. This however is actually an olive colour and has hundreds of tiny little beads in it, making it a rather good scrub. It doesn't smell particularly strong, but the smell it does have isn't unpleasant, but it's not something I would say I like. I used this scrub over a few weeks, everyday, so it does last a good amount of time, but did it make much difference to my skin?

The answer is no, I didn't really see a big change in my skin. I do however, always use a face scrub, so it did uphold the appearance of my skin, it just didn't improve on it. My skin didn't get any worse, my pores weren't as clogged for example, but I didn't notice an improvement with blemishes, nor did I have the glowing complexion promised by the Body Shop.
Using this face scrub doesn't impress me too much either. At first massaging this into my face is quite nice, it's actually a good little scrubber, but it starts to froth up like a normal face wash, which did surprise me as I haven't used any face scrubs where it begins to froth. Whilst this did make my face feel like it was having a good clean, afterwards my skin would feel really dry and tight, and this was after every time I used the exfoliator. I've used other face scrubs in the past and they've never dried my skin out, now I know I have oily skin but that doesn't mean I want it stripped of all oils, as that only makes the problem worse! Luckily it didn't seem to affect my skin too badly, other than drying it out slightly which required more moisturiser than usual to get back to normal.


~~ Recommended? ~~
Would I recommend it? No. I used the whole product but each time I used it I dreaded the tight, dry feeling my skin would have afterwards, which required me to apply more moisturiser than usual. A good face scrub for oily skin should never completely strip the skin of all oils, as this can only make the problem worse, and I've plenty of good face scrubs in the past which manage to clean out my pores without drying out my skin. The price of this exfoliator isn't cheap either; it costs £7.50 for a 75ml tube from the Body Shop, which in my opinion is overpriced for a product which isn't anything special. If you are looking for a good face scrub for oily or combination skin, I recommend St Ives Apricot Scrub or Lush's Ocean Salt scrub, both of which do a brilliant job in my opinion.