Blackhead Eliminating? It Didn't Knock My Spots Off. (Neutrogena Visibly Clear Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub)

Member Name: Rhiana

Product:	Neutrogena Visibly Clear Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub
Date:	25/09/09 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Moisturising

Disadvantages: Florally smell, small micro beads, ineffective cleaning, greasy feel.

Up until I turned 30, I was incredibly lucky with my skin. I never suffered anything more than a very occasional spot as a teenager and despite only having a basic and minimal skincare routine, I had really good clear and youthful skin.

Unfortunately, almost at the stroke of midnight on my thirtieth birthday, all the sins I'd committed finally caught up with me. Years of sloppy skincare, lashings of cheap make up, late nights, falling into bed with my make up still on and fags finally took their toll. At 32 years old I now suffer the bad skin I escaped in my teenage years and blackheads in particular are the bane of my life.

I've tried plenty of different facial scrubs over the last couple of years with varying degrees of success. I'm a bit of a fickle shopper though and am not particularly brand loyal; I'm easily swayed by a special offer. It was while on such an offer at my local Morison's I purchased Neutrogena's visibly clear blackhead eliminating daily scrub. At full price this will cost in the region of £4.

The product comes in a squeezy tube containing 150 ml of a white creamy substance with very tiny particles (or micro beads), rather like sand. On the tube Neutrogena claim it will help to eliminate and prevent blackheads for up to 3 weeks, and apparently this has been clinically proven.

When I first used the scrub I was a little surprised by the scent, although not in a bad way. Most facial scrubs smell of either nothing at all or fresh clean things, such as cucumber and mint. As soon as I opened the flip lid I could smell a strong floral fragrance and it smelled more like body lotion than a facial scrub. It wasn't an unpleasant scent at all, just not what I would have expected and a little off-putting if I'm honest. I've had a look on the back and there is nothing in the extensive list of scientific sounding ingredients that I can identify as having this scent, and I can't quite put my finger on one myself, so a generic floral will have to do!

Accepting the strange scent, I went ahead and squeezed some out onto my hand. The scrub itself is a white cream of medium consistency with tiny orange particles you can barely see. The directions for use tell me to apply to a wet face and massage gently, especially in the blackhead prone areas (that will be my nose and chin then), which I did. The cream itself is easy to rub in and feels very soft; however the micro beads were so tiny I could barely feel them at all. I didn't like this, as I do like to feel them working on my skin. Rinsing the facial scrub off, I started to feel the cream was a bit greasy and slippery and even after drying my face it felt a bit waxy.

I was disappointed after using the facial scrub, as it didn't really leave my face feeling deep cleaned and fresh. I also didn't notice any immediate improvement to my skin, but decided to carry on regardless and give it a chance. After around three weeks of using this facial scrub daily I could notice an improvement to the feel of my skin, it felt soft and moisturised. However I could have got the same effect from a moisturiser. Where I felt let down by this product was with the cleaning of my face. After using it my face never felt scrubbed or deep cleaned. It certainly wasn't refreshing either, something else I like in a scrub. After using the whole tube (I hate waste) I can't see any improvement overall to my skin, although it isn't any worse.

I really wasn't impressed with Neutrogena's visibly clear daily scrub. The smell wasn't one I'd associate with a facial cleanser, the micro beads were completely ineffective, and I wasn't particularly keen on the greasy, waxy feel it left behind. On the plus side it is moisturising and made my skin feel soft. I won't be buying this product again for myself, I'm now using clean & clear, which has more abrasive beads and a nice refreshing scent that leaves my skin tingling. People who have little or no problems with spots and blackheads may like this as a very mild and gentle scrub, however, if like me you need something a bit more heavy duty, I'd give it a wide birth.

Summary: Next time I SPOT this on special offer, I'll leave it on the shelf!