** Pores For Thought! ** (Soap & Glory The Fab Pore 15 Minute Facial Peel)

Member Name: izzoh

Product:	Soap & Glory The Fab Pore 15 Minute Facial Peel
Date:	31/08/09 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Refreshing, great packaging, smooths.

Disadvantages: More of an exfoliater then a peel/face mask.

** WHO ARE SOAP & GLORY? **

Soap & Glory was created by a very clever lady named Marcia Kilgore who is also the brain behind Bliss Spas and the new Fitflops range. Soap & Glory is now a huge bath and beauty range sold in boots, John Lewis and the similar large stores. Its products range from bubble bath and body lotion, to lip gloss and self-tan. Although the products are quite pricey compared to the rest of the market it definitely has made its mark in the beauty and body industry and has a strong, loyal customer base.

** WHAT IS THE FAB PORE FACIAL PEEL? **

It advertises itself as being an intensive action pore-refining facial peel! In other words I take this to mean something which leaves my skin feeling refreshed and dirt free! I was surprised to read that it includes a mushroom extract that they claim tightens pores. It also includes Salicylic acid which loosens up dead skin cells as well as Kaolin which smoothes the service of the skin. Apparently!! Soap & Glory have also added some antioxidants to help the signs of ageing. So, it sounds like a marvellous little item. So as soon as I got home I gave it a little go!

** PACKAGING... THE MAIN SELLING POINT! **

This face-peel was just under £6 at my local Boots store. To be honest I think this is a bit expensive but because the packaging looks so appealing it always feels like I am getting more for my money. I guess I am their target audience and they win me over every time! (Damn those marketing people!)
The peel itself comes in a 50g white tub with a twist off lid. It has the Soap & Glory pink logo on the top and is so very charming! The outer packaging though is where the charm REALLY lies. The tub is nestled perfectly in a pinkish cardboard box. All Soap & Glory products have wacky names and are usually puns which add a bit of fun to the product. It sounds vain but it is a nice feeling when people comment on the nice things in my bathroom! The retro packaging of The Fab Pore is very recognisable. It has a shabby chic design on the top where they have cut out a hole so you can see the tub underneath. It then had a black and white picture of a 'sparkling clean- butter wouldn't melt' woman on the front with a little line saying 'my pores - there are almost invisible!'. So cheesy but you have to love it!
On one side of the box are the ingredients and on the back are the instructions. It looks so good that I am planning to keep it in the box after I use it; as long as it doesn't go all wet cardboard on me it will look great in my bathroom. One of those things hat guests pick up and go 'ooohhh what's this then!'. Another superb design from the soap & Glory team.


** SO... WHAT IS IT LIKE TO USE? **

So all this fancy packaging is useless unless the product works and I was rather excited about using this as I love face masks. Now I was a little surprised to read the instructions as the product is advertised as a face peel. Now in my opinion a face peel is something you put on, wait to dry and then slowly peel away from your face as if your skin was shedding itself. But this works more like an exfoliater that you can allow to sink in. the instructions were as follows : ''rub a grape sized dollop into your face and massage in circles until the green beads have all dissolved, leave on for 5 minutes for a quick refresher or 15 minutes for a real deep cleaning 'facial'. Rinse well''. Ahhhhhhhhh now you understand. NO PEEL! I'm guessing what they actually mean by this is that it almost peels the layer of dirt off with the micro beads. Moving on...

When I first opened the tub I was slightly perplexed as soap & glory products are usually creamy pink in colour, this is in fact more of a pink-grey colour with tiny specks of blue. It reminds me of some form of toothpaste and almost has a minty smell to it! Not the most pleasant smell I have to say but refreshing nonetheless. It is very thick and when they say a grape size you really do just need a grape size. It spreads evenly and you don't need anymore. I rubbed it in as they advised but gave up after a while. If they want me to keep rubbing it in until the green beads have dissolved I won't have any face left at all! So after a few minutes I laid back in the bath tub and relaxed.

Well I tried to relax. The mask / peel does have a very menthol feel, and almost felt like it was stinging parts of my face. I definitely felt like it was working and I was hoping it wasn't giving me an allergic reaction because usually I am fine with these things. But I rinsed it off after 15 minutes which was pretty easy to do as the mask doesn't seem to set. Instantly I noticed my face felt smoother. Once I dried it I always do a face test. If the areas around my nose 9the corners right next to the nostrils) and the middle of my chin feel smoother then we have a result as this is where most of my pores get clogged. Da Da! They were definitely smoother and my face felt very refreshed.

However.... The results last about 3 hours at which point your face goes back to normal. This is a shame as I have used products which make the fresh 'facial' feeling last a couple of days. The instructions do advise you to use this every 2 or 3 days but doing it at the rate will make your tub run out in less then 3 weeks. So slightly disappointed but it definitely works as an exfoliater rather then a peel.

** CONCLUSION **

This really isn't as special as it sounds which is a shame. But I use it twice a week as a facial exfoliater and I always use it quickly. Leaving it for 515 minutes adds no extra benefit. I think it is great to use in the morning as it instantly refreshes and doesn't dry out the skin. So you have to decide if you want to spend almost £6 on an exfoliater for the face. I probably won't buy this again unless it is on special offer as I would like to try others on the market and this didn't blow me away. But still worth a try if you fancy treating yourself.

Thank you for reading.

Summary: A great treat for the face.