Beauty Scrub suggestions

[Anonymous]

I am looking for a good beauty scrub with lots of beads or crystals. I have very oily skin and my back breaks out and I am looking for a good scrub. I used to use glycolic acid which worked great, but I am TTC and my OB said not to use the glycolic while pregnant.

I am looking for a scrub that has the texture of a sugar or salt scrub but is cleansing rather than moisturizing. All the scrubs I've found have too few beads or crystals and too much gel. Does that make sense? Seriously, I'm looking for something only slightly milder than sandpaper. Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but you understand what I mean.

The only one that came close was Dr. Brant's microdermabrasion in a jar, or something like that. It was great but it was like $75 for a pretty small jar. I am looking to use this on my back. I can't spend $75 every week on beauty scrub. The Dr. Brant was better for my face anyway. Those crystals were just a bit too small.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

[Anonymous]

Have you ever tried making one? It would be super-cheap:



1/2 cup oil. Sweet almond, grapeseed or rice bran oil are all good choices.

1 cup sea salt. Baleine is a good choice. You can also substitute sugar, which is gentler.

5 drops essential oils. The oil you choose for your body scrub depends on the result you want. Lavender is relaxing, lemongrass is refreshing and rosemary is stimulating.

Combine the oil and salt in a bowl and mix well. Add essential oil and combine well.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks, but I am looking for something that ideally doesn't have oil or anything remotely moisturizing in it. I am an oil slick with an acne prone back and looking for a mechanical exfoliant because I'm not allowed to use glycolic. The glycolic kept my skin clear.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, OP, I forgot about that. Olive oil is "supposed" to be noncomodogenic, for what it's worth.

I use Biore Triple Action Astringent. Have you ever tried it? It has something like twice the amount of salicylic acid in it than regular acne products.

http://www.acne.org/biore-triple-action-astringent-reviews/267/page1.html

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks. Unfortunately, I've also been told that salicylic acid is also out because it is related to asprin. I'll check again. I was hoping to find something that was truly just a mechanical exfoliant.

[Anonymous]

Gotcha, sorry, can't help. But here's a bump.

[Anonymous]

Not sure how well it works, but sometimes for my face I just dump some baking soda into my cetaphil cleanser... maybe try adding it or sugar/salt into a body wash you already have?

[Anonymous]

Try ANEW clinical microexfolianty by Avon. I normally would think Avon was kind of a joke but this stuff is great for a summer time scrub for my face and back which get really oily and flaky in the summer. It is not gentle. Look on Amazon.com - I think that is how I got it. I read about it in Allure or soemthing andtried and think its a really good and fairly unique product.

[Anonymous]

Remede's scrub is GREAT. It's like superfine sandpaper. Also expensive (about $50 a tube), but a lil' dab'll do ya.

[Anonymous]

Could you use Bobbi Brown's buffing grains? It is specifically for the face but I also use it on the body. It sells for $40.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the suggestions. I need to check the ingredients but semifine sandpaper sounds just like what I am looking for.

[Anonymous]

would a loofah work?

[Anonymous]

One thing though, is that if you scrub too much, you're actually going to make your skin produce more oil to compensate. You may want to try just Cetaphil for a few days and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Maybe try one of these?

St Ives apricot scrub: http://www.stives.com/skin-care-products/facial-invigorating-scrub.cfm

Body Shop satsuma body polish: http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/bodyshop/browse/product_detail.jsp?categoryId=cat20081&productId=prod3850007

[Anonymous]

I loved the Remede scrub for my face, but I think the granules might be too fine for your back.

I used to work for Clinique and their Exfoliating Scrub might be what you're looking for. Not the 7-day scrub cream. The Exfoliating Scrub is good for oily skin and it's not emollient. If I remember right, it has menthol in it which feels great on oily skin.

One thing they used to preach at Clinique (and maybe this was just to get people to buy our products) was that physical exfoliators should be laboratory-made...man-made granules can be rounded and therefore won't tear the skin the way organic granules (salt crystals, apricot pits) might. Again, not sure if this is really true, but just an interesting tidbit.