has anyone of you tried the st ives apricot scrub? it is an exfoliator.. is it okay to use it for an everday facial scrub?

Exfoliating scrubs, such as St. Ives, that contain bits of ground up apricot or peach pits (or anything similar) aren't the greatest for acne-prone skin. The granules in them actually contain sharp, jagged edges which can cause micro-tears in your skin, which are not only irritating (and irritation can lead to breakouts), but make an excellent entry point for bacteria.

A better option, if you still want to use a manual exfoliant, would be to find one that has smooth, silica beads in it. These beads are just as good at helping to loosen up dry, dead skin, but because they're smooth, they're gentler on your skin.

c'est la vigne makes a good point. You COULD use the St. Ives scrub, but it could be risky doing it every day...if you were still set on using the scrub, then do not use it more than twice a week tops (and perhaps use the gentle version of the scrub as well).There are other ways to exfoliate the skin as well. Here they are:

Baby Brush Method: basically, this method uses a gently brush and you pretty much use this brush and wash your face with it. Just search, "Baby brush method" on this site, and there should be a whole post about it.

Glycolic Wash: Glycolic face wash is pretty much does the same thing a scrub would do, which is, remove dead skin. Glycolic face wash IS exfoliating, and can remove dead skins cells when you use it. However, it might be irritating on your face, especially if you've just started Dan's regimen. So maybe try this out instead of a facial scrub.

There are also more ways of exfoliating your skin on this site, just search around for them.
Hope this helps

thanks a bunch ). i'll use the scrub twice a week.

baking soda feels good as a scrub also. give it a try if you have some lying around. that st. ives is very smoothing but it's supposed to be pretty harsh.

If the OP has inflamed, cystic acne (since this post is in the cystic acne section) - I would recommend not using a scrub at all. Scrubs can cause irritation and worsen inflammation. They are really only meant for people who have mostly noniinflamed acne or those who only have very mild inflamed acne. And I totally agree with what c'est posted about only used a gentle scrub with smooth silica beads. Harsh, rough scrubs can cause small tears in the skin and cause irritation.

What i do to exfoliate some is wet my finger tips and rub with the grain of my hair on chin (since that is where i get acne) and do that for about a min or two. This helps in removing my dead dry skin from BP. Anyone else do that?

I used St ives apricot scrub a long time ago and it did irratate my skin and seemed to make my skin more dry and worse.

I used to use St. Ives apricot scrub every day. It was so irritating. I noticed I had a lot more cysts using that than using just a gentle soap (Neutrogena bar soap). I've recently started using a generic apricot scrub with salycilic acid in it once a week and it seems fine.

Well, I really wasn't try to suggest it, but you CAN do that. However, if you happen to have alot of inflammed bumps or whiteheads, then I wouldn't advise it all. Why? Because then you might scratch open a bump/whitehead and could spread bacteria to the rest of your face which might make you break out more...

But if you have relatively mild acne with maybe a couple bumps here and there, I don't seem as much harm of using the scrub once or twice a week.

If you start breaking out more though, then I'd stop using the scrub period.

Hope this helps you out some more...

Honestly dude like exfoliating everyday is not recommended at all. like they say you should exfoliate regularly like 2-3 times a week,thats it though. but i dont know cuz everyones skin is different i just dont think its healthy to use everyday. also like if you do use it,scrub but dont scrub...make sense? like massage very,very,VERY gently on the top of the skin,extremely gently to just exfoliate the dead skin cells, i know it feels good to massage with pressure and scrub but your doing more harm then good. like by doing that your making the dead skin cells go deeper into the skin instead of it just being taken off. so remember,exfoliate gently,and only do it 2-3 times per week. i mean just try it out and youll see for yourself what is good thats just my advice but like i said everyones skin is different. Good luck!

What about the aspirin mask?

Dont use the st.Ives scrub for facial acne. Ive used it before; it smells lovely and leaves your face feeling good; but no no no no its far too harsh! I used it for backne and it works well on the back for some reason. Im guessing the same for chest acne too.

But no! dont use it on your face.