ST. IVES APRICOT SCRUB!!!
ST. IVES APRICOT SCRUB!!! Meg's Make-Up IS THE #1 HIGH-END, obscure, specialized, exclusive and yes, "snotty" review site. We love caviar extracts, champagne ingredients, notes from the rarest tuberose. We do bend the rules for under-the-radar-products. This product is not flashy and not under-the-radar. For once, nostalgia wins!
I always remember the ST. Ives JAR in the shower. Yup, back then it was a big ole' pot of scrub. It had a screw off tangerine cap and I use to scoop my hand in there. At the age of nine I would get a handful of grainy goop and slather it on. I wasn't able to spell exfoliater but used it anyway. Did everyone's mother have this jar? I think so.
The potion in the lotion was rough and abrasive. It was great for scaling off dead cells, then again, so is sandpaper.
The fantastic PR Gal for St. Ives said that we MUST try the new, improved, sensitive skin friendly TUBE (Pot has been retired-Bye, bye tangerine lid). It's around $3.00 and has been refined to an easy to disburse, squirt tube. The technology has come along way and it WILL rid your skin of dead cells. Since I am all for new and improved I had to find out if it really was. Here's what the site claims..
"St. Ives® Gentle Apricot Scrub is specially designed for the needs of sensitive skin. It has a creamy formula with mild exfoliants to clean deep into pores and remove dull surface cells, yet is gentle enough for even sensitive skin. The result is soft, smooth, radiant skin.
• Dermatologist tested
• Non-drying
• Won’t clog pores
• Hypo-allergenic
• 100% natural exfoliants
• Moistureguard™ to replenish and retain
moisture
• Vitamin-rich Apricot extract
• Swiss glacial water
• Nourishing Swiss botanicals"
Ladies were you able to make your contemporary skin beautiful on a classic remedy? Please post your findings...
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Reviews
I felt like it dried out my face too much. It scrubbed my face of dead skin, but it didn't help with acne, etc. I guess it stripped too much while cleaning.
Love it! Totally surprised too! Like many of the other snobs on this site, I was afraid to go back to my pre-department stores roots and give it a shot...but SO glad I did. It seemed yummy, I liked the consistancy,and it actually worked - and didn't cost a fortune either! So I guess the old saying, "you get what you pay for"no longer applies...
the first thing i noticed when i first tried this stuff was that it smelled amazing. i realize that doesn't really have a lot to do with a product's effectiveness, but it makes me want it! i have very sensitive skin and have actually had pretty good luckwith this stuff in the past as long as i don't use it more than once a week, which i really can't do with ANY facial scrub. i did, however, once make the unfortunate mistake of buying the walmart knockoff of this. let me tell you, the dollar i saved was NOT worth it. it was really grainy and the smell was very synthetic and it irritated myself immediately. this experience has taught me a very important lesson: never buy anything that "compares" to a product that's already dirt cheap! it did, however, reaffirm my love for the actual st. ive's product!
I can still remember when my cousin Denise and I discovered St. Ives Apicot Scrub in junior high. We loved everything about - the smell, the "scrubbies", how smooth your skin felt after after using it. Somehow as I grew older and started spending way too much money on such things, this fabulous product dropped off my rador. Thank you Miss Megan for reminding me that you can still get high quality goods at a great price. I have purchased a number of salt and sugar scrubs in the last few years - everyone seems to have a version. I loved how smooth they made my skin but they were so sloppy and kind of hard and time consuming to rinse off . St. Ives Apricot Scrub has replaced thier spot in my shower - it is just as smoothing and mousturizing as my old scrubs but the creammy consistency rinses clean. I love the soft almondy scent. Plus the tube dispenser is so much easier than scooping a blob of product out of a jar. I've been using it every few days on my face, chest and arms. They are markedly smoother and clearer - I could not recommend this product more!
How can you not love this? It smells great, doesn't irritate, and doesn't have a bazillion directions to follow! This is one blast from the past that I am seriously happy to receive, and at that price, it HAS to be a staple!
If you do not already use this product you must go to the nearest drugstore and get it immediately. This scrub is a MUST before self tanner and great for feet, elbows, backs...you get the point; and like puppylove said, at 3 bucks you can't afford not to have fabulously smooth and glowing skin. (the gentle version is good for your face too)
With apologies to Beautyzilla, facial cleansers are the only drugstore products I use. Specifically, Cetaphil, Olay Daily Facials, and the new version of St. Ives - Renew & Firm with AHA. I'd been out for a while and got another tube recently. I use it as a masque while I'm in the shower. I put in on first thing when I get in, and rinse it off last. It leaves my skin clean and soft without drying it out. I'd forgotten how much I like it - it has a thick, creamy consistency and not a lot of particles. If you use it as a chemical exfoliant and let the AHA's do their job (I leave it on for about 10 minutes), it works brilliantly. And you sure can't beat the price.
This product brought me back to the days of reading Seventeen magazine! :) I don't have sensitive skin, but I thought this product was too rough for my face. I prefer the less abrasive facial scrubs that use jojoba beads or whatever that exfoliate without feeling scratchy.HOWEVER... I found this is a FANTASTIC body scrub! What a treat! The flip top tube makes it shower friendly. And the clay in the product helps draw out impurities. What a bargain!
i absolutely LOVE this product! i have the sensitive skin scrub for me and the blemish control scrub for my two boys and my husband. love it!
St. Ives...brings me back to highschool. I know I've used other lotions and such, but never have used the Apricot Scrub. I have become a bit of a snoot and didn't have faith in the scrub. I loved the result. Its a little painful to use, but my skin is really smooth after use. It just overall looks better (I haven't been using an exfoliant scrub, so I was nervous). The only thing I'm not crazy about is the smell. I don't think it smells like apricots, but rather a perfumey smell. Loved the result, hated the smell.
I was hesitant when I read "Apricot Scrub" (remember Apri from the 80's?)- but I loved it! My skin was superr soft and glowed!!!
I do not like this scrub at all. It is way to harsh for sensitive skin. I was super red after. Used the rest of the tube for my feet. Worked much better as a foot scrub. I am sticking to the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant. It is a delicate, gentler exfoliant and leaves skinheavenly smooth. It is not cheap, but a little goes a long way.
Being an Esthetician, I have to agree to disagree! This product is so bad for your skin. Just look at it under a microscope and you will see the little pits that are ripping your face up!
Baaaaaaaadd! Sooooooooooooooo unbelieveably bad for your skin. The crushed apricot pits create microtears in your skin which over time can cause it to lose firmness and elasticity. I cant even look at the stuff anymore. Use philosophy great mystery for your everyday scrub or...oooooh my favorite (right now) the Cosmedicine Medi-morphosis. Meg, you NEED a review for the medi-morphosis, the self-adjustiing exfoliator where the beads dissolve once they hit new skin and the dead skin as been rubbed off.
Katie
I keep it in the shower to use as a body scrub, though for smell, I'm addicted to Origins Spice Odyssey.
Reading about the blackheads - I found the miracle cure for at leasting making them look less "there". Do a clay mask ( I happen to be into Decleor's Armoa Purete right now) and then use DermaDocter's Picture Porefect serum afterweards. I cant remember the scientific explanation for what it does but it works. If that's enough. Once a week, twice if you're super oily.
Katie
I've been using this product since I was a teenager! I love it - it's not too rough but it's not too fine either, it's that perfect texture that really sloughs off that dead skin that haunts us all. And the smell, FABULOUS! I use it once a week to keep that glowing skin.
I use this mostly for my body as an exfoliating body scrub. It's great when you mix it with a quarter size amount of pure aloe vera gel. It leaves your skin so refreshed and so very soft. I don't really use this on my face because even though it left my skin soft and clean after an hour I noticed that my face was oily, and I little blemishes the very next day. In my opinion, this is way better for the body.
I've been warned against using a scrub on your face every day, but I am REALLY a stickler for having my skin feel really squeaky clean. And there is nothing that gets it to feel as squeaky clean as St.Ives Apricot Scrub (I have the version for blackheads, with salylic acid). It also doesn't dry my face out at all, and actually leaves it remarkably soft. I have been using this on my face consistently for about a month and my skin is looking gorgeous. My blackheads are rapidly disappearing and staying that way, and aside from a few PMS pimples, I am totally clear. I'm going to buy another tube specifically to use on my body, because I've heard good things about that!
I fins this much to abrasive for my skin. It leaves it feeling tender and red. I have never been a fan of exfoliators, maybe my skin is just too sensitive.
I have been using this product for years. I can not imagine not having this in my bathroom.
I would have to disagree with this product! This exfoliant is actually Jagged edge so Microscopically it is cutting up your skin, this product is way too abrasive for any skin type! For the body maybe the face I wouldhave to say stay away...
I have always been a fan of the apricot scrub- love the reference above to Apri, as I was one of its most loyal supporters. Must admit the St. Ives brand hasnt been as irrelevant to my bathroom cabinet as some of the more-fabulous-than-me testers above. I have personally been using St. Ives products for quite some time, so I wasnt nearly as freaked out as some of you when I got this to review (really ladies...you must get a grip!) Anyway, I was, an am, a loyal fan of this as an alternative to the more expensive (and not any better) others. Bring on the Ives any old day!
My skin is really sensitive so this was a little harsh for my legs and arms but it works wonders for my feet, looks like I just got a pedi after using this stuff.
I actually keep this product in the shower and use it a couple of times a week... it's really easy to rinse off and leaves my skin feeling absolutely naked! Really is a bargain (and also smells wonderful.)
Love love love it! I buy a couple at a time.
I love this product! It's bar none my most favorite exfoliating scrub. My skin always feels so smooth and soft after I use it. I always get compliments on my skin and this is one product that definitely helps me to achieve that.
I really love the Non-gentle St Ives scrub! I love the medicinal smell. It's not s freaky hospital smell, it's a super duper refreshingly clean smell. The gentle one is great too, but I like to feel like I've been sandblasted after I use a scrub. It worked wonders on my husbands black heads, thank god. I can't stand looking at blackheads! This will just scrub them all away. I too have been using it for years. It's always a staple in my shower.
I HATE THIS EXFLOIATOR!!!!!Too abrasive!! and I HATE the smell. I have used many a skin exfloiator and find this one to be one of the worst!! Not worth the $6!
This stuff is great! It is one of my favorite drugstore facial cleansers. It really does a good job of getting your skin clean! I love it! I use the medicated version with the salicylic acid in it, because I have acne prone skin.
JUST SAY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I'm with Katie on this one, it is so no bueno for the skin! As if I don't have large enough pores already, these little devils make them bigger! Ladies, you must understand, you need an exfoliator with a perfectly round bead so that it doesn't tear your skin. I also love the cosmedicine medimorphosis, and other honorable mentions go to Peter Thomas Roth botanical buffing beads (which begin to disolve when they hit the water) and Caudalie buffing beads (it's Caudalie...enough said)
This product reminds me of high school! However since high school was a LONG time ago I don't care to use it on my face any more. There is a residue left over that bothers me. However I do like it as a body scrub. It's better on places less delicate for me.
I was kind of surprised to get this to review. I stopped using it in college, when I got a real job and could afford department store brands. It never wronged me in any way, I just thought more expensive meant better. Since then I've tried just about every brand of exfoliator ever made and spend ridiculous amounts of money doing so. I could have opened this with my eyes closed and know what it was, that yummy almond scent. But the consistency is definitely creamier and less harsh. My skin was so smooth afterwards. My skin looked just as nice as it did the week before when I used my 40 dollar one. But the best things for me was that I used it on the little white bumps I get on my upper arms (which I didn't have pre college-thanks old age!) and it worked really well. I was a day away form ordering something on Sephora specifically for them that was 60+ dollars. Phew! I promise to not be such a product snob. I promise to not be such a product snob. I promise to not be.......
No, no, noooo! I admit, I like feeling stripped, but man. This stuff is SO BAD. I used it for months at one point when I was on cheap streak and developed to get a whole bunch of broken capillaries around my nose and such- things that don't go awayyyyy, particularly since my skin is so darn fair. I muuuuch prefer the Cosmedicine, though I'm looking forward to trying some Philosophy stuff.
I really like it. It's now a permanent fixture in my shower and I use it daily. It's soft and creamy and smells good. the scrub is not too rough on the skin, but has enough umph to do the job.
It made my skin every soft and smooth to the touch. Only thing that I didn't like about it was the smell, personally to me it smelled funky like a damp towel left on a damp floor of a locker room that had apricot scented soap spilled on it for days.I recommend this scrub to anyone that wants a product that will leave their skin soft and smooth with the first use of the product and continue to get these results with each use, doesn't want to spend alot on a scrub and disgrees with me on the smell of this scrub.
I love this product, and have used it for years. The pot is still available around me in Georgia, which is awesome because I go through this really quickly.
This scrub was way too strong for my face - but i loved it for my legs and feet.
Gosh reading these reveiws was like a walk down memory lane. I too remember this scrub as a youngster. As I got older I came to realize it was a little to hard on my face. Getting the new and improved scrub was a nice surprise. It's not a ruff as the old stuff, but still to abrasive. I have tried it as a body wash as some of the ladies suggested and really like it, so it will stay in my shower.
Uh, like certain people's mothers, I always had a pot of St. Ives scrub in my tub. And I stillalways have some kind of scrub in the tub 'cause after starting with St. Ives, a face scrub is now part of my bathing routine. I actuallylike this new formulation better than the old one -- it's gentler and more calming. But it doesn'thave the density of "scrubbiness" that I personally prefer. The scrubbing grains are smaller thanin the old formulation (a plus in my book, but now there aren't enough grains. That makes it a nice cleanser, but notmy favorite exfoliant. Bottom line: don't love it, but don't hate it.
I used to think that if a scrub didn't have sharp granules it in, then it couldn't possibly work. Now that I'm older (but not much wiser) I know that it is important to be gentle to your skin. This new St. Ives isn't like the scrubI remember, but it still feels like it is actually exfoliating. I've been using it in the shower, and I leave iton while I am rinsing my conditioner, don't know if leaving in on for a few minutes does anything, but it makesme feel that much more proactive about my skin care. I like this scrub, and you can't beat the price.
The first time I used this product I think I was 10. I got a sample in my caboodle (remember those plastic makeup carriers with a mirror inside). I loved the silky smooth texture of my skin after. Ever since then I've gone back and forth from more expensive exfoliators, but this one has always been the one I go back to when my skin gets bad. I especially love the medicated version as well as the cream cleanser version with gentle, soft beads.
Here's a surprise for anyone that knows me! NOT! Dammit, I still have the orange screw off tub of Apircot Scrub in my shower.. it was hiding (kind of) under my sink for a few years and i recently stumbled upon it.. So, I'm wondering if i should place the 3/4 of a container on ebay? HA! No way, it's mine, I love it and now after hearing all the rave reviews for the newer creation I can't wait to get my hands on the new product to see if it's just as wonderful. thanks!
I have this in my shower right now. I saw a sample sized tube and bought it to try it out. I remember using this when I was a kid. Still a great product and I plan on buying full size. :)
Ok so I was at Ulta looking at this product deciding between the sensitive and the original when a woman near me said "I'm a dermatologist...can I have offer you some advice". Of course I said yes, and she proceeded to tell me that the the exfoliants used in St. Ives are jagged and cause micro tears in your skin, causing bacteria and dirt to get in which can cause blemishes and make you age much faster. I didnt buy it of course, as this was terrifying to me, but when I got home I decided to investigate to see if perhaps this lady was not a real dermatologist but rather, a disgruntled ex-St. Ives employee who goes around trying to scare people out of buying their products, and I found all sort of things on the web about this being true, including this post from a doctor: "I remember back in med school, during our second year derm lecture they flashed up a picture of the St. Ives Apricot Scrub that it seems everyone uses. Then they showed a microscopic picture of the skin after using the scrub. The sharp and irregular particles had completely shredded the skin! I went home that day and threw away my scrub!" Anyways just thought everyone should know this, as I also loved this product but now spend all day being horrified about the micro-tears in my skin!
this stuff is great, not only is it multi purpose scrub, but for the $ and amt you can't go wrong.I use the stuff for rough elbows and for getting rid of possible ingrown hairs on my legs the day before waxingand its a great tide over for your feet until you can get in to get your new pedicure....they also make one that has sacylic,( whatever,) for keeping blackheads and other nasties away from your back and face, chest in the summer time.....they stuff should come in vats for the summer time...
I have been putting off testing this product. So sue me, but I just kept looking forlornly at that package and the thought of setting aside my Molten Brown Exhilirating Body Scrub in some fruit flavor that is so exotic I've never even heard of such a fruit and well...But finally, tonight, with nothing much to do, I decided to amuse myself with a side by side comparison. Yup, drugstore scrub on the left side, $30 tube purchased from the bathroom at the Bryant Park Hotel at the end of a depressing business trip on the right. And the winner is.....nobody! I guess that means the $4 tube is the winner. Molten Brown LOOKS more glorius all bronzy and sparkly and is indeed less pasty. I thought they both smelled equally good (the Molten Brown didn't smell as exotic as it sounds) and with both packages side by side in the shower, let's just says, one calls out to me like a life I want a piece of and one...doesn't. But at the end of the day, I'm feeling my arms, my legs, my feet and...nothin.' You decide. I suppose the practical girl says the $4 tube wins but, I've never been the practical sort and for me, a bath is a transformative experience. If I just wanted to get clean...a hose and a bar of Zest would do the trick.
I like the stand up tube a lot better than getting grit under my fingernails, fo sho.However, I feel like my face got oily a few hours after using it. I liked it as an allover body exfoliant rather than using it on my face. And I would tell my friends about it.
I am a faithful user of St. Ives. Basically I started using it because it was affordable. Over the years I felt I needed more attention to keeping my skin clean and glowing. For years I would go to bed with my makeup on, growing wiser I realized how importantis was to wash my face before bed. After using At. Ives I will now never go to bed without wahing my face-It feels and looks somuch better in the morning. I do like the medicated version, I helps during those monthly breakouts as well.
I have used this product for a number of years and have been very happy with it. It sells at such a great price point and is so effective. A real deal!