little white truths

I received this product as a GWP when I made an order from Maslow & Co during its Christmas sales, and I was expecting to enjoy it because it sounded right up my street - plus it looks like a good product (they've packaged and marketed it well) - but unfortunately it just doesn't work for me.

I have seen some positive reviews of the product online, but for me, it's too irritating. It's not the scrubby matter that my skin doesn't like: it's the peppermint. I just don't think putting peppermint on your face is a particularly good idea, and a lot of skincare experts would say the same thing. Have a look online, then imagine washing your face with toothpaste. I'll go into this more below.

Mieux Derma claims/product details:

• Grain & Grit is our edgiest product yet
• Interspersed with lashings of finely crushed limestone and hints of refreshing peppermint
• Also infused with tea tree - an important natural ingredient used to treat problematic skin
• This exfoliant is like that friend who's a little rough around the edges but is, in essence, a breath of fresh air 
• RRP $39 AUD for 100ml

Verdict

My skin doesn't like this product so unfortunately it's headed for the body scrub section, now that I've tested it enough to write this review.

It has a consistency that's not unlike toothpaste and it's bright green in colour (like spearmint). It smells like peppermint and it does contain a good amount of scrubby matter, although the grainy bits are super fine so I don't think it's too harsh for the face in theory because it's not abrasive.

Indeed, it's not the scrubby matter that my skin doesn't like: as mentioned above, it's the peppermint. As soon as I put this on my face, I feel that familiar cooling sensation that toothpaste has, and it's not a good sensation. You know how sometimes you apply something that cools or stings a little and it feels ok, like it's working? This doesn't. Or at least it doesn't for me.

When I use this, I can't massage it in for very long before my skin tells me I need to remove it, and my skin still feels cool/irritated for a while after I've washed it off. I don't think I'm allergic to peppermint (presumably I would know that by now, given that it's often in toothpaste), but I do know that my skin hasn't ever enjoyed peppermint as an ingredient in skincare, so that's something to be aware of if you're in the same boat.

Another thing worth mentioning is that I saw one youtuber compare this to Kate Somerville's ExfoliKate, and I have to say, I respectfully disagree. The two products are like apples and oranges to me. Where ExfoliKate (reviewed here) stings a little in a good way and completely resurfaces my skin, this one cools almost to the point of burning and it doesn't do anything in terms of resurfacing my skin. In other words, it does nothing that a good exfoliant should do and everything that a bad exfoliant should not.

So in sum, I don't like this product and I can't recommend it. Perhaps it's just that I have a sensitivity to peppermint, but it's a product I personally would be careful of overusing or indeed using at all. Something about it just doesn't feel 'right'.

Not for me.