Great and not so great (exfoliators).

Over the last two months, I have been slathering thick sunscreen across my face daily, in order to keep the damage from the hot Singapore sun at a minimum. While I may be keeping at least some of the harmful rays away, you should see the garbage that's been coming out of my pores! Hence, I've been on a mission to find a great facial exfoliator, to keep my pores as clean as possible. So here's the skinny on a couple exfoliators I picked up recently: One being great (and I mean amazeballs great), and the other one... not so much.

GREAT: Raw Materials Skin Grit for Men (go figure)

When I'm using a facial exfoliator, I almost want to feel pain from the grit. Beauty is pain right?! I want to feel like my exfoliator is actually doing it's job... and the job I'm talking about it giving me a brand new face (well, at least uncovering a layer of fresh new skin). I brought this Skin Grit from home (US), after I got it for my husband some time this past year. Although he wasn't using much of it, I sure have been! This gritty, coarse exfoliant makes me feel super rough, and almost a little manly while I'm scrubbing away. One look in the mirror after the exfoliating process, reveals a glowing new face, complete with unclogged pores. Yes, I have to manually extract some of the stubborn blackheads on my nose, but this grit really gets the job done!

Price: $20 online


NOT SO GREAT: Nivea Whitening Scrub

I love Nivea. So when I found this product in a Singapore drug store for under $10, I had to try it. This scrub has the finest, almost non-existent micro-beads. The first time I tried it, I had to look back at the tube it came in to see if I had accidentally purchased a face wash, and not a scrub. Nope, it's a scrub... a scrub that doesn't do much scrubbing. I mean, I seriously question whether or not there's any "scrubbers" or grit in this product. I will say that it does work well as a face wash when I use it on my Clarisonic. It leaves my face feeling very clean, and removes makeup pretty well too. However, I would not recommend this product if you're looking for a gritty exfoliator.

Price: Under $10 at the drugstore