Maychiri's Thoughts: June 2024

Nivea Derma Skin Clear Anti-Blemish Scrub Review

June 29, 2024

One more product for us acne-ridden girlies! This is the Nivea Derma Skin Clear Anti-Blemish Scrub!

I originally wanted to stay with my ol’ trusty Nivea Rice Scrub, but it’s becoming annoyingly difficult to find... hmm. BIPA still stocks it, but if they don’t have it, I am out of luck. Fortunately, Nivea happened to had just released their new Derma Skin Clear range of products that is targeted towards acne-prone skin. Well that is definitely me! I cannot remember the last time I had a clear face, free of acne... even though I use all the salicylic acid and tea tree and witch hazel in the world. This range included many products, including toners, cleansing gels, sunscreen, and, what is most important to me, a facial scrub! Well now, isn’t this perfect? I am looking for a replacement for the Nivea Rice Scrub and they just happened to have an entirely new scrub, made for just the type of skin I have?? Fate, indeed! And when I combined all the promo codes and everything on Notino, I ended up paying almost half the normal price! This is incredible, I just hope this scrub can be as good as the Rice Scrub was!

Packaging: what a chunky tube! It’s quite wide... I honestly wouldn’t say this has ‘only’ 150 mL. The design is quite medicinal; the tube is this hospital green kind of colour, which, when combined with the white cap, only makes it look even more medicinal. It’s perhaps a bit sterile choice of colours, but that’s how I know it is made for acne-prone skin! Products that are made to remove blemishes tend to have a very medicinal design and colour-choice, for some reason. The text is white in the front, which makes it super easy to read. In the back, however, the text is dark blue, like the Nivea logo. This makes it significantly harder to read... why didn’t they just stick with the white??? I love the design of the tube, I love how it looks like a medical product, like something you would find at the pharmacy!

The cap closes extremely securely, with a loud click to let you know you closed it properly.

Ingredients: lactic acid, niacinamide/vitamin B3, salicylic acid for nourishment. No parabens. The exfoliating agent seems to be microcrystalline cellulose, not crushed rice like the Rice Scrub had. The active ingredients are in the top 10, but they are quite near the bottom. Still, I believe there is enough for the scrub to actually have some effect on my skin. Oooh, this scrub has a very intense scent! It smells medicinal; like, it’s salty and chemical. It for sure smells fresh and refreshing! I really like this scent, although it might be slightly too perfumey and intense. It also kind of smells like men’s aftershave. The expiration date is 12 months after opening.

Colour: it’s only the tube that is medical green; the scrub itself is actually a colourless, clear gel. I can see the microcrystalline cellulose particles inside it, I think they are the white particles inside. There’s also some kind of green pearls inside, I am not too sure what this is... perhaps the active ingredients? Whatever they are, they do add a bit of fun and colour!

The formula is gelly and soapy. It doesn’t really create a lot of foam, although it does create a bit of foam. It feels quite lightweight even though it is quite thick and gelly.

Application: this scrub should not be used every day, it is much too aggressive for that. Instead, use it 2-3 times a week; this should give the skin enough time to recover between applications. But how do you actually use this? It’s simple! Just wet your face and then take a small amount of scrub gel and massage your face using a circular motion, going from one section (chin, cheeks, forehead...) to another. You can even press slightly harder if you want a more thorough exfoliation.

Then, after you’ve massaged your entire face (excluding the lips and eyes, of course) just wash it off with warm or lukewarm water. See, I told you it was simple!

Hmm, this scrub feels surprisingly lightweight on my skin! It doesn’t feel very occlusive or like it’s comedogenic; in fact, it feels refreshing, like it’s purifying my skin. However, the exfoliating particles are not nearly exfoliating enough. The microcrystalline cellulose feels only slightly sharp and scratchy, which makes this scrub quite gentle. It’s certainly much gentler than the rice scrub, where the rice actually felt scratchy. This feels more like a gentle scrub, which... is this going to be enough for my problematic skin? It should, at least in theory. But I really do prefer more scratchy exfoliation. But besides that, the scrub feels nicely refreshing and even slightly hydrating on my skin, which is awesome!

Since this scrub contains salicylic acid and niacinamide, it should lead to clearer skin. My acne, however, are too severe, so I don’t really see a large difference – for better or worse – after using this scrub twice a week for months now. I still get painful cystic acne come luteal phase, but they seem to go away slightly faster. My skin definitely feels and looks more clean and slightly brighter, though! It might reduce how many blackheads I am getting, honestly. I think there are fewer blackheads on my nose tip since I started using this scrub. Also, it does not dry out skin, it actually makes the skin feel hydrated and silky. Honestly, this is about as much as I expected, so I’m not disappointed. In fact, I am pretty happy with how well my skin is tolerating this scrub!

Not the entire range; the sunscreen is missing

This scrub is wonderfully easy to wash off! It doesn’t require a lot of water to completely remove and it doesn’t leave a soapy film on my skin. The exfoliating particles can take a bit more time to remove, however, because they tend to disperse all over the face. But usually, they’re really easy to remove.

All in all, this scrub is fantastic! Now, it is unable to prevent new blemishes from forming on my terribly oily and problematic skin, but it definitely keeps the skin balanced and feeling clean! I use it twice a week, and my skin feels incredibly clean and refreshed after I use this scrub! The formula is very pleasant; it feels like a rich gel, not too thick or too thin. It feels, like Goldilocks would say, just right. It doesn’t feel occlusive or too soapy on my skin, even after I start to wash it. As soon as I apply it, it feels like it is cleansing and purifying my skin, but it doesn’t cause a stinging sensation. No, it feels gentle on my skin... perhaps too gentle. I am used to using the Rice Scrub, which really felt like I was exfoliating my skin. This scrub is much gentler on the skin. It feels only like a gentle exfoliation, but maybe this is better? The exfoliating particles just aren’t exfoliating enough for me. However, after washing it off (and it’s super easy to wash off), my skin feels so clean and pure! And ready for the next step in my skincare routine, which is toner. Nivea's claims, that it would “reduce blackheads & whiteheads”, isn’t completely true in my case, but I do have horribly problematic skin anyways. It does seem to reduce how many blackheads I have on the tip of my nose, though! So, it seems like it does actually balance out the skin form within, in fact, my skin seems to be slightly brighter now! And it doesn’t feel injured or dried out after using the scrub. Yep, this is definitely made for acne-prone skin, I can tell with how well my skin is tolerating it! So, in the end, I am actually quite happy with it! Does it make a huge difference? No. But I feel like it helps keep things in balance, and that’s all I need. I’ve already accepted the fact that I’m probably going to have acne for the rest of my life... *shrugs*. This is a great replacement for the RiceScrub, I actually feel like my skin likes this scrub a bit more. Yup, I will definitely recommend this scrub to everyone who suffers from blackheads, whiteheads and cystic acne – it’s great! Just don’t expect super amazing results from this alone!

Rating: 8/10

Would buy again? Absolutely YES