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Overheard a client say retinol is just a marketing gimmick and I almost lost it
She was telling her friend she uses St. Ives scrub instead because it 'actually works' and I had to bite my tongue so hard. Has anyone else dealt with clients who think physical exfoliation beats actual science?
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xena_bailey181mo ago
My sister-in-law swore by St. Ives for years. She said her skin felt 'squeaky clean' after using it. I told her that squeaky feeling is just your skin's moisture barrier crying for help. She still uses it, but now she also uses a retinol serum at night and wonders why her face is red all the time.
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riverdavis1mo ago
Squeaky clean skin is a trap. Your sister-in-law is basically scrubbing her face with sandpaper then setting it on fire with retinol. No wonder she's red all the time. St. Ives apricot scrub is way too harsh, especially if you're using retinol on top of it. She should drop the scrub and just use a gentle cleanser.
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leo_black761mo agoMost Upvoted
I actually used St. Ives apricot scrub all through high school and my skin was totally fine. My dermatologist told me that physical exfoliation isn't automatically the devil, you just have to be gentle and not do it every day. The real problem here is combining harsh physical scrubbing with retinol on the same night, that's asking for trouble. I think if she dropped the retinol and just used the scrub once a week her redness would probably disappear. Not everything with a gritty texture is automatically sandpaper, sometimes it just depends on your skin type.
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