I love a good scrub. With my thick skin that tends to large pores and oiliness, I like to get every last bit of gross dead skin OFF my face, and give those pores a good scrubbing. I like a fine granular scrub that doesn’t scrape or damage skin. Neostrata and their miraculous AHA and glycolic acid products have been favourites in my skin care regimen for many years. I discovered that using acidic chemical exfoliators really work well on my oily skin, and prefer them to retinols. So I was quite interested to try my samples of the NeoStrata Skin Resurfacing Duo.

When shopping for exfoliators I insist on sampling the product. I’ve come home too many times with liquid products containing maybe 3 or 4 scrubbing particles per use that do NOTHING on my skin. Or, found the grains like little bits of gravel scraping my skin. But the texture of the NeoStrata Crystals is like a softening sugar scrub – just right – like the Goldilocks of scrubs. Just enough scrubbing power without being too rough. I like to use my scrubs in the shower, as the rinsing off process is much easier, and I make sure all my make up is removed first. I also use them on my face, my neck and my décolleté. With the NeoStrata Skin Resurfacing Duo, you apply the crystals first for around a minute or two first. They have a lovely warming sensation that I really enjoy, as it feels like a facial. Then, you apply the Activator gel. It also has a warming sensation as it makes contact with the crystals, and the crystals dissolve as you rub it into your face. Honestly, your face feels as smooth as silk afterwards. Having a smooth skin surface makes everything better – your skincare can better reach your dermis without that nasty dead skin sitting on top. Make up has a smoother surface to work with, without dry skin patches or crepey spots.

I definitely notice that my skin is softer and smoother after using this Neostrata Duo for a few weeks. Another bonus to properly exfoliating? You don’t need as much of your skincare products. Try it, you’ll be amazed.

The Neostrata Resurfacing Duo comes as a two piece set, with a 50ml jar of Crystals and a 100ml tube of Activator. It’s on the costly end of the scale, at around $72 for the two, but the CPU (Cost Per Use) is pretty reasonable, as you only need to use the teeniest amount to get super results. And I only use it once a week at the most, or as needed. I don’t use it as much in the winter, as for some reason my skin shedding slows down then. Verdict? Love. NeoStrata Resurfacing Duo is one of the best scrubs I’ve ever used. I think the other one was a Dermaglow product that I haven’t been able to find anymore, and is probably discontinued. Happy to have found my new HG skin scrub! If you want an effective and gentle scrub that is a little gentler on the budget, I recommend another favourite, the Live Clean Fresh Face Smoothing Scrub. It is a fine grain scrub that also does a great job of exfoliating. I imagine I will keep both of these in my shower, because one can never have too many skincare products….