Does Britain’s most popular face scrub make you look older?
IT promises to ‘delight the senses’ using 100 per cent natural exfoliants. But the most popular facial scrub brand in Britain and the US is now the subject of a £4million lawsuit after two customers claimed it had not been approved by dermatologists – and could even accelerate the ageing process.
St Ives Apricot Scrub is marketed as being ‘dermatologist tested’ and has been endorsed by top model Gigi Hadid.
But Kaylee Browning and Sarah Basile, from New York and California, claim to have suffered skin irritation because of the ‘sandpaperlike’ texture of the crushed walnut shells used as a natural exfoliant in the product.
They also suggest that St Ives’ advertising, which says the product is ‘dermatologist tested’, is misleading because while the scrub is tested, it is ‘not recommended’.
The lawsuit is seeking £4mil- lion in damages. In legal papers, the two women cite dermatologists who argued that products such as St Ives’s scrub could actually harm delicate facial tissue.
A 2015 New York Magazine article noted that ‘large, hard, and sand-like rocks, like the ones in St Ives’s Apricot Scrub, are the most damaging because they are too abrasive for the face’s thin skin’.
Dermatologist Dr Dennis Gross described scrubs such as St Ives’s products as a ‘primitive way to exfoliate’, adding: ‘It’s like using sandpaper on your face.’
Both he and Paula Begoun, who runs her own cosmetics company, claimed irritation triggered by the scrubs can accelerate the ageing process.
Scrubs are marketed as a way to revitalise the skin through deep cleansing, by removing dead skin cells, oil and dirt.
The science is endorsed by other dermatologists. But the plaintiffs quote a blog post by a US skin specialist who argued that the tiny tears in the skin caused by walnut shell powder allow bacteria to enter, causing inflammation which can promote acne.
Mrs Browning and Mrs Basile said: ‘St Ives is unfit to be sold or used as a facial scrub. The product is worthless.’
St Ives Apricot Scrub is made by Unilever and is sold in at least three varieties in Britain: Blemish fighting, gentle and invigorating.
The company said the formulations of the US and UK scrubs varied but was unable to explain how. Walnut shell powder is listed as the second ingredient in two of the three UK versions and the fourth ingredient in the third.
Unilever said: ‘We do not comment on pending litigation. For over 30 years consumers have loved and trusted the St Ives brand to refresh and revitalize their skin. We stand by our dermatologist tested formula.’