I watch a lot of beauty videos, read beauty posts, hell, I'm watching America's Next Top Model as I write this. I'm pretty fascinated by it. Not because I'm particularly vain myself, in fact I consider myself pretty average in the looks department, but because I really enjoy the idea of people as living canvasses for art. I think it's amazing.

That being said, it's really hard for me to take a lot of the advice given on beauty blogs, because the women writing/making the video are not really like me. They're a different race, or they have oily skin when I have dry, or their hair is stick straight, whereas mine forms this curly mess, and my biggest pet peeve: all the products they use really break my starving-student bank. Long story short, I love to watch them, but it's tough for it to apply to me.

Like I said, I have dry skin. I hate wearing foundation because no matter how much moisturiser I put on, my skin is still dry and flaky, and foundation makes it look worse. I also get breakouts one in a while. Pretty randomly too, in different times of the month, in different places. So a few weeks ago, I decided to try out a new-to-me scrub to try to make a difference.

I picked up St. Ives Apricot Scrub mainly because of it's price. It was only about $4, and that's in Canada, where everything is expensive. I got it at the local Shopper's Drug Mart, but I'm sure you could find it just about anywhere, because it's a national brand.

This is a picture I lifted off of drugstore.com, where this product retails for under $4.

The packaging says that it is oil-free with 2% salicylic acid (for the acne), that it isn't drying, and that's 100% natural. Their website further claims that this is "America's #1 scrub". It's also made in America and isn't tested on animals, both of which are things I love. I try to buy made in Canada, or the US, as much as possible, so that made me really happy. The animal love was an added bonus. And if all that doesn't have you sold, it's paraben and pthalate free.

The stuff smells okay, actually it smells like every other acne cream I've ever used. I love the consistency. It has a thick creamy feel, with some abrasive elements as well. After examining the ingredients, I think that the abrasive parts might be Walnut Shell Powder. The particles stay around after the creamy parts have gone away, allowing you to buff your face.

For me, this is great. I've been using it nearly every day for almost a month now, and my skin doesn't have lingering dry flakes anymore. It also hasn't dried my skin out. It hasn't moisturised it any, but it didn't make it worse. Also, slowly but surely, my acne has cleared up! I like that a lot.

 In conclusion, I'd definitely buy this again! I have seen some improvement in the areas I wanted to, so I'd definitely give it a try. The price is pretty cheap, so if it doesn't work out for you, you aren't out a whole ton.

As a side note, apparently most of my viewership comes from Russia. This really surprised me, because I know absolutely nothing about the country. So, welcome to all my Russian readers. I hope you enjoyed today's post.