March 3, 2011

Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Detoxifying Scrub Review

It’s ok to multitask your conditioner and use it not only on your head but also on your legs to shave with. However, I highly suggest NOT using your conditioner on your face.

Aveeno hasn’t quite grasped the concept that applying conditioner on your face is NOT good.

Jump!


Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Detoxifying Scrub is a brand new exfoliating facial scrub from the brand with a formula that detoxifies, exfoliates, and preps skin for moisturizer.


I use ExfoliKate to deal with my flaky, dry skin issues. Normally I apply once a week and my skin pretty much remains smooth and flake-free for a week or two after using it. I’m happy with it and only occasionally drift from it to use a few different, gentler Asian peels to deal with my dryness.

I have to be careful when it comes to exfoliating products since they do more damage than good for me and end up making me drier rather than smoother and softer.

Aveeno Smart Essentials Daily Detoxifying Scrub I came across while shopping for new products to review on Musings. It was cheap and I thought it would be a good one to use in the shower in between ExfoliKate.

Props to Aveeno for creating a really moisturizing scrub. Without a doubt it’s hydrating and doesn’t strip my skin or make it feel dry or tight after use. Supposedly it uses natural luffa and coconut pulp to polish the skin…

The problem is…


I feel like I’m pouring conditioner into my hand and scrubbing my face with it. Seriously. It smells like drugstore shampoo/conditioner which isn’t a bad thing because it’s a really fresh shampoo-y kinda smell, a very clean scent but the texture also reminds me of a conditioner. It has a thicker formula with tiny bits of pulp in it (I guess that’s the coconut?) and kinda reminds me of Lush Curly Wurly but not nearly as chunky.

It does have a few smaller grainy bits but not enough to exfoliate with to be honest. It offers a moisturizing cleansing experience but not such an exfoliating one in my experience with the product.

  • Those with dry skin looking for a gentle exfoliation (it didn’t dry my skin out or make it tight).
  • Those who want a moisturizing cleanser of sorts but don’t mind the lack of exfoliating properties (it seems to offer a nice hydrating cleansing effect but didn’t do much for actually making my dry skin smoother).

  • Those seeking to remove dry or flaky skin.
  • Those wanting a grainy exfoliater to detox skin and renew the skin’s surface.


I actually love the formula but the experience was kinda weird and I felt like I was applying Lush Curly Wurly to my face. It kinda felt like conditioner being slathered all over my skin rather than an exfoliating treatment. Although moisturizing it needed to be a bit more grainy to really work at smoothing skin out and getting to work on flaky areas or at least I thought it did. It’s simply too smooth a formula to get the job done particularly if you use exfoliator to attack dry, flaky areas.

Overall, Aveeno has an interesting texture and formula on its hands here but it needs a little tweaking to get it right because right now it feels more like a creamy cleanser than an exfoliating treatment.

Tried it?

Do share your thoughts!

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • LK

    The way you describe it reminds me of St-Ives’ Olive Scrub… It feels more like a really rich and creamy cleanser than a scrub. It has really little exfoliating beads as well. I do think it’s a great product to use as a daily cleanser on winter (because it’s really moisturizing and the beads help to gently exfoliate flaky skin just a tad), but it certainly doesn’t do the job as an exfoliator like the Apricot scrub!

    • the Muse

      oh I wish I could use apricot scrub but it makes me more dry LK ;-/ it’s awesome too, lots of grainy bits ;-D but sadly dries me out awfully!

      • Hazel Lyn

        Well, the Apricot scrub is mainly meant for acne-troubled skin (common garden acne, that is— not the serious rosacea type) so it also contains salicylic acid. That’s probably why it dries out your skin, Muse.

  • Christina

    Aveeno has super fine grains in its scrubs, which I think was the problem for you here. I switched to one of their scrubs a while back from Neutrogena’s larger trained scrubs and was definitely dismayed at what I saw as ineffective exfoliating. Personally, for someone with sensitive, dry, and crazy skin, this exfoliating scrub is actually pretty amazing once you use it consistently. It does a light exfoliation very well, and as any dermatologist will tell you, it’s not about how hard you scrub but how gentle you can massage the scrub over a longer period of time. Definitely a love or hate it product though! Thanks for reviewing 😀

    • the Muse

      i def missed out on the graininess Christina. I used it for two weeks but I didn’t see any difference in my flaky areas, as far as moisturizing it worked a treat but def didn’t do the trick for my dry skin ;-D might have to give it a LONG time to work and I’m one for instant results ;D!

  • Melissa

    I want to take a curly wurly shower now and I think I might just do that. 😛

  • Coral

    That might be a nice cleanser for night. The one I tend to use that work for me also dry out my face. I can’t quite seem to get the balance right in my cleansers.
    I’ve been looking for a new facial moisturizer and saw one in the same line for Aveeno. I’ve been trying to be good and finish the one I have but it just doesn’t seem to do it for me in the moisturizing department.

  • Nunuiviet

    Yuck, this scrub feels like conditioner??? What a horror! I never get the opportunity to use products from aveno, because we don’t have that brand in Thailand, but I heard that some of their products were pretty good in the past. Anyway when you ‘re searching for an exfoliator whether chemical or physical, you certainly wants it to have some efficiency.

  • sara jo

    I’m glad I read this because I have been interested in the Exfolikate. I have flaky face. I have been using a zinc based product and that helps a lot but I know that one has fruit enzymes so I thought it would also help with dark spots.

    • the Muse

      sara LOVE kate ;-D awesome stuff. Really brightens and removes flaky easily ;D!

  • Anna

    Oh, I was wanting to try their Smart Essentials cleanser, but I’ll probably pass it up now. I got the Neutrogena Naturals cleanser (I was sucked in by the list on the back of the bottle, explaining what all of the ingredients are) but it was awful! If Aveeno is like conditioner, Neutrogena is like shampoo – in a really bad way. It smelled fantastic (the only upside!) but it was soooo drying. Hmph. :/

    • the Muse

      ugh anna that’s terrible. I seen that on the shelf and was thinking of grabbing it! thanks for the heads up you saved me $!

  • Bonnie

    Wonder if it would be good for those of us with already-broken out skin so as not to do any further damage?

    • the Muse

      bonnie not sure how well it’ll do on broken out skin you might wanna stick with something that contains SA to clear up any problem areas!

  • Jazzie

    I personally love it. I have oily skin. I wash my face with this morning and night and use neutrogena daily moisturizer for combination skin and my face has been clearing up and super soft! Remember its just a detoxifying scrub not an exfoliating scrub. Most exfoliating washes will dry out your skin but thats why its important to also use a moisturizer. Even if you have oily skin. When you dry out your face, your sebaceous glands will overproduce sebum if you do not moisturize! It’s important not to over due it when it comes to exfoliating, do so maybe every other day or so.