St. Ives Apricot & Manuka Honey Cleansing Stick Review

St. Ives Apricot & Manuka Honey Cleansing Stick ($9.99) is one of three different St. Ives Cleansing Stick formulas that are launching now at drugstores for Spring 2018 season. Cleansing Sticks are becoming quite popular at the drugstore this season with many different brands launching a variety of cleansing and exfoliating sticks. These are pretty handy if you travel a lot of you wash your face after a gym session and need something portable and easy to use. I like them well enough. I think they are convenient for travel but they aren’t my go to for daily cleansing as I tend to stick to my regular nightly cleanse ritual and rarely deviate from it. I’m also not convinced how hygienic these are and find them a little messy to use sometimes.

None the less it’s nice to see St. Ives doing a cleansing stick as it’s testimony how they seem to have a knock for getting involved in launching some unique skincare offerings at the drugstore. Just this Summer they introduced thee first ever Facial Oil Scrub.

Let’s take a look my review below.

St. Ives Apricot & Manuka Honey Cleansing Stick is just one of three formulas that are launching in this cleansing stick. I picked up this particular stick because it was formulated for dull skin and apparently contains a mix of apricot and manuka honey that work together to brighten dull skin. Sadly, both ingredients are last on the list which makes me question how much improvement you’ll see on your overall skin tone and dullness. I was reading a beauty site that said that manuka honey contains a high concentrate of methylglyoxal but really honey is like the last ingredient in this stick so, why bother even mentioning the benefits if you’re not going to reap them when using this cleansing stick!? I know after using this for two weeks I wouldn’t say my skin looked any brighter nor was my dullness eased. Something that does deserve mentioning is the fact this contains coconut oil which could be an issue if you’re allergic to it. I didn’t experience any issues thankfully but sometimes coconut oil doesn’t always agree with my skin. It also contains a water and glycerin base which gives it a easy glide across my skin when wet but it didn’t provide hydration sadly and my skin felt a little bit tight after using this. It has a fruity fresh apricot scent that I found pleasant but might not be for sensitive users.

So, how do you use it? There’s a video if you’re confused about cleansing sticks but the concept is pretty simple. Just wet your face, swipe the stick across skin a few times, and use your hands to work it into a lather. Rinse, repeat if you like. It actually doesn’t create a huge amount of lather or at least it didn’t for me. I’m one of those weirdos that thinks the more lather a cleanser creates the cleaner my skin is. You can’t use it by your eyes according the the directions so, I did avoid this area but still managed to get a some in my eyes and there was a mild stinging.

It rinses clean away and didn’t leave a film behind. It did a fairly ok job of removing my makeup but there was still a small amount of residue left behind when I tested the area using micellar water. I think it might work best as an AM cleanser and not one you’d use nightly to remove your makeup.

One thing I hated was how gross the stick became when it got wet. It had bunch of residue around the lip which needed to be either rinsed off or wiped off with a wet washcloth (don’t do it with tissue as it’ll leave bits of tissue sticking to the cleansing stick). This is one of my pet peeves with cleansing sticks as the same happens with others I’ve used. It’s sort of gross and messy to use sometimes.

St. Ives Apricot & Manuka Honey Cleansing Stick didn’t really bring anything new and exciting to my cleansing stick world. It was a pretty basic cleansing sticks that did a mediocre job cleaning my skin. It might be a nice travel-friendly cleansing option but not something I’d personally reach for daily to clean my skin.

St. Ives Apricot & Manuka Honey Cleansing Stick is launching now at drugstores or get it at target.com, walmart.com, or amazon.com.
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