It took me some time to get to do a review on this exfoliator since I got it in my Lookfantastic Black Friday box. It’s the first product I got to try from the Dr. Brandt brand. Dr. Frederic Brandt began his career as a cancer researcher at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, where he specialized in the research and treatment of leukemia. That’s when he started to focus on the use of natural anti-oxidants to fight free radical damage, which lead him to develop his own skincare line.

What I got to use from them was an exfoliator that promises to give the same benefits as salon microdermabrasion at home.

Packaging:

The exfoliator comes in a plastic black tube that has an unusual cap. the design is very nice and somewhat more colorful with all the red than what I’m used to seeing in high end skin care brands.

Texture:

The exfoliator is white and it has the consistency of a cream with some noticeable exfoliating particles in it. I can’t tell if it has a scent or not, but it feels a little bit like very fine sand on the skin.

Ingredients:

Water, Alumina, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Peg-100 Stearate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Xanthan Gum, Phenoxyethanol,Lactic Acid, Fragrance (Parfum), Menthone Glycerin Acetal, Allantoin, Disodium Edta, Tocopheryl Acetate, Magnesium Oxide, Propylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Citral, Limonene.

The key ingredients as listed on the brand’s website are aluminium oxide crystals (professional-grade crystals to remove dead skin cells), lactic acid, jojoba oil, aloe vera and chamomille extracts.

However, when we take a look on the first ingredients listed above, these are water, alumina (the aluminium oxide) which is rated better then zinc when it comes to metal ingredients in skin care, caprylic triglyceride (usually obtained by combining coconut oil with glycerin), glycerin and cetyl alcohol (a fatty alcohol that helps the dead skin cells fall off, helps the skin keep in more water, and leaves the skin feeling smoother and softer).

The list doesn’t contain any pore-clogging ingredients. At first, I was scared about that alumina ingredient, especially since it’s so high up on the ingredients list, but after doing some reading on this, it turns out it’s actually pretty safe for the skin and it’s said to be beneficial.

Price and accessibility:

Dr. Brandt products are available in several online shops as far as I can tell, but they’re expensive. This exfoliator for example retails for 79 US dollars in the brand’s official online shop.

My overall opinion:

While I don’t think this is a bad product, it’s definitely not for everyone. They say to use it 1-2 a week, but I used it only once a week because I think it’s too harsh, even though I can tolerate all kinds of exfoliators. When the skin feels overly dry and it looks reddish after using something, I’d say it’s too harsh. That being said, I have one or maybe two uses left and I’m done with it, but I certainly wouldn’t purchase this on my own. I think more gentle exfoliators are a safer option for all kinds of skin types. I think daily gentle exfoliators like those AHA and/or BHA acids in the right concentrations are a better option for what my skin needs.