Oxy Seaweed Power Clear Pore Exfoliant

RRP: £5.99

--What does the promo say?--

"Proven to reduce the number of spots within 48 hours. OXY Clear Pore Exfoliant harnesses the power of natural seaweed to cleanse deep into your pores. It cuts through grease and oil, removing dead skin, clearing spots, blackheads and oily skin. As well as being effective against spots, OXY Clear Pore Exfoliant is also naturally kind to skin. Dermatologically tested, it is suitable for sensitive skin, and contains no alcohol, parabens or SLS."

--Packaging--

Clearly part of a unified range concept, the seaweed image is unisex and instantly recognisable as being part of OXY's latest initiative. The packaging is reasonably durable although some of the exfoliant does leak inside the plastic flip-top lid at times.

--Application--

The OXY website instructs: "Wet your face with warm water. Massage OXY Clear Pore Exfoliant into your skin, then rinse thoroughly. For best results, repeat this process 2 to 3 times a week in conjunction with daily use of OXY Fresh Skin Wash and OXY Deep Calm Balm." There's nothing difficult about this and it generally helps to keep dry skin at bay, meaning you shouldn't need to use it more than the recommended weekly frequency.

--Appearance--

An opaque gel which has obvious particles in it. These seem to be natural sandy particles that are unfortunately quite difficult to rinse fully off the face. Towel dry well to be sure that you're rid of them, or use a toner that's suitable for oily skin to pick up the excess.

--Scent--

Like the rest of the range, a naturally salty seaweed smell is evident but shouldn't bother anyone or interfere with perfume.

--Texture and consistency--

The particles may feel too harsh for some (they really are quite hard; very different to the silica beads that a lot of supposed "exfoliators" contain, which apparently have the same exfoliating efficacy as butter), but are effective in sloughing away dry skin. However, like a couple of other products in the range, a slightly sticky residue can occasionally be felt from the gel itself. Perhaps rinse twice to avoid this.

--Effects on the skin--

Does not aggravate skin and does help to keep dry skin patches down, making it perfect for combination skin types, but I did notice a persistently dry patch between my eyebrows that I had to concentrate on more, with extra use of the exfoliant and moisturiser. It also works well with the rest of the range in terms of reducing spot numbers (and yes, it really does do this within 48 hours as stated).

--Value for money--

£5.99 can seem a bit much for a range that you'd perhaps expect to be under £5 per product, but it seems to me that OXY has really upped its ante in recent years. It's effective and not unpleasant to use; I would therefore buy it again and recommend it to others.

perfect partners

Seaweed Power Fresh Skin Wash, £5.99
Seaweed Power Fresh Deep Calm Balm, £5.99
Emergency Spot Treatment Gel, £6.99
Clearlight, £39.99

All 5 OXY products are also available as a special bundle from OXY's website at a promotional price of £54.95, saving you £10 of the full retail price.
For the 4 skin care products alone (minus the Clearlight device), another special package is available at the price of £19.99 (instead of £24.96).