Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant

This is one Dermalogica product that left me in a state of awe for it. It is supposed to be a scrub for exfoliation. According the the Dermalogica website:

" This unique, Rice-based enzyme powder activates upon contact with water, releasing Papain, Salicylic Acid and Rice Enzymes to smooth the skin and accelerate cell renewal. Our unique Skin Brightening Complex of Rice Bran, Salicylic Acid, Green Tea, Grapefruit and Licorice helps to balance uneven skin pigmentation. Papain and other active agents derived from Rice Bran and Rice Extract help to regulate melanin production while micro-exfoliating dead cells. A super-soothing blend of Green Tea, Ginkgo and Colloidal Oatmeal calms inflammation, leaving the skin extraordinarily clear and refreshed. Gentle enough to use on a daily basis. Contains no artificial fragrance or color. Professional recommendation advised.

How It Works:

• Rice Bran and Rice Starch gently microfoliate skin surface to facilitate penetration of the Skin Brightening Complex.
• Papain Enzyme and Salicylic Acid help dissolve excess surface cells.
• Skin Brightening Complex of Rice Bran, Salicylic Acid, Green Tea, Grapefruit and Licorice helps even skin tone."

Let's see now. First of all, the packaging for the product, in my opinion, looks cheap-ish. The impression it gives me it that it looks like a cheap normal plastic container of some imitation bottle, as compared to the packaging for the cleansers which looks more "high class" and nicer. But that's my opinion anyway.

This exfoliant comes in powder form. Yes. Powder. Basically what you do with it is cleanse your face with a Dermalogica cleanser (Or any other cleanser really), wash off, then pour a bit of this powder into your hands, add a but of water, rub them together to form a milky-looking liquid and apply it to the face just like washing again. Directions say that it's best to massage into skin for about a minute. It's really very unique in a way- it does not feel like a scrub at all since it's so fine, but upon washing off the skin really does feel as though you have scrubbed/exfoliated it so it does work. Another thing to note is that it smells like... rice. Rice being the main ingredient of it, it really does smell like it XD These few factors are what left me in awe of it.

It really does a good job of exfoliating without being harsh on the skin- in fact, you can barely feel the exfoliation until after rinsing off since it's that fine. So yeah, if you prefer large, rough-ish granules in your scrub this wouldn't be a scrub for you. My gripe with this product would also be dispensing (Just like the cleansers)- it's either too much or too little, which can lead to wastage :(

Despite it's name of Daily Microfoliant, it's best to use it at most twice a week. I don't think anyone has actually recommended its use as a daily cleanser. For my skin condition though, I only use it once a week. Dermalogica (Or at least Fion, my consultant) suggests a at most a twice weekly routine of cleansing > exfoliating > mask > toner > moisturiser, but I've yet to get the Dermalogica mask I want... so yeah. But either way for me it's going to be a once a week thing as overdoing it would just aggravate my skin condition further and that would be defeating the purpose.

Daily Microfoliant is available at Dermalogica salons (e.g. Leonard Drake) for RM 212 for a 75 g bottle. Pricey indeed. But I got mine from Rayanne of LowYat.NET so it was very much cheaper for me :P