Exfoliating cotton rounds

~ stashy

The final day of “Radiant Skin” Week, I’m reviewing another type of exfoliation for the face: physical / manual exfoliation.  Any manipulation of the skin surface: rubbing, scratching (ouch!), massaging all have an exfoliating effect.  When combined with an abrasive object or product, the surface dead skin sloughs off, revealing softer more radiant skin.  Most people are familiar with face scrubs – usually a cream-based product embedded with grainy abrasive particles (alert: please do not buy any scrubs containing plastic microbeads [polyethylene]!  The microbeads get flushed down the sink and choke our wildlife! I learned about this from mirrorthelove – you can find out more information here)

My skin can’t tolerate too many scrubs – it gets irritated easily, according to my esthetician, I have “thin skin”? – so I tend to limit my usage of them.  I do however, enjoy a milder physical exfoliation using exfoliating cotton rounds:
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I went on the hunt for the Up&Up brand (Target’s private label) Exfoliating Cotton Rounds after watching an empties video by Missglamorazzi (Ingrid Nilsen!) in which she raved about it. I was intrigued because it looked like a more gentle way to exfoliate the face. And since finding it at Target, I haven’t looked back! This is hands down, my favourite way to physically exfoliate my skin on a weekly basis. My skin is left smooth and glowing after I use this (you may recall that I stocked up on these when Target Canada closed shop):
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But I really didn’t need to stockpile the Up&Up brand, because within months of buying my bomb shelter supply, I found that Joe Fresh (Canadian brand exclusive to Loblaws) launched its own version!
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Here’s a comparison of the 2 Exfoliating cotton rounds:
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Up&Up Exfoliating Cotton Rounds – $2.69 for 45 (Target)
It doesn’t look like anything special at first glance: one side is a standard quilted cotton round – albeit a slightly larger size than a regular cotton round.  But flip it over, and the exfoliating side has little bumpy nubs embedded within the cotton (disclaimer here – I’m not sure what they used to created these bumps – the packaging says microbeads but does not list the ingredients other than 100% cotton. Regardless, having polyethylene microbeads embedded in cotton and discarded into a trash bin is a whole lot safer than flushing the loose beads down the sink!)
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I use the exfoliating cotton round after fully cleaning and toning my face as per usual.   I simply use my normal alcohol-free toner and soak the exfoliating cotton round thoroughly and then gently buff my face in a circular motion for a full minute.  I use this all over my face excluding under eye or eye socket area – I make sure to reach behind my ears, corners of my mouth, neck and sometimes I will even exfoliate my lips using this.  Shield your eyes, this is what the cotton round looks like after usage:
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This is post-cleaning and toning!  That grey colour?  Dead skin.

I apply serum / moisturizer immediately after exfoliating – I try not to use any AHA or BHA products (chemical exfoliants) on the same night that I do a physical exfoliation – it’s just too much for my skin.
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Joe Fresh Exfoliating Rounds – $3.00 for 45 (Loblaws / Joe Fresh)
I’ll keep this short and sweet – this is identical to the Up&Up brand’s Exfoliating Cotton Rounds!  Now it’s available right in our own backyard. 😀

Then, one day recently, I randomly came across this:
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Kit Exfoliating Round Cotton Pads – $5.39 for 80 (Rexall)
So I had to give it a try too.  This is a smaller size compared to the Up&Up / Joe Fresh rounds – it’s more of the standard cotton round in size and appearance – except for the little bits of blue particles embedded on the surface.  This isn’t 100% cotton, but a 85/15 cotton/poly blend.
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It feels like fine grit sandpaper or a cat’s tongue.  It’s not an unpleasant feeling but it did cause a bit of redness and mild stinging after I used this.  Some of the grit also transferred from the cotton round onto my skin leaving gritty bits when I went to apply my serum.  I don’t love this, but I also don’t hate it.  It’s harsher than the other kind of exfoliating cotton rounds so it might be a good option for those looking for a higher level of skin sloughing.

Have you ever used exfoliating cotton rounds?  How do you like to exfoliate your skin?

This concludes my week-long look at how to achieve radiant skin – hope you enjoyed! 🙂

34 thoughts on “Exfoliating cotton rounds”

  3. I can’t wait to finally catch up on your posts this week! I have been super busy, but I know I NEED to read this week full of radiant skin posts!! ❤
    Also, I nominated you for the Beauty Blogger Award! You should definitely check it out 🙂 ryanezamorabeauty.wordpress.com
    I'm sure you were already nominated, so I'm very sorry about that!

    Liked by 1 person

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    2. Hiya! I know you’re super busy, no worries. The posts will still be here when you get a chance to get caught up. 🙂
      Thanks for the nomination – yes, I have been nominated but I’ll go have a look anyway! 😀

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  4. Ah noooooo my fave exfoliating scrub has plastic microbeads!!!! (La Roche-Posay Physiological Ultra-fine Scrub) :O I will never buy it again. Dammit, I have like 3 tubes. From now on, I’ll tissue it off and put it in the trash instead of washing it down the drain. Thanks for the heads up!

    I also found an article on CBC about the microbeads. Apparently the microplastic is turning up in our poor aquatic animals’ stomachs, and in our BEER. WHAT????
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/plastic-microbead-dangers-studied-by-environment-canada-1.3008669

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    1. Yeah, it’s quite scary. I think as consumers we just pour stuff down the drain thinking that our water treatment facilities will just take care of everything, but I guess they can’t do it all. I’m sure I’ve been guilty in the past of using products with microbeads – half the battle is the education. Loblaws just announced that they’re phasing out all microbeads from Loblaws and Shoppers by 2018. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/loblaws-to-stop-making-products-with-microbeads-by-2018-1.3109046
      It’s a long time from now, but I suppose it better late than never?
      Good plan to tissue it off – at least the product won’t go wasted and you’re not contributing further! 🙂

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      1. Oh rats, I just discovered that DH’s face wash, which I stockpiled since Yves Rocher d/c’ed it (or at least repackaged it and clearanced the old stock), also has polyethylene beads in it. I am never gonna be able to convince him to not put that stuff down the drain. At least he is willing to look for a new product, though. Sigh. What a shame nobody thought about (or cared about) the environmental implications, first.

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  8. This is a fantastic post, and thank you so much for linking back to my page and sharing the word about the plastic micro-beads!! I’m so excited and optimistic that we can spread the word on here, especially on a blog like yours that’s so popular and well respected ❤ xx

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  11. sandpaper for your face that leaves grit behind sounds like a bad idea… blegh. Great to know about the other beaded pads… I also run over the same areas but sometimes include my cleavage too!

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