Nivea Visage Skin Refining Scrub: Review

The blackhead wars continue - 

Earlier, I told you about my first scrub which did nothing at all to help me with my horrible blackheads. Let me tell you now about the product which turned the blackhead wars in my favour (Oops...I think I just revealed my verdict! :D ). I've always loved Nivea as a brand. You know how some brands you just like, even if you don't have an actual reason to (you may not have even tried their products, but you just know they will be great for you!). Nivea is like that for me. Maybe it's the gorgeous gentle subtle fragrance in every Nivea product I've ever had which assures me that Nivea will work wonders for my skin. Maybe it's the beautiful ads - all those women with flawless skin - they can't be wrong! Or maybe it's just that Nivea has never failed me in the past. These sentiments, along with one review singing the praises of this product had me clicking the buy button on healthkart.com without a second thought.

What Nivea Claims: Nivea Visage Skin Refining Scrub visibly refreshes the skin by exfoliating the dead cell layer of the skin. Leaves you with fresh and soft skin. Skin compatibility dermatologically approved - Suitable for all skin types.

Price: Rs. 149 for 75 ml 

Shelf Life: 30 months 

Ingredients: Aqua, Nylon-11, Polyethylene, Glycerin, Sodium Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Accrylate Crosspolymer, Panthethanol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Laureth Sulphate, Lauryl Polyglucose, Lactose, Cellulose, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Parfum, Cl 77007. 

I found the packaging cute, compact and blue - like all Nivea products. The bottle is see-through (gives you a glimpse of the product inside and also tells you when it's time to buy a new scrub. Not that we wait for then to get over to buy other scrubs ;) ), sturdy and travel-friendly. The white flip open cap shuts firmly into place to prevent leakage. It also gives you control over how much product you take out from the bottle, which is good as only a small quantity (as shown in the picture below) is required to cover the entire face. 

The scrub has the same signature gentle mild Nivea fragrance that I so adore. If you've bought any Nivea creams or body milks, that's exactly how it smells. The fragrance doesn't stay very long, it disappears after a couple of minutes. The blue exfoliating beads are bigger than the Clean & Clear Scrub, but not big enough to be harsh and hurt the skin. My skin is pretty sensitive (If you've read my Fem Hair Removal Cream Review, you'll know exactly how sensitive it is), but the beads weren't harsh enough to break me out. Now coming to the best part - m skin felt fresh, soft and well exfoliated after use. And I saw a reduction in my blackheads after the very first use! I've been using the scrub for a while now, and my blackheads haven't completely disappeared, but I'm still very happy with the results. 

What I Loved: 

• Affordability
• Good shelf life 
• Dermatologically approved 
• Cute, sturdy, compact packaging; convenient to carry 
• See through packaging will let you know how much of the product is still left 
• Mild and pleasant fragrance 
• Small quantity required for entire face 
• Exfoliating beads are not harsh on skin; did not break me out 
• Skin feels soft and fresh after use 
• Reduces blackheads to an extent 
• Contains Pro-Vitamin B5
• Suitable for all skin types

What could have been better:

• More expensive than some other available scrubs (Garnier, Clean & Clear) 
• Contains parabens 
• Does not foam 
• Does not completely eliminate blackheads and does not have an effect on whiteheads at all 

My Verdict: 8/10 (It would have scored much better had it not contained parabens) 

Will I repurchase it? You know what I loved most about this scrub? It has a 2 line description at the back. That's it. It promises to refresh and exfoliate the skin, and that's exactly what it does. In addition, it also uproots blackheads, which is an added bonus! Both the Clean & Clear and this Nivea Scrub surprised me. But Nivea's surprise was a good one, delivering more than what was promised. And that's why I love this scrub and will definitely be repurchasing it. There might be better scrubs out there, but for now, this one's my favourite! 

Note: You may be wondering why this review seems familiar. That's because I had written it as a guest post for Arpita's lovely blog Indian Beauty Center. As per her request, I changed it up a little before posting it here. The reason I didn't put it up here earlier is because I wanted to do the Clean & Clear Review first and then put this up. Hope you enjoyed reading!