Women are reportedly suing the maker of St. Ives face scrub for allegedly harming their skin
The INSIDER Summary:
• A TMZ report says two women are suing the maker of St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub.
• They claim the product's ingredients cause harmful skin irritation.
• Lots of dermatology experts agree harsh scrubbing products are no good.
• There are gentler ways to slough off dead skin.
St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub is the best-selling scrub brand in America, according to its manufacturer.
But it also could be damaging and irritating your skin, according to two women who are reportedly suing Unilever, the company behind the popular product.
On Wednesday, TMZ reported that two consumers have filed a class action lawsuit against Unilever for more than $5 million dollars. In the suit, the women reportedly allege that the product is like sandpaper to the skin and cite "dermatology research" that one of the scrub's main ingredients, walnut shell, can cause irritation.
A $5 million lawsuit might be a bit of a stretch (how does one incur $5 million worth of skin damage?) but the women do have a point: The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) warns against harsh scrubs because of their potential to irritate, and in an interview with The Cut, dermatologist Dr. Dennis Gross railed against the products.
"Scrubs are a primitive way to exfoliate," Gross told The Cut. "It's like using sandpaper on your face. If you look closely at the sandpaper surface, you'll see lots of scratch marks, and that's what happens on the skin."
Luckily, harsh scrubs aren't the only way to slough off dead skin cells. Dermatologists generally say that chemical exfoliation - applying gel-like products that dissolve dead skin cells without any kind of scrubbing or rubbing - is actually gentler and more effective than something like St. Ives.
The bottom line, according to the AAD, is that no one exfoliating product will work for everyone, given our wide range of skin types. Here's their quick guide to choosing the type of exfoliation that's best for you.
INSIDER has reached out to Unilever and St. Ives for a comment on the lawsuit and have not heard back at the time of this post.