St. Ives Apricot Scrub Versus Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub

With grocery prices rising every day, many people are looking to cut back at the store. Unfortunately, pimples don't care about rising costs, so faces must still be washed. In an effort to save a few dollars, I recently traded my usual St. Ives Apricot Scrub for the Equate brand, called Medicated Apricot Scrub.

Price Difference

The price difference between the St. Ives Apricot Scrub and the Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub was about $2.00. I consider St. Ives Apricot Scrub to be a reasonably priced face wash, but as I have been happy with Equate brand counterparts in the past, the $2.00 price difference was enough to convince me to give the Medicated Apricot Scrub a try.

Main Ingredient

Both products use salicylic acid as the main acne fighting ingredient in the scrub. The percentage of salicylic acid for both products is 2 percent.

Color and Texture

The color of the Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub is darker than the St. Ives Apricot Scrub. The St. Ives Apricot Scrub color is closer to the fruit it's name after, while the Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub is darker and more brown.

The texture of the Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub is noticeably coarser than the St. Ives Apricot Scrub. Both of these face washes are known for the addition of walnut shells to help scrub away facial impurities. In the Equate product, these particles are much bigger and feel much rougher when washing. The particles in the St. Ives Apricot Scrub are finer, and do not give the sensation of actually scraping the face during washing.

Smell

The St. Ives Apricot Scrub smells more pleasant than the Equate Medicated Scrub. The latter has a decidedly medicinal smell, while the St. Ives Apricot Scrub smells more like fruit than acne medicine.

Performance

The effectiveness of a face wash depends largely on the user's skin type and tendencies. St. Ives Apricot Scrub has kept my face clear of most acne for many years, without causing too much drying.

Although the ingredients in the Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub are nearly identical to the St. Ives Apricot Scrub, I did not have the same results. The Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub was too drying, causing flaking and even redness on some parts of my face. The harshness of the walnut shell "scrubbers" proved to be too coarse for even my oily skin. I found that I had to apply copious amounts of face lotion to counteract the drying and irritation caused by washing with the Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub. This in turn actually caused an increase in break outs for my skin.

As with many things, in this comparison, the cheaper price meant a cheaper, underperforming product. Though the tubes look similar, Equate Medicated Apricot Scrub definitely performed poorly in comparison to St. Ives Apricot Scrub.