All scans / Exfoliants / St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask
St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask ingredients: is it worth it?
A decent rinse-off scrub, but the exfoliation is mostly physical and the fragrance lowers the polish.
A decent rinse-off scrub, but the exfoliation is mostly physical and the fragrance lowers the polish.
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The efficacy score lands at 2.9 because the formula has a gentle-enough cleansing base with glycerin and oat support, but its real exfoliating action comes from abrasives like hydrated silica and walnut shell rather than a well-controlled acid system, so results depend on manual scrubbing rather than a stronger evidence-backed treatment mechanism.
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DemythSkin rates St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask 2.9/5 for efficacy and 3.8/5 for safety.
CONTAINS COMMON SENSITISERS⌄
Fragrance components and essential oils that more often cause reactions in sensitive skin: Parfum. Most people tolerate them; patch test if your skin reacts easily.
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS BY TIER
Gold Standards
High clinical proof | Skin-transformativeReliable
Proven resultsPotent
Developing evidenceOverhyped | Marketing
Hype | Limited dataDocumented Irritants
Evidence-backed flagFORMULATION BASE (9)⌄
FULL INGREDIENT LIST⌄
Water, Glycerin, Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate, Hydrated Silica, Decyl Glucoside, Acrylates Copolymer, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Acrylates/Palmeth-25 Acrylate Copolymer, Disodium 2-Sulfolaurate, Juglans Regia Shell Powder, Phenoxyethanol, Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Parfum, Disodium EDTA, Polyacrylamide, Honey, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Avena Sativa Meal Extract, CI 77891
WHAT EACH INGREDIENT DOES (19)⌄
- Water
- solvent base
- Glycerin
- humectant
- Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate
- cleansing surfactant
- Hydrated Silica
- abrasive exfoliant
- Decyl Glucoside
- mild cleansing surfactant
- Acrylates Copolymer
- film former
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- foam booster surfactant
- Acrylates/Palmeth-25 Acrylate Copolymer
- thickener stabilizer
- Disodium 2-Sulfolaurate
- cleansing surfactant
- Juglans Regia Shell Powder
- physical exfoliant
- Phenoxyethanol
- preservative
- Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate
- conditioning surfactant
- Parfum
- fragrance
- Disodium EDTA
- chelator
- Polyacrylamide
- thickening polymer
- Honey
- humectant
- Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate
- preservative
- Avena Sativa Meal Extract
- soothing extract
- CI 77891
- Pigment / opacifier in this formula — not acting as a UV filter.
EXTERNAL CITATIONS
Glycerin: Humectant that supports water binding in rinse-off and leave-on formulas.
Hydrated Silica: Common physical exfoliant/abrasive used to increase scrubbing action.
Avena Sativa Meal Extract: Oat-derived ingredient widely used for soothing and skin-protective support.
Parfum: Declared fragrance component that can reduce tolerability in sensitive skin.
DISCLAIMER: THIS ANALYSIS IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. AI-GENERATED DATA BASED ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INGREDIENT LISTS. VERIFY WITH A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.
St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask: common questions
Is St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask worth it?
St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask scores 2.9 out of 5.0 for efficacy (Underpowered) and 3.8 out of 5.0 for safety (Mostly Gentle) on DemythSkin's independent ingredient analysis. A decent rinse-off scrub, but the exfoliation is mostly physical and the fragrance lowers the polish.
What are the key active ingredients in St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask?
St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask contains no gold-standard actives. Its formula is built on supporting and base ingredients rather than clinically transformative actives.
Does St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask contain fragrance or known irritants?
DemythSkin flags these ingredients in St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask as documented irritants: Juglans Regia Shell Powder, Parfum. This product does contain fragrance.
How is St. Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub & Mask scored?
DemythSkin grades every product on two independent scores: efficacy (whether the ingredients have clinical evidence of working) and safety (irritation and sensitisation risk). Ingredients are graded S through D against a database of over 3,000 compounds. Brand and price are not part of the score, and no brand pays for one.
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