I’ve been pulling a few cleansing and exfoliating bits and pieces out from “the archives” recently; products that I’ve tried before and loved, but haven’t – for one reason or another – given my full attention. For the past month or so I’ve had the One-Minute Glow Powder from Givenchy in my bathroom and I’ve been using it for a quick bit of morning exfoliation if my skin has been looking a bit dull.
I get on really well with these cleansing/exfoliating powders (some exfoliate, some cleanse, some do both, though I wouldn’t use any of them to remove my eye makeup); I had the Radiance Boosting Powder from Diptyque on the go for about a year, which felt very decadent and smelt amazing, but there are quite a few different versions on the market. The idea behind them is – usually – that they provide very low-level, non-abrasive exfoliation in a quick and easy format; just mix a bit of the powder with water in the palm of your hand and massage onto the skin. I tend to leave on for a minute or so, especially if the powder contains exfoliating ingredients or a bit of cleansing clay, and then rinse off by thoroughly using warm water.
The Hydra Sparkling powder from Givenchy feels a tiny bit more abrasive than the Diptyque one I was using, but I like the scrubbier feel. I don’t tend to use face scrubs, but now and then I do enjoy the feeling of giving my skin what feels like a bit of a spring clean! Acid exfoliants (things like Alpha-H’s Liquid Gold, or the Mild Clarifying Lotion from Clinique) are brilliant for getting rid of dead skin cells and boosting the skin’s radiance, but there’s no satisfying scrubby feeling, if that’s what you’re after. The Hydra Sparkling One-Minute Glow Powder gives the smallest bit of scrub satisfaction without the sand-blasting effect.
In actual fact, despite the slightly abrasive feel, the Glow Powder is one of the most finely-milled face-washing powders I’ve tried; it doesn’t clump when you add water, which some tend to do, and so you get a nice smooth paste that’s easy to massage over your skin. No tightness on rinsing, no redness, just really clean and fresh feel. It contains alpha and beta hydroxy acids to smooth and brighten the skin – that’s why I leave it on for a minute or so, just to let things get to work. I have no idea whether that’s long enough, but it’s better than rinsing it straight down the drain! What I tend to do is massage the powder on, after cleansing, then do my other bits and pieces – put deodorant on, brush teeth, etc – before rinsing it back off again. My skin looks brighter and it takes mere minutes – under a minute, if you follow the instructions properly and don’t leave it on!
You can find Givenchy’s One-Minute Glow Powder at Escentual here – it’s £29.50. I’ve been using it about three times a week for over a month and I don’t seem to have used that much at all, so I’m guessing it’ll last quite a while. It actually says “Daily Micropeeling” on the bottle, but as with all exfoliants I think it’s better to err on the side of caution and work your way up…
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