Neutrogena Pore Refining Exfoliating Cleanser Review

I was one of the lucky ones to try out this product. When I received it and tried it straight away, no messing about with me! My skin is acne prone (due to hormones) I have large pores and black heads. So was quite excited to try this product as neutrogena have a great reputation, I am a big fan of many of their products! The bottle is very large, so well worth your $16 for the amount of product. It's very plain in packaging, but that's how the company rolls. The instructions are easy to follow on the back, and lists all the ingredients. The consistency is a yellow cream with fine microbeads. You don't need a lot for the product to spread evenly. I have tried this product (as per instructions) in the morning before putting on make up (and of my own accord- using it after I have taken my makeup off at the end of the night - not every night). For the first few days all I noticed was that my skin was super shiney, and that would be in part to the alpha-hydroxy that they use in the product. After about 3-5 days I noticed some reduction in pores, but only on the ones that would not have bothered me much anyway (the ones that your makeup sinks into). I have yet to see any reduction in the larger pores, it may take more than a week though I feel. I also feel you may see some reduction in pores and pore size if you also purchase the toner for about the same price of $16. The Alpha-Hydroxy is extremely drying of skin and you will need a good moisturiser to use after using this product. I found my skin to be flaking (a problem I have not had in many years), to combat this I used my Olay Reginerist and an exfoliant to get rid of the dead skin, then used a mud mask to help re-hydrate my skin. Also, the alpha-hydroxy makes your skin prone to sunburn so always wear an SPF regardless of time of year or what you're planning on doing for the day. All in all, I will not be repurchasing this product once it's finished unless I see a dramatic change.

I got this cleanser way back in The second beauty vault. It's been chilling with my other products for ages but I finally started using it a couple of months ago.

This is a large bottle of product. Most of my other cleansers are 100mls but this is almost double that (198mls). It comes in a simple white squeeze tube. It's practical, but not the most amazing thing you'll look at.

The product is white and sort of thin but it holds together. It has very fine particles to exfoliate your skin. The smell is light and more natural and fresh. It's not overpowering at all.

I use this only at nights, I keep my day cleanser in the shower anyway but I think using this twice a day would be overkill on exfoliating. This removes my face makeup pretty well (there is a little bit left on the cotton pad when I tone my skin), and it doesn't feel harsh at all with the exfoliation. After I rinse, my skin isn't left tight and it does feel smooth and clean.

I think this does a good job with cleaning out my pores but I haven't noticed any significant difference in my pore size. Considering this says it will reduce pores, it's a bit disappointing.

My reason for not buying again or recommending would be because of microbeads. I'm not 100% sure but I think this product contains them and I'm not down with that. If they used a natural exfoliant, I'd possibly try it out again.

I have trialled this for a week. Was expecting it to be a good product. A bit disappointed. The microbeads are very micro - cannot really feel them, so doesn't feel like an exfoliator. Because of the lack of exfoliation "feel" and the absence of a lather I felt like I had to use more to cover face. A little doesn't go a long way. It did wash off easy. I am used to using 100% natural soap on my face, so I found this 'non soap' product quite drying ( I have normal to oily skin). Cannot see any change to pore size after a week.

I have oily combination skin with large pores, so I thought this product would work great.

The first thing I noticed was the smell, it has a very chemical sort of fragrance so definitely avoid this if you need fragrance free products.

In using it I could feel the exfoliating beads buffing my skin but after I had washed it off I was left with a very tight feeling and irritation. After using it twice a week for a few weeks I didn't really notice any change in the size of my pores but I had to stop using it as it made me breakout (it was the only product change to my usual routine) and my skin was quite red due to the tight, slight burning feeling I was left with after use.

Awesome big size & would last a long time but I found that it's didn't reduce the size of my pores & really dried my skin out. Was a good exfoliate but again quite drying and I found that it stung my eyes. It is a very rough product and I couldn't use everyday as it dried my skin too much and made it quite sensitive to use everyday. This product wan't for me :(

The product is excellent value, a large tube for $16 - how great is that! It's a nice consistency for a cleaner, not too thick or cloying, and the micro beads are very subtle and not scratchy.

In terms of cleaning, it works well as a make-up remover. It removed almost all my make up with very little effort. Where my criticism comes in is that I found it very drying. Using the Pore Refining Toner afterwards made things even worse - my skin felt so dry even after I applied a moisturiser.

I also didn't notice any improvement to my pores from using the cleaner unfortunately (I might have been able to ignore the dryness if I had). For me this product isn't something I'd buy again, it just didn't perform as I would have liked.

Something is wrong with this product, an ingredient makes my eyes itch. I used it two weeks and I didn't notice any change in my pores. I am disappointed.

I bought this on a whim, we'd just moved house and I had lost the cleanser I had been using and grabbed this while doing a super quick food shop.

I used it that night and let me tell you, I haven't used it since. First, it has microbeads (which I didn't notice on the packaging because I was in such a rush) which I'm not a fan of because they're so bad for the environment. The scent is horrible, and if that wasn't bad enough, it broke me out.

In the past, most neutrogena products haven't working for me, so maybe it's just me, but I really do not recommend this product.