You ever like a product so much that even though you know you shouldn’t use it all the time, you end up using it way more than you should even though that’s kind of a bad idea, but it’s just so enjoyable and the results are so nice? I’m that way about Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub, which I stumbled across on Amazon during one of my laughably frequent late-night “window shopping” sessions.

Purpose: Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub is a sugar-based scrub and mask that exfoliates dead cells to improve skin texture and appearance.

Do not use if: You are currently suffering from overexfoliated skin (common signs listed at the end of this review) or are sensitive to olive or other plant oils, vitamin E, coconut oil derivatives, fragrance, or anything else in the ingredients list.

When and how to use: After cleansing, scoop product out of jar and apply to a damp face. Gently massage in circles until most of the sugar grains have dissolved. Leave on for 5 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and continue with your regular skincare routine.

Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub ingredients:  Black sugar extract, caprylic/capric triglyceride, dicaprylyl carbonate, disteardimonium hectorite, glycerin, PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate, euphorbiacerifera (candelilla) wax, water, theobroma cacao (cocoa) extract, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, tocopheryl acetate, mangifera indica (mango) seed butter, butylene glycol, angelica keiskie leaf/stem extract, camellia sinensis leaf extract, citrus medica limonum (lemon) fruit extract, honey extract, polyacrylamide, C13-14 isoparaffin, laureth-7, methylparaben, propylparaben, fragrance

Like my other favorite face scrub, the Skinfood Black Sugar Strawberry scrub, Mizon Honey Black Sugar scrub passes its CosDNA analysis with hardly any ingredients flagged and none of the flags particularly serious. As always, however, remember that there is no universally reliable measure of comedogenicity or irritation. Skincare is YMMV, so if your skin is especially sensitive or reactive, patch test and introduce this product slowly into your skincare routine.

Notable ingredients: Like the Skinfood scrub, Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub boasts a bevy of moisturizing and antioxidant plant oils and extracts. If you choose to leave the mask on for a while after the actual scrubbing step, your skin might even benefit a little from them! Since this is a wash-off product, however, don’t expect any of those oils or extracts to really change your life.

Performance

On paper, Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub may seem a lot like the Skinfood Black Sugar Strawberry Mask, but in practice, it’s actually quite different. Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub is solid in the tub, with a slightly waxy texture and lots and lots of very fine, densely and evenly distributed sugar grains throughout the product. The thickness of the product made me worry that it wouldn’t spread easily. I hate products that tug and pull at my skin. When applied on a damp face, however, it spreads just fine.

Surprisingly (and disappointingly, if you like honey as much as I like honey), Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub doesn’t smell anything at all like honey. It has a slightly soapy, strongly lemony fragrance. I like it (not as much as I like honey, though), but I hear that the lemony scent is a turn-off to some people.

Because of the fineness of the sugar grains in this scrub, the dampness of your face will determine how abrasive it is. The first time I used it, my face wasn’t particularly damp, and I found it to be a little too scrubby, but I learned quickly that if used on a very damp face, Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub can actually be very gentle–gentler, in fact, than the Skinfood scrub. This variability makes the experience a little more customizable (or inconsistent, depending on how you look at things).

Where Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub falls short in comparison to the Skinfood classic is in the moisturization and the overall sensory experience. I’ve left this product on my face for a full 15 minutes before–the same amount of time I would keep the Skinfood Black Sugar Strawberry Scrub on to benefit from its oils and extracts–and have never found it to be as nourishing. The Mizon leaves my skin just as baby soft as the Skinfood but nowhere near as moisturized. And though I like the lemon fragrance just fine, Skinfood wins the skincaretainment battle by a mile thanks to its truly delicious fragrance and texture.

Neither of those qualities are critical to a good scrub, however. When it comes to the scrubbing, Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub does deliver. After using this scrub (much more frequently than I should, like I said at the beginning of this post), my face always feels perfectly smooth and soft and ready to receive the full benefits of whatever I apply afterwards. Makeup applies like a dream and I can’t stop touching my cheeks.

Unfortunately, if you’re at all like me, that incredible softness can become addictive, and that’s why I feel compelled to remind you guys not to use this product–or any other physical exfoliant–every day, or even every other day. Overexfoliation is a very bad thing for skin. Your skin needs some dead skin cells in the acid mantle in order to help keep moisture in and bacteria out; removing too much dead skin can result in accelerated moisture loss and dehydrated skin, oil leakage (or overproduction, if that’s the way you interpret dehydrated/oily skin), and increased breakouts. I recommend using a product like this once a week. Twice a week at most. And dial your scrubbing frequency way back if you begin to notice any of the following common signs of overexfoliated skin:

• Increased dryness
• Increased sensitivity or irritation
• Increased oiliness
• Unusual breakouts
• Redness
• An unhealthy-looking shine. The shine of overexfoliated skin doesn’t come from moisture or oil, as you’ll notice if you look closely. Instead, your skin will look thin and stretched too tight, creating a reflective surface. This shine is not good shine.

So scrub safely and in moderation! I’m trying to do the same. It’s a struggle, but it’s worth it to avoid overexfoliated skin. Moderation is key in everything except sherbet and candy.

Conclusion: I’ve been a fan of Mizon for a long time. The brand makes solid, effective products at reasonable price points, and the Honey Black Sugar Scrub is no exception. I’m dangerously addicted to the results I’ve gotten from this scrub so far and foresee no problem whatsoever with finishing the tub off and grabbing another.

Rating: 4.5/5

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Where can I buy Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub?

If you’re excited to try Mizon Honey Black Sugar Scrub out, then you’re in luck. This is not one of those unicorn products that’s only sold by one retailer and never in stock. You can find the generous 90g tubs just about anywhere, including from the following Fiddy Snails-approved retailers:

• TesterKorea: 12,000 won (currently about $10.29 USD)
• RoseRoseShop: $11.25 with free shipping
• Amazon (affiliate link): $12.89 width free two-day Prime shipping
• Jolse: $13.99, gives back 3% store credit (if you haul a lot, this adds up rather quickly. Uh, don’t ask me how I know this)

What’s your favorite facial scrub?