After Half a Century of My Skipping Skin Care, This $9 Scrubber Finally Got Me Washing My Face (2024)

I wasn’t sure how to use the scrubber, so I simply dampened it in the shower, scraped its hundreds of 5mm silicone “fingers” across the top of a Dove bar a few times, and went to work.

It took about five seconds for me to realize that my fast-decaying forehead was finally getting the pampering it had pined for. With just light pressure, the silicone fingers dug eagerly into every divot and crevice of my face, removing the grime without making me feel as if I had just dived headfirst into shrubbery.

The touch of the tiny, soft fingers is invigorating; for me, it’s like the dessert course of my shower. No, it isn’t as soothing as the OSEA Men’s Restorative Facial I treated myself to during a stop at The Spa at La Costa on my way from Los Angeles to San Diego, but it’s 96% cheaper, and I can have it every day.

Now I can use the retinol night cream my dermatologist recommended and easily clean it off every morning so I don’t have to worry about the cream building up on my skin.

Is the Vwmyq scrubber the best silicone face scrubber for most people? How would I know? I test speakers for a living. Wirecutter doesn’t (yet) have a face scrubber guide, so I couldn’t rely on guidance from my more qualified colleagues. And there’s such a wide variety—some scrubbers cost more than $20, while others sell for as little as 33¢ each (although in a pack of 20, which, considering my age, would likely leave at least a dozen for my heirs to fight over).

The one thing I don’t like about the Vwmyq scrubber is the tiny loop on the side, which is intended to let you hang the scrubber from a hook so that it can dry. Threading the 0.375-inch loop onto the little hooks on the side of my shower caddy is a frustrating challenge for my age-addled eyes. However, I’ve been placing the scrubber fingers-down on the shower caddy for 20 months now, and it’s still free of soap scum and mildew. I just give it a cursory rinse before I use it in the shower with my Dove bar—which I know probably isn’t the best face wash but has worked for my basic needs. And my dermatologist hasn’t told me that I need to upgrade.

In the spirit of giving my evaluation at least a sliver of credibility, I tried a more expensive model: the $20 Sud Scrub, which has the advantage of a finger strap on the back. It claims to be antimicrobial—but in this post-pandemic age, what doesn’t? Because the Sud Scrub is flexible, it conforms better to my face’s curves, but this design also made scrubbing feel more like a chore than like a mini facial. I’ll stick with the Vwmyq model.

If you would feel more comfortable buying your face scrubber from one of the storied brands of the beauty industry, you can find more expensive options. Admittedly, in a time when products of seemingly unknown provenance are showing up all over sites like Amazon (the other silicone scrubbers that I found were from unfamiliar marques such as Coslus, Luckyiren, and Mr Lion), the Vwmyq name doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. And the fact that the Vwmyq brand has also found its way onto Pilates equipment, LED gloves, car vacuums, fake flowers, and cellophane bags doesn’t give me much faith in parent company Haikou Liukesong Technology’s dedication to my skin health. Still, my scrubber has lasted almost two years without losing a single silicone finger. I can’t think of many other $9 products that have lasted me this long.

Sadly, in the case of face scrubbers, I can’t make the kinds of scientific, objective assessments I can with speakers. I didn’t have the prescience to take “before” photos when I began my skin-care routine. What little patience I might once have had for looking deep into the mirror to gauge my facial aesthetics has faded—and honestly, any enthusiasm anyone else might have had for staring long and hard at my visage has surely vanished.

But I can say that the pea-sized patch of eczema above my right eye that I fought for at least a decade disappeared after I started using the scrubber. And with nearly nightly moisturizing, my forehead has taken on, well, not exactly a youthful glow, but at least it doesn’t look dry, flaky, crackly, or bumpy anymore.

I think my daily scrub has physical benefits, and there’s no question that it offers psychological benefits, too. That makes the Vwmyq scrubber one of the best under-$10 purchases I’ve ever made, and I think other guys would enjoy it, too. Hey, if George Clooney can look great in his early 60s, why can’t we?

(That’s a rhetorical question. Please don’t answer it.)

This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Catherine Kast.