Dr. Roebuck's Pure Review

There are certain beauty myths that are so engrained in our society that even I have to take a moment and remember that they aren't accurate. One of those myths is that using a thick, heavy moisturizer on your face will lead to breakouts and clogged pores. When I first squeezed a bit of Dr. Roebuck's Pure out of its tube I was shocked by how rich it felt and I immediately reread the print on my sample tube to make sure that this wasn't a product that was aimed at say, dry elbows.

That print described this item as, "A hypoallergenic rich ultra-moisturizing day and night cream." Okay, there was no mention of "face" on the tube but I've never heard of a day and night body cream so on my face this product went. Despite knowing that heavy moisturizers don't always cause breakouts, I was still a bit worried that Pure might do bad things to my skin.

And of course it turns out that my worrying was for nothing. This cream had no negative impact on my skin and there was no increase in blemishes or clogged pores. Instead, it left me with skin that looked healthy, bright and mostly hydrated. Mostly.

Unfortunately, this cream wasn't able to completely banish dry skin from my face. According to Dr. Roebuck's, this product's "unique dual action instantly replenishes hydration levels by sealing moisture into the skin." I found that this statement only applied to the parts of my skin that were already in good shape.

For example, prior to using Pure, I had no dry skin on my forehead. That remained the case while I used this cream, which left my forehead looking happy and hydrated. But Pure wasn't able to fight the dry skin patches that have been plaguing my nose. It had no instant impact and several weeks worth of one-twice-a-day usage has no been able to defeat the dry patches. Okay, the non-dry patch parts of my nose do look great but still, there is clearly visible dry skin on my face, despite this my usage of this product.

I was though impressed by how quickly and cleanly Pure absorbed into my skin. While the initial application did have weight to it, within minutes that sensation was gone and my skin was left feeling light, clean and well-hydrated. Pure also didn't leave behind any kind of shine or residue and had pretty much no scent to it.

I believe that any day cream worth your money needs to contain at least sun protection. Pure doesn't contain a SPF but I will give it a pass in this area as the product is intended to be a day and night cream. While this means that you do have an extra step (and product) in the morning, it also means that you don't have a separate day and night cream.

Like all Dr. Roebuck's products, this one has a surprisingly short ingredients list. The star is good old-fashion glycerin, which is supported by a couple of fatty alcohols and basically mineral oil. It's a list that won't please crunchy beauty junkies but hey, this product is BPA and paraben free.

Dr. Roebuck's can be a bit of a hard brand to find in Canada (the company is Australian). Shoppers Drug Mart's Beauty Boutique does carry it online and in select stores. There, Pure retails for almost $55, which is a bit steep for a product that doesn't fully defeat dry skin. It's also packaged in an open-mouth jar, which I'm never a fan of when it comes to moisturizers (open-mouth jars can be damaging to a product as they expose it to air and dirty, oily fingers). I'd much prefer for the full-size version of this item to be packaged in a tube, like the sample is.

Would I buy this product: No; while the results were good, they weren't good enough for me.

Should you buy this product: If your skin is already in pretty good shape, you have a healthy skincare budget and you're good with sunscreen application being an extra step, this cream is probably a good choice for you. Just try to see if you can get a sample tube of it first.