Buyer Beware: Eye Injury Caused By Biore Facial Scrub

Consider this a PSA: steer clear of Biore Baking Soda Acne Scrub.  Within days of buying it, I ended up with a terrible scratch on my cornea--one that I'm still being treated for, two full weeks later.

It was such a random thing: I was washing my face before bedtime, and used the scrub on my T-zone, keeping it away from my eye area, as is customary with most facial cleansing products. However, when I rinsed off the cleanser, some of it splashed into my left eye.

The pain was immediate and intense.  I tried flushing my eye with copious amounts of water, but the pain and feeling that there was something stuck in my eye persisted--I couldn't even keep my eye open for more than a second or two.  It was late at night, but my husband ended up taking me to the hospital emergency room. 

When we finally saw a doctor, they had to numb my eye to get a good look, and the procedure to ensure that there was no abrasive product left in my eye (there wasn't) was AWFUL.  They ended up giving me a prescription painkiller because of how severe the injury was, gave me some antibiotic eye ointment, and told me to see an eye doctor first thing in the morning for a thorough follow up.

I've been back to the eye doctor four times since the injury, and I'm still not fully in the clear yet. The abrasion was deep and started to get infected, so I was switched to a stronger antibiotic drop that has to be applied every two hours.  To say that this has been disruptive is an understatement: I had to celebrate the holidays--I host both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day--with residual pain and constantly having to medicate my eye.  I also had to rest my eyes for the first couple of days following the initial injury, and couldn't bear to be in front of a computer screen -- not good for someone who makes their living as a writer and social media manager, and needs to use a computer on a daily basis.

All this because of a facial scrub?  Yup.

I go back to the eye doctor tomorrow, hopefully for the last time.  My eye finally looks and feels better, but only after a week of applying eye drops every 2 hours.  At the suggestion of several friends, I did reach out to the company via their Customer Service number, and they asked me for the codes and dates on the tube I had purchased.  Then they took my address and said they'd send me a questionnaire to find out more details, and that if I send it back right away, they will send me a "replacement product."

The questionnaire arrived a couple of days ago, but I haven't filled it out yet--it's several pages long, and I need to get caught up on my editorial work first.  One thing I know for sure is that I won't be taking a replacement product--after what happened to me, I don't trust this company or their level of safety and quality control.  I also plan to send them copies of my medical bills, which are going to be significant.  I'll post an update if the company does the right thing and covers them.