Facial Cleanser A-Z: Part 2

Hello! I’m back with this series after 2/3 years. I remembered doing it the first time when I was in Lombok doing my internship. Now, I’ve tried another 5 facial cleansers that took some time to try. I’m sorry it took a while, because I finished all the product first before trying the other one. And most of the cleanser has 200ml worth of product so it took a while to finished it. So, let's get started!

F for (The) Face Shop

It was just like your regular cleansing foam. Foamy, creamy, and it has a lot of product in one tube. It almost took a year to finished this product. So, 170ml was a lot guys! At some time, I got bored using this product and wanted to finished this product ASAP. lol. This particular line has several flavor/scent/main ingredient. The one that I used was the mung beans extract one. Mung bean is rich with vitamin and will nourish your skin. I have nothing to complain about this cleansing foam until I found out that this contain paraben. Well, if you don’t mind about paraben, feel free to try this product or the other one. I’ve mentioned it on my Empties 2017 video about this product, but here are the detailed review.

Texture

Texture wise, this product has a creamy texture and lathers easily. It was smooth to your skin and you wanna play with it for some time.

Scent

It doesn’t have a strong scent to it, so for sensitive people out there, it is definitely safe to try this product. I can’t smell the mung bean scent at all. So, I guess the extract was just a few percent.

Result

After using this product, you can find it is brighten your skin instantly. But, after a few hours later, your skin color is going back to normal. It says that it is suitable for all skin types, but at some point I found that this product can be drying too. So, if you have dry and sensitive skin it is better to not use all skin type products. When I have my period, my skin can be a troublesome. After I used this product, my skin feels too tight and drying. So, you better watch out to try this product. But on normal days, I don’t have anything to complain about. It cleanses your face perfectly, but doesn’t leave a squeaky clean feeling at all.

Repurchase?

No, because of it contains paraben. Actually, most of the road shop product does contain paraben. I didn’t realize the ingredients because I’m not the one who bought it. My friend ask for a favor to buy this product for her and I got one from it. I also realized it after this product was almost finished. It doesn’t effect my skin, but I'm on the mission to minimize using parabens to my face and body, even hair.

G for Grown Alchemist

I was scrolling on a beauty site then I came across a post regarding “Indie beauty brands you know need to know”. The site mentioned Grown Alchemist and I found out it’s an Australian brand. I asked my brother to bought it for me and the price is not as expensive as I thought. At first, I couldn’t think of a brand beginning with “G” and actually, I wanted to try Glossier products, but I couldn’t remember it at all. So, I get my hands on this product and couldn’t not to love it. Search on Google and mostly you can only see the good reviews of this product, because it’s that good.

Texture

The best mild cleanser I’ve tried so far! It’s the upgraded texture of Jurlique’s one. It is mild and feels so good on skin. The solution is clear, similar to a water, so it feels so light. The foam is not burdening, but it cleanse your face perfectly.

Scent

Of course, another reason I love this cleanser is because of the scent. It has a calming scent, because it consist of natural ingredients such as geranium leaf, rose bud, chamomile, and much more. The scent combination is so perfect. Not a burdening chemical perfumed scent, but a natural scent feeling that using this product is like you go to a spa.

Result

The picture couldn’t show perfectly how my skin changes, but after using it everyday, my skin feels healthier and pores are getting smaller. Well, at least, it doesn’t get bigger. I used this cleanser while I’m in Indonesia and Korea. I’ve used this during summer, fall, and winter days and it still gave the same result. So, wherever you are, whenever it is, you can always use this product. This cleanser is a true gentle cleanser, because after use it doesn’t feel dry and no squeaky clean feeling. Especially on winter days (yes, I know the winter days struggles), you need a lot of moisture and this cleanser can save your time and your skin care products, because they still leave the good moisture of your skin.

Before

After

Repurchase?

DEFINITELY! Recently, I went to a shopping center in Korea and they have Grown Alchemist shop there! So excited to try out the other products from this brand because it’s natural and smells so goooood!

H for Holika Holika

Remember my super Korean Haul on 2016? Finally I’m finishing that cute novel facial cleanser (even though almost quarter of it spill out when I brought it to Korea). Actually it was nice for the first few times because of the Konyak brush attached on it. At first I used this product once a week, then when I use this everyday, I didn’t find this foam anything special. It does cleanse the dirt with or without the brush but, the more I use this my skin feels tight-dry.

Texture

The texture is smooth yet foamy and light. If you know about Snow Whip from Senka, it was something like that. Senka’s one is creamy foam like a whip cream, but this one is lighter.

Scent

Even though it was filled with artificial fragrance, but I still like the scent. It was more like a sweet and fresh scent.

Result

I don’t have any specific comments for the result. One thing for sure is I have a satisfying feeling when I used the konyak brush. I don’t know why but it feels refreshing. As you can see below, there is no big difference before and after using. But surely, it cleans the dirt.

Before

After

Repurchase?

Maybe no. I don’t really fancy the product solution, so I don’t think I’m going to repurchase this specific product just because of the konyak brush attached. I could use another facial brush if I want the perfect clean skin.

I for Isoi

Two years ago, I began to know this brand. I had list of brands beginning with “I”, but I’m not into it with the others. Then I search the best facial cleanser on Glowpick (this app will show the ingredients included and tell you if it is safe or not). Then I spot this cleanser. Not their best selling product, but it’s worth the try. I didn’t know that Isoi is almost a higher-end brand, but oh well. I fell in love with the Bulgarian Rose Serum, so I’m expecting a surprising result from this facial cleanser too.

Texture

The best creamy texture in this section. It’s like a fresh cream, white, thick, and feels good on skin.

Scent

They have a bit of calming scent. Chamomile, rosemary, lavender, and many more extract are included inside. I didn’t know the English name of the ingredients unless it is an English name. lol. Anyways, there are like 12 plant based oil and extracts that made up a subtle scent. If you are looking another option rather than the Grown Alchemist one, you can opt for this one. They have a mutual scent.

Result

This product said that “cleaning till the pores, only moisture left” and I couldn’t really figure out the moisture from inside of my skin, but my skin feels like a baby skin after cleansing. It’s also a different feeling when you use a moisturizer. But it’s a good preparation for layers of skin care.

Before (look at that dry hands 😭)

After

Repurchase?

Yes! But I’’l waiting for a sale period to buy this again. Plus, I’m curious with the other products of isoi. They have another type of cleanser but it’s more expensive, so I didn’t end up buying that one.

J for Jurlique

Finally trying out this famous brand from Australia! I’m excited to try this product at first. Since I asked my friend a favor, I didn’t smell or know much about the product. It turns out that I didn’t really like the scent even though it has a rose extract inside. The facial foam is not on a creamy texture side, but a liquid one. I’m rarely use this kind of facial cleanser. Also, I’m worried that it doesn’t form foam like I wanted. But this product has its own charm, it cleanse out dirt on your faces with minimal foam. Most of all, this product is free from paraben and using mostly natural ingredients. YAY!

Texture

As I’ve said earlier, this product has a liquid texture. It forms foam but not as much as creamy texture or the real foaming cleanser.

Scent

I thought I’m going to love the rose scent. It turns out products with rose petals extract doesn’t have a really appealing scent, but still have a nice one. They have a lot of natural ingredients inside, that’s why the scent can changes over time. When the first time I used it on my face, the scent quite strong, it’s quite suffocating. (I couldn’t really describe the scent in words) Over the time, the scent became less strong, but it doesn’t get pleasant.

Result

At first, the result is quite disappointing. Maybe, when the first time I used it, my skin was not capable to receive the effect from this cleanser. I got a very tight feeling skin and I got some bumps on several spots. I thought maybe because it contains alcohol. But, it didn’t stop me to keep on using it. The later I use, it has a pretty good result. It doesn’t give any tight feeling anymore, cleaned my face very well, and no more bumps. It does effective in improving discoloration in the long-run. This product is specifically write to balancing skin. I think it doesn’t mean pH balance, but balancing your color skin tone. Because this product contain alcohol, it can feel tight. But, quite effective in the long-run to even out the skin tone. 

Before

After

Also, I have a bad opinion about the pump head (packaging), which is inconvenient. It is quite short so, it looks dirty and there will be always a leftover on the neck of the pump. But, I think they have a new packaging which is better now.

Repurchase?

Maybe yes. I really like the brand and love to try the other products too. So, this one might come up on my repurchase list. I’ll see my finance condition at the time of purchase, if its fit, I’ll repurchase it.

It’s been 2/3 years since I started the first one (read the A-E part here). It took a while to try out 5 products because I tried to finished all the products first to gave honest and fullest review of each product. Thank you for keeping up to this point and I’m excited to tried other brand’s facial cleanser soon! I’m open for recommendations for K-O brands. Also, if you have tried the products I’ve mentioned before, share with me in the comments section!

P.S: I tried so hard to take the before-after photos, but it's harder than I thought. And I think I need to know more tips and tricks to beauty review shots! So, I'm sorry if I can't show the fullest result. 

2018 is gonna end soon and I’m going to have a reflection post soon on the blog and I’m finally revealing my 2018 Mask Sheet Journey on my YouTube channel. So stay tune!

xoxo,

Jennifer