Unboxing Beauty

I have another one of my cleansing product reviews!  I did a tale of four cleansers back in the summer, and have decided to chat about 3 cleansers that I have used since that time.  I am also going to do a comparison between the brand new cosRX Low pH Good Morning Gel cleanser and my HG cleanser, Ciracle Anti-Blemish Tea Tree Wash cleanser.  For disclosure, all of these products were purchased by me and this is not a sponsored post.

The Face Shop Calming Seed Mild Bubble Foam Cleanser  I received this cleanser in my Memebox Spa Retreat box and I have been very surprised how much I like this cleanser.   Once I tried this cleanser out in my Memebox, I went and purchase another box ~ just for this cleanser!  The other products  in the box were nice too, but this cleanser is really nice.   This cleanser has a pH level between 6.5 and 7, which is an acceptable range for me and I was pretty pleased to find out that the term “mild” really did reflect the pH level in the cleanser!

This cleanser really does have a lot of good foam with a lightly lemon scent to it.  Coming out of the tube, it is a white cleanser, that has a silky texture to it.  It is made with 95% natural ingredients and does not leave a tight feeling to my skin.  Containing tamanu seed, this cleanser has a hypoallergenic pH balanced formula, non irritating, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and antioxidant properties, making this a great ingredient for anti-aging concerns as well as sensitive skin and blemish prone skin. 

This also has licorice extract, which soothes and calms your skin, and it has brightening properties as well.  This formula is made without 10 additives: no synthetic preservatives, synthetic fragrance, artificial color, ethanol, animal-sourced ingredients, mineral oil, triethanolamine, benzophenone, silicone, sulfates.  This cleansing foam also has  some  herbal and fruit oils ~ lemon, orange, grapefruit, lavender, rosemary, bergamot, olive.  It also contain rose oil, but it is the 2nd to the last ingredient, but I had done an initial skin patch and did not have an adverse reaction.  This cleanser has been in my cleanser rotation for over a month now.    Size 150 mL 

Performance: Normally, I would not use a foaming cleanser as the 1st step in my cleansing routine ~ I would use an oil/oil-based cleanser, as those really are made to remove makeup.  However, for the purpose of testing cleansing abilities, I used the foaming cleansers in this review as the 1st step cleanser to show how well they removed makeup.  I used a cleanser brush as well, as I do use them normally on my face and used it for about a 1 minute, using the same pressure (not too hard) for all tests.   How did The Face Shop Calming Seed Mild Bubble perform?  I thought it did the job very nicely, just having issues with some eyeliner and theBalm Meet Matt(e) Hughes lipstick.  This also was the most foamy of the 4 cleansers, so if you really want some bubble foam, this is the one for you.

Ingredients: Water/Eau , Glycerin,Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate , Propanediol , MyristicAcid , PEG-100 Stearate , Glyceryl Stearate , Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate , Cocamidopropyl Betaine , Lauric Acid , 1,2-Hexanediol , PEG-120 Methyl GlucoseDioleate , Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate , Calophyllum Inophyllum (Tamanu) Seed Oil , Potassium Hydroxide, HydroxypropylMethylcellulose, Sodium Chloride, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl AcrylateCrosspolymer , Polyquaternium-7 , Disodium EDTA,Titanium Dioxide , Citrus Limon Peel Oil , Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil , Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil , Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil , Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil , Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot)Fruit Oil , Rose Flower Oil, Olea Europaea(Olive) Fruit Oil  cosDNA.com analysis

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Primary Raw Doyouganic Cleansing Soap  Next up is Primary Raw Doyouganic Cleansing Soap ~ it isn’t a bar soap, but a liquid cleanser with a pump applicator.  When dispensed, it is a lovely cloud of foam and has a scent that is.just.amazing!  It smells like chamomile milky tea.  That is the only way I can describe it and I need a perfume made from this!   There is no chamomile ingredient in it, but that is what it smells like to me.

What I love about this cleanser is that it does have soybeans in it ~ soybean seed extract, natto gum and milk fermented soybean seed extract. I am a huge soybean extract fan, as I have never had a bad experience with that ingredient and it is has the following properties

• Anti-inflammatory, so it will soothe and calm the skin from any redness and swelling
• Anti-oxidant and anti-aging, as it is rich in Vitamin E and will help combat free radicals and reverse the damage caused by free radicals.
• Can reduce damage caused by the UV rays of the sun, helping with the reduction of hyper-pigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles.
• Soybean contains genistein, a component that will aid the skin in producing collagen, which makes for a healthy, youthful appearance as it will increase the elasticity of your skin.
• Soybean is an emulsifier, which allows water and oil to mix together in order to cleanse your skin and remove oils and dirt.

As this has sunflower and sweet almond oils near the top of the ingredient list, this cleanser feels so silky and smooth on my skin as I massage it in.  Between the scent and the texture, this is a heavenly cleanser!    This does have a higher pH level ~ between 7.5 and 8 ~ my skin does not have any issues with this and it does not strip it dry or make my face feel “tight”.   Size  50mL

 

 

 

Performance:  I felt out of the 4 cleansers, this had the 2nd best performance of cleaning my makeup off my hand.  The only issues it had was the eyeliners and you can still see the fain stain of the lip stain on my hand.  I was pretty happy with the results of this test. 

 

Description: Doyou means soymilk (두유) in Korean –  this mild Cleansing Soap can be used on face, body & Hair. Safe to use on most sensitive skin types, this cleansing soap is free of Chemical Surfactant. Primary Ingredients for Doyouganic cleansing soap are sweet almond oil, sunflower seed oil, black bean extract, and other natural ingredients.   Use this gentle and mild cleansing soap to remove any left over makeup and debris.  The Sweet almond oil moisturizes as black bean extracts brightens and improve elasticity, Sunflower seed oil delivers vitamins A, B2, B and E (source cupidrop.com)

Ingredients: Potassium Cocoate, Water, Glycerin, Potassium Olivate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Citric Acid, Fragrance, Tocopheryl Acetate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Carica Papaya (Papaya) Leaf Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Lonicera Japonica (honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Zanthoxylum Piperitun Fruit Extract, Pulsatilla Koreana Extract, Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Lactobacillus/Glycine Soja (soybean) Seed Extract, Natto Gum cosDNA.com analysis

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cosRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser  This is the latest release from cosRX and I guess what happened is that people starting to complain to cosRX about their current lineup of cleansers ~ as they were very high in regards with the pH level.   Instead of pointing folks to Ciracle, as cosRX is the parent company, cosRX made their own version of a low pH gel foaming cleanser.  I do love cosRX products ~ I have many reviews featuring their products ~ so I was curious to see if this would be similar to the Ciracle Anti-Blemish Tea Tree Wash cleanser.  

This has a tea tree scent to it ~ I’ve heard people describe it as pine, as there is a pine ingredient in this cleanser, but it is tea tree.  I am also struck by the ingredient list ~ lots of tree ingredients ~ pine, elm, snowbell, cedar ~ and it does have saccharomyces  ferment as well, which is a lactic acid (AHA) and betaine salicylate, a BHA.  This will help exfoliate your dead skin cells and unclog your pores.    The texture of this cleansing gel is thick, not runny and it does provide an adequate foam for a gel. The pH level is between a 5.5 and 6, so it is a low pH cleanser.   Size 150mL

 

Performance:  It isn’t AWFUL, but it isn’t WOW OMGasmic either.  This is slightly worse than The Face Shop cleanser, imho, for the cleansing abilities. You can see that the eyeliner, theBalm  and Chosungah 22 lip tint are still visible after cleansing.  Now, granted it did get most of the products off and I would not use a foaming cleanser as a Step 1 cleanser.

Description: Slightly Acidic pH 5.0 ~ 6.0 Good Morning Gel Cleanser! Smooth and skin friendly gel type cleanser with pH 5.0 ~ 6.0 that is similar to skin’s natural pH level. Contains tea-tree oil, natural BHA that shrink pore sizes & refine skin textures, this smooth gel cleanser is safe to use on dry & sensitive skin types.  Do not wash your face with just water in the morning; skin still produces sebum & dead cells while you sleep – this mild cleanser gently cleans leaving skin fresh & hydrated. (source cupidrop.com)

Ingredients: Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, Polysorbate 20, Styrax Japonicus (Japanese Snowbell) Branch/Fruit/Leaf Extract, Butylene Glycol, Saccharomyces Ferment, Cryptomeria Japonica (Japanese cedar) Leaf Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera (lotus) Leaf Extract, Pinus Palustris (longleaf pine)  Leaf Extract, Ulmus Davidiana (David Elm) Root Extract, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Flower Extract, Pueraria Lobata (kudzu) Root Extract, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Allantoin, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Betaine Salicylate, Citric Acid, Ethyl Hexanediol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Sodium Benzoate, Disodium EDTA  cosDNA.com analysis

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Comparison

CosRX is the parent company to Ciracle and I love Ciracle’s Anti-Blemish Tea Tree Cleanser, which is already a low pH, gel cleanser and has the same scent as cosRX Good Morning cleanser.  Why are people raving about cosRX’s new cleanser, when Ciracle had this cleanser for a long time already?  Is it just over-hype?  The newness?   I will recap my original review on Ciracle here and then compare

This cleanser has a pH level of between 5.5 to 6. This does smell like tea tree oil, so if you hate that smell, you might wish to avoid it.  Fortunately, I like tea tree scents, so this does not bother me.   I do think that this is a cleanser that blemish-prone and oily skinned folks should consider, despite the scent.   Not only does this have tea tree oil, which is anti-bacterial, it also has willow bark extract, which is an astringent and both of these ingredients help control the oil (sebum) in your skin as well.  This is not thick foam, but a very light foam and it really cleans my face well without making it feel dry or tight.    Full Size 250 mL

Description:  If you are looking for the best cleanser for acne prone skin, if you want to start treating the acne with proper wash, if you need to take step by step approach to cure the acne, experience the miracle from Ciracle.  The best cleanser for acne prone skin with natural ingredients.  As you wash your face with teatree foam cleanser, feel the hydration.  Mild and soft component helps you cleansing of any makeup residue or skin dirt.  Contains Surfactant with low irritation, it helps your skin to turn into clear and healthy looking one.  Refresh your skin with cooling effect from the best cleanser for acne prone skin. Acne is often caused by the excessive amount of oil on your skin. Start treating them with proper care! Clear your dead skin cells and turns it into flawless state.

As one degree of skin temperature rises, sebum creation increase by 10~20%. Teatree wash completely cleanse out the pores while leaving adequate amount of moisture on skin.

Ingredients: Purified water, sodium laureth sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine, glycerin, propylene glycol, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, sodium chloride, disodium laureth sulfosuccinate, Portulaca Oleracea extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, triclosan, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, methylparaben, disodium EDTA, Rhus Semialata Gall (Chinese Sumac) Extract cosDNA.com analysis

Performance: I ran another test with Ciracle using the same method I applied to cosRX.  Ciracle is a bit more “runny” in texture and a bit more strong in its scent, but… Ciracle did perform a lot better than cosRX did in terms of removing the makeup.  It only had an issue with theBalm Meet Matt(e) Hughes lipstick, but so did cosRX.  Damn, that lipstick is long wearing!!

They cost about the same ~ cosRX has a smaller 150 mL tube vs Ciracle’s 250 mL bottle, so initially, you might think that Ciracle is more expensive because it costs more, but you are getting a lot more product.  Per mL, the costs are about the same.    Ingredients wise ~ cosRX has more ingredients (cosRX 24 vs Ciracle 15) and they seem to be plant based.  Ciracle does have methylparaben, which is anti-fungal,  but if you are trying to avoid parabens, the cosRX cleanser might be more appropriate.   Ciracle does have a BHA ingredient as well, with willow bark.  Personally, I prefer the ingredients list in Ciracle over cosRX, but that is a personal preference. Sodium Laureth Sulfate is not a bad sulfate at all and should not be confused with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.

Final Thoughts

I think all of these cleansers would be great purchases ~ which one you will choose will be based on the ingredient list, pH level and availability.   The Face Shop and cosRX cleansers are a good size ~ not too small, but very portable if traveling and they have the same type of cleansing abilities.  The Face Shop is the “foamiest” of the four whereas the gel cleansers, cosRX and Ciracle, have the least foaming ability.   Primary Raw cleanser is amazing in its scent and cleaning abilities but I wish that the size was a larger ~ it is one of the more expensive cleansers on the list, by weight.  Finally, Ciracle cleanser is still my HG cleanser and hasn’t been knocked out yet.  It is a larger size, which makes it hard to take with you when you travel, but it will always have a place in my shower caddy.  I think that Ciracle’s cleanser is by far the most affordable.   Personally, I would repurchase The Face Shop and I already have repurchased Ciracle.  Primary Raw is another one I would repurchase, just because of that scent!  Since cosRX and Ciracle are so similar to me, I will not repurchase cosRX, but that is not because it is not a quality product ~ it is ~ I just happen to be loyal to Ciracle and feel it does a slightly better job.

Where to Purchase

For new customers 

Wishtrend ~ Register first and you can use my friends referral number ~ 092847308  ~ to get a $5.00 coupon from them!    Wait for the coupon before you place your order. 

The Face Shop Calming Seed Mild Bubble Foam Cleanser   RV is about $8.00 to $17.00 USD

• RoseRose Shop
• Amazon
• KoreaDepart

Primary Raw Doyouganic Cleansing Soap   RV is $10.00

• cupidrop

cosRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser   RV is $10.00 to $14.00

• cupidrop
• Memebox
• Jolse
• Wishtrend

Ciracle’s Anti-Blemish Tea Tree Cleanser  RV is $20.00 to $22.00

• Wishtrend
• Jolse

 

[ blog post contains affiliate links ]

[ descriptions in italics from linked product site ]

[ cosRX and Primary Raw italicized description & artwork from cupidrop.com ]