Primary Raw Doyou 두유 Soy Milk Ferment Cleanse Toner Review

image source

I purchased my lovely tall bottle of Primary Raw DoYou Soy Milk Ferment Cleanse Toner (what a mouthful!) several months ago from Cupidrop.com and I have been using it since the beginning of March 2016. This toner is in my March and April skincare product testing line-up, but as I am almost out of the toner, I figured it will not last me thru the month of April. In fact, I probably have one week left in the bottle, so I decided to do my review on this item. DoYou means soymilk (두유) in Korean and I am a big fan of Primary Raw products ~ I have reviewed several items here in the past and have more of their products on my on-deck circle to try out.

This toner is a waterless product that is free of harsh ingredients, including parabens, alcohol, chemical fragrance and artificial dyes. It is a cleansing toner, which means you use this after you wash your face to remove any soap residue and can be used like a cleansing water as well. It helps prep your skin for the next step in your skincare routine, which would be a traditional skin/toner item. This has many soothing ingredients that will help reduce redness, swelling and will also freshen your skin, while hydrating your skin as well. The benefits of this toner are minimizing skin issues, removes dead skin cells, oil and blemish control, soothing and it is fast absorbing into the skin.

Skin Type and Concerns: I have oily, blemish prone skin, with aging concerns, hyper-pigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles.

image source

The bottle is GORGEOUS! Seriously ~ it is simple, but beautiful. The cleanse toner comes in a clear glass tall bottle that starts out narrow on the top and gradually widens at the bottom. It has the lovely DoYou soybean logo and the cap is in a brushed silver tone. I am seriously impressed by Primary Raw’s packaging and I do keep their glass jars and bottles because they are so pretty.

This is very much a watery toner, but it does not contain water, according to Primary Raw. It has a slight scent to it, a bit floral, but it is very light and disappears quickly. I use a cotton pad to apply this on my face after cleansing, both in the morning and in the evening. It does absorb quickly and there is no tacky or sticky residue afterwards.

I did do several oil/moisture skin analysis tests with my handy dandy analyzer (see my review here) and they all fell in the same range, so I can safely say that Primary Raw Cleanse Toner did increase my lipid (oil) by 7% and my moisture (water) level by 7% on average. Since this is a balancing toner, it makes sense, at least to me, that the oil and water increases would be the same percentage. I am no expert in this ~ at any rate, it is sufficient enough to say that this product does add moisture into your skin.

My face does feel nice and hydrated, smooth and clean. I hope not too squeaky clean, as I do not want to strip my face dry and this product doesn’t seem to do that on the surface… but lets take a look at the pH level for those who are looking for a lower pH level toner.

Yep, this looks to me to be around a 5 pH level and since the pH level of your skin’s acid mantle is around 5.5, this means this toner is slightly more acidic than your skin.

Key Ingredients

Ingredients marked with ** are one of the 9 primary ingredients that Primary Raw singled out with their informational advert (see advert after full ingredient listing)

** Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) is an blemish prone skin’s best friend because it has antibacterial and antiseptic qualities which helps clear up acne and it removes excess oil from skin. It also helps shrinks blood vessels, which tightens our skin. Witch Hazel can speed up healing and is a powerful anti-inflammatory, which also helps soothe skin. Finally, Witch Hazel refreshes and rejuvenates skin, refines the pores and seal in moisture.

** Aloe Vera is a powerful moisturizer that doesn’t leave your skin feeling oily or greasy. It soothes, treats inflammation, helps speed up skin healing and also has a plethora of antioxidants ~ beta-carotene, Vitamin C and Vitamin E, which help improve your skin’s firmness and keeps your skin moist and hydrated. It also contains over 75 different nutritious ingredients, including minerals, enzymes, amino acids, salicylic acid and much more.

Snail Secretion Filtrate ~ boy, they put snail slime in everything!! haha Snail secretion filtrate will increase skin elasticity and increase firmness,while helping repair skin from blemishes, reducing acne and working to lighten hyper-pigmentation scarring.

** Piper Methysticum (kava kava) helps speed up wound healing and it is a skin conditioner, and will help slow the loss of water from your skin as it will create a barrier on your skin’s surface.

** Chamomilla Recutita (chamomile) is a soothing herb which helps calm down the skin and relieve redness effectively. It has antioxidants and antimicrobial properties, it helps soften skin and helps heal wounds, so it is effective in treating skin problems.

** Dryopteris Crassirhizoma (Guan Zhong) is a wood fern and it used in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) as a healing herb. When applied topically, it helps stop bleeding and is an anti-inflammatory.

** Morus Alba (mulberry) is rich in antioxidants and will help slow down aging process, by combating free radicals, removing dead skin cells. It is also known for its brightening properties (arbutin) , which will reduce the appearance of spots caused by hyper-pigmentation.

** Centella Asiatica is a common herbal ingredient that is used medicinally to help speed up wound healing, such as blemishes and skin rashes. It also helps minimize the appearance of pores, and since it stimulates collagen production, it will make your skin more supple and firm.

** Houttuynia Cordata is a medicinal herb that is found in a lot in Asian skin care products. It is an antibiotic, which helps with preventing infection from skin problems, such as blemishes. It is also a potent antioxidant, as it contains anti-aging compounds such as flavonoids and triterpenoid, which helps strengthen, purify and revitalize your skin . It also has powerful detox properties, is an astringent and anti-inflammatory.

** Glycine Max (soybean) Seed contains isoflavonoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins among its many components. Soy is an anti-inflammatory, a powerful antioxidant, combating free radicals and reverse their damage, stimulates collagen production, helps brighten and even out skin tone and also protects your skin from UV rays. This is one of my favorite ingredients as I think it really helps skin types like my own ~ oily, but aging. A double whammy ~ I need to control blemishes but also moisturize my skin.

Lactobacillus/Soymilk Ferment Filtrate I love lactobacillus or any ferment for that matter. Fermented ingredients in skin care products are highly moisturizing and also have antibacterial properties, which is why my blemish-prone skin loves it so much. It not only hydrates, but nourishes and protects your skin.

Avena Sativa (oat) Meal is full of polysaccharides such as my favorite, beta glucan, along with flavonoids, silica and other great compounds, which are anti-inflammatory, anti-irritant and supply moisture to your skin. Oat extracts are soothing and smoothing to your skin.

Panthenol helps cellular renewal and is an effective moisturizer. It is derived from plants and this ingredient comes from Vitamin B5. Panthenol is a natural humectant, which retains moisture and hydrates the skin. It also is a good lubricant on the skin, making skin look soft and smooth. It is also an anti-inflammatory

Allantoin is known for healing, soothing and softening skin, it also helps remove cracked and chapped skin, leaving behind healthy looking skin.

Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E) is a powerful anti-oxidant and may also help protect the skin from UV rays.

Salycylic Acid (BHA) is an exfoliating acid that will help gently unclog your pores and increase cellular renewal, which means it can also help even out your skin tone, by revealing new skin. It contains anti-inflammatory compounds and will help reduce inflammation and redness, while healing acne blemishes.

Melaleuca Alternifolia (tea tree) is known for its topical antiseptic and anti-fungal properties and help target and treat blemish-prone skin. It also reduces oil and sebum production on your skin, while not disrupting the moisture level.

Bonus: Coin Mask

There was a tiny little circle of paper ~ a coin mask ~ included and the idea is to soak the mask in the toner’s bottle cap and then apply it to your face. Let’s get real here, there is no way I can soak that coin mask in the cap of this bottle. I had to put it in a small bowl

It was pretty cool how it puffed up, but you still need to unfold it completely. This is a really thick and stiff cotton mask sheet.

Oh epic fail. I really hated the “coin” mask that was included, as you can see in the photo, the fit was awful, the sheet mask was thick, rough and I used so much of the toner to get the mask moist. I did not see any benefits after I removed the mask, so this was a waste of product for me.

image source from cupidrop.com

Ingredients: Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract, Water, Butylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Sodium Hyaluronate, Snail Secretion Filtrate, Piper Methysticum Leaf/Stem Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower/Leaf Extract, Dryopteris Crassirhizoma Extract, Morus Alba (mulberry) Bark Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Glycine Max (soybean) Seed Extract, Lactobacillus/Soymilk Ferment Filtrate, Avena Sativa (oat) Meal Extract, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Panthenol, Allantoin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Disodium EDTA, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tropolone, Citrus Paradisi (grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Salycylic Acid, Melaleuca Alternifolia (tea tree) Leaf Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (bergamot) Peel Oil, Citrus LImon (lemon) Peel Oil, Cananaga Odorata Flower Oil, Juniperus Oxycedrus Fruit Oil, Salvia Officinalis (sage) Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil cosDNA.com analysis

image source

Final Thoughts

This is a tough one for me. I love Primary Raw products SO MUCH but in the end, I found this toner to be .. meh. I should be excited about it ~ the ingredients list is wonderful, the pH level is fantastic, it has adequate hydrating properties .. but it didn’t wow me in terms of performance. I found it to be a very high priced cleanse toner with little to show for it. At least for me ~ others may use this and find it to be their Holy Grail of all toners, but .. as the song goes… I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.

I just found that even though it was a good toner, for that price tag, it should have been a LOT better. I did love how classy this bottle looked on my crowded bathroom sink 😀 I purchased this at 130 mL bottle at Cupidrop.com for $35.00 (link here) Now I am using another Primary Raw product right now and I do love that one ~ the Bio Lumpoule. I won’t have that review up until the end of April and then I will start in with two more Primary Raw products that are tailored for the warmer months (and they are blue!) Have you tried any of Primary Raw products? What did you think of them? Honestly, even though I wasn’t impressed with this product, I have found that I like their items more than I do not.

I love how Primary Raw up-cycles the containers and promotes that at their Korean website. The good thing about owning this product is that I will use it to put flowers in it. It is truly a beautiful bottle.