Tonymoly From Haenam Black Barley Enzyme Cleanser Review

TonyMoly recently came out with a line of skincare featuring Black Barley, including one of my favorite types of skin care products to try ~ an enzyme powder cleanser. Jolse sent me this powder cleanser for review purposes.

Skin type/concerns: Oily, aging, blemish prone, pores, hyper-pigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles.

I received some of these products complementary to review and was not paid. All reviews are my own honest opinion and I never have been asked to write copy for a brand. This blog post might contain promo codes, affiliate and referral links, which using my links will help generate a small commission that helps support my blog at no extra cost to you.

What is an enzyme cleanser? Enzymes in skin care have two functions ~ exfoliation and to help reduce swelling, tenderness, redness and pain ~ anti-inflammation. Enzymes can be very gentle and are a fantastic replacement for facial scrubs and microdermabrasion products, such as Dr. Brandt Skincare Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant and Derma E Microdermabrasion Scrub ~ those products can be too harsh for your skin and could exacerbate the skin issues you thought the product was going to handle! Enzymes break down the upper layer of skin which contains dead skin cells that contains keratin and whisking them away ~ literally decomposing the skin cells. By breaking down keratin, your skin is smoother and silkier. Some of the best fruit enzymes are papaya (papain), blueberry and pineapple.

I personally use these cleansers as exfoliators and not a replacement for a normal foaming or cream cleanser. Exfoliation are very different from cleansing and whereas these are gentle enough to use several times a week, I would not use them daily. I mention this as I have been asked this product can be used to replace the 2nd step in the double cleansing routine and I do not recommend it. I wouldn’t use a facial scrub as my 2nd step, so why would I use an enzyme treatment, regardless of its foaming action, as one?

image from jolse

This is made with 91% of fermented black barley extract and black food complex (soybean, rice, sesame). The black barley is harvested from Haenam, on the southwestern tip of South Korea, in South Jeolla Province. It’s temperate oceanic climate, fertile soil, sunny warmth and precipitation produce premium barley. After harvesting, the barley is first roasted at high temperatures and then using a cold decoction method to minimize the destruction of active ingredients, the barley will be processed for twice, each time for 300 hours at low temperatures of 4ºC to 10ºC (39ºF-50ºF).

By fermenting ingredients, this helps the ingredients be better absorbed while being more gentle and non-irritating on the skin, while being mildly acidic. The fermented barley can help reduce blemishes, unclog pores and reduce oils, as it contains zinc and azelaic acid. It also has anti-inflammatory benefits and it brightens the skin tone, as it is an exfolitator. Barley does contain large amounts of selenium , which is beneficial for keeping your skin toned and improve elasticity ~ this is a cleansing product, so I don’t think the latter is important, but Tonymoly does have a full line of Black Barley skincare, so keep that in mind!

This also has a black food complex, consisting of soybean has anti-inflammatory properties so it helps reduce blemish swelling and redness. The power of soybeans contain amino acid glycine, which helps repair damaged tissue and to speed up healing. Rice helps moisturize, smooth and is an anti-aging ingredient. It also contains protective UV proprieties and phytic acid, an antioxidant that will help slow down, reduce and reverse hyper-pigmentation. Sesame is rich in nutrients and essential fatty acids, making this antioxidant an effective moisturizer.

The main enzyme in here is papain, an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacteria proteolytic enzyme is derived from papaya. It will exfoliate your skin without irritation by gently loosening dead skin cells and removing them from your skin. Papain is a potential irritant trigger, ranging from 0-3 on EWG. Protease is another enzyme that helps break down other proteins that are stuck on your skin. This also has a physical exfoliator with finely milled walnut shell powder.

Ingredients: corn starch, sodium coco isethionate, sodium lauroyl glutamate, sodium lauroyl aspartate, maltodextrin, oryza sativa (rice) flour, Juglans regia (walnut) shell powder, allantoin, papain, sodium metabisulfite, protease, hordeum hulgare seed (barley) extract, gycine soja (soybean) germ extract, sesamum indicum (sesame) seed extract, oryza sativa (rice) extract, 1,2-hexanediol cosDNA

Tonymoly From Haenam Black Barley Enzyme Cleanser comes in a 60 gram plastic bottle with a flip cap top and a pin hole opening. The grains are fairly finely milled and there is a light scent, but barely noticeable.

This does lather up in a very soft foam ~ if you are looking for a dense and rich lather, this isn’t the cleanser for you. However, as I am using this as an exfoliating step, the lighter foam is fine by me.

This has a pH level of a 5, so it is mildly acidic and will not strip your skin. The lather feels really nice and silky on my skin and when I rinsed it off, my skin did feel visibly smoother and soft. I have been a huge fan of powder enzyme cleansers for years and this is a nice one ~ it has a fine grain, so the product won’t scratch your skin, soft foam, low pH and softens and refines your skin texture, so it feels smooth.

Where to Purchase

Jolse carries this Barley Enzyme Cleanser by TonyMoly (click here to purchase) for a little under $10.00 USD. Jolse offers free shipping plus gives a lot of samples out ~ the more you purchase, the more samples you get! Please note that the prices do fluctuate a little bit due to the WON to USD exchange rates.

They also have the complete line of Tonymoly From Haenam Black Barley skincare for purchase ~ the Enyzme Cleanser is misspelled as Balck Barley in case you were wondering where it was in the search results!

Make sure to check your coupon zone (click here) for money saving discounts. You need to log into Jolse first, then download the coupons before you use them. Coupon savings usually are $5.00 off a $50.00+ purchase, 5% off $100.00+ purchase and 10$ off a $200.00+ purchase