It’s been a giant couple of years for COSRX. They’ve expanded past their beginnings as a small and comparatively unknown model targeted on bare-bones AHA and BHA merchandise, into a worldwide title with a presence in brick-and-mortar retail chains like ULTA. Final yr, the massive COSRX information for me was the growth of their Superior Snail line, with the Superior Snail Radiance Twin Essence after which a brand new cleanser and sheet masks too. (Additionally, however this yr: the Superior Snail hydrogel eye patches.)
At present, the thrilling COSRX information is the growth of their newer Pure Match Cica line. Particularly, the cleaning merchandise that can formally launch later this month. I’m very lucky to have an excellent relationship with some folks on the model, so when one in all my associates there offhandedly talked about a brand new cleaning balm(!!!!) I shamelessly requested if I may perhaps presumably get some to attempt. She mentioned sure. Now I’m right here to report again.
The merchandise featured on this put up have been supplied at my request by the model. This put up could comprise affiliate hyperlinks, which allow me to earn a small fee on purchases made by clicking the hyperlinks. Affiliate hyperlinks are marked with an asterisk(*).
If you happen to’ve been being attentive to Ok-beauty for some time, you’ve very seemingly seen “cica” merchandise, which have been round for years.
Cica merchandise function extracts and derivatives of the centella asiatica plant, also called tiger grass (as seen in Dr. Jart’s Cicapair Tiger Grass line) or gotu kola. It’s historically utilized in Asian people drugs to deal with wounds, burns, and inflammatory pores and skin circumstances, and there’s proof to assist its wound therapeutic and anti inflammatory properties, particularly when the remoted centella asiatica compounds asiatic acid, madecassic acid, asiaticoside and madecassoside are used. Whereas that doesn’t imply that each cica product will ship therapeutic and soothing advantages, since extract efficiency and concentrations differ wildly between suppliers and types, it does imply that cica merchandise are marketed in direction of delicate or broken pores and skin. As is the COSRX Pure Match Cica line.
When planning out this put up, I wasn’t certain through which order to current the merchandise. I settled for beginning with my least favourite of the three.
Why is it my least favourite? Why?? How dare???
It’s not that it doesn’t cleanse properly. It does. It cleanses perhaps a bit of too properly.
The COSRX Cica Creamy Foam Cleanser delivers a really satisfying cleaning expertise. Pearly white proper out of the tube, it lathers as much as a thick, rich-feeling foam with a recent eucalyptus scent. That lush foam massages simply over pores and skin and rinses off cleanly. Sadly, that lush, clean-rinsing foam takes away extra than simply my common cleaning oil or balm residue and normal pores and skin particles. It additionally takes away my pores and skin’s personal moisture.
That’s as a result of not like the milder, low pH cleansers I’m used to, the Cica Creamy Foam Cleanser is a real cleaning soap. As a substitute of utilizing artificial detergents like coco betaine and even sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), this product derives its cleaning brokers from the response of fatty acids (right here, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and lauric acid) with lye (aka potassium hydroxide). Lye is a powerful base; the saponification response leads to a really excessive pH closing end result. The pH of the Cica Creamy Foam Cleanser is a few 9, in response to my take a look at strips.
My pores and skin, and the pores and skin of lots of you guys whom I’ve talked to over time, drastically prefers low pH cleansers. Personally, I discover face washes with a pH between 5 and seven to be ultimate. The pH degree of a wholesome pores and skin barrier is inside that vary, and in my expertise, cleansers with pH ranges too far above it are inclined to disrupt and weaken the moisture barrier, permitting its personal naturally occuring lipids to be washed away. This may end up in tight, dry, delicate pores and skin that loses hydration simply.
I had a nasty feeling about this cleanser moving into, due to the substances and that pH take a look at. However I wished to offer it a shot anyway. “Not less than it’s not a ten or 11, like another cleansers I’ve tried,” I advised myself, and lathered up with it morning and evening. It feels completely fantastic whereas in use. Then my pores and skin feels squeaky clear afterwards, which is strictly what I don’t need.
It took a few week earlier than my pores and skin felt so tight, itchy, and uncomfortable that I needed to throw within the towel. Granted, that’s longer than I final with most excessive pH cleansers, in all probability as a result of this one is no less than not so excessive pH {that a} single use leaves my face crimson and irritated. (Possibly it’s the cica.) However the tightness and discomfort are why it’s my least favourite of the three. I’ll use the remainder of it up as a brush and puff cleanser.
As a result of there are not any actual common guidelines in skincare, nonetheless, I’m conscious that some folks truly favor excessive pH cleansers, whether or not as a result of they’ve a naturally oily pores and skin kind that advantages from harsher cleaning, or for different causes. For individuals who do like this fashion of cleaning, this one is a beautiful expertise. Simply not for me.
I might additionally notice that whereas this cleanser does comprise the helpful centella asiatica extracts and centella-derived compounds, it (like the opposite two cleaning merchandise on this evaluate) additionally comprises some aromatic important oils, which some folks could discover irritating. I don’t, however take into account your pores and skin’s triggers earlier than pulling the set off on any of those.
COSRX Cica Creamy Foam Cleanser substances: Water, glycerin, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, lauric acid, potassium hydroxide, glyceryl stearate, 1,2-hexanediol, polyquarternium-7, ethylhexylglycerin, citrus limon (lemon) fruit extract, citrus nobilis (mandarin orange) oil, disodium EDTA, butylene glycol, eucalyptus globulus leaf oil, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, pinus palustris oil, melia azadirachta leaf extract, melia azadirachta flower extract, sodium benzoate, coccinia indica fruit extract, amber powder, solanum melongena (eggplant) fruit extract, ocimum sanctum leaf extract, curcuma longa (turmeric) root extract, centella asiatica leaf extract, corallina officinalis extract, moringa oleifera seed oil, hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine, caprylic/capric triglyceride, sucrose stearate, centella asiatica extract, cetearyl alcohol, centella asiatica root extract, asiatic acid, asiaticoside, madecassic acid, madecassoside
Earlier than we transfer on: Don’t confuse this with the prevailing COSRX Pure Match Cica Cleanser*! The Pure Match Cica Cleanser is a a lot milder cleanser with a pH of round 5.5 that I actually like and used all the way down to the final drop final yr.
Since I began with my least favourite, I’d as properly do my second least favourite (or second most favourite, relying on the way you take a look at issues) subsequent.
Double cleaning–using an emulsifying, oil-based “first cleanser” to interrupt up and take away make-up and sunscreen earlier than washing with a water-based, normally gel or foaming “second cleanser”–is without doubt one of the most foundational practices of East Asian skincare routines, like these you’ll discover in Ok-beauty. So it shouldn’t be stunning that I’ve used a lot of cleaning oils over time. Some have been godawful, many have been okay however forgettable, and a really uncommon few made their method onto my “I’d repurchase and reuse this any time” holy grail roster.
COSRX Cica Clear Cleaning Oil falls someplace in between “tremendous” and “superior” for me. By way of performance, it simply lifts and dissolves even water resistant sunscreen and make-up. It emulsifies properly and rinses away fairly cleanly, leaving only a little bit of residue that every one of my present light, low pH cleansers simply dispatch. I just like the grassy citrus scent, too. My solely actual complaints about it are that it’s thinner than I typically like and due to this fact extra runny, and it isn’t fairly as slippy as my favorites, so I really feel a bit extra friction after I therapeutic massage it in. These are pretty minor complaints within the grand scheme of issues, nonetheless. For individuals who don’t have points with the aromatic important oils on this one, I believe it’s going to be a pleasant choice to attempt.
By the way, you might have observed that though these merchandise belong to COSRX’s cica line and comprise all of the anticipated cica substances, I haven’t talked about any specific “cica” results. That’s as a result of these merchandise all wash off. Any treatment-type substances in them don’t have a lot time to have an effect on pores and skin earlier than they’re rinsed away. I really feel the identical method concerning the cica in these as I do concerning the snail secretion filtrate within the COSRX Superior Snail Mucin Gel Cleanser: it’s a enjoyable addition, however for precise results, search for leave-on merchandise as an alternative.
COSRX Cica Clear Cleaning Oil substances: Ethylhexyl palmitate, sorbeth-30 tetraoleate, triethylhexanoin, glycine soja (soybean) oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, citrus aurantifolia (lime) oil, citrus limon (lemon) peel oil, citrus aurantium bergamia (bergamot) fruit oil, tocopherol, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, caprylyl glycol, ethylhexylglycerin, avena sativa (oat) kernel oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, oenothera biennis (night primrose) oil, persea gratissima (avocado) oil, prunus amygdalus dulcis (candy almond) oil, water, 1,2-hexanediol, centella asiatica extract, centella asiatica leaf extract, centella asiatica root extract, pinus pinaster bark extract, asiaticoside, asiatic acid, madecassoside, madecassic acid
Lastly! My favourite of the three!
A very good cleaning balm makes me very pleased. Not solely are they spill-proof, making them good each for journey and for clumsy customers like me, however one thing about scraping a bit of the stable balm out of the jar and feeling it soften softly into an oil on my face simply sparks loads of pleasure. Sadly, not all cleaning balms are nice. Some don’t soften evenly, leaving me feeling like I’m dragging oil-coated chunks of wax throughout my cheeks. Others don’t emulsify or rinse off properly, forming a sludge of oil, make-up, and sunscreen that I’ve to battle to take away with my second cleanser.
COSRX Cica Smoothing Cleaning Balm does neither of these items. It softens up readily on my face, reworking from balm to an oil of precisely the proper thickness for my tastes. Just like the Cica Clear Cleaning Oil, it rapidly cuts by means of even my most cussed make-up choices and water resistant sunscreens. It emulsifies and rinses away extra totally than the cleaning oil. And it leaves my pores and skin feeling recent and clear afterwards. There’s a slight inexperienced natural scent, and I really feel compelled to make notice of the aromatic important oils once more for many who are delicate to them, however aside from that, I discover the expertise of this cleaning balm utterly pleasant.
There may be, nonetheless, one challenge that some folks have with cleaning balms, and if they’ve that challenge with cleaning balms, they’ll have that challenge with this one.
That challenge is microplastics.
Many cleaning balms use polyethylene or different plastics to attain that cleaning balm consistency and efficiency. These substances then get washed down the drain and should finally find yourself within the ocean. Whereas the precise focus of those substances in any given package deal of cleaning balm will probably be fairly low, some folks select to keep away from cosmetics that comprise them. So in case you favor to take action, I need to ensure you’re conscious that this product does comprise polyethylene. The truth that it does is about the one cause I’ve for not contemplating this product a holy grail.
COSRX Cica Smoothing Cleaning Balm substances: Ethylhexyl palmitate, sorbeth-30 tetraoleate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, polyethylene, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, eucalyptus globulus leaf oil, caprylyl glycol, ethylhexylglycerin, anthemis nobilis flower oil, avena sativa (oat) kernel oil, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, oenothera biennis (night primrose) oil, persea gratissima (avocado) oil, prunus amygdalus dulcis (candy almond) oil, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, water, 1,2-hexanediol, centella asiatica extract, centella asiatica leaf extract, centella asiatica root extract, pinus pinaster bark extract, asiaticoside, asiatic acid, madecassoside, madecassic acid
The Cica Creamy Foam Cleanser, Cica Clear Cleaning Oil, and Cica Smoothing Cleaning Balm can be found on the COSRX international web site.