It’s a super sad day when your skin decided that it no longer loves your cleansing routine. It was probably a combination of things that led to a pretty frustrating break-out around March – I had just moved countries, and I probably should’ve been a little more proactive reading use-by dates – but I was left in a situation where my trusty oil cleanser from The Face Shop just wasn’t doing anything but hurting my skin – and my first rule of skincare is: always listen to your skin.

There are a wealth of different cleanser types in South Korea. The vast majority are ridiculously affordable and also ridiculously effective. There are cleansing oils, foams, washes, gels, balms, and now milks. And, being a girl that likes to try new things, I decided to dive wholeheartedly into the very last on that list, with The Face Shop’s Rice Water Bright Cleansing Milk.

When I try new skincare products, especially those where I haven’t actually read reviews, or tested them out because I purchased it when I was in Homeplus and not an actual Face Shop store, I need to be sure that it isn’t going to ruin my skin. So you’ve probably all noticed that this new cleanser sounds very, very similar to The Face Shop’s Rice Water Bright Cleansing Oil.

You’re not wrong, they’re from the same line.

But~ I know that rice anything is something that my skin really responds well to, it was just the oil formula that needed to be switched out, so I decided to go ahead and try the milk version instead.

So far, I’m really happy.

It’s just as effective as the oil cleanser in removing makeup, but it’s a lot less effort to wash off once you’re done with the cleansing part of your skincare routine. With the oil cleanser, I often felt the need to double cleanse a lot more frequently – almost to the point where it was necessary after using oils – so that all the grime from the day was definitely off my face. Considering the air quality in South Korea isn’t all that great (yay dust, yay pollution), and the hours that I work combined with the energy expended at collaring rowdy children, I was double cleansing less and less, and I think my pores were suffering.

But the milk cleanser is so much lighter, and so much more gentle.on my skin, it’s been really nice to be able to massage it in, watch all the grime wash off, and then basically be ready for bed. I wouldn’t recommend using it to take off eye makeup though – since it does suggest not doing that, and I’m all for following cleansing directions – I do use a micellar water from Skin Chemists to get rid of my mascara. But on the whole I’ve noticed a definite improvement in the condition of my skin since I’ve been using this cleanser.

Which is fab since I’m actually doing some kind of shoot almost every weekend, it’s kind of important to have nice skin.

The price is also really affordable since it’s a roadshop brand, so it’s not going to eat me out of house and home when I need to restock. Which is especially good news considering my trouble finding base products that are Casper-friendly (it was a struggle in the UK too), and the added need of taking off heavier makeup after studio shoot days. The fact it cuts through even stubborn makeup effortlessly, and doesn’t leave your skin a mess has super duper thumbs up from me.

Downsides? Even though it’s pretty gentle on the rest of my skin, it shouldn’t be used around the eye area, which means having a separate eye-makeup remover. When you want a product to do the all in one, if it doesn’t it’s kind of frustrating. Also, seeing as it’s a pump action dispenser, and a creamy product, you get that little blob of air-dried gunk in the tract between each use. Which is a little bit gross, not going to lie. A stopper on the nozzle or a different method of dispensing would be fab, considering the type of product it is.

But the upsides outweigh any of the negatives here, in my opinion. The ingredients are all great for sensitive skin, as well as any skin type, and the bulk ingredients aren’t alcohol based or derived. It’s a fab, affordable, cleanser (as a lot of kbeauty cleansers are), that I’m happy I picked up.

If you’re looking for something a little different than your oils, micellar waters, and foaming cleansers, or looking for a way to get into korean beauty products, then I’d definitely suggest giving this a go!

What do you think? Have you tried any of the The Face Shop’s Rice Water products? I also really love the cleansing wipes from this line to… and I’d usually never recommend wipes.

♥

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