The ability of our cells to regenerate at night has always fascinated me. We often hear, that no cosmetic can replace these two fundamental beauty musts: Water and Sleep. Our skin has the natural ability to repair and regenerate at night, but in a heavily polluted environment with dirt and toxins literally flying all around, we need to help a bit our skin. Even if you are not (not yet!) into this whole precisely orchestrated multiple-step skincare routine, allowing our face to breath at night is the bare minimum we should do. To do that, nothing better than the Asian double cleansing technique, a centuries old, well tested and loved cleansing ritual.

So, how does it work? You need two different cleansing products, one oil-based and one water-based. There are various types of oil-based cleansers that you can choose from. Some, like the Soda pore BB deep Cleansing Oil, Holika Holika has a more liquid consistency and is dispensed by a pump, while others can have the consistency of a balm that only later melts into oil (like my favourite SU:M37 cleansing balm, reviewed in my routine here).

Step.1 – The oil cleanser will melt you make-up, and remove oil-based debris such as sebum and SPF. You probably remember from you chemistry classes, that oil and water don’t mix together (and always stay separate). Thus water-based products on their own, can’t totally remove oily dirt. You need to fight oil will oil! A common misconception, is that oil-based cleansers are not adapted for oily skin. This is not true, these oil-based products are meant to clean and thus won’t make you skin feel more greasy or oily. The vast variety of oil-based cleansing products, allows you to customize your cleansing routine to your skin type and specific needs.

Step.2 – Once you have cleaned you face with an oil-based product, you can move on to the water based one. This second cleansing has several purposes. It will remove any remaining residue of the first product (if you didn’t rinse you face well!), and get rid of sweat and dirt that are water based.

Now let’s moved to the two products I currently use in my double-cleansing routine: Soda pore BB deep Cleansing Oil, Holika Holika for step 1 and Egg White Bubble Cleanser, Mizon for step 2.

Soda Pore Cleansing, Holika Holika

At first I was fascinated by the idea of “soda cleansing” and by the cute packaging that mimics a big soda bottle (I would say, Lemonade?). I thought the cleanser will create bubbles or something close to a ‘bubbling effect’. But this oil-based cleanser turned out to be more ordinary than expected. The consistency of this product reminds me of the world-famous Japanese Deep Cleansing Oil from DHC (a review on my favourite Japanese products soon, stay tuned!). Also, both the Holika Holika cleanser and the DHC cleanser have Olive Europea oil as their main ingredients. The smell of the Holika Holika cleanser is sweet, a bit soda-like indeed, but with some chemical notes that I don’t like that much. To apply it you gentle massage it over dry skin, and then rinse off with lukewarm water.

The promise: The Holika Holika cleanser contains baking powder and English Harrogate carbonated water, that is rich in minerals and oxygen to deep clean pores. Olive and again oils, also present it the formula, are great ingredients to help gently clean and moisturize the skin. As this is a oil-based formulation, I can’t make a good ph test of this one.

The ingredients:

Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil,Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride,Sorbeth-30 Tetraoleate,Polybutene ,Water,Hexyldecyl Myristoyl Methylaminopropionate,Butylene Glycol,Mineral Water,Propylene Glycol,Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract,Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Extract,Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil ,Tocopheryl Acetate ,Fragrance,Phenoxyethanol, Propyl Paraben

First Impressions: This cleanser is meant to be massaged for at least 5-15 minutes to really unclog your pores and bring the impurities out. However, being a rather lazy person, I rarely go beyond five minutes. I have tried it on my Clarisonic brush, and it worked quite well I have to say. When you start adding a bit of water on your face, the oil turns into a milky watery consistency, and then I usually do another short round of face massage.

Effect: It’s a deep cleanser, so if you have very sensitive skin I wouldn’t be using it every single day, but more as a deep cleansing once a week thing. When done properly (with a patient face massage) it cleans really well without being too aggressive.

Where to get it? I got my Soda Pore Cleansing Oil from Holika Holika from Peach and Lily, but it is also available on Amazon and of course directly at Holika Holika website (you can explore the whole product line there).

I give this product 3 out of 5 Kinbeauty rating, it is an ok product – but nothing too crazy, plus the smell is not really my cup of tea. For an olive-oil cleanser I still prefer DHC deep cleansing oil (it is so famous for a reason).

Egg White Bubble Cleanser, Mizon

The promise: This cleanser formulated with 3,200mg of egg-white extract (there are several products of this type in K-beauty world!) promises to gently clean your face while still effectively remove make-up residue and dirt. It also contains AHA (Alpha Hydroxy acids – in this product it is for ex. in Saccharum Officinarum [Sugar Cane] Extract a ‘new’ AHA ) and enzyme for a gentle daily exfoliation. I am slowly going towards introducing more AHA products in my routine, and this cleanser is a good and gentle start. It is also free of parabens, artificial dyes, ethanol and benzophenone which is a plus for sensitive skins.

The ingredients:

Water, Methylglucamine, Butylene Glycol, Lauric Acid, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Pvp, Olive Oil Peg-7 Esters, Myristic Acid, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Egg Shell Membrane Extract, Cocamide Dea, Peg-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Trehalose, Citric Acid, Allantoin, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit/Leaf Extract, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Carica Papaya(Papaya) Fruit Extract, Gypsophila Paniculata Root Extract, Disodium Edta, Dmdm Hydantoin, Fragrance

First impressions: I love this foam!!! So soft and smells so nice (a powdery sweet smell, but not overwhelming!). You don’t need a lot, just pump it twice for the perfect amount – the foam will slightly “grow” in your hand. I had the bad idea of testing the ph of this product (for why ph is important you can read this post from Skin & Tonics or from Snow White and the Asian Pear) and it turns out this one has a quite high ph of around 7,5 (close to neutral) but I guess that’s the ‘problem’ with many foam-type of cleansers, and I also blame it on the presence of AHA (usually AHA + low ph. are for prescription cosmetics). So if you are struggling with acne this product may not be for you.

Effect: It works especially well in a double cleansing routine, but is also good on its own. My skin was squeaky clean but not stripped of its natural moisture. I don’t know if it is just me, but I also feel my face looks more fresh and gets baby glow every time I use this product. I need to disclose here, that I never had acne problems (apart of some random nasty pimples here and there), and my skin is rather on the dry side.

Where to get it? The Egg White Bubble Cleanser, Mizon is available on many websites, I got mine from Peach and Lily in France you can get it on Peaux d’anges, and worldwide on Koreadepart and elsewhere.

I am in love with this Mizon cleanser, and I will definitely buy it again. It costs around 23 $ so for a cleanser it goes towards the expensive limit (also considering the rather small size of the product), but it is so enjoyable to use that I feel it is worth it. After all, the more enjoyable the product the more chances I will stick with my double-cleansing routine!

I give this product 4 out of 5 Kinbeauty rating, just because I would prefer it had a lower ph.