The fermented, foamy, gentle cleansers you didn’t know you needed until now

by Carolina Malis

Before falling in love and basically marrying K-beauty, and before it changing my life and skin forever, I was a very lazy person when talking skincare. I had this 3-steps set of creams my dermatologist prescribed but I was not consistent, and washing my face turned into something controlled by my mood. all Now, looking back to those dark days I just can't believe how many times I went to bed with makeup on or applied my treatment cream without first washing my face, something that now just thinking about it makes me feel like I’m inside a horror movie (yes, I’m dramatic like that).

Thing is, no one ever really told me or explain to me the importance of cleansing. While now I see it as an obvious part of my routine, I never thought it would be that bad of a thing to go to bed carrying all the toxins and dirt I've been building up on my skin throughout the day. But once I learned how terrible it was I was never able to go back to that bad, very bad habit.

Now, finding the right cleanser for my skin was a whole new adventure, because ads, magazines and even dermatologists told me all of my life that cleansers were better if they left your skin feeling tight and dry, just like if you were a mummy, making it hard to even talk, but tight skin means dry skin, ergo your skin has been stripped of all its water, causing surface dead skin cells build up, a big no no no. 

For my combo, very sensitive and acne prone skin, I need to make sure a cleanser is gentle enough to clean, soothe and calm my skin while not playing games with my pH, reason why I usually go for foam or gel cleansers and here’s two of my current favorites:

Real Fresh Foam Cleanser - Cranberry

First things first: there is real cranberries on the bottle. I repeat, real, whole cranberries on the bottle! It’s hard for this feature to not be the first thing you notice as the juicy cranberries are floating at the very bottom of the bottle in what I like to call a magic skincare powers filter. Made of real fermented cranberries and cranberry fruit water - antioxidant paradise - this super hydrating cleanser looks liquid on the bottle but comes out as a bubbly and marshmallow-y foam that's just perfect after a short-sleep night or a very long stressful day. For sensitive skin people like myself, the hypoallergenic formula fits my skincare routine perfectly, cleansing away wastes, makeup and toxins without stripping hydration away.

Real Fresh Foam Cleanser - Cereal

Once again first things first: there’s also a magic skincare powers filter on this one, but filled up with whole fermented grains. Different to the cranberry one - although same texture - I prefer to use this one in the mornings, especially if I know I’m not gonna wear makeup afterwards, as it has kind of a healing power to it. My skin usually looks plump and brighter after using this cleanser, plus incredibly hydrated, especially if I used cleansing water instead of oil before (that's why I prefer to use it in the mornings). What’s very particular about this cleansers line is the fact that, even though they’re technically water-based, its main ingredient is not water but extracts from the cereals and fruits they’re made of. 

Have you tried these before? And let me know if just as me in the past, you also thought the mummy-skin-like effect was the way to go!