review: shu uemura new porefinist gentle foaming cleansing water

at age 30, i feel like my skin has been acting up lately like when i was a teenager! i’ve been chatting with several of my girl friends and reading some articles and it seems very common that our skin tends to become more acne-prone when we enter our 30s even if our skin was fine after our teenage years. it’s either this, or because i’ve been traveling more lately so the change in environment, diet and rhythm have been irritating my skin. my skin has been getting little bumps although it’s not oily at this moment. everyone’s skin is different, for myself, my skin tends to break out in little bumps when i’m stressed or not getting enough rest. i get occasional cystic pimples when i have hormonal fluctuations. how sad… although i can’t avoid these things, i have found ways to manage my skin issues (i have a couple of previous blog posts about my skin care regime).

currently, because i’ve been getting a lot of clogged pores that causes little bumps, i’ve begun using the new shu uemura porefinist gentle foaming cleanser. i’ve been using it for about 2 weeks now and it’s really helped to calm my skin. because it contains salicylic acid, which helps to eliminate dead skin cells, i find that it’s helping the clogged gunk (causing bumps) to come to the surface and to come off. i normally go for facials, so i’ll be going in a couple of weeks to get a good pore cleaning now that the dead skin is starting to shed off.

here’s what i love about this cleanser compared to other cleansers that are supposedly for acne-prone skin:

• water lily extract – this helps to purify the skin and prevent excess oil. my skin isn’t oily right now, but with the humid whether lately, i like that it makes my skin feel fresher

• salicylic acid – this is the key ingredient for me personally. it eliminates dead skin cells so my skin looks brighter and it prevents gunk to clog my pored which causes bumps.

• dragons beard extract – this is a moisturizing agent. this is what i feel makes the product better than other acne cleansers because my face doesn’t feel tight after cleansing. it feels fresh.

• depsea water – i’ve talked about this in previous blogs, as it’s the key ingredient in all shu uemura skin products including foundation. it’s patented by shu uemura and was discovered by mr. shu uemura himself when he was in japan by the sea. he noticed a nurse who brought some children to swim in the sea water near moroto cape and asked the nurse what she was doing. the children had eczema and she said the water was healing their skin. after researching, he learned that the water circulating with the currents deep under the sea to the polar regions had picked up lots of mineral and nutrients which naturally heals and moisturizes skin. to read more about the history, click here.

to use the product:

• it can be used dry or wet (so you can wet your face first, or not). i’ve been using this instead of my cleansing oil lately, just because my skin has been bumpy. so like i always say, choose to use products based on your skin’s needs at a particular moment.
• at night, i use 2-3 pumps on dry skin so that i can remove my makeup.
• in the morning, i find i just need one pump, since there isn’t anything on my skin.

this is one pump

when it lathers, it feels soft and has a slight silky texture. scent is not strong – it’s more fresh and not floral.

that’s what the pump looks like. this product was also designed to be eco-friendly.