This is going to be one lonngggg epic cleansing oil review! I’ve chosen the following three cleansing oils: DHC Deep Cleansing Oil, Biore Cleansing Oil & Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil Premium A/O because I’ve used all of them at some point and I like how each of them are of a different price range so you can pick whichever suits your budget best!
Cleansing oils have been getting really popular recently, it’s quite a fascinating concept actually removing make-up, grime and dirt on your face with oil…wait isn’t that supposed to be a bad thing? Who knew that we could actually fight oil with even more oil? Genius! I have no idea who was the smarty pants behind the idea and I’m not going to go all ~HISTORY OF CLEANSING OIL 101~ on you so let’s just skip the theatrics and move on. If you are curious to learn more about the magic science that goes behind cleansing oil, I think my boyfriend, Google.com, would be able help you out!
I never actually got into the whole “OMG LET’S SMEAR OUR FACES WITH OIL” thing because all I ever needed to remove my make-up back then were a couple of baby-wipes and the occasional swab of baby oil. And then I got my first tube of Majolica Majorca mascara. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my MM mascara as much as I love my mother (I kidddddd) but it is ridiculously hard to remove! SRSLY I think it’s made of tar because the first few times I tried removing it with my baby oil, I used up 1/5 of the bottle and I lost so many eyelashes (RIP lashes, hope you’re enjoying lash heaven) that it just became such a chore to remove my make-up.
Enter Biore Cleansing Oil. If you are new to cleansing oils, I would really recommend this because it’s cheap, it works really well and removes everything including my mascara! I like the fruity..almost grape-like scent it has and the only thing I don’t like about this product is that it stings a little bit if it gets into your eyes which er happens to me a lot because in order to remove my mascara, I massage it gently into my lashes to make sure everything gets off so there’s no escaping the slight sting. I’m actually used to the sting so it doesn’t bother me as much. Honestly it doesn’t HURT, it’s just a little uncomfortable because haaai girl I’ve got some oil in my eyes.
DHC is a japanese skincare brand new to Singapore but they’re quite well-known worldwide for their focus on harnessing the potential goodness that fruits etc like olives and acerola have and infusing it in their skincare. Wow. I feel like I’m writing a beauty research paper lol! Anyway I’ve gotten some samples of their insanely popular DHC Deep Cleansing Oil and have used them all prior to this review! It’s slightly pricier with a bottle costing about SGD$40. I’m guessing they’re trying to justify the price because they’re making use of some good quality extra virgin olive oil?
The cleansing oil has a very distinct scent which I don’t like at all because it just smells like regular EVOO to me. The oil has a thick consistency but it wasn’t hard for me to spread it on my face. It’s quite gentle to the skin and moisturizes even! Unfortunately, (haha here comes the baad) it didn’t remove my mascara at all so I was kinda disappointed with it. It removed everything else perfectly though so if you have sensitive skin and don’t use heavy-duty mascara, grab a bottle! As for me, I don’t think I’ll ever purchase this.
So last but not least, we have the Shu Uemura Cleansing Beauty Oil Premium A/O (god, that is such mouthful!). I’ve always been curious about Shu’s range of cleansing oils, partially because they come in such pretty packaging and they have a different type of oil depending on what your skin needs! They have one for everything imaginable! Oily skin, dry skin, ageing skin, skin-whitening! I asked the SA at my local shu counter for some samples of their most popular cleansing oils: the blue bottle (whitening) and the green bottle (anti-oxidants for ageing skin). I’m very much aware that I’m only in my really early twenties but anti-oxidants are great for you at every age k!
Shu Uemura’s cleansing oils are, I won’t lie, really REALLY expensive with the premium oil 150ml bottle priced at SGD$68 and the 450ml bottle going at an astronomical SGD$155- whoo can you see Saturn already? ;P So just what is the big deal about it? Why is it so fricking expensive?
It’s my holy grail. Total HG material. The oil has a thin, smooth consistency which makes it very easy to spread over the face and it removes my mascara like no other. Just rub it gently into your lash line, everything dissolves instantly (definitely faster than Biore!) and get this – IT DOESN’T STING! And usually most women wash their faces with another facial foam to remove the oily residue from their cleansing oil but you don’t need to double cleanse if you use this because it works as a facial cleanser as well and there isn’t any oily residue left; your skin is clean and so soo soft. It’s got a comforting green tea scent and omg packaging, packaging, pretteh packaging!
Cut to the chase:
Biore Cleansing Oil: Cheap, Good at removing all make-up but stings eyes and leaves a slight residue on skin.
DHC: Mid-range, Gentle for sensitive skin but doesn’t remove heavy-duty waterproof mascara.
Shu Uemura: OH MY GOD IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND GET A BOTTLE. Your skin will LOVE you for it! Even if you can’t afford it, run to your nearest Shu counter and ask for samples!
I hope this is helpful if you’re new to cleansing oils! Anyway I finally purchased my first proper bottle of the Shu Uemura cleansing oil this week and got some other stuff from them as well, beauty haul entry up next! Wishing all my muslim readers a Happy Eid Adha, enjoy the long weekend!
Til next time~
img credit: shu uemura, dhc & biore.
