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I have been holding off on reviewing the Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil for some time now, really because I have been trying to find a place for it in my skincare regimen. To start, I have pretty oily skin, with my t-zone being the most oily. This subsides a bit during the winter months, but my skin is still oily when it’s cold as well. Also, my main areas of concern regarding my skin are 1) hyperpigmention 2) acne and 3) fine lines around my eyes + eye bags! The cleansing oil claims “outstanding cleansing properties that can completely remove waterproof makeup without irritation.”
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| Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil |
I really enjoy the packaging; it’s got a nice pump and the bottle is completely see-through.
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| Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil |
Cleansing oils have become quite popular here in the states over the past couple of years. I was very hesitant to try a cleansing oil because I felt like I would be putting oil on top of oil — that is, my face is oily enough as it is. I wasn’t comfortable with the “idea” of putting oil on my face to clean it. But this lathers up nicely on your face and it doesn’t, in any way, feel like you’re putting oil on your face.
Ingredients, courtesy of Holika Holika Canada:
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
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| Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil |
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| Holika Holika Soda Pore Cleansing BB Deep Cleansing Oil |
So what do I think about it?
Here’s the thing… I really struggled (and continue to struggle) to find a permanent place for this cleansing oil in my regimen. Why? Because I have been using liquid black soap for a few years and it is superior to every cleanser I have tried. I have tried using this cleansing oil a few different kinds of ways:
- I initially started out removing my eye makeup with Lancome BiFacil and then using the cleansing oil to remove the rest of my makeup and wash my face. This left me feeling like this was just a mediocre experience, and any cleanser could do that job. Plus, on its own, the cleansing oil didn’t convince me my face was as clean as the black soap leaves me feeling.
- I eventually experimented with just applying the cleansing oil first thing, and not using any makeup remover at all, followed by my liquid black soap. Now here, I was impressed! For a while… I thought the cleansing oil was responsible for removing my waterproof eye makeup. But it turned out, it was the black soap. I know because I tested it by just using the black soap without makeup remover and my face felt just as clean as when I was using the oil cleanser first, AND my waterproof makeup was completely removed.
- Cleansing oils are supposed to be good for removing sunscreen. I figured since I got my sunscreen game up, if anything, this would be good for removing physical sunscreen. But in the back of my head I think, well if my black soap can remove waterproof eyeliner, it can probably remove my sunscreen. I have no experience with chemical sunscreen (to my knowledge) so I can’t speak to that.
- I also tried this as a morning cleanser, but in the end felt like it defeats the purpose of being an oil because I don’t (often) wake up in my makeup (that rhymes). The cleanser is an oil cleanser to remove hard-to-remove makeup (and it doesn’t do that efficiently) and it’s also a pretty good moisturizer to me. I did like the way it made my skin feel smooth after use.
So there’s my dilemma. Please note that this is a very personal dilemma. I have oily skin. Black soap makes my skin feels less oily and fight off acne. If you don’t have oily skin, I really don’t recommend black soap as it can be very drying. Therefore, I recommend this particular cleansing oil for someone that isn’t using black soap and that doesn’t have oily skin. You may find it amazing!
As far as the claims it makes about completely removing waterproof makeup, I’m afraid it falls short. And yes, I open my eyes to see if the eyeliner is gone mid-cleansing and it’s not. A plus though, is that this doesn’t burn my eyes!
This isn’t a rebuy for me. I like the idea of double cleansing, but I’m not sure it’s cohesive when using black soap and I use it a lot. Now I DO however like cleansing balms! More on that to come…!
I purchased this from Amazon for around $16 but it’s cheaper now.
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