Sulwhasoo gentle cleansing foam ex review năm 2024

Made with botanical ingredients including duckweed and extracts harvested from the delicate inner shells of chestnuts, this foam cleanses the skin while leaving a deep moisture layer and a relaxed and smooth feeling that lasts long after cleansing.

Anddd it’s time for me to change cleansers again! Well, I actually got a little tired with dropping the cap of my Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Cleansing Foam and having to bend over in the shower, so I brought the last 15% to HK with me to finish. The last I heard, it had actually foiled my plans to abandon it in HK by latching onto Miss Parn Parn lol. Hope she likes using it.

Presenting.. my new broom that sweeps clean, or my cleanser that cleanses clean (omg major repetition and redundancy is killing my grammar nazi)

A light brown honey-looking liquid that isn’t as thick as honey. Add some water and it emulsifies slightly (but there’s no beer foam)

I say…

I love, love, love this cleanser!

• It comes with a pump system, so no more dropping stuff or bending over in the shower. Yes, I know I don’t live in an American prison (like Prison Break), but well, I prefer to leave my full forward bends to yoga classes.
• The texture is perfect – liquid enough to smooth over my face without pulling at my skin, and yet not so watery that it runs all over my hands.
• It foams up slightly, not as much as traditional foam cleansers, but that’s alright with me.
• My preferred method of using this is to splash some water on my face and then apply this directly. It will foam up sufficiently enough.
• Alternatively, you can also try to work it up into a foam in your palms and apply it to your foam – I prefer the first method cos then, I can feel the awesome texture of the product directly on my skin.
• It smells fragrantly-herby and doesn’t overwhelm with all those artificial fragrances.
• After rinsing it, my skin is soooooo soft and smooth. More importantly, it does not feel stripped of moisture – no squeaky clean feeling! My skin felt like a diamond-buffed marshmallow. Don’t come trying to bite my face now hurhurhur.
• My skin always feel so advertisement-like – yes I now do wash my face with a smile on my face (as cheesy as it sounds). It hasn’t done anything in terms of whitening, but it does make my skin feel moisturised and healthier.

It’s such an affordable price of KRW35,000 (SGD39.40). Fine, so it has been marked up slightly to SGD50 at Tangs, but it’s still affordable… What are you doing? Go buy a bottle or 2 naooooo.

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Water, Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Peg-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Acrylates/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Copolymer, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Spirodela Polyrrhiza Extract, Citrus Unshiu Peel Extract, Castanea Crenata (Chestnut) Shell Extract, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Extract, Coix Lacryma-Jobi Ma-Yuen Seed Extract, Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Dextrin, Disodium Edta, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Isostearic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Peg-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Peg-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

HOW TO USE

Apply an appropriate amount onto wet palms to create lather. Massage gently onto face in round circular motions. Rinse off thoroughly with lukewarm water.

I'm current locked in an epic struggle between our cross-country moving company, the city permit office, and our local moving company; it's throwing me off my blogging game as I try not to throw myself off a cliff. It's difficult.

People

things need to be thrown and I need to throw them.

But I'm taking a moment to unglue my phone from my cheek and stop rage-throwing things to unveil a new low pH foaming cleanser contender: the (unsurprisingly) luscious Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Cleansing Foam.

Sulwhasoo: when even samples are fancy

One of the things that I really appreciate about Korean products is how readily available they are in sample sizes, at least compared to traditional western offerings. That's how I stumbled across this low-pH cleanser hidden in my stash; I was packing my stash for the move, and my pH strips were handy.

If you are new to the low pH cleanser life, click here to read about Why the pH of your cleanser matters. But low pH cleansers are rare and hard to formulate, leaving very few options that are enjoyable to use.

In this post:

• Product details
• How well does it foam?
• Ingredients list
• Final thoughts

As you can see, I have yet to purchase this in full size, although I do have a heck of a lot of samples; and at 4ml per pouch, I've managed to snag myself a good amount of product without committing to a full size.

Product Details

Full product name: Sulwhasoo Snowise EX Cleansing Foam Purpose: A foaming cleanser, which can be used as a sole cleanser in the AM, or as a second cleanser following an oil cleanser as part of a PM double cleanse. If you're new to double cleansing, check out my Cleansing Megapost: Double Cleansing, Types, Tools, & Techniques. Scent: Like a forest is trying to hump your face. Personally, I've grown to love the Hanbang (한방, traditional Korean herbal medicine) herbal smells favoured by companies like Sulwhasoo, but if you don't like using things that smell like a grove of pines and field of flowers are trying to make sweet love to your epidermis, stay away. pH result: Yes, oh yes. A beautiful pH 5, image is below. Quantity: The full size is a hefty 150ml, but I purchased a set of 20x4ml samples, so I have 80ml. Also comes in travel size tubes of 15ml. Rating: 4/5, because it's a low pH foaming cleanser that actually foams (more on that later), but I've docked it a point for being a bit difficult to use and also for being expensive, although it's a prestige brand, so it's a luxury item. Where to get it: I am not sure where my original sample came from, but when I found out the pH, I hauled tail to Amazon Prime because I was about to move out of state and needed fast delivery. Thankfully, Amazon Prime had it with overnight shipping, so I threw my wallet at the screen and it was in my hands the next day. Amazon: 80ml for $19, or 150ml for $38 | Ebay: Sample sets less than $10, 15ml for less than $10, 30ml for $10, or 150ml for $38 Koreadepart: 150ml for $36 w/o shipping | RoseRoseShop: 150ml for $37 w/ shipping. You could also use a buying service like Avecko and possibly get it even cheaper, although you would have to consider shipping costs. Repurchase: I decided to go for the 80ml in samples to test it long-term, and if I didn't have a stable of low-pH cleansers on my to-try list, I'd definitely buy a full size tube. I might still get a full-size tube, because I am a total sucker for packaging.

How well does it foam?

Pretty packaging aside, this is the million dollar question with low pH cleansers. I've had hilarious (and unflattering) conversations about low pH cleansers with other bloggers, like Kerry from Skin and Tonics who started the low pH revolution with her post on The Importance of Fatty Acids, pH & the Moisture Barrier: How I Eliminated my Acne & Decreased my Skin Sensitivity.

As you may know if you have already read my post on Why the pH of your cleanser matters, I set out hoping that I could find enough scientific backing to support continuing my affair with the ultra-foamy goodness of high pH cleansers. No such luck; the science both is solid and plentiful.

Pretty packaging is pretty, I have to admit. I love the Sulwhasoo motif and how subtly they display it.

The problem is, as Kerry agreed, is that low pH cleansers may work as just as well, but they're just not sexy. They don't produce frothy clouds of foam that can be shaped in your palm into bouncy poofs, they don't explode into generous lather with a mere splash of water and a few rubs of your palms. Low pH cleansers are the unseasoned tofu equivalent in the cleansing world; they get the job done but they're underwhelming to use.

So, a foaming cleanser that is low pH and still actually foams properly is a rare beast. This cleanser has a slightly different foam than a high pH cleanser, but I quickly got used to it and I appreciate how robust it is compared to other low pH cleansers. This stuff just will not quit. My fingers got tired from rubbing before the foam dispersed! Will. Not. Quit.

So, I present the following photo chronicles of Foam in Action: a Study of Density and Stuff.

Straight from the package, before adding water

Like all Sulwhasoo products, this cleanser is unnecessarily luxurious and I can't say I don't appreciate it. Look at that pearlescent sheen!

One downside of this cleanser is that it's hard to get going; the product doesn't want to mix with water at first, so you have to work it between your hands or with a foaming net, a facial brush or a konjac sponge. Sadly, no demos of those because they're currently packed in a box ... somewhere. Possibly somewhere in Oklahoma, or perhaps Missouri? Only the movers know.

Cleanser and water acting like the Montagues and the Capulets.

But if you keep mixing it between your hands, it will bloom into a lovely foam. I think a foaming net would actually solve this entirely,

if

when I find mine when I unpack, I'll test it and update.

Like any foaming cleanser, you can play around with consistency of the mixture, depending on whether you prefer a thick and rich lather, or a loose and puffy lather.

Less water = thicker foam with smaller bubbles

I know this may not look that impressive, but for a low pH cleanser, this is serious foam. And it gets crazy, as you will see after this loose foam version. But first, let me include my original thoughts on the foam:

One of the amazing things about this cleanser is the micro-fine bubbles it makes; rather than traditional lather that breaks down rapidly as you expose it to oils from your skin, these bubbles seem to last forever. It's almost unnerving; they just keep swirling around your face as long as you let them, until you get tired of it and rinse them off.

I never bothered to test to see just how long the foam would actually last, because I don't overwork my skin during cleansing. Until now. But first, here's the loose foam:

More water = looser foam, larger bubbles

Now it looks and feels more like a regular 'loose lather' type cleanser, just with the scent of a herb-festooned forest that is really eager to be "friends" with your face. If you know what I mean.

I don't have much of a preference on which consistency to use, I just add water and rub my hands together and then slap it on my face, gently massage for a bit, and then rinse. If I had not been all ~must experiment for SCIENCE and blogging!~ I might never have known the true hidden power of this cleanser.

This is the foam after 2 minutes of nonstop lathering between my hands, trying to break down the bubbles:

This isn't the fragile foam of those bubble pump cleansers, this stuff is dense and springy

Look at that. Just look at it. Can you believe that is a low pH cleanser?! I can't. I had no idea that it would just keep refining the bubbles the more I worked it; I've never bothered to work the foam this much/this hard when I washed my face with it.

So I set out to find how long it would take to disperse the foam. I furiously rubbed my hands together for another 2+ minutes (4+ min in total) and I gave up because my fingers were getting tired. Snow: 0, Snowise Cleanser: 1.

Denser and bouncier than ever, what is going on?!

It just won't die! It just gets denser and denser, and defies all attempts to disperse it without just rinsing it away.

Here it is spread out so you can see the ultra fine texture:

After 4+ min of hard lathering, the foam defies all attempts to disperse it

My mind is blown. I have to get this stuff onto a foaming net; if it works, it could rival the high pH cleansers that are banished to my 'discards' box.

Update: I found the foaming net, and oh my snail:

With half the product I used above, or less!

I was able to use a lot less product and got some ridiculous results. Now I don't need to purchase a full size, because my samples are going to last me a lot longer. And I'm holding that ball of foam sideways to show how dense it is.

Ingredients list

A kindly person has entered this into Cosdna, albeit a few years ago. My current attention span (being more focused on calling back and forth between moving companies a kid getting bounced between mom and dad) was unable to tolerate a deep-dive for an ingredients list when Googling failed to cough it up.

Water, Glycerin, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium myristoyl glutamate, PEG-75, Cocoamidopropyl Betaine, Stearic Acid, Glycol Distearate, Oldenlandia Diffusa Extract, Hydrolyzed Ginseng Saponins, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Paeonia Albiflora Root Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera Seed Extract, Polygonatum Officinale Rhizome/Root Extract, Lilium Tigrinum Flower/leaf/stem Extract, Rehmannia glutinosa, Honey, Licorice Root Extract, Licorice Root Extract, Ophiopogon japonicus root extract, Niacinamide, Lactic Acid, Sodium salicylate, Butylene Glycol, Methoxy PEG-114/Polyepsilon Caprolacton, Cocamide MEA, PEG 150 Distearate, Polyquaternium-7, 1,2-Hexanediol, Disodium EDTA, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Fragrance

As you can see in the Cosdna link, this cleanser has very few triggers and none over a 2. It's also chock-full of delicious-sounding herbal extracts, but I'm not going to dive into those either as cleansers spend very little time on your face and thus don't really have a chance to impart benefits.

Final thoughts

I think the pH + the insane foam (for an acidic cleanser) speaks for itself. Not only it's a strong-foaming, low-ph cleanser, it's also a Hanbang low-pH foaming cleanser, so naturally it racks up bonus points for traditional Korean herbal goodness.

Look at that delicious pH result. As soon as I saw this, I wanted it on my face.

Amazing the joys that samples can bring. And yes, I did perch this on a box I was packing to take this photo, pre-move. Desperate times, desperate measures and all that.

Pros:

• Low pH
• Foam will not quit
• Foam seriously will not quit.
• Smells like a forest that just wants to love you, and love you hard
• Easily available in sample sizes from US or KR sellers

Cons:

• Expensive because it's a luxury brand
• Is a bit slow to mix at first
• Smells like a forest that just wants to love you, and love you hard

I've been using this cleanser for about three weeks, and was supposed to be patch testing a different cleanser by now. But the packets have been so convenient as we move across the country, and the foam has been so foamy that I've not managed to summon the motivation to rotate this out and get testing that new cleanser. Eventually. I'll uh ... mmm. Trees. Forests. Hanbang.

All the best, -Cat

**Disclaimer: All products reviewed/mentioned in my blog, are 100% purchased with my own money, with a single exception of a press sample I tested & reviewed in 2015 which swore me off of them forever. This blog contains both affiliate and non-affiliate links, and clicking the former before you shop means that this blog may receive a small commission to assist in this blog supporting itself. Please see my Contact Info & Disclaimer policy for more information.

Why do Koreans use foam cleanser?

Cleansing foams lather to remove build-up and sweep away dead skin cells. Cleansing foams are particularly effective on oily skin as they also reduce sebum. Face cleanser is also completely safe and encouraged for sensitive skin.

Which cleansing foam is the best?

21 Best Foam Face Washes in 2024.

Blu Atlas Volcanic Ash Face Cleanser. ... .

CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser. ... .

Kiehl's Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash. ... .

La Roche-Posay Toleriane Purifying Foaming Facial Wash. ... .

Cetaphil DermaControl Oil Removing Foam Wash..

What is the difference between a foaming cleanser and a gentle cleanser?

The difference between them is their texture and which skin type each one is good for. Foaming cleansers have a lot of lather and are great for oily skin. Non-foaming cleansers are most other cleanser that don't generate a lot of lather. Most of these are more gentle and are great for sensitive skin.

What is the difference between cleansing oil and cleansing foam?

The oil cleanser is best at removing stubborn makeup while the water-based cleanser will clean the skin. The double cleansing method will prevent and treat acne. It also preps your skin to properly absorb your other skincare products.