Review: Sulwhasoo Gentle Cleansing Foam

I'm back! I've been trying out this cleansing ever since finishing my trial of History of Whoo Gongjinhyang Foam Cleanser. After trying out a variety of cleansers, I realized that my original Morning Routine cleanser, Skinfood Egg White Pore Foam, was not as great as I thought it took awhile to wash all of the cleanser off. I've been more interested in trying out other cleansers and this is my first cleanser from Sulwhasoo.

Description (from us.sulwhasoo.com):

• Concern: Dullness / Uneven Skin Tones
• This gentle foam makes a rich lather for deep cleansing. Great Duckweed and adlay supply moisture to your skin.
• Pump once or twice onto palm and massage on wet skin to form a rich lather. Rinse-off with warm water.

My impression:

This cleanser is indeed very gentle. A bit too gentle in my opinion. I didn't necessarily break out from it, but when I used it twice a day, I started noticing that my face looked a bit darker than usual. Yes, you guessed it...dirt. Because when I used my Missha Super Aqua Detox Peeling Gel, my skin tone went back to normal. And then when I switched to using this cleanser only once a day in the morning and went back with my original night routine cleanser Skinfood Black Sugar Scrub Foam, my skin tone throughout the week was back to normal.

I think the biggest reason for this is that I did not get a rich lather. Don't get me wrong though, I was a generous user. I used six pumps each time: 2 on my left cheeks, 2 on my right cheeks, 2 on my forehead. Since these were sample bottles I was afraid their "pumps" were smaller than usual so I used 6 pumps in total. Therefore I disagree with the official description that the gentle foam makes a rich lather for deep cleansing.

After washing my face, I don't get that clean, refreshed feeling that I get with History of Whoo Gongjinhyang Foam Cleanser. In fact, it really just feels like I just washed my face with water. I often wonder if the cleanser effectively removed all the cream from the night before or all the impurities my face collected throughout the day. I guess the verdict is that it cleanses enough to not give me clogged pores or break me out..but I do notice that my face gets darker as the week goes by due to accumulation of dirt.

I'll be sticking with History of Whoo Gongjinhyang Foam Cleanser.

Summary:

Too gentle a cleanser for me
I used 6 pumps and it did not give me a rich lather for deep cleansing
No breakouts but I noticed my face getting darker from dirt accumulating throughout the week
$36 for 200ml on us.sulwhasoo.com

Grade: 3.5/5 because I really don't think it cleansed my face effectively but it didn't clog my pores or give me pimples

Value: 4/5 because $36 for a cleanser (from Sulwhasoo no less) is a pretty decent price

Repurchase? No