Describe the brand in three words.
American. Simple (not an insult). Easy-to-use.
Who is it for?
Everyone. Especially good for reactive, sensitised or over-processed skins.
What’s in it?
Water/Aqua/Eau, Cetearyl Alcohol, Bisabolol, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Glycerin, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Extract, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Salix Alba Bark Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Hydroxyphenyl, Propamidobenzoic Acid, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Fumaria Officinalis Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Fumaric Acid, Echinacea Purpurea Extract, Panthenol, Acrylates/ C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate, crosspolymer, Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Disodium Lauryl Sulfosuccinate, Cetrimonium Chloride, Aminomethyl Propanol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Disodium EDTA
What's not in it?
parabens, fragrance and mineral oils
Possibly acne/allergy/troubling for some ingredients?
Not really, I mean it's not the 'cleanest' product, but it's equally not claiming to be natural.
Suitable for pregnancy?
Yep.
Natural? Organic? Man made? Vegan?
Man-made
Tested on animals in home country/EU/sold in territories that require testing?
No/No/Unknown
How does it smell?
Like a face cream, not overpowering, just 'soft'.
How do you use it?
Apply on to dry or damp skin, massage through and either rinse of flannel - your call depending on your skin.
Can it be taken around the eyes?
Yes.
Best for winter or summer?
Either. All seasons can mess with your skin.
How long did I test it for?
I've had it for months, not years.
How much is it? /Size/Approximate cost per usage?
£32.00 for 250ml. Should last a few months. It's big.
Works well with?
Anything. It's a cleanser!
What’s the website like?
Good. Although you have to search to click through for the full ingredients list, which is annoying. Just list it openly. What's to hide?
How’s the distribution? Available freely or limited?
Well it used to be salon only, then they took their head out of their arse and went into department stores. ;) Now it's much more widely available.
On that note, please allow me a slight digression..
Now obviously, brands are 100% free to choose their channels of distribution, but some brands like to make out that they are too complicated to be sold via normal stores and sales people in stores. They like to make out they need specially trained therapists to convey their message and sell the products correctly. Whilst I understand where they are coming from, it's just not the case these days. It's 2017. Customers are savvy. Staff are well-trained. Unless it's professional peels etc then calm yourself and sell your products where customers are demanding them. The internet happened years ago and you're still expecting people to walk/drive to a clinic/salon and buy them in person? The business model will not last. Anyway: Dermalogica used to have that thinking. They don't anymore. Happy Days.
What’s good about it?
This is a good basic cleanser for annoyed skin. It's calming, designed to be soothing and does that perfectly well. It's also a hefty serving that will last you ages. Better to cleanse the skin than remove heavy makeup in my experience.
What’s not so good about it?
Not much. And here's an interesting thing. This has 4/5 from customer reviews on Beautypedia and 1/5 review from the Beautypedia staff. This is a prime example of them 'cut and paste' reviewing ingredients, potentially not reading the ingredients properly and making assumptions. It's why I won't review anything until I've actually got my hands on it and used it, something that Beautypedia openly don't do.
If you look at the review here and in particular the ingredients listing:
Beautypedia/Dermalogica it has been lifted directly from the Dermalogica website here, complete with typos:
Dermalogica/UCC - I know this because I did the same thing. It's so much easier than typing them off the box. The difference is I read the ingredients list thoroughly, check against the packaging, and corrected the typos and spelling errors (You might want to fix your inci Dermalogica).
Beautypedia do a cut and paste job, see lavender and lemon, give it a score of 1, trash it and move on. If you actually read the ingredients, you would see that it's lavender and lemon fruit extracts, not essential oils. Extracts are totally different from pure essential oils. It's also heavily laden with bisabolol, glycerin and oat. All great for soothing. So to give this a 1 is a nonsense. It's not by any stretch the best cleanser ever made, but it's certainly deserving of much higher score than 1. I'd 3.5/4 personally. I did some searching and noticed that Beautypedia by and large rate Dermalogica skincare really badly. I mean shockingly low, a high % of their products are given a score of 1/5.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with Dermalogica being one of their main competitors and a similar (if not better) price point.
Would I purchase/repurchase?
Yes potentially, if my skin was irritated.
Do you need it?
Yes, potentially, if your skin is irritated.
Similar products?
REN Evercalm Gentle Cleansing Milk
Tata Harper Nourishing Oil Cleanser
MV Organic Skincare Gentle Cream Cleanser
DCL Ultra-Comfort Cleanser
Pixi + ME Double Cleanse
Dermalogica Ultra Calming Cleanser is £24.00 for a very generous 250ml and is available here: http://bit.ly/2A8cl02
And it's certainly more deserving than a 1!
