Product line
Cleansing
- 2products, labelled the same way
The step that repeats most often in a day, and for that reason the easiest one to thin your skin barrier with unnoticed.
2 products
Why the cheapest step decides the three expensive ones after it
Serum and cream get discussed the most, but both are applied to a surface the cleansing step created. Wash too aggressively and the barrier thins; on thin skin every active stings more readily.
Wash too little and the opposite happens: leftover sunscreen accumulates over days and congests the skin, and people usually blame whichever serum or cream they added most recently rather than the wash.
Two opposite mistakes with one cause: the cleansing step being treated as the trivial one.
Less foam does not mean a poorer wash
That squeaky feeling after washing is widely read as clean. It is actually a sign that too much of the skin's own oil has gone, and the skin is compensating — on oily skin that compensation can mean more oil, not less.
Sulfates are strong, inexpensive foaming agents, so abundant foam has become tied to the feeling of cleanliness. A sulfate-free formula foams less; that follows from the formula rather than indicating a weak product.
The better measure is how the skin feels once blotted dry: soft, not tight, with no urge to put something on immediately just to relieve discomfort.
Water temperature, and hand pressure
Hot water dissolves oil more effectively, so it removes more of the skin's own oil than needed. Cool or slightly warm water is enough for any cleanser.
Hand pressure matters more than temperature. Scrubbing while washing, or dragging a cotton pad, causes mechanical damage — the kind no ingredient in the bottle compensates for.
Blot dry with a clean towel rather than rubbing, and apply the next step while the skin is still slightly damp.
Which one
Two products doing two different jobs
These are not alternatives to each other. They are two consecutive steps in the same evening.
Bio-Active Cleanser
285,000₫
- What it does
- Washes the skin with water; the final step of cleansing
- When
- Morning and night, twice a day
- Order
- After make-up removal
- Printed on the packaging
- Pro-vitamin B5, nano-ceramide, lactobacillus ferment, hydroxyethyl urea
- Can one replace the other
- No — it will not lift sunscreen fully
Bio-Deep Detox micellar water
215,000₫
- What it does
- Lifts make-up and sunscreen before the wash
- When
- Evenings only, and only when make-up or sunscreen is on the skin
- Order
- Before the face wash
- Printed on the packaging
- Exosome cica, Epi-On, fermented sake rice, green tea, panthenol
- Can one replace the other
- No — the maker states you must wash afterwards
If you use no sunscreen and wear no make-up, the cleanser alone is enough. But this site recommends sunscreen every morning, so for most readers the answer is both.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I wash?
Twice a day. More often does not make skin cleaner, it only thins the barrier — and on thin skin every active in the routine stings more readily.
Do I need make-up remover if I wear no make-up?
If you use sunscreen, yes. Sunscreen clings fairly firmly and a face wash alone often does not lift all of it; the residue building up over days is a common cause of congestion.
How should I wash irritated skin?
Cool water, the lightest pressure you can manage, and pause any exfoliating step. If it persists or worsens, that is a dermatologist's job, not a cleanser's.