Product Review: OSKIA's Renaissance Cleansing Gel & Perfect Cleanser

It's a shame that Oskia hasn't crossed the pound yet over to the States...yes, you can purchase Oskia from a few online beauty retailers that ship to the US (Look Fantastic [a personal favorite & where I got both of my cleansers from] & Beauty Bay to name a few) but, this London-born skincare brand has been all the hype within the last few years, and for good reason, especially so when it comes to their cleansers, which more than likely you've heard your favorite beauty blogger write and rave about...

Renaissance Cleansing Gel

Its a beautifully light, coral-color cleansing gel-to-oil that rids away the days' impurities & grime, giving you a wonderfully nourishing, clean, and refreshing experience...no wonder its a top hit, and it definitely checks off in my book as my favorite gel cleanser I'ver ever used. Any and all gel cleaners that I have used in the past up to this point has always dried out my skin, no matter what...so needless to say I was extraordinarily hesitant when wanting to try this one, yet, all the raves from bloggers across the beauty universe  reeled me in to take the plunge, and to be honest, I'm very happy I did.

The cleansing gel is great for all skin types, so if you are like me and gel-cleaansers dry you out, don't fear this one, the hype is all there, and its good! With continued use, it can also be good for pigmentation, dark spots from acne scars, and if you're still struggling with some spots, overtime this can help since its packed with vitamins & enzymes (A, B2, C, E, Pumpkin Enzyme...). For personal use, I thoroughly enjoy using this in the mornings strictly; before I picked up their Perfect Cleanser, this gel one was a morning and/or night; though now I find this one much more pleasant and refreshing and that it lifts my skin and perks it up in the morning: its more bright, hydrated, and clean. For the first time, I can't believe I'm going to say that I actually love a gel cleanser. Hats off to you, Oskia!

Perfect Cleanser: Nutri-Active Cleansing & Nourishing Balm

I love me a good balm, let that be said first (which I probably always say when I chat about cleansing balms). If I could have a whole cabinet full of cleansing balms, I would (and most possibly will at some point, let's get real). This cleanser jumps right on the shelf as one of my favorite cleansing balms. It stands out on its own, for me, like the Sunday Riley Blue Moon Cleansing Balm does; the Perfect Cleanser is rich in Vitamins & Enzymes, like its sister - which helps clean and decongests the skin leaving you a soft, clean canvas to continue on with the rest of your routine. Once massaged onto dry skin, you add a little water to break up the rich balm, and whatever impurities are left behind, before removing it with a cloth...and you will need a cloth to remove this..I've tried just rinsing it off with warm water just for the kicks of it...what a waste of water that was, barely budged!  This cleansing balm leaves my skin superbly clean, soft, and just uh, so lovely. With this cleanser, I use it specifically at night since I prefer the heavy-dutyness of a balm cleanser in the evenings. For me, this goes into the cleansing balm hall-of-fame, right with Emma Hardie, Clinique, & Sunday Riley.

BTW: Both of these cleansers are great for all skin types: normal, dry, mature, hormonal, combo, oily, dull...Also, these cleansers are not meant for makeup-removal, these both would be considered your second and/or morning cleanser.

I purchased both of these cleansers through LookFantastic, which took almost about a month (3 1/2 weeks tops) to get to me through the postal service. I got these while they were on discount, & usually LF always has some kind of discount or sale going on, so its worth a check out if you're interested in either of these cleansers, or anything else from the Oskia range (they currently have one going on now, use the code LF15 at checkout to get 15% off your order). On top of that, you can get some cash back through Ebates at the moment when you make a purchase on LF's site, I'll have an Ebates link at the bottom of this post if any were interested in signing up; its free & you get some money back every few months for shopping online, what can be so wrong with that? (extra savings!!)

Where you can purchase products mentioned in this post: 

Renaissance Cleansing Gel, $42.50 

Perfect Cleanser, $49.50

Cleanser Review: Clarins Extra-Comfort Cleansing Cream vs Extra-Comfort Anti-Pollution Cleansing Cream

photo credit: amazon.com

When a brand discontinues your favorite product, the usual follows: crying, screaming, pulling your hair,  giving the company nasty looks through your computer screen...listen, we have all been there. I know I have, hence why I'm making this post about Clarins' Extra-Comfort Cleansing Cream. The Goddess of Skincare herself, Mrs. Caroline Hirons, got pretty much everyone on this planet in love with this jar of goo, even me. You can read her quick little review on the original here, and her thoughts about the new reformulation here.

Its a thick, rich, cleansing cream with that dynamite smell that Clarins is known for and that all fans of the brand absolutely adore. Its such an experience on the skin with using this cleanser, that I couldn't really remember loving a cleanser as much as this one prior. It makes you forget about every other cleanser that you've ever used (a bit of a stretch, maybe?) , because you never want to use anything else...except on the day that you found out it's no longer going to be sold, and that they are coming out with a reformulation of the product... whilst throwing in the verbage 'anti-pollution' in the middle of it.  ?!?!!? If you're feeling a bitch-face through your screens, its because I'm making a hard one. 

Listen: Clarins, next to La Roche Posay, are two brands that I hold very dear to my beauty heart, they were the first brands that I got into when I started my beauty adventure. I'm their ride or die chick so-to-speak, but sometimes you need to take a step back and literally be like, 'WTF BUT WHY?!' Even to your favorite brands.

At the same rate, I can't knock the new one till I try it, right? So, thats what I decided to do, I took the plunge once my Extra-Comfort ran (almost) dry (I left just a bit in the jar...no matter how much I got the urge to scoop it all out and slather it all over my body...just so I can compare the 2 for this post. The sacrifices that were made...). Long story short, I ended up loving the Anti-Pollution version as well, thus I deserved a swift kick in the arse for giving this one the cold, hard shoulder in the beginning. 

photo credit: clarins.co.uk

Its in no way shape or form like the original,  nothing beats it, nothing tops that luscious, glorious cream in jar. I still find it a shame that Clarins decided to do away with it, truly. But honestly, this new formulation isn't all that bad, really. YET, it fails to replace it.   

Differences: The obvious packaging change, from tub to tube. The color of the cream is also slightly different; the original was cream in color, while the reformulation has a very slight pink tone to it. And the consistency is quite different; the original being just a bit thicker and I feel a bit more easier to work with. 

With all that being said, I can't say anything negative about the reformulation itself, if anything, it gets the job done just as well as the original, and my face is just as happy with it. It still works well for dry, sensitive, normal and even combo skins types; oily and acne skins, you may need to step back from this one, it may be a bit much.

For now, I'm throughly enjoying the Anti-Pollution Cleansing Cream, regardless of all the gripe and fuss I keep making about Clarins discontinuing the original one, and will probably end up repurchasing it again once I run out. This cleanser is more on the expensive side, in most places I've checked, it ranges but usually goes up to being about $44 for the 200ml tube; though I purchased mine here for over $10 less than that; and I found another online beauty shop that has it for even less than that price, at $26, here, which seems to be the best price I've found thats available to ship to the US. 

If you tried both cleansers, how did one over the other fair for you?