Finding the right cleanser for your skin type and your specific preferences can be challenging. You might be OK with just a quick micellar water if you’re not a big makeup person. Or, you might be a ritualistic double-cleanser, ensuring every last bit of residue is removed. Whether I’m double-cleansing or not (I swap things around all the time), I love a good gentle cream cleanser, especially when my skin is dry. Joaquina Botánica Papaya + Enzymes Whipped Cleanser takes the day away without leaving behind that stripped feeling, like you need to apply five different creams to restore your moisture barrier. Here’s my honest review.
My Skin Type:
Combination. I’m drier in the cold-weather months and oilier in the warm-weather ones thanks to the high humidity on the East Coast. Occasionally when I try a new product or use a formula with a high concentration of acids, I experience a little sensitivity (mainly redness, but sometimes tingling).
The Benefits:
Formulated with luscious superfruits and botanicals that are indigenous to Latin America, this creamy cleanser is a real treat for my skin. It starts off as a cream and turns into a foam when you add water, but it’s not one of those moisture-sucking foams. It’s a gentle foam that effectively cleans, removing all makeup and sunscreen residue from my skin, but leaving my skin soft and smooth. For this reason, I’d call this product a summertime staple. Plus, the pretty coral packaging looks bright and summery on my vanity.
True to Joaquina Botánica fashion, the vegan ingredients are well-balanced (and pH-balanced) and rooted in “clean” naturals. The two heroes in this cleanser papaya, which is chock-full of vitamins A and C and oleic acid, and papain, which is an enzyme derived from papaya that delivers gentle exfoliating action. Other standouts are hydrating coconut juice and glycerin, soothing aloe, and cacay, which is a Colombian superfruit that’s rich in anti-aging vitamins A, E and F.
I’d describe the subtle scent as “naturally fruity” because it comes from the natural ingredients—no synthetic fragrances were added.
Key Ingredients:
Papaya, papain, coconut, cacay, aloe, pineapple, and glycerin
What It’s Free From:
The brand has a “Clean Promise” that its products are always free from more than 2,700 harmful toxins, including DEA, gluten, mineral oil, parabens, PEGs, petroleum, phthalates, silicones, sulfate detergents, synthetic fragrances and dyes, TEA, and urea. This cleanser is also free from essential oils, and all ingredients are 100-percent naturally derived.
How to Use It:
If you’re wearing makeup and/or sunscreen, apply it to dry skin (like you would cleansing balm) and massage it in to break down that layer on the skin, and then add water to create a foamy effect. If you’re only wearing skin care, or your skin is bare, dampen your skin first and then massage it in. You
Price/Where to Buy:
$45, joaquinabotanica.com
