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The world of Korean skincare has many wonderful cleansers - oils, balms, foams, gels, enzyme powders, all-in-ones, soaps… I didn’t think I could be surprised by this product category anymore until I saw Carenology95 RE:BLUE Cleansing Gel Balm on Jolse. I’ve had gels and I’ve had balms, but never a gel balm!
Carenology95 RE:BLUE Cleansing Gel Balm promises a deep cleansing experience while nourishing sensitive skin. It features Moroccan blue tansy extract for improved skin texture and phyto squalane to help with dehydration. Watch the unboxing reel here.
How to use
Massage a moderate amount over dry face and neck
Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water
Follow with the rest of your routine
The gel balm is easy to spread but stays pretty thick during the massage time. It doesn’t melt the way cleansing balms tend to do and doesn’t turn into liquid oil. This is both good and bad - it’s a lot less messy than liquid cleansing oils or melted cleansing balms, but you also need more of it for each use. The product has an interesting (but not unpleasant) scent. It smells like herbs and honey - vaguely familiar but I can’t quite place it. While the cleanser looks like gel, it has a definite oily component, and when I examine my palms after applying the balm, they have an oily sheen.
Once water is added, the gel balm emulsifies / turns white, the same as cleansing oils, and then rinses off with no noticeable residue. My face feels clean but not stripped. The instructions do not say if a foaming cleanser is required after. I still use one, because the double cleanse process is ingrained in my brain. Just the gel balm might be enough for some people.
My impressions
This is a very interesting cleanser. I’ve been using it daily since receiving the package and I’m still not totally sure how I feel about it. I like that it’s less messy than cleansing oils and balms, because it never turns into liquid until water is added. This theoretically makes it good for travel (decanted into a smaller jar, perhaps), however each application takes more gel than it would an oil balm or a cleansing oil, so you’d have to bring more with you.
The actual cleansing is great - all of my makeup and sunscreen come off easily, including eye makeup. I don’t notice any dryness or irritation on my combination skin. The product itself has fantastic visual appeal (which is part of the reason I chose it) - the see-through jar and the gel are beautiful. And since the gel/oil doesn’t drip off my face, I end up taking a few extra moments to gently massage the skin and melt away some of the tension of the day, especially in the jaw area. I can’t comment on the claims that this balm minimizes irritation typically caused by cleansing, because my skin doesn’t get irritated by other cleansers (unless they are particularly harsh / not good).
Overall, it’s definitely a worthy cleanser and the most unique one I’ve tried so far. I will likely run out of it faster than I would a more traditional cleansing balm of the same size, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I love that it stays put the entire time I massage my face, without running down my arms or dripping on my shirt. I will definitely continue using it and wouldn’t mind getting it again.
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Carenology95 RE:BLUE Cleansing Gel Balm ingredients: Caprylic/Capric triglyceride, squalane, glycerin, sunflower seed oil, polyglyceryl-10 myristate, purified water, cetearyl alcohol, ethylhexyl glycerin, caprylyl glycol, camellia seed oil, sentide Geranium flower oil, mugwort chrysanthemum extract (blue tanji flower oil), hydroxyethyl cellulose, bitter orange flower oil, licorice extract, citronellol, geraniol, linalool