I’ve realised I have never featured an Honest Beauty product in my blog, and I have tried quite a few. Well, now’s the time to change that. Plus, I feel there needs to be more reviews out there of “clean beauty” brands from a dirty beauty lover like me.
And by dirty beauty lover, I mean someone who cares about scientifically evidence – exclusively – and does not care about natural or organic ingredients because those two labels mean nothing and are not regulated. So we’ll stick to what it’s factual in this review.
Texture and performance is just as advertised: it is an easy to spread gel that gently foams up, and is easy to remove. For a gentle cleanser, I actually find it removes makeup quite well. A lot of gentle cleansers I’ve tried are very creamy and not particularly stripping, which is good for a sensitive skin but not necessarily effective if you are sporting a full beat of long lasting makeup like I usually do. I still need to double cleanse (I use Bioderma’s micellar water) in order to remove the entirety of my makeup, but that is true regardless of the cleanser I’m using – not even cleansing balms are able to take off my mascara in one step.
This does a nice job at cleansing and my skin does not feel tight after using it. It also does not leave a creamy or greasy film behind (I hate that!) which is something that usually makes me stay away from cleansers formulated for sensitive or dry skin.
Ingredients wise, there are a few soothing, anti-oxidant plant extracts (marigold, chamomile, yucca) and Gluconolactone which is a great exfoliant for sensitive skin that actually helps with protecting the skin barrier. There are a few perfuming oils that can be skin sensitising and in my opinion have no place in a “gentle” cleanser, but as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I’m not too bothered about sensitising fragrances being used in a product that is not meant to be on the skin for too long (it’s a much bigger issue when they are used in a moisturizer).
Honest Beauty Gentle Gel Cleanser Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Sodium Laurylglucosides Hydroxypropylsulfonate, Glycerin, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Sodium Chloride, Sorbitol, Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate, Lauryl Glucoside, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Yucca Schidigera Root Extract, Saponaria Officinalis Extract, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Hydrolyzed Quinoa, Parfum/Aroma (Abies Sibirica Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Cymbopogon Martini Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Lavandula Hybrida Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Pogostemon Cablin Leaf Oil), Gluconolactone, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, Sorbic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Linalool.
This comes in a 150ml bottle with a pump, which makes it easy to control the amount you use. I keep it in the shower and it is tight enough that it does not allow water to come into the bottle, unlike some other popular cleansers (I’m looking at you, Youth to the People!)
Full price is around 15€, but I got mine in a set/ GWP/advent calendar (can’t remember). Not expensive at all. Honestly (pun intended) you should give it a go if you need a sensitive-skin geared cleanser but find most of them to be uneffective.
I’ve neglected Honest Beauty – the whole “clean beauty” claim will forever annoy me, but the products I’ve tried so far perform well and I find myself enjoying them a lot. I’ll try to look past their marketing strategy and give the brand a (probably deserved) fair chance.
