Review: Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing Gel (Haruharu Wonder)

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I’ve been testing out Haruharu Wonder‘s Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing Gel for the past few weeks and it’s definitely on my list of the best cleansers ever! I’m so excited to be writing this review because I’m genuinely in love with this formula. In fact, I’ve been raving about it in private ever since I first tried it… and now I can finally put words on a screen and hit publish.

For those who don’t know, Haruharu Wonder is a Korean skincare brand that is all about top-grade, clean formulas. Their brand places importance on a healthy skin barrier, and also specialises in ingredients such as fermented black rice or bamboo shoot extracts. In addition, they commit to not testing on animals and not using any animal-derived ingredients, as well as sustainable printing – all things that I think are super important.

If you’re keen to try out the Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing Gel yourself, it’s available from Olive Young Global, Stylevana or Amazon. Before you do though, let’s get into this review.

Product Description

The Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing Gel is described as a moisturising cleansing gel. It has a fragrance/scent-free formula, and uses over 95% natural EWG green ingredients – making it suitable for sensitive skin. It’s slightly acidic with a 5.5 pH, the perfect level to maintain a healthy skin barrier, and also uses natural surfactants to reduce skin irritation, making this a soap-free formula.

Some of the key ingredients include:

This cleaner claims to have long lasting moisturising benefits as well as a concentrated gel texture that forms a micro lather, allowing it to fully lift impurities (though for matte finish or heavy make up, it is recommended to double cleanse or use a makeup remover first).

Packaging

I love when brands invest in sustainable, environmentally friendly packaging, so I was really impressed with this! Their packaging is printed on 100% recycled paper and uses eco-friendly soy ink. In addition, their unit carton also features braille, as Haruharu Wonder endeavour to be inclusive and accessible for all.

Going into the visuals of the packaging, the unit carton has an uncoated paper feel and is printed with a soft purple gradient. It also has a modern and elegant typographic design that is consistent across all of their products.

Opening it up, the tube also uses a similar gradient design. It uses a soft plastic material that is lightweight, easy to squeeze and retains it’s shape. The cap also has a matte finish and twists closed securely. I’ve been keeping this in the shower and I haven’t had any issue with the ink rubbing off either!

Although the tube design is very common, I like the simplicity of it and think it matches the Haruharu Wonder brand well. Overall, the entire product line is actually very cohesively designed and they look great as a set. I think it would look really nice as a gift too.

Personal Experiences

As you can see in the above photos, the Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing Gel has a clear gel texture. In comparison to a foaming cleanser, it doesn’t actually lather much: the micro lather is very minimal. However, I expected this from a soap-free cleanser and, regardless of how much ‘foam’ you get, this product cleanses amazingly!

I tested this without double cleansing and found that it was able to lift both my make up (including foundation) and general skin impurities effortlessly. It was effective in removing most of my eye makeup and didn’t sting my eyes either. The only thing it really struggled with for me was waterproof mascara, so I agree that using a makeup remover beforehand is best.

The thing that really won me over was how healthily moisturised my skin felt afterwards – not over nourished or greasy, but well-balanced. A lot of other ‘moisturising’ cleaners tend to clog my pores but there was no residue or stickiness at all. After my shower, I didn’t feel a need to immediately moisturise my skin – which is what usually happens for me after a hot shower.

Also, though I am not usually sensitive to fragrances, I like that this formula is scent-free as it meant I could also recommend it to friends with more sensitive skin too.

And here’s the verdict!

So What Is It?

A soap-free and scent-free, pH balanced gel cleanser

The Good

The Bad

Where to get it from

The Black Rice Moisture 5.5 Soft Cleansing Gel is available from Olive Young Global, Stylevana or Amazon.