Fresh Soy Face Cleanser Review

I fell in love with Fresh Soy Face Cleanser after trying out a deluxe sample a few years ago, in Sephora's last FF sale, I asked a friend of mine to pick it up (since the product is pretty marked up locally). I have been using it in rotation with other cleansers and it's time to properly review it.

I decided to revisit and repurchase this cleanser due to the following reasons:

1) the product smells nice - I'm not sure if it smells faintly of soya or floral notes, it wakes me up and I like it;

2) it's gentle enough - it's not a foamy type of cleanser;

3) it made my skin feel hydrated and nourished.

Here's the ingredients list - it has parabens I know...and also the much dreaded Propylene Glycol. In fact, it'll be the only reason if I decided not to repurchase it in future. The product I had is the largest size (150ml). The texture leans a bit runny, it's more like a gel. I need to use slightly more than a penny's size (I imagine is 1ml) per application, I have a feeling that this cleanser won't last me for long. The gel texture is somehow very soothing and gentle on my irritated skin, which is a MAJOR PLUS.

Due to its soothing and gentleness, I like to use it particularly after exfoliation with scrubs and beads. I've also tried using it to remove makeup in the past, but that'll require a considerable amount of product to achieve this purpose, I wouldn't recommend that. I think you can use it to double-cleanse after removing makeup with cleansing oil.

It says it can remove makeup and mascara, the latter of which I haven't tried (and don't see the point anyway - there's a thing called Eye Makeup Remover, folks). The description says the cleanser is loaded with amino acid from soy proteins which helps in water retention, elasticity and firmness of skin; rose-water for calming, balancing and toning; cucumber to calm and soothe; borage seed oil to nourish. I could put a tick next to water retention, elasticity, calming, soothing and nourishing. How often does a product perform most of what it claims? This one does, for the most part.

I prefer to use a separate toner instead of relying on a cleanser to tone (doesn't make sense to me). When mixing water with the cleanser, only tiny foams were produced, which is why it's gentle on the skin (description also said soap-free). The cleanser is also fragrance-free, now I"m not sure what goes on in the tube but the smell is wonderful, as I pointed out above, it wakes me up. 

This is how it looks when squeezed out from the tube - it's a gel and could be runny (or messy) for some. After working it up on your skin, it rinses off easily.

Bottomline: this will be a regular staple on my bathroom sink from now on, I will use it in rotation with other cleansers and on days which I haven't left the house at all, or if I feel my skin needs soothing and calming (irritated from rash or post-exfoliation), I'll turn to this. Go give this cleanser a try if you haven't already.