Cure Natural Aqua Gel Review

I haven’t had much luck with exfoliators over the years, but there’s always one product I seem to go back to: Cure’s Natural Aqua Gel. This is a water based exfoliator that is gentle enough for even the most sensitive skin. This product is insanely popular in Japan; apparently one bottle is sold every 12 seconds over there! Crazy! Once you've tried it, you’ll understand why.

Ingredients: water, glycerin, acrylates crosspolymer, dicocodimonium chloride, steartimonium bromide, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, ginkgo biloba leaf powder, rosemary leaf extract, butylene glycol, c10-30 alkyl acrylate. 

As you can see from the ingredients list this product contains no artificial colouring, fragrances, alcohol or preservatives, and contains natural plant extracts from rosemary, ginko and aloe vera. Also, it doesn’t contain any irritants that may trigger or irritate sensitive and acne prone skin. The formula itself is just a clear, thick gel. No harsh beads, no fragrance, or colour. When it comes in contact with your skin it starts to turn to water, and once you start rubbing the product in these squishy grains start forming between your fingers. Hello, dead skin cells! 

This gel is really easy to use, no harsh rubbing or scrubbing is needed and it rinses off without a trace. As far as the appearance of pores and acne are concerned, don’t expect instant improvement. While my skin felt rough beforehand, it feels very smooth after I use this, and a lot brighter too. What I love about these exfoliating gels is that they don’t irritate my acne. Harsh scrubs tend to open up and irritate spots, making it harder for them to heal quickly. Gels allow the skin time to heal, as well as sloughing off the existing dead skin. When I substitute my harsher exfoliators for this twice a week, acne scars and spots seem to heal a lot faster and it doesn’t leave your skin feeling dry and taut.

There is one thing I find mildly annoying: the packaging. After a while the gel seems to harden and block the pump dispenser, so I end up having to unscrew the lid to get the product out, and I end up using up more of the product because of it.

Price of Cure Aqua Gel has skyrocketed since I first begun purchasing it from Yesstyle.com. Once upon a time I could buy it for $30 (sigh, those were the days…), now it retails at around $50 AUD. Luckily the internet is a vast and magical place and I've definitely seen it cheaper. 

Shu Uemura Skin Purifier Cleansing Oil Review

I always thought using an oil based cleanser was a somewhat ridiculous idea, especially for someone like me with oily skin, but dirt and makeup is naturally drawn to oils, and it was this cleanser that made me seriously rethink the way I wash my face.

Shu Uemura’s purifying cleansing oil (the pink bottle) is a lightweight cleanser catered to combination and oily skin types, it minimises pores by eliminating excess sebum and visibly smooths and refines the skins surface. It contains cherry blossom extracts and claims to help exfoliate the skin as well as speed up the cell renewal process.

The oil itself has a lovely, soft floral scent that reminds me a lot of YSL’s Touché Éclat foundation (smells exactly like it actually) and feels very luxurious to massage into the skin. It melts away make up, leaving nothing behind, and is even gentle enough to use on your eyes. I just don’t recommend having your eyes open when you do this haha. The closest thing to this cleanser I've used was Lush's Ultra Bland, but it was quite a thick paste, and was nowhere as near easy to remove like this oil. The oil breaks up and dissolves quickly when it comes in contact with water, leaving behind silky smooth skin. 

I love this cleanser because I wear fairly heavy foundation regularly, and need something more than just a foam cleanser to remove my makeup. My skin feels so good afterwards, clean, moisturised, and most importantly, un-stripped. It is an expensive product, the small and large bottles are priced at around $33 and $74 respectively at Sasa, and that’s at least 35% off the regular retail price in Australia (gulp). Okay, so it’s basically liquid gold, but a little does go a long way. I've had my bottle for five months now and it's only just past the halfway mark. Let's hope I can make it last another five!